April 2016 – Page 5 – NBA Blog

Very rough Nets season almost over

Here’s the New York Post reporting on the Brooklyn Nets, whose season was a bit lacking in the wins department:

As the shorthanded Nets stumble to the finish of this painfully long season, interim coach Tony Brown has begged with them to show some grit. In Monday’s 120-111 loss at Washington — the first quasi-competitive effort in their nine-game skid — the Nets actually showed some fight, even if it was against each other.

After the Nets had come out flat to dig themselves a 20-0 hole right from the start, Brown benched his starters and watched his bench claw back into the game, eventually leading 85-79. And in the second quarter, backup Sean Kilpatrick had a confrontation with Bojan Bogdanovic, one both claimed was nothing but a positive.

“Honestly, I think that’s good for the team, especially when we lose a couple of games,’’ said Bogdanovic. “We have to get some fire, fight with each other a little bit to wake up everybody. So, there is not a problem between me and Sean.’’

The Nets — who are 21-60 and finish their season Wednesday vs. Toronto — haven’t just been asleep, but comatose. Before Monday’s six-point loss, they’d dropped eight straight by an average of almost 19.3 points, every one by double-digits.

Phoenix Suns buy Bakersfield Jam D-League team

The NBA Development League, the Phoenix Suns and the Town of Prescott Valley, Ariz., announced today that the Suns have acquired the Bakersfield Jam and are relocating the team to Prescott Valley. The Suns become the 15th NBA team to own and operate its NBA D-League affiliate.

The team will be known as the Northern Arizona Suns and will play a 24-game home schedule at the 5,100-seat Prescott Valley Event Center (PVEC) beginning with the 2016-17 season.

“Today’s announcement is exciting not only to have the Phoenix Suns join the ranks of NBA D-League owners, but also to welcome Prescott Valley to the NBA D-League family of communities,” said NBA D-League President Malcolm Turner. “I’m looking forward to watching the Northern Arizona Suns take the court in November.”

The Bakersfield Jam has served as the Suns’ single-affiliate NBA D-League team the past two seasons, with the NBA franchise running basketball operations. The Suns will now assume business operations for the organization, with the new team serving as an extension of the Phoenix Suns’ brand in northern Arizona.
“We are thrilled to bring professional basketball to the Town of Prescott Valley,” said Suns President Jason Rowley. “In addition to the basketball advantages of our D-League affiliate being close to home, today’s announcement creates endless opportunities to strengthen the connection with our fans in northern Arizona.”

Suns interim head coach Earl Watson and assistant coach Nate Bjorkgren both began their coaching careers in the NBA D-League, while six members of the current Suns team have NBA D-League experience. The team has assigned 15 players to the NBA D-League since 2001.

“We’re happy to have an organization the quality of the Phoenix Suns in our community and region,” said Prescott Valley Mayor Harvey Skoog. “It’s an exciting thing to bring the Suns’ brand and legacy to Prescott Valley.”

Launched in 2001, the NBA D-League has expanded from an eight-team league to a record 22 teams for the 2016-17 season. All 19 teams for the 2015-16 season were singly affiliated with an NBA parent club, a first for the NBA D-League, and the three teams joining the NBA D-League for 2016-17 are owned by the Brooklyn Nets, Charlotte Hornets and Chicago Bulls.

Heat sign Dorell Wright

The NBA playoffs start soon, and the Miami HEAT today added depth and experience with the signing of forward Dorell Wright.

Wright spent last season in Beijing, China with the North Control appearing in 37 games averaging 24.3 points, 7.5 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 2.03 steals while shooting 43.8 percent from the field, 35.3 percent from three-point range and 84.8 percent from the foul line. He posted 13 30-point games, including six-straight to end the season, and tallied at least 40 points on four occasions, including a season-high 48 against the DongGuan Leopards on February 3. He has appeared in 549 career NBA games (222 starts) and averaged 8.4 points, 3.8 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 22.4 minutes while shooting 42.4 percent from the field, 36.5 percent from three-point range and 80.6 percent from the foul line. He led the league in three-point field goals made (194) during the 2010-11 season and has appeared in 15 career postseason games averaging 3.6 points and 2.3 rebounds in 13.6 minutes per game.

Wright, who spent his first six seasons in Miami, and was a member of the HEAT’s 2006 NBA Championship team, was originally drafted by the HEAT in the first round (19th overall) in the 2004 NBA Draft and appeared in 211 games (56 starts) with Miami averaging 6.3 points, 3.7 rebounds, 1.2 assists and 19.5 minutes while shooting 46.1 percent from the field, 34.4 percent from three-point rage and 80.6 percent from the foul line.

Wright will wear number 11.

Tristan Thompson now Cavs starting center

Here’s ESPN.com with a big roster rotation update on the Cavs, who will be making a move many people had been expecting them to make:

Cleveland Cavaliers coach Tyronn Lue said he is making Tristan Thompson the Cavs’ starting center for the foreseeable future — including to start the playoffs — before his team’s game against the Atlanta Hawks on Monday.

Lue previously swapped Thompson in for Timofey Mozgov in the starting lineup in the Cavs’ 105-102 loss to the Chicago Bulls on Saturday.

When asked for his motivation behind the move, Lue said: “I just wanted to.”

Thompson is averaging 8.4 points on 59.9 percent shooting and 10 rebounds in 32 starts this season and 7.6 points on 58.7 percent shooting and 8.5 rebounds in 48 games coming off the bench.

Quinn Cook wins D-League Rookie of Year award

Canton Charge point guard Quinn Cook today was named the 2015-16 NBA Development League Rookie of the Year. The award, voted on by the league’s 19 head coaches, recognizes the first-year professional who most significantly contributed to his team’s success during the season.

Cook (6-2, 179, Duke) led the Charge to a 31-19 season by averaging team highs of 19.6 points and 5.4 assists to go with 3.9 rebounds in 43 games (37 starts). He shot 47 percent from the field and connected on a team-high 86 three-pointers.

A 2016 NBA D-League All-Star, Cook led Canton in scoring 19 times and assists 21 times. He scored in double figures 40 times, including four games with at least 30 points, and helped the Charge secure the Eastern Conference’s third seed in the 2016 NBA D-League Playoffs.

Undrafted in 2015 after a four-year career at Duke, Cook was a member of the Blue Devils’ NCAA Championship team during his senior season in 2014-15.

DeMarre Carroll feels he is ready for more minutes

Here’s the Toronto Sun reporting on Raptors small forward DeMarre Carroll, who missed much of this season due to injury but is back in action and feels he’s ready for an increased role on the playoff-bound squad:

He made his return in Atlanta last Thursday, was sat the next night at home against Indiana to avoid playing on back to back nights, will likely play Tuesday in the regular season home finale against Philadelphia and then likely sit again with another back-to-back to finish the season on Wednesday in Brooklyn.

Carroll likes where he is at having played 15 minutes in Atlanta and 17 in New York. He believes he is moving well and believes he is ready to ramp up the action even more, although that is not his call.

“It’s up to the medical staff and coach and Masai (Ujiri), so we’ll see,” Carroll said Monday following practice. “I’m just playing my role and whenever they give me the OK …”

As for his own review of his play, Carroll has been pretty happy.

Jrue Holiday has surgery for orbital wall fracture

$Jrue Holiday undergoes surgery for orbital wall fracture$

The New Orleans Pelicans today announced that guard Jrue Holiday underwent successful surgery to repair an orbital wall fracture on his right eye. The timetable for his return is 6-8 weeks. Holiday is expected to make a full recovery prior to the 2016-17 season.

Holiday (6-4, 205) appeared in 65 games (23 starts) this season while averaging 16.8 points, 3.0 rebounds, 6.0 assists and 1.4 steals. The UCLA product has appeared in 437 games (370 starts) and holds career averages of 14.1 points, 3.5 rebounds, 6.1 assists and 1.5 steals.

NBA records set by the Warriors so far

The Golden State Warriors (now 72-9, with one game left to play) achieved several league milestones with Sunday’s road win against the Spurs, most notably matching the 1995-96 Bulls (72-10) for the most victories in an NBA regular season.

In addition, the Warriors set an NBA record for most road wins in a season (34). It is now guaranteed that they will become the first team in league history to go a full season without losing to the same team twice, and also guaranteed that they will become the first team to go through a season without losing two games in a row.

The stage is now set for Wednesday, when the Warriors will try for an NBA-record 73rd victory in their regular-season finale against the Grizzlies at Oracle Arena. ESPN will televise the game at 10:30 p.m. ET, while Kobe Bryant’s final game in the league will air on ESPN2.

— NBA News

Big night in NBA West Playoff race

The Eastern Conference’s eight playoff teams are now known. In the Western Conference, two postseason spots remain up for grabs. The Mavericks can clinch one of those spots if they defeat the Jazz tonight in Utah (9 p.m. ET, NBA LEAGUE PASS) or if the Rockets lose to the Timberwolves in Minnesota (8 p.m., NBA LP). Utah can clinch a postseason spot if it beats the Mavericks and Houston loses to Minnesota. If the Jazz wins and the Rockets lose, Houston would be eliminated from playoff contention. Also tonight, the Cavaliers can clinch the best record in the East with a victory over the Hawks in Cleveland (7 p.m., NBA TV).

— NBA News

Boston Celtics sign guard John Holland

The Boston Celtics signed guard John Holland today.

The 6’5” guard has appeared in 37 regular season contests for the NBA Development League Canton Charge this year and has averaged 16.0 points, 3.1 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.2 steals in 30.2 minutes per game. He shot 52.0 percent from the floor, 36.9 percent from beyond the arc and 85.2 percent from the free-throw line during the regular season. During the 2015-16 D-League Playoffs, Holland has averaged 28.5 points, 4.5 rebounds, 4.0 assists and shot 62.5 percent from the field and 58.8 percent from the three-point line.

Holland, the 40th Gatorade D-League call-up this season, was named the America East Conference Player of the Year as a Boston University senior when he led the Terriers to the 2011 NCAA Tournament. He finished his collegiate career as just the second player in America East history with at least 2,000 points, 700 rebounds and 200 steals.

A native of the Bronx, New York, Holland has played professionally in France, Spain and Turkey, and was in training camp with the San Antonio Spurs in 2014.