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New York Knicks center/forward Kyle O’Quinn has been fined $25,000 for striking and pushing New Orleans Pelicans forward/center Anthony Davis from behind, it was announced today by Kiki VanDeWeghe, Executive Vice President, Basketball Operations.
The incident, for which O’Quinn was assessed a Flagrant Foul 2 and ejected, occurred with 1:16 remaining in the third quarter of the Knicks’ 110-96 loss to the Pelicans on Jan. 9 at Madison Square Garden.
Dallas Mavericks guard/forward Justin Anderson has been fined $25,000 for striking Minnesota Timberwolves guard Kris Dunn in the head, it was announced today by Kiki VanDeWeghe, Executive Vice President, Basketball Operations.
The incident, which was called a Flagrant Foul 1 on the floor and upgraded to a Flagrant Foul 2 upon league office review, occurred with 10:45 remaining in the second quarter of the Timberwolves’ 101-92 victory over the Mavericks on Jan. 9 at Target Center.
Is Derrick Rose doing OK? Well, he’s back with the Knicks. So, he’s physically fine. But mentally and emotionally? We’ll see. Here’s the New York Daily News reporting:
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Derrick Rose is confident the issue that caused him to abruptly leave the Knicks on Monday has been resolved and that he’s back with the team for the long haul. But the veteran point guard also admitted that if he needed more time away from the Knicks he would not hesitate to ask the team for permission.
“No, not at all,” Rose said early Wednesday. “The relationship I’m building with Phil (Jackson) and Steve (Mills) I wouldn’t mind asking (for time off) if I needed it. But like I said, I feel fine and what happened a couple of days ago is just the past.”
Rose was fined but not suspended for going AWOL on Monday and missing the Knicks loss to the New Orleans Pelicans. Rose made the peculiar decision not to notify the team of his intentions to return to his hometown of Chicago Monday afternoon. Also, Rose refused to return repeated phone calls and text messages from team officials from several hours. The Knicks were so concerned about Rose that they sent an employee to his Manhattan apartment.
Here’s the South Florida Sun-Sentinel reporting on Heat center Hassan Whiteside and 2017 All-Star voting:
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Whiteside isn’t getting his hopes up when it comes to fan voting for the Feb. 19 All-Star Game, even as he puts up All-Star numbers, including his 28 points and 20 rebounds Tuesday against the Warriors.
After ranking ninth among Eastern Conference frontcourt players in last week’s initial release, Whiteside said he won’t be monitoring the weekly returns.
“It’s just a popularity contest at this point,” he said. “Our record was better than the 76ers [at the last balloting release] and Joel Embiid was fourth.”
Whiteside said that the All-Star selections should not turn into a referendum on a team’s place in the standings, with the Heat 11-29 going into Friday’s game against the Milwaukee Bucks at BMO Harris Bradley Center, which will mark the midpoint of their season.
“I don’t really feel like All-Stars should even be a record thing,” he said. “It’s the individual thing. That’s why they don’t bring the whole team; they bring a player.”
Rajon Rondo has spent a number of recent Bulls games sitting and watching Bulls games. It’s good work if you can find it. He finally got minutes off the bench Tuesday night. But in general, here’s CSN Chicago reporting on the situation prior to tonight’s game:
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If the Rajon Rondo benching was clear to some, it wasn’t to everybody even as Rondo prepares for a one-game exodus from the pine.
Namely Rondo himself, and one wonders where the saga is headed next as the Bulls near the midseason mark with no resolution to a situation involving their first free-agent signing.
“I don’t know,” said Rondo as the Bulls’ litany of absences have prompted them to turn back to his direction as they’ll play the Wizards Tuesday night at the Verizon Center.
“I know a little bit of what’s going on, but it’s out of my control really, as far as what they have going on. So I’m going to have to play better.”
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The Philadelphia 76ers signed guard Chasson Randle to a 10-day contract today.
Randle was most recently with the NBA D-League Westchester Knicks, where he appeared in 19 games and posted averages of 21 points, four rebounds, three assists and one steal in 32 minutes per game, while shooting 40% from three-point range.
Prior to joining Westchester, he appeared in 21 games for ČEZ Nymburk of the Czech Republic’s National Basketball League, where he averaged 15 points, two rebounds, two assists and two steals per game, while helping the team win the 2015-16 league championship.
Randle played four years at Stanford, posting career averages of 17 points, three rebounds, three assists and one steal in 144 career games (142 starts). He was named to the All-PAC 12 First Team his junior and senior seasons, and capped his collegiate career as Stanford’s all-time leading scorer with 2,375 points.
Randle will wear number 5 for the Sixers.
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Anthony Bennett’s struggle continues. The Brooklyn Nets waived Bennett today.
Bennett appeared in 23 games with the Nets this season, averaging 5.0 points and 3.4 rebounds in 11.5 minutes per game. He was originally signed as a free agent by the Nets on July 14.
Brooklyn’s roster now stands at 14 players.
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He was tired. His teammates were tired.
So when Stan Van Gundy drew up the play, “an ATO,” out of the timeout with 11 seconds remaining, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope decided to take matters into his own hands.
Caldwell-Pope broke off a screen and took an inbounds pass from Reggie Jackson on the right wing, turned to find himself open and filled up the game-winning triple in the Detroit Pistons’ 125-124 double overtime win over the Portland Trail Blazers on Sunday.
“I already hit the first two, and I caught the last one in rhythm, so I just got a rhythm shot and just made it,” Caldwell-Pope said. “Knocked it down. And I was ready to go.”
It was the third of three triples in the second overtime for the Pistons’ shooting guard, who finished with 26 points on 9-of-14 shooting in 48-plus minutes.
The Minnesota Timberwolves waived guard John Lucas III today.
Lucas III, originally signed by the Wolves on August 24, 2016, appeared in five games this season while averaging 0.4 points in 2.2 minutes per contest.
The Timberwolves roster now stands at 14 players.
The Atlanta Hawks have acquired a future first-round draft pick along with Mike Dunleavy and Mo Williams from the Cleveland Cavaliers in exchange for Kyle Korver, it was announced today by President of Basketball Operations/Head Coach Mike Budenholzer.
“We are incredibly grateful to Kyle for his contributions to the Hawks over the last five years,” Budenholzer said. “He is a professional in every sense of the word and played a significant part in establishing our culture and in the success this franchise has seen. This is a difficult decision, but one we felt was in the best interest of the organization.”
Korver, a 2015 Eastern Conference All-Star, played in 332 games in Atlanta (307 starts), averaging 10.9 points, 3.7 rebounds and 2.4 assists in 31.3 minutes (.462 FG%, .452 3FG%, .887 FT%).
The Hawks’ all-time leader in free-throw percentage (.887), Korver is third on the club’s all-time three-pointers made list (818). He hit at least one three-pointer in 311-of-332 games as a Hawk. The 14th-year guard ranks eighth in NBA history with 1,952 career three’s (fifth among active players) and is eighth all-time in three-point percentage (.429). He has hit 100-or-more three’s in 11 seasons, including each of the last six.
Korver set a then-NBA record from 2012-14, making a three-pointer in 127 consecutive games, a streak which ended on 3/6/14, shattering the previous mark of 89 (Dana Barros). He is the only player in NBA history to lead the league in three-point percentage three times, and in 2009-10, established the highest season three-point percentage in NBA history (.536) while with Utah.
In his 15th season, Dunleavy has averaged 11.4 points, 4.3 rebounds and 2.3 assists in 28.1 minutes (.441 FG%, .376 3FG%, .803 FT%) playing in 956 career games (585 starts) with Golden State, Indiana, Milwaukee, Chicago and Cleveland.
Williams, a 13-year veteran, has appeared in 818 career games (525 starts) with Utah, Milwaukee, Cleveland, L.A. Clippers, Utah, Portland, Minnesota and Charlotte, averaging 13.9 points, 4.9 assists and 2.8 rebounds in 29.2 minutes (.434 FG%, .378 3FG%, .871 FT%).