January 2013 – Page 8 – NBA Blog

Tony Parker gets stitches, scores 23, helps Spurs beat Mavs

Tony Parker returned from a cut above the same eye he injured in a nightclub incident last summer and scored 23 points to lead the San Antonio Spurs to a 113-107 victory over the Dallas Mavericks on Friday night.

Parker missed about a quarter in the first half when he took three stitches above his left eye after a collision with Elton Brand on a drive. He nearly lost the eye in June when shards of glass embedded in his cornea after he got caught in a bottle-throwing melee in New York.

Tim Duncan stayed home with a sore right knee, but DeJuan Blair made up for his absence by scoring a season-high 22 points.

Rodrigue Beaubois led the Mavericks with a season-high 19 points…

Parker’s head collided with Brand’s arm on a drive early in the first quarter, and no foul was called. Parker stayed down alone under the basket covering his left eye for about 20 seconds during a Dallas possession on the other end. Once play stopped, Parker had to be separated from the referees as he was led to the bench…

Nowitzki finished with 15, and Mayo had 14. Vince Carter scored 17 for Dallas…

Spurs coach Gregg Popovich missed his second straight game because of illness.

— Reported by Schuyler Dixon of the Associated Press

D-Wade scores 29, Heat beat Pistons 110-88

Dwyane Wade scored 29 points and sparked a pivotal run to help the Miami Heat earn their fourth victory in a row Friday by beating the Detroit Pistons 110-88.

The Heat got even for a loss at Detroit on Dec. 28. They improved to 18-3 at home, while the Pistons fell to 4-16 on the road.

After falling behind by nine points, the Heat outscored Detroit 26-4 during a seven-minute stretch in the second quarter to take a 60-47 lead. Wade scored 15 points during the spurt.

LeBron James had 23 points, seven rebounds and seven assists for the Heat, who shot 56 percent. Over the past two seasons, they’re 34-2 when shooting at least 50 percent.

Miami, last in the NBA in rebounds, also won the battle of the boards, 36-35.

Greg Monroe scored 31 points for the Pistons, who never got close in the second half.

One of the night’s biggest cheers came when a 50-year-old computer technician from McHenry, Ill., made a half-court shot to win $75,000 and a hug from James.

As part of a contest sponsored by James’ foundation, Michael Drysch sank a one-handed hook shot from midcourt between periods. James watched from the bench, and when the shot swished in, he happily sprinted at Drysch and embraced him, and both tumbled to the court.

— Reported by Steven Wine of the Associated Press

Kyrie Irving scores 35, Cavs beat Bucks

Kyrie Irving knows how to celebrate good news.

A little over 24 hours after being selected to the Eastern Conference All-Star team in Houston, the Cavaliers’ dynamic point guard put on a show.

Irving scored 35 points and Cleveland rallied from a 20-point deficit in the third quarter to defeat the Milwaukee Bucks 113-108 on Friday night.

The reigning rookie of the year scored 24 points in the second half, including 16 in the third when the Cavaliers got back in the game. Irving added eight points in the final 4:01 as Cleveland posted back-to-back wins for only the second time this season.

Coming off a 40-point performance against Boston on Tuesday, Irving hit 12 of 17 from the field and made all nine of his free throws. He missed one shot in nine attempts in the second half…

Cleveland, which trailed 79-59 midway through the third quarter, took a 96-95 lead on a 3-pointer by newly acquired Wayne Ellington with 6:31 to play. The basket was his first since joining the Cavaliers from Memphis on Tuesday, and it gave Cleveland the lead for good.

Ersan Ilyasova scored a season-high 30 points and Monta Ellis added 21, but the Bucks’ collapse ended their three-game winning streak. Even hitting a season-high 14 3-pointers in 28 attempts couldn’t save Milwaukee…

Tristan Thompson scored 18 points and Dion Waiters added 16 for the Cavaliers. Livingston scored 12 points. Speights had 10 points and had six rebounds in 18 minutes.

Jennings, who was left off the Eastern Conference All-Star team by coaches picking the reserves, scored 14 points for the Bucks, but was 5 of 19 from the field and was scoreless in the first half. He finished with 12 assists. Sanders had 14 points and 11 rebounds.

— Reported by the Associated Press

Wizards keep improving, beat Timberwolves 114-101

At the midpoint of their season, and with John Wall back in the starting lineup, the Washington Wizards finally lifted themselves off the bottom of the NBA.

Wall had 14 points and five assists in his first start of the season, and Washington finally hit double digits in wins Friday night with a 114-101 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves.

The Wizards have won four straight at home and no longer have the league’s worst record, their 10-31 record a half-game better than the Charlotte Bobcats’ 10-32.

”You’re not going to hear any good thing about your team or organization if you’re not winning games, and that’s all we’re trying to do – is just win,” Wall said. ”You don’t want to end up as the last team.”

Wall, who came off the bench for the first seven games after his return from a knee injury, had assists on the Wizards’ first two baskets in a game in which Washington never trailed. He wowed the crowd with a nice spin move for a layup late in the first half and went 6 for 10 from the field in 21 minutes, his playing time still limited after missing 33 games with a stress injury to his left knee cap..

The Wizards are 5-3 since Wall’s return after going 5-28 without him…

Jordan Crawford added 19 points, and Bradley Beal had 16 points and a career-high four blocks for the Wizards, who shot a season-high 58 percent. Beal had the best sequence for anyone not named Wall: The rookie chased down Luke Ridnour to block a fast-break layup, crashed into the front row, got up and hit a jumper at the other end to make the score 70-51 in the third…

Ricky Rubio had four points on 1-for-8 shooting, six assists, five rebounds and five turnovers, another trying day in a difficult week that included an apology to acting coach Terry Porter for getting upset over playing time in the team’s loss to the Brooklyn Nets on Wednesday.

— Reported by Joseph White of the Associated Press

Korver scores 27, Hawks beat Celtics in 2OT

Kyle Korver scored 27 points and the Atlanta Hawks overcame a 27-point deficit in the first half to beat Boston 123-111 in double-overtime on Friday night, handing the Celtics their sixth straight loss.

Jeff Teague had 23 points for Atlanta before fouling out in the first overtime. Al Horford had 24 points and 13 rebounds. Josh Smith, who opened the second overtime with a three-point play, had 17 points and 14 rebounds.

Kevin Garnett had 24 points and 10 rebounds but fouled out in the second overtime as the Celtics were left with their longest losing streak in six years. Rajon Rondo had 16 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds for his fifth triple-double of the season.

Korver had all of his career-high eight 3-pointers in the second half, setting a franchise record, and five in the fourth quarter…

Paul Pierce, who had 12 points, missed a jumper at the end of the first overtime.

The Hawks outscored the Celtics 16-4 in the second overtime.

Jeff Green had 17 points for Boston. Courtney Lee had 16 points and Avery Bradley had 14.

Boston appeared headed for a rout when it led 48-21 in the second quarter. Atlanta trailed 57-38 at halftime following a modest recovery.

Hawks C Zaza Pachulia returned after missing one game with a sore right Achilles.

— Reported by Charles Odum of the Associated Press

Jrue Holiday thrilled with all-star selection

Jrue Holiday said that he kept his composure at the Flyers game on Thursday when he found out that he had been named as one of the seven reserves for the Eastern Conference All-Star Team on Thursday.

But when he got home, well, it sounds like that was a different story.

“I was happy,” said Holiday, one of five first-time all stars named by coaches to Eastern Conference team. “Obviously I contained it until I got home and could express it and not embarrass myself in front of the rest of the world.

“But when I got home I was damn near jumping for joy,” Holiday said. “How many people get to play in the All-Star Game?”

— Reported by John Mitchell of the Philadelphia Inquirer

Luol Deng, Joakim Noah savor All-Star status

The good vibes flowed following Friday’s morning shootaround as Luol Deng and Joakim Noah savored their All-Star status.

Coaches voted Deng to his second straight All-Star reserve selection, while Noah will make his first at the Feb. 17 game in Houston.

“People were coming up to me and saying I had a shot to make it, so it was pretty nerve-wracking,” Noah said. “It’s just an unbelievable honor. I found out (Thursday) night and still can’t believe it.”

The selection prompted a string of eloquent and emotional comments from Noah on his Twitter timeline.

“A lot of people helped me along the way, so there’s definitely a lot of people to thank,” Noah said. “Not only does it make me happy, but it makes a lot of people that were with me happy. A lot of people had to make sacrifices in order to get me where I’m at today, so I just wanted to thank them.” …

Deng agreed that making a second straight All-Star game is special.

— Reported by K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune

Delonte West signs with Texas Legends in the D-League

The Texas Legends have acquired guard Delonte West. West, a former member of the Mavericks, will be making his way back to Dallas in an effort to once again reach the NBA.

West (6-4, 180, St. Joseph’s) was selected 24th overall by the Boston Celtics in the 2004 NBA Draft. West played in Boston for three years averaging 12.25 pts, 3 reb, and 4.4 ast his third season. Following that, West was traded to Cleveland where he played for three years before returning to Boston for the 2010-11 season and then to Dallas where he averaged 9.5 pts, 2.3 reb, and 3.1 ast last season. West helped his team to post-season play in six of his eight seasons in the NBA.

With the acquisition of West, the Texas Legends currently have five former first-round picks on the roster. West also makes the seventh player on the current roster with NBA experience (Justin Dentmon, Melvin Ely, Luther Head, Rashad McCants, Sean Singletary, Delonte West, Sean Williams).

Larry Ellison courted to bid for Sacramento Kings

The Maloofs’ plan to sell the Sacramento Kings to a Seattle group ran into a pair of hurdles Thursday – a possible counteroffer from America’s third richest man and a potential legal challenge from at least one of the Maloofs’ own limited partners.

Larry Ellison, one of the titans of Silicon Valley, is expected to meet soon with Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson about the Kings situation, according to Kings minority owner Bob Cook.

With Cook complaining the Maloofs have improperly shut limited partners out of the bidding, Ellison’s potential interest in the team ramps up the drama even higher. The software tycoon is worth $41 billion and was an unsuccessful bidder for the Golden State Warriors in 2010.

Cook said he asked a Bay Area sports attorney to broker the meeting between Ellison and Johnson, and he expects it will occur soon. The mayor has been recruiting deep-pocketed “whales” to present a competing bid to the NBA that he hopes would derail the Maloofs’ pending sale to an investor group that would move the team to Seattle.

A spokeswoman for Ellison declined comment. The mayor’s office issued this statement: “Out of respect for the private nature of these conversations, we are not commenting on any of the ongoing discussions with potential equity partners, real or imagined.”

By Tony Bizjak, Dale Kasler and Ryan Lillis of the Sacramento Bee

Nets guard C.J. Watson warned for flopping

Nets guard C.J. Watson was warned by the NBA for flopping Thursday for a play in the fourth quarter of Wednesday’s win at Minnesota.

The warning comes as no surprise after Watson all but admitted to flopping to draw an offensive foul on serial offender J.J. Barea with nine minutes to go in the fourth of what became a 91-83 Nets win.

”J.J. Barea’s a flopping guy, so I tried to give him a taste of his own medicine,” Watson told the YES Network in a postgame interview. “I hope I don’t get fined, though.”

— Reported by Tim Bontemps of the New York Post