November 2015 – Page 2 – NBA Blog

Robin Lopez says Brook Lopez`s cat is very two-faced

Now this is a huge story that may shake up the entire sports world. It will certainly create drama out in the streets. Here’s the New York Post reporting:

Leading up to Friday’s Nets vs. Knicks face-off, two of the competing athletes are having a real catfight.

The Knicks’ new 7-foot center, Robin Lopez, has harsh words about his twin brother, Brook, who plays for the crosstown competition.

More specifically, he’s trash-talking his sibling’s pet.

“Brook’s cat is very two-faced,” Robin tells The Post. “Everybody loves Brook’s cat. To everybody’s face, he’s such a nice cat. And it may sound like I’m joking, but I am dead serious. He acts like a lazy, sweet cat when everybody is looking. But when their heads turn, he’ll try to chase after [my cat] Edward. The second I lay eyes on him, he’ll act like, ‘I’m a cherub. I’m innocent.’ I’m not buying it.”

In fact, the brothers don’t live together because of their felines: Brook’s kitty Poupin — French for “chubby” — and Robin’s majestically monikered Prince Edward Zephyr.

Kobe Bryant playing time remains a discussion point

The Lakers are struggling badly this season, as is the legendary Kobe Bryant. And each shot that Kobe takes is a shot that young players who represent the future of the franchise are not taking. But fans want to see Kobe, especially since this may be his final season. As for Kobe’s minutes, here’s the Los Angeles Daily News blog reporting:

Well before Kobe Bryant stepped on the court in his 20th and likely last NBA season, it appeared obvious the Lakers’ slate of 18 back-to-back games would represent a major factor in his workload.

But Lakers coach Byron Scott conceded uncertainty how will handle Bryant’s playing time when the Lakers (2-12) play the Portland Trail Blazers (6-10) on Saturday at Moda Center before hosting the Indiana Pacers (9-5) on Sunday at Staples Center.

“Tomorrow we’ll play him,” Scott said following Friday’s practice at the Lakers’ facility in El Segundo. “Then we’ll see how he looks for Sunday.”

Scott’s approach with Bryant changed through the Lakers’ first set of back-to-backs. Bryant wanted to play as many games as possible considering his admission this will likely mark his last NBA season. But Bryant missed games two weeks ago in Miami and Orlando because of back soreness. Last week, Scott played Bryant 36 minutes in a win over Detroit before deciding to sit him the next night in Phoenix.

Little playing time in Toronto for James Johnson

Here’s the Toronto Star reporting on Raptors forward James Johnson, who isn’t spending much time on the court these days:

James Johnson was in a long conversation with Raptors assistant general manager Jeff Weltman on Friday morning when the media was ushered into practice, one of a series of chats between management, coaches and the seemingly disgruntled forward over the previous 30 hours or so.

Johnson didn’t talk with reporters after that conversation and neither did anyone from management, but coach Dwane Casey said Johnson’s mid-week Twitter description of himself as “under-utilized” has been dealt with internally and the matter has been put to rest.

“In today’s NBA, you’re not surprised by anything,” Casey said. “It’s not a big deal, he tweeted something he probably shouldn’t have tweeted. We talked to James and handled it internally. Everybody understands their role and what his job is. We’ll move on.”

Johnson stepped back from his initial tweet hours later on Thursday, but the central issue is there just isn’t a lot of playing time available to him.

Bucks coach Jason Kidd suspended one game

Milwaukee Bucks head coach Jason Kidd has been suspended one game without pay for aggressively pursuing and confronting a game official, slapping the ball out of his hands, and not leaving the court in a timely manner upon his ejection, it was announced today by Kiki VanDeWeghe, Executive Vice President, Basketball Operations.

The incident, for which Kidd was assessed a technical foul and ejected, occurred with 1:49 remaining in the fourth quarter of Milwaukee’s 129-118 loss to the Sacramento Kings on Wednesday, Nov. 25 at BMO Harris Bradley Center.

Kidd will serve his suspension tonight when the Bucks play the Orlando Magic at Amway Center.

To view the play, click on this link.

Suns sign Bryce Cotton

The Phoenix Suns announced today they have signed free agent guard Bryce Cotton. The third “Call-Up” from the D-League in the NBA this season, Cotton has averaged 22.0 points on 58.7 percent shooting from the field, 61.9 percent from three-point territory and 91.3 percent from the free-throw line in four games with the Austin Spurs of the NBA Development League.

Cotton, a 6-1, 165-pound guard, played in 15 games as a rookie with the Utah Jazz last season. He averaged 5.3 points for the season and scored in double-digits in each of his final four appearances, including a career-high 21 points on April 13 against Dallas.

Undrafted in the 2014 NBA Draft, Cotton played in 34 games with the Austin Spurs in 2014-15 before joining the Jazz. Cotton was named All-NBA D-League Second Team and NBA D-League All-Rookie First Team after averaging 22.4 points (47.0 FG%, 44.3 3FG%, 90.0 FT%), 4.7 rebounds, 4.6 assists and 1.3 steals in 34 games with Austin.

A native of Tucson, Cotton was named First Team All-Class 4A in the state by The Arizona Republic in 2010 as he completed a standout career at Palo Verde High School. Cotton played collegiately at Providence College where he twice earned First Team All-Big East distinction and was named Big East Tournament MVP in 2014 after leading the Friars to the title.

Cotton will wear number 8. The Suns’ roster now stands at 15.

Kobe unleashes brickfest vs Warriors

Here’s ESPN.com reporting on Kobe Bryant, who may be playing his final season in the league and unleashed a brutal brickfest yesterday against the Golden State Warriors:

A thin line separates confidence and delusion, and Kobe Bryant is straddling it. It’s the only objective conclusion one could reach after judging the Los Angeles Lakers star’s comments Tuesday after he tied the worst shooting performance of his career in any game in which he attempted at least five shots.

In a humiliating 111-77 loss to the Golden State Warriors at Oracle Arena, Bryant shot 1-of-14 from the field, including 1-of-7 from 3-point range, and scored 4 points. He also shot 1-of-14 in a loss last season to the San Antonio Spurs.

Bryant is the first player this season with 4 or fewer points on 14 or more field goal attempts.

Many of his shots hit the front of the rim. Some 3-point attempts were air-balls. He blew one layup that should have been a dunk — and probably would have been years ago, before all his injuries. And one shot, perhaps the cruelest of all, became lodged where the rim and backboard meet. An opposing player had to help pry it loose.

Warriors set record for best start ever to an NBA season

The 2015 NBA Champion Golden State Warriors set the NBA record for best start to a season by improving to 16-0 with tonight’s 111-77 win vs. the Lakers, besting the previous mark of 15-0 set by the 1948-49 Washington Capitols and 1993-94 Houston Rockets.

Dating back to 2014-15, the Warriors have won 20 consecutive regular-season games, extending a franchise-record streak and becoming the sixth team in NBA history to win 20-straight regular-season contests. The Warriors also extended their franchise-record regular-season home win streak to 27 consecutive games, becoming the 12th team in NBA history to win 27-straight at home.

The Warriors, who posted a franchise-best record of 67-15 before capturing the 2015 NBA title, are now 83-15 (.847) in the regular season dating back to 2014-15 and 99-20 (.832) including the playoffs.

Raptors assign Delon Wright to D-League

The Toronto Raptors announced Tuesday they have assigned guard Delon Wright to Raptors 905, the NBA Development League affiliate of the Raptors. Wright is expected to be in the lineup Wednesday when Raptors 905 hosts the Idaho Stampede at Hershey Centre at 7:30 p.m.

Wright has appeared in four games with the Raptors this season, totaling four rebounds in 10 minutes of action. Wright was selected 20th overall by Toronto in the 2015 NBA Draft.

Wright will continue to be included on the Raptors’ roster and will remain on the team’s inactive list.

Good Mavericks debut for JaVale McGee

Here’s the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reporting on Dallas Mavericks center JaVale McGree, who finally made his debut for the team and by all accounts did quite well:

He’s only played one game and 11 minutes. But the Dallas Mavericks seemingly all smile in unison when center JaVale McGee’s name is mentioned.

McGee played his first game of the season this past Sunday in Oklahoma City and responded with eight points and six rebounds, and was 4-of-5 from the field. Not that for a guy who missed the entire training camp, preseason and first 12 regular season games while dealing with a stress fracture in his left leg.

“He did a lot of good things on offense the other night,’’ coach Rick Carlisle said after Tuesday morning’s shootaround at the FedEx Forum. “Defensively he’s a little behind because of the (lack of) reps.” …

Zaza Pachulia is the Mavs’ starting center, and Dwight Powell usually is the first pivotman off the bench. But the Mavs now have an added bonus in McGee, who is 7-1 and weighs 270 pounds and has the athleticism the aforementioned two players lack.

Derrick Rose set to return for Bulls

The Chicago Bulls are getting their point guard back tonight. Here’s ESPN.com reporting:

Chicago Bulls point guard Derrick Rose will play Tuesday against the Portland Trail Blazers after missing the last two games because of a sprained left ankle.

“Derrick’s good to go tonight,” Bulls coach Fred Hoiberg said. “Everything went well [in shootaround]. He felt really good after the last couple days of practice, so yeah, he’s ready to go.”

Rose, who initially sprained his ankle on Nov. 16 in a win over the Indiana Pacers, is in good spirits heading into his return.