Month: October 2017

Lonzo Ball misses another game due to ankle sprain

The Lakers on Tuesday lost to the Jazz 105-99 in a preseason game. Rudy Gobert absolutely dominated Brook Lopez and finished with 29 points on 10-12 FG, with 13 rebounds, two blocks and a steal. But as for the Lakers, their preseason has mostly been without rookie guard Lonzo Ball. All eyes are on him, so it’s disappointing that we’ve seen little of him this exhibition season. Here’s ESPN.com with more:

The Lakers played without starting point guard Lonzo Ball, who missed his third game of the preseason with a sprained left ankle. Ball suffered the injury on Oct. 2 against the Denver Nuggets. He did not practice on Monday or participate in shootaround on Tuesday morning.

At Staples Center on Tuesday night, Ball went through some on-court ball handling and shooting drills with Lakers assistant Miles Simon. Ball had already been ruled out for the game, but the Lakers planned to see how his ankle felt after going through the workout to determine how to proceed.

“Let’s get him to practice, see how it feels tomorrow after doing whatever he did [Tuesday] and we will keep taking it day to day,” Lakers coach Luke Walton said.

LeBron James informs Kevin Love that he will start at center

Everything LeBron James or the Cleveland Cavaliers do these days is news. As for lineup changes, it’s surely the head coach’s decision, right? Of course it is. But LeBron James is probably in the conversation about those sort of things, even though he isn’t the coach. Or something like that. Jumble those sentence around until they satisfy you. Anyway, here’s ESPN.com reporting:

Kevin Love said he learned he would be moving from starting power forward to starting center in the Cavaliers’ lineup during a casual conversation with LeBron James, before head coach Tyronn Lue formally introduced the change to him and the team…

“But a funny thing happened the third day of practice,” Love explained. “I had asked about a certain play on the defensive end and whether it was the different coverages on the 4 or 5 man, and ‘Bron kind of stopped me and goes, ‘You know you’re gonna be starting at the 5, right?’

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Marcus Smart hoping for contract extension from Celtics

The Celtics have a loaded, talented team. They’re contenders. Their present and their future looks bright. And guard Marcus Smart would like to remain a part of it. Will he receive a contract extension? Here’s the Boston Herald reporting:

The Celtics have until next Monday to sign Marcus Smart to a rookie contract extension, something the guard would dearly love.

But there’s one problem. Smart confirmed last night that he hasn’t heard from the team on the matter. Should the Celts not extend Smart, he will become a restricted free agent next summer, and undoubtedly an in-demand restricted free agent.

Some teams are indeed wrapping up their rookie contract players. Philadelphia, for instance, yesterday signed Joel Embiid — he of the 31-game career — to a maximum extension worth $148 million over five years.

Smart can’t help but notice numbers like this.

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Rough preseason for Kristaps Porzingis

Kristaps Porzingis is the main key young building block for the Knicks. After an excellent rookie season, things stalled a bit for him in his second season. And while preseason is just a warmup, health issues obviously matter, and right now the big guy isn’t at 100 percent. Not ideal. Here’s the New York Post with more:

Twenty-four hours after he was called out by MSG personalities Alan Hahn and Wally Szczerbiak for his ineffective play, Porzingis missed Monday night’s 117-95 preseason loss to the Rockets at the Garden with a sore right hip that could also keep him out of the final dress rehearsal Friday against the Wizards.

Knicks coach Jeff Hornacek said Porzingis is having problems lifting his leg, a concerning statement about the face of the franchise. Later, when pressed, Hornacek said he is “hopeful” Porzingis will play Friday.

“He said he went out there last game and felt it a little bit but he was playing. When he really took his stride it was soreness in there,” Hornacek said. “Trainers will work on him and get him a bunch of treatment to get him ready.

“I think it’s just sore. He doesn’t remember the play it happened. He had trouble lifting his leg. I don’t know how long that will be.”

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Thunder chemistry development will be captivating to watch

The Thunder are now built around Russell Westbrook, Paul George and Carmelo Anthony. (With major support from Steven Adams, but he’s for another blog entry.) Each player brings serious game, and all three will have to make changes in the way they play in order to compliment each other and the squad as a whole. There will be bumps in the road. It’ll be great to watch the chemistry develop. Here’s the Norman Transcript with more:

Three players who don’t know each other’s habits, preferences and niches can’t complement each other as well as three who do. And as the Thunder approach Tuesday’s preseason finale at Denver, they’re still in the beginning stages of trying to learn about each other.

“[We need] just a better flow offensively. Again, we’re really talented offensively,” George said. “We have so many weapons. If we can get clicking and going faster and going into the regular season, if we can start to get that rhythm and momentum going early, then we’ll be in good shape.”

Of course, a slow start, especially during the preseason, is to be expected. Immediate chemistry would be impossible without telepathy. George, Anthony and Westbrook, meanwhile, have run together for only four total quarters over the first three exhibitions.

At times, it’s looked awkward.

George has appeared most effective during the stretches at the beginning of the third quarters of games No. 1 and 2 when both Anthony and Westbrook were on the bench. He spent those moments flying off screens, creating space for himself and sending defenses into a frenzy. It’s one of the best parts of his game. It’s also something Westbrook isn’t used to seeing.

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Utah Jazz sign Torian Graham

The Utah Jazz have signed free agent guard Torian Graham (pronounced TORE-ee-in).

Graham (6-5,195, Arizona State) appeared in 33 games (23 starts), averaging 18.6 points, 4.2 rebounds and 1.2 assists for the Sun Devils during the 2016-17 season. He ranked first in the Pac-12 in three-point field goals made per contest (3.3), second in scoring average, seventh in minutes per game (34.8) and his 108 threes on the year were tied for the 14th most in NCAA Division I. Tallying 13 games with 20-or-more points and two games with 30-plus points, Graham garnered a 2017 Pac-12 Honorable Mention following the 2016-17 campaign. Prior to his lone season at Arizona State, he played for two seasons at Chipola Junior College (Fla.), helping the squad to a 26-6 record as a sophomore.

The Durham, N.C. native competed with the Dallas Mavericks entry at the 2017 NBA Summer League in Las Vegas, seeing action in three contests.

The roster now stands at 20 players.

Magic sign Rodney Purvis

The Orlando Magic have signed free agent guard Rodney Purvis, President of Basketball Operations Jeff Weltman announced today.

Purvis (6’4”, 205, 2/14/94) played in 137 career games (100 starts) during four years at both North Carolina State (2012-13) and the University of Connecticut (2014-17), averaging 11.6 ppg., 3.0 rpg. and 1.8 apg. in 29.1 minpg. Last season, he appeared in 33 games (32 starts), averaging 13.8 ppg., 4.2 rpg., 2.5 apg. and 1.03 stlpg. in 36.9 minpg. As a sophomore (2014-15), Purvis led the Huskies in scoring during the postseason, averaging 17.8 ppg., and was named to the 2015 American Athletic Conference’s All-Tournament Team.

Purvis will wear #15 for the Magic.

Orlando’s roster now stands at 20 players.

Preseason: Nets beat Knicks by 34

Preseason is just a warmup, but there’s also less of it this year. And the regular season is around one week away. And even in preseason, it’s fun for NYC-area fans to see what happens when the Knicks and Nets play each other. Here’s the New York Post reporting:

With Floyd Mayweather seated in the front row, the Nets put a beating on the Knicks that the boxing champion would have been proud of.

Yes, it was just preseason. No, it won’t count in the standings. But after rolling 117-83 on Sunday — and hammering their cross-river rivals twice in the span of three days — early returns say the Nets are the best basketball team in the city.

The Nets’ long-armed, versatile switching defense held the Knicks to 38.7 percent shooting, and 4-of-15 from beyond the 3-point arc. They had 13 steals and turned 25 turnovers into 35 points. And they turned that defense to offense, swing and moving the ball for 29 assists…

D’Angelo Russell had 16 points, seven assists and three steals, all team-highs.

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Allen Crabbe preseason Nets debut a good one

Here’s the New York Post reporting on one of the key new additions to the Nets, Allen Crabbe:

Allen Crabbe preseason debut a good one for Nets

Over 15 months after the Nets inked Allen Crabbe to a huge offer sheet, they finally got to see the small forward suit up for them.

He couldn’t have made a better first impression.

In his first action of the preseason after recovering from a sprained ankle, Crabbe had 14 points in just 10 minutes 46 seconds in the Nets’ 117-83 win over the Knicks on Sunday at Barclays Center. He shot 5-of-7 from the floor, 3-of-4 from behind the arc and was even active on defense, finishing a plus-16.

“Just watching the first two preseason games and all the shots and how the offense flows, it’s the perfect system for me. I just came in with confidence,” Crabbe said. “It’s a different feel here, when coach [Kenny Atkinson] is telling you to do more, to shoot more. It’s like the ultimate green light, so I’m out there just playing basketball freely, not thinking about anything, just letting the game come to me.”

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