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NBA Blog: The NBA basketball news blog section of Inside Hoops
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Sacramento Kings guard Ben McLemore suffered a non-displaced fracture of his right ring fingertip during the contest last night at New Orleans, an X-ray taken at Kaiser Permanente confirmed this afternoon.
McLemore will be listed as questionable for tomorrow’s home game against Cleveland and day-to-day moving forward.
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Free-agent-to-be Lance Thomas suffered a non-contact knee injury while warming up for Tuesday’s game in Denver against the Nuggets.
The backup Knicks swingman planted his foot while preparing to take a shot and came up limping, requiring help from assistant coach Brian Keefe to walk off the court.
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Another season, another big injury to guard Eric Gordon.
The New Orleans Pelicans announced today that Gordon underwent successful surgery this afternoon to repair his fractured right ring finger. He will miss the remainder of the 2015-16 season.
Gordon, 6-4, 215, has appeared in 45 games this season for New Orleans, averaging 15.2 points, 2.7 assists, 2.2 rebounds and 1.0 steals in 32.9 minutes per contest.
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The Phoenix Suns today signed forward/center and Phoenix native Alan Williams to a 10-day contract.
Williams, who went undrafted in 2015, has most recently played with Qingdao DoubleStar of the Chinese Basketball Association where he led the league with an average of 15.4 rebounds in 35 games this season, in addition to scoring 20.8 points per contest. Williams played with Charlotte and Houston at NBA Summer League 2015, averaging 20.5 points and 11.8 rebounds in four games with the Rockets in Las Vegas. He earned All-NBA Summer League Second Team honors with his top performances including a 22-point, 21-rebound game against Philadelphia on July 17 and a 27-point, 10-rebound game against the D-League Select team on July 10.
A 6-8, 260-pound post player, Williams completed a decorated four-year career at UC Santa Barbara in 2015. The Gauchos’ all-time leading rebounder (1,125) and second-leading scorer (1,732), Williams led the nation with an average of 11.8 rebounds in 2014-15 and ranked second nationally with 11.5 in 2013-14. He was named Big West Player of the Year after averaging a career-best 21.3 points in 2013-14 as he averaged 15.5 points in 112 career appearances.
Born in Phoenix, Williams attended North High School where he was a part of two state title teams and was named All-Arizona as a senior in 2011.
Williams will wear uniform number 15. The Suns’ roster now stands at 15
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The Phoenix Suns today signed forward Chase Budinger.
Budinger (pronounced BUD-in-grr), a 6-7, 215-pound veteran, is in his seventh NBA season. He played in 49 games with Indiana this season, averaging 4.4 points and 2.5 rebounds in 14.9 minutes and scoring in double-digits eight times, including a season-high 15 points at Philadelphia on Nov. 18.
The 27-year-old has averaged 8.1 points, 3.1 rebounds and 20.0 minutes in 390 career games (50 starts) with Houston (2009-12), Minnesota (2012-15) and Indiana (2015-16). Budinger has recorded 152 career double-digit scoring games, 14 with 20-plus points and two with 30-plus, including a career-high 35 points while with the Rockets at Minnesota on April 13, 2011.
Originally the 44th overall pick of the 2009 NBA Draft, Budinger averaged a career-best 9.8 points in 78 games with Houston in the 2010-11 season, also averaging just shy of that mark with 9.6 points while shooting 40.2 percent from three-point territory in 2011-12. The former prep volleyball star put his athleticism and leaping ability on display with a runner-up finish in the 2012 Slam Dunk contest at NBA All-Star in Orlando.
A native of Encinitas, Calif., Budinger played three years collegiately at the University of Arizona from 2006-09, earning induction into the Wildcats’ Ring of Honor in 2011. Budinger averaged 17.0 points and 5.8 rebounds over his three seasons in Tucson, including 18.0 points as a junior in 2008-09 when he was named to the All-Pac 10 First Team. With 1,697 career points, Budinger remains 11th on Arizona’s all-time scoring leaderboard and first among those to play fewer than four seasons.
Budinger will wear uniform number 10.
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The Brooklyn Nets have hired Trajan Langdon as assistant general manager.
“We are very pleased to welcome Trajan and his family to the Brooklyn Nets,” said General Manager Sean Marks. “Trajan is someone I worked with closely at the Spurs, and he brings a unique combination of NBA and European experience to the position. Trajan’s recent front office post with Cleveland added to his professional resume, and I want to thank the Cavs for their cooperation in this effort. The Nets look forward to Trajan’s contributions.”
Langdon joins Brooklyn after having served as director of player administration and basketball operations for the Cavaliers since September, 2015. While with the Cavs, Langdon worked with the team’s general manager on basketball and front office matters, with their community relations team on player programs, and was responsible for pro player personnel reporting for opponents, college and NBA Development League scouting. Langdon began his NBA front office career with the Spurs, working as a pro scout from 2012-15, and was a member of the team’s front office during their 2013-14 championship season.
A first round pick (11th overall) of the Cavaliers in 1999, Langdon played three seasons with Cleveland, where he totaled 119 games, and became the first Alaskan to play in the NBA. Following his stint in the NBA, Langdon played nine seasons overseas in Russia, Turkey and Italy. His best years came with CSKA Moscow, where he was a two-time Euroleague champion (2006, 2008), Euroleague Final Four MVP (2008), two-time All-Euroleague First Team selection (2007, 2008) and All-Euroleague Second Team selection (2006). He was also named to the Euroleague 2001-10 All-Decade Team.
A native of Anchorage, Alaska, Langdon played collegiately at Duke where he left as the school’s all-time leader in three-point field goals made and was a First-Team All-ACC selection (1997-99) and consensus Second-Team All-American (1999). After graduating from Duke with degrees in mathematics and history, he played for the USA Basketball National Team in the 1998 FIBA World Championship, winning the bronze medal.
The Philadelphia 76ers have claimed guard-forward Sonny Weems off of waivers.
Weems has appeared in 176 career games in four NBA seasons and has posted averages of seven points and two rebounds in 19 minutes per game. He was originally selected by the Chicago Bulls with the 39th overall pick in the 2008 NBA Draft after two seasons at the University of Arkansas.
Weems played overseas from 2011-2015, before returning the NBA this season with Phoenix where he appeared in 36 games and averaged three points in 12 minutes per game.
In a related move, the team has released Christian Wood.
Jazz forward Derrick Favors had 28 points, 11 rebounds and six blocked shots in Saturday’s win over New Orleans, making him the only player this season with more than one game of at least 25 points, 10 boards and five blocks.
Pacers forward Paul George has scored at least 30 points in 20 of 63 games this season. He entered this season with 15 career 30-point performances in 292 games.
Heat guard Goran Dragic is averaging 19.2 points, 7.2 assists and 5.4 rebounds in his last 10 games – an 8-2 stretch for Miami, which has closed within a half-game of Boston for third place in the East.
Miami guard Dwyane Wade needs 70 points to reach 20,000 for his career.
The Mavericks on Sunday played their NBA-high 11th overtime game this season (7-4), three shy of the league record. The 1990-91 76ers played 14 overtime games.
Rockets guard James Harden is averaging 36.6 points, 7.4 assists and 6.0 rebounds in his last seven games.
Suns center Alex Len is averaging 19.0 points and 12.4 rebounds in eight games since the All-Star break.
The Pistons have matched last season’s win total (32) in 63 games.
Nuggets guard D.J. Augustin is averaging 12.8 points in 23.2 minutes over nine games since being acquired from Oklahoma City.
— VIA NBA News
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Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James on Saturday passed San Antonio’s Tim Duncan for 14th place on the NBA’s career scoring list. James (26,378 points) moved into third place among active players, behind the Lakers’ Kobe Bryant (33,335, third all time) and Dallas’ Dirk Nowitzki (29,136, sixth all time). The Cavaliers’ forward is set to rise another spot on the all-time list as soon as tonight against the Grizzlies (7 p.m. ET, NBA TV): He needs 18 points to pass John Havlicek for 13th place. In addition, James is only 20 assists shy of supplanting Kevin Johnson (6,711) for 19th place in NBA history.
— Via NBA News
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Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo has been bringing all his skills to bear lately. The third-year forward has recorded all three of his career triple-doubles in his last seven games, and he missed a fourth by one rebound. The 21-year-old is the first Buck with three triple-doubles in a season since Alvin Robertson in 1990-91. Antetokounmpo is posting career highs across the board, from points, rebounds and assists, to blocks and steals, to field goal percentage and free throw percentage. He is one of five players averaging at least 16 points, seven rebounds, three assists, one block and one steal, according to NBA.com/Stats, joining DeMarcus Cousins, Kevin Durant, Marc Gasol and Paul Millsap.
— Via NBA News