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Dallas Mavericks forward Shawn Marion has been ruled out of Thursday’s game against the San Antonio Spurs and will be re-evaluated Friday morning by team doctor T.O. Souryal.
Marion has missed the previous three games because of a bruised left calf suffered during the Mavs’ March 6 win over the Houston Rockets. The Mavs had considered Marion to be day to day, but the calf has not been recovering as well as anticipated.
— Reported by Tim MacMahon of ESPN Dallas
The Los Angeles D-Fenders, of the NBA Development League, have acquired former 2010 first round NBA Draft pick Craig Brackins, it was announced today.
Brackins, a 6-10, 230 pound forward, most recently played for Angelico Biella (Italy) where he was voted to the Italian SerieA All-Star Game. The 21st overall selection in the 2010 NBA Draft, Brackins joined the Oklahoma City Thunder and was subsequently moved on draft day to the New Orleans Hornets before ultimately landing with the Philadelphia 76ers. In 17 career NBA games with the 76ers, Brackins averaged 1.8 points (30 total points), 1.1 rebounds (19 total rebounds) and 0.5 assists (9 total assists) in 7.1 minutes per game. Brackins also brings NBA Development League experience to the D-Fenders, averaging 19.7 points, 8.8 rebounds and 2.2 assists in 25 career games with the Springfield Armor and Maine Red Claws.
A standout at Iowa State University, Brackins was named to the All-Big 12 First Team (2009) and All-Big 12 Second Team (2010) and received an Associated Press NCAA All-America Honorable Mention nod (2009). In three seasons at Iowa State, Brackins averaged 16.0 points and 7.7 rebounds over 96 games, finishing his career ranked 12th all-time in points scored (1,539) and eighth in rebounds (736).
The Cleveland Cavaliers today re-assigned rookie forward Kevin Jones to the Canton Charge, Cleveland’s NBA Development League affiliate. The assignment is the sixth of Jones’ career and the record 152nd of the 2012-13 NBA and NBA D-League seasons. Jones is one of the record 56 players to have been assigned to the NBA D-League this season.
Jones (6-8, 260, West Virginia) has appeared in 19 games for Cleveland this season, averaging 2.1 points, 1.7 rebounds and 9.0 minutes.
In four previous stints with Canton this season, Jones appeared in nine games, averaging 22.4 points, 12.1 rebounds and 38.2 minutes. In his last assignment with Canton on March 2, Jones recorded a 17-point, 12-rebond double-double as the Charge defeated the Springfield Armor 112-111.
Jones is expected to join Canton today and be available when the team hosts the Bakersfield Jam at 7 p.m. ET.
InsideHoops.com editor says: The Cavs love sending Jones to the D-League. It’s fun. It’s the team’s favorite current hobby. It’s in right now.
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The Toronto Raptors announced Wednesday that forward Andrea Bargnani is expected to be sidelined for the remainder of the 2012-13 season with an avulsion sprain of the right elbow. This injury is not related to his previous right elbow injury that sidelined him for 26 games (December 12 – February 3).
Bargnani left at the 3:08 mark in the first quarter March 8 against the Los Angeles Lakers and did not return. He appeared in 14 of 15 games prior to this injury, including four straight starts (March 2-8).
Bargnani this season was averaging just 12.7 points and 3.7 rebounds per game, on just 40% shooting from the field.
The 25-39 Raptors are currently the 9th seed in the Eastern conference, but a full eight games behind the Milwaukee Bucks at 8th.
InsideHoops.com editor says: The Raptors appeared to be ready to flirt with making the playoffs in the East, but they’re pretty far behind the 8th spot right now. As for Bargnani, he was having a disappointing season, and I’m not sure this will affect them as the season winds down.
New York Knicks Legend and Basketball Hall of Famer Patrick Ewing has wanted to work for the team — as a head or at least assistant coach — for quite some time now.
Well, this is something, at least.
Ewing will join MSG Network’s postgame coverage of the Knicks on Wednesday, March 20 when the team faces the Orlando Magic and on Sunday, March 31 when the Knicks take on the Boston Celtics. Both games are at Madison Square Garden and start at 7:30 p.m.
Immediately following each game, the 11-time NBA All-Star will appear on MSG’s Knicks postgame coverage, including the “Ford Knicks Postgame Show” and “Knicks Extra,” with host Al Trautwig and analyst Alan Hahn from the Geico MSG Studios.
“It’s always good to be back at The Garden,” said Ewing. “The Garden is home, New York is home, and the fans always appreciated what I brought to the table when I played. I’m really looking forward to working with MSG, it will be a great learning experience for me, and I’m excited to be on the other side of the mic.”
“With Patrick Ewing in our studio and Walt ‘Clyde’ Frazier in the Arena, we will arguably have two of the greatest Knicks of all-time on our game coverage for these two games,” said Daniel Ronayne, executive vice president and general manager, MSG Networks. “Patrick’s knowledge of the team and New York basketball will give viewers a unique perspective on the results of both games.”
The Dallas Mavericks announced today that they have signed free agent guard Chris Wright to a 10-day contract.
Wright (6-1, 210) played collegiately at Georgetown and went undrafted in the 2011 NBA Draft. He spent the 2012 training camp with the New Orleans Hornets before joining the Iowa Energy of the NBA Development League for the 2012-13 campaign.
According to ESPN Dallas, “Wright became the first-known NBA player to acknowledge having multiple sclerosis when he signed a 10-day deal with Dallas and joined the Mavs in San Antonio. That’s a fact that Wright is especially proud of after earning a call-up from the D-League. “That’s definitely one of the things I pride myself on, being the face of it and being an inspiration and motivation for people to keep fighting.” said Wright, who averaged 15.5 points, 7.0 assists, 4.3 rebounds and 1.6 steals for the Iowa Energy this season to earn a D-League All-Star bid. “I made history with this.”
In 38 games (all starts) for the Energy, Wright averaged 15.5 points, 4.3 rebounds, 7.0 assists, 1.6 steals and 37.0 minutes per game en route to earning NBA Development League All-Star honors.
A native of Bowie, Md., Wright played professionally for Olin Edime of the Turkish Basketball League in 2011-12.
Wright is expected to join the team in San Antonio and be available for the game against the Spurs on March 14. He will wear No. 8 for the Mavericks.
The Mavericks’ roster now stands at 15 players.
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The Charlotte Bobcats plan to sign eight-season NBA veteran Jannero Pargo on Wednesday to shore up depth at the point guard position, an informed source told the Observer.
For Pargo, 33, this will be his seventh NBA franchise. He spent portions of this season with the Washington Wizards and Atlanta Hawks after previous stints with the Los Angeles Lakers, Toronto Raptors, Chicago Bulls and New Orleans Hornets.
The Bobcats are expected to sign Pargo to a 10-day contract, after the team lost reserve point guard Ramon Sessions for up to a month with a sprained left knee.
— Reported by Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer
The injury-depleted Minnesota Timberwolves beat the injury-depleted San Antonio Spurs 107-83 on Tuesday. With Tony Parker out, Wolves point guard Ricky Rubio went off, shooting 9-of-17 for 21 points, 13 rebounds and 12 assists.
Here are video highlight of Rubio’s first NBA career triple-double:
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Vince Carter may not be able to throw down big dunks like he used to, though he can still knock down big shots.
Carter hit three key 3-pointers in the fourth quarter and scored 23 points off the bench as the Dallas Mavericks won their fourth straight with a 115-108 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks on Tuesday night.
”I felt in the groove,” Carter said. ”The basket just seemed extremely big, and I felt comfortable with my shot. I was just in the flow of the game. A couple of shots, once I let them go, I happened to look down and see the 3-point line was up there. Oops. I know if I don’t make them, Coach is going to yell. But I was just prepared. I had my feet set, in rhythm, just in attack mode.” …
The Mavericks, who are three games out of the eighth spot in the Western Conference playoff race, know now is the time to get going if they are to make the postseason for the 13th consecutive time…
Dirk Nowitzki added 19 points, 17 in the first half, and 11 rebounds, while O.J. Mayo had 14 points. Mavericks rookie and former Marquette star Jae Crowder, last year’s Big East player of the year, was one off his career high with 14 points.
Monta Ellis scored 32 points for the Bucks, giving him 20 or more in all six of Milwaukee’s games this month. Ellis has been putting up big numbers since the All-Star break, averaging 23.7 points.
— Reported by the Associated Press
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There hasn’t been much to cheer about at Target Center while the Minnesota Timberwolves endure another long, painful march toward another draft lottery.
Wolves fans do have Ricky Rubio, though. And that was enough on Tuesday night.
Rubio had his first career triple-double with 21 points, 13 rebounds and 12 assists, leading the Timberwolves to a 107-83 victory over the San Antonio Spurs…
Rubio made 9 of 17 shots and grabbed his 10th board with 9:14 to play in the game, earning a standing ovation from the long-suffering Wolves fans. Alexey Shved broke out of a big slump to score 16 points and Barea had 17 for the Wolves, who hit 12 3-pointers…
Stephen Jackson had 14 points and Danny Green 10 for the Spurs, who left Tim Duncan and Kawhi Leonard at home to rest after they throttled Oklahoma City on Monday night. San Antonio turned the ball over 17 times, leading to 30 points for Minnesota, and shot just 35.4 percent…
”We’ve got to get things together and go back to who we were,” said Manu Ginobili, who had seven points on 2-for-10 shooting. ”Because it’s happening too often now.” …
Duncan and Leonard stayed back in San Antonio for the second half of a back-to-back with what the team called sore left knees. But coach Gregg Popovich has been known to rest players, especially older veterans like Duncan on back-to-backs. Point guard Tony Parker is also out for another few weeks with a sprained left ankle, so the Spurs started Jackson, Matt Bonner and Cory Joseph in their places.
— Reported by Jon Krawczynski of the Associated Press
RELATED: Watch video of Rubio’s triple-double.