March 2013 – Page 14 – NBA Blog

Larry Sanders fined $50,000 by NBA

Larry Sanders of the Milwaukee Bucks has been fined $50,000 for using a derogatory and offensive term and publicly criticizing the officials, it was announced today by Stu Jackson, Executive Vice President, Basketball Operations.

With 2:44 in the fourth quarter of the Bucks 107-94 home loss to the Miami Heat on Friday Sanders directed a derogatory and offensive term to the officials and was subsequently ejected. Following the game he publicly criticized the officials.

According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, “Sanders argued after being called for fouling Heat star LeBron James on a drive to the basket. Sanders was ejected from back-to-back games last week against Washington and Miami. He has been ejected four times this season. There were no incidents with Sanders as the Bucks beat the Orlando Magic, 115-109, on Sunday at the BMO Harris Bradley Center.”

Heat pull away from Raptors, win 22nd straight game

The Miami Heat equaled the second-longest winning streak in NBA history, pulling away in the fourth quarter Sunday to beat the Toronto Raptors 108-91 for their 22nd consecutive victory.

LeBron James had 22 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists, Dwyane Wade added 24 points and nine assists, and Ray Allen scored 16 of his 20 points in the fourth quarter for the defending NBA champions.

Chris Bosh finished with 18 points as the Heat tied the 2007-08 Houston Rockets for the second-longest winning streak in NBA history. The longest is 33 games, set by the 1971-72 Los Angeles Lakers.

Miami will try to move into sole possession of second on Monday when it visits the Boston Celtics – who ended the Rockets’ run five years ago…

Rudy Gay scored 27 and Amir Johnson had 18 points and 18 rebounds as the Raptors lost their 11th straight against Miami, extending their longest active losing streak against a single opponent.

Jonas Valanciunas scored 18 points, and Terrence Ross and DeMar DeRozan each had 12 for the Raptors, whose last victory over the Heat was a 111-103 home win on Jan. 27, 2010 – when Bosh still played for Toronto and James was in Cleveland.

— Reported by Ian Harrison of the Associated Press

Celtics beat Bobcats for 11th straight home win

Paul Pierce had 14 points, eight assists and six rebounds before sitting out the fourth quarter, and the Boston Celtics won their 11th straight at home, beating the Charlotte Bobcats 105-88 on Saturday night.

Avery Bradley scored 13 and Courtney Lee had 12 points and five assists as the Celtics beat the Bobcats for the first time in three meetings this season. Two of the Bobcats’ NBA-low 14 wins came against the Celtics, including a 100-74 blowout in Charlotte on Tuesday.

Kevin Garnett sat out with a strained left thigh muscle, but the Celtics had more than enough to overwhelm the Bobcats this time.

Jeff Green and Brandon Bass scored 10 apiece as all five starters were in double figures.

Jason Terry led Boston’s reserves with 15 points and Shavlik Randolph, signed earlier in the week to his second 10-day contract, had six points and a team-high eight rebounds.

All 11 players who dressed for Boston scored at least five points.

Jannero Pargo led Charlotte with 18 points. Gerald Henderson had 16 points, Kemba Walker scored 14 and Josh McRoberts pulled down 10 rebounds for the Bobcats, who lost for the 12th time in 13 games. Charlotte’s only win during that stretch was Tuesday against the Celtics, when Pierce rested.

— Reported by the Associated Press

Huge game from Spencer Hawes helps Sixers beat Pacers

Spencer Hawes had 18 points and career highs with 16 rebounds and seven blocked shots to lead the Philadelphia 76ers to a 98-91 victory over the Indiana Pacers on Saturday night.

Jrue Holiday added 27 points and 12 assists to help the Sixers win for only the third time in 15 games. While the Sixers are one of the worst road teams in the league, they are 19-17 at home.

The Sixers led by one at the end of the third quarter, then opened the fourth on a 19-4 run to put away the Pacers. Evan Turner and Thaddeus Young each contributed some lead-stretching buckets in the fourth to put all five starters in double figures.

Roy Hibbert had 25 points and 10 rebounds for the Pacers.

The 76ers had enough this time to finish off one of the top teams in the Eastern Conference. They had a late lead and the Heat on the ropes until they blew it and lost by four Wednesday night.

Just like they did against Miami, the Sixers got into an early groove in the quarter to put the upset alert on notice. Dorell Wright hit a 3-pointer and Lavoy Allen came off the bench to score his first two baskets to get a big run going. They forced turnovers on consecutive possessions at one point during the spurt and built a 10-point lead.

— Reported by Dan Gelston of the Associated Press

Martell Webster scores 34, Wizards crush Suns

Martell Webster scored a career-high 34 points and became the Washington Wizards’ first 30-point scorer this season in a 127-105 victory over the Phoenix Suns on Saturday night.

John Wall added 17 points and 11 assists as Washington won its fourth straight at home and third straight overall while setting its season high in scoring.

Emeka Okafor added 17 points and 10 rebounds as Washington snapped a 10-game losing streak to Phoenix, dating to 2006.

Michael Beasley scored 21 points and Goran Dragic added 12 points and 11 assists as the Suns lost their fourth straight and their sixth of eight in March.

Phoenix now owns the worst record in the Western Conference, a half-game behind idle New Orleans.

Webster matched a career high with seven 3-pointers, his last coming on the left wing just moments into the fourth quarter to make it 105-84. Webster shrugged toward his bench after the basket, then followed with a reverse dunk to push it to 109-86.

— Reported by the Associated Press

Hornets continue to struggle defensively despite extra work

There are 16 games remaining in the regular season and it doesn’t appear the New Orleans Hornets are any closer to solving their glaring defensive problems than they were two months ago.

It hasn’t mattered how long Hornets Coach Monty Williams puts his team through video sessions to go over mistakes or have walk-through practices or shootarounds to emphasize specific defensive assignments, it’s still not carrying over into games. The Hornets continue to struggle with their defensive rotations that causes them to give up too many open shots on the perimeter and drives into the lane that leads to layups or dunks.

“We’ve had a number of breakdowns and that falls square on my shoulders,’’ Williams said. “I have to get guys in the game who want to compete for 48 minutes. There is no margin for error with this team, especially when you have lost guys like Jason Smith (injured) and you don’t have experience.’’

— Reported by John Reid of the New Orleans Times-Picayune

Hawks have chance to make up ground on Nets

At least one Hawks player is looking at Sunday’s key matchup against the Nets with an eye toward the playoffs.

DeShawn Stevenson said there is a something more at stake in the game.

“It means a lot because we might end up playing them (in the playoffs),” Stevenson said. “We don’t want to be down 3-1. That game is important.”

The Hawks have lost two of three meetings with the Nets this season, including a poor performance March 9 in a 93-80 loss at Philips Arena.

The Hawks (36-29) have the same record as the Bulls, who own the tiebreaker, for the fifth spot in the Eastern Conference. They are two games behind the fourth-place Nets (38-27). The Celtics, who played the Bobcats on Saturday, would make it a three-way tie with win.

— Reported by Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal Constitution

Cavs players love their basketball shoes

After Dion Waiters departed the arena after a typical home game in late January, left behind in his locker were a towel, a mesh laundry bag, some workout clothes … and 11 pairs of Nike sneakers.

C.J. Miles estimated he has owned more than 800 pairs of shoes in his life. Daniel Gibson owns a pair of pink Converse, shoes with spikes on them and Louis Vuitton gold shoes he refers to as “shoe jewelry.” Gibson owns so many shoes, he built a closet in his bedroom just to store them all. Of course his wife, R&B singer Keyshia Cole, has quite a few pairs in there, as well.

The combination of shoe deals and unlimited millions for playing in the NBA has created a sort of shoe fetish within the league. Players pay attention to what is on their feet both on and off the court, and for various reasons — some of which are fairly practical.

When it was time to sign his shoe deal, Kyrie Irving chose Nike over Under Armour and Adidas in part because of how the shoe giant molded special footwear to protect his toe when he was returning from surgery for the NCAA tournament at Duke.

— Reported by Jason Lloyd of the Akron Beacon Journal

George Hill annoyed by lack of Indiana fan support in Lakers at Pacers game

Pacers guard George Hill was bothered by how many Lakers fans took over an Indiana home game Friday night.

“They always say your fans are your sixth man and you feed off that energy,” Hill told Mike Wells of IndyStar.com. “Energy is down and we turn the ball over and we’re hearing cheers. We’re missing shots and we’re hearing cheers.”

The Lakers pulled out a 99-93 victory at Indianapolis despite Kobe Bryant going scoreless in only 12 minutes with a sprained ankle.

“It was like 70/30 out there,” said Hill of the Lakers-to-Pacers fans ratio. “These are the same people that want autographs after the game. We’re out there in the community. We’re doing our job, doing what we’re supposed to do on and off the court. Something has to change.”

— Reported by Eric Pincus of the Los Angeles Times (Blog)

George Hill: “It sucks. It was 70 (Lakers fans) – 30 (Pacers fans) out there. These are the same people that wants autographs after the game. We’re out there in the community. We’re doing our job, doing what we’re supposed to do on and off the court. Something has to change. I tip my hat to this team. We’ve been trouble free. Been out in the community shaking hands, we’re winning. It shouldn’t feel like an away game, especially with an important like this. Tonight, that’s what it felt like.”

George Hill: “They always say your fans are your sixth man and you feed off that energy. Energy is down and we turn the ball over and we’re hearing cheers. We’re missing shots and we’re hearing cheers. That kind of brings your head down cause you know you’re at home. It shouldn’t be like that. Now we see how it is. We have to move forward, don’t worry about. Stay focus on what’s in this locker room and don’t worry about the rest.”

— Reported by Mike Wells of the Indianapolis Star (Blog)

Nets recall Tornike Shengelia and Tyshawn Taylor from D-League

The Brooklyn Nets have recalled forward Tornike Shengelia and guard Tyshawn Taylor from the Springfield Armor of the NBA Development League, it was announced today by General Manager Billy King. The two players were assigned to Springfield on March 15.

In seven games for the Armor this season, Shengelia holds D-League averages of 25.1 points, 8.6 rebounds, 4.6 assists and 2.3 steals per game. Shengelia posted an Armor franchise-high tying 39 points to go along with 18 rebounds on January 24 vs. Maine after recording a triple-double in his D-League debut December 21 against Erie. Last night, the 6’8’’ rookie notched 15 points with five rebounds and two assists.

Taylor has averaged 25.4 points, 7.6 assists and 4.2 rebounds in five D-League contests this season, including a 32-point performance in his debut December 21 against Erie and two double-doubles in his ensuing three games. In his most recent outing, the rookie out of Kansas posted 21 points, eight assists, four rebounds and two steals.