A sold-out crowd of more than 20,000 Cleveland Cavaliers fans set the Guinness World Record for the “largest gathering of people wearing fleece blankets” at the Cavs Snuggie™ Night presented by KeyBank at Quicken Loans Arena. The crowd donned custom-made Cavaliers Snuggie™ blankets for the first five cozy minutes of the March 5th game versus rivals the Detroit Pistons to set the World Record.

Guinness World Records® Adjudicator Danny Girton was on hand to officially certify the new record in front of fans during the game. Girton then presented the Cavaliers, KeyBank and Allstar Products Group, the maker of the Snuggie™ blanket, with a certificate recognizing the new record was set at 20,562. All fans in attendance received a commemorative magnet certifying their participation at the record-breaking event.

“We would like to thank our fans and congratulate them for their enthusiastic participation to land their place in the Guinness Book of World Records,” said Cavaliers President Len Komoroski. “Partnering with KeyBank and Snuggie™ blankets to create an event where our fans were an integral part of the success to give Cleveland the bragging rights of a Guinness World Record made it a community team effort that was all the more fun.”

“After months of planning, it was exciting to see over 20,000 Cavs fans in their Snuggie™ blankets at The Q,” said Lisa Oliver, KeyBank Cleveland District President. “KeyBank was excited to partner up with Cavs and the fans to break this Guinness World Record and be part of something so positive and fun for the city of Cleveland.”

Scott Boilen, president and chief executive officer of Allstar Products Group said, “Cleveland fans are great. It was amazing to see so many participants enjoying the game wearing their Cavs Snuggie™ blankets.”

The AP reports:

All fans in attendance had a Snuggie placed on their seats prior to the game. During a timeout in the first quarter, fans were asked to wear the wine-colored blankets with arms for five minutes as a clock on the scoreboard counted down. Most everyone complied — except for one fan wearing a Celtics jersey and another who thought ahead and brought a Pistons Snuggie. The rest of the sellout crowd of more than 20,000 turned the Q into a sea of red blankets, counting down the final seconds and cheering as the world record clock expired.

The Akron Beacon Journal reports:

Pistons guard Rodney Stuckey reportedly suffered a seizure after he walked off the court for a timeout with 2:30 remaining in the third quarter of Friday’s game against the Cleveland Cavaliers at Quicken Loans Arena.

Stuckey, 23, was taken from the bench on a stretcher and transported to the Cleveland Clinic, according to ESPN.  The network reported that Stuckey’s eyes were closed and he was receiving oxygen as he left the court.

The AP reports:

Stuckey walked off the floor for a timeout showing no signs of illness. After a few moments in a chair, though, Stuckey slumped over.

Medical personnel rushed over to the Pistons’ bench with a stretcher. Play was halted for 12 minutes as the medical staff worked on Stuckey, placed an oxygen mask on his face and wheeled him into an ambulance.

UPDATE:

Stuckey is reportedly conscious and breathing on his own in a nearby health clinic.

New York Knicks swingman Bill Walker is getting a chance to show his stuff, something he was rarely given an opportunity to do on the extremely talented Boston Celtics squad he used to be on.

Mike Ganter of the Toronto Sun reports:

“It was just more mentally challenging,” Walker said of his time in Boston, a huge chunk of which he spent in the Development League. “Physically I was able to play every day and do things like that. Dealing with not being able to get on the floor. That was the hardest part. Keeping your mind positive.”

Walker’s get-out-of-jail-free card arrived in the form of a Eddie House for Nate Robinson trade deadline deal in which he followed House to New York.

Walker’s opportunity arrived in a 124-93 blowout loss in Cleveland to the Cavs. Cleveland had built a 26-point lead by the half and extended it to 49.

Walker wound up playing 35 minutes and hitting 9-of-14 from the field for a Knicks high and personal career high 21 points.

Mavericks guard Jason Terry underwent surgery today to repair facial injuries sustained during Wednesday night’s game vs. Minnesota.  The surgery was performed by Dr. Neil Williams in Dallas.  He is expected to make a full recovery and return to basketball activities in 10-14 days.

Terry will not travel with the team to Chicago (3/6) or Minnesota (3/8).

Todd Archer of the Dallas Morning News reports (via blog):

Whenever Jason Terry returns from his facial surgery, look for him to wear a shield as added protection, like Detroit’s Richard Hamilton.

“It’d be hard to believe that he wouldn’t wear something,” coach Rick Carlisle said, “but I didn’t do the surgery, so I’m not really the right guy to ask.”

Eric Koreen of the National Post reports:

Chris Bosh will not make his return to the floor Friday night. When the forward will be able to play is up in the air.

The Toronto Raptors star will miss his seventh straight game on Friday against the Knicks. He missed the first six because of a sprained left ankle, but is missing this game because of severe stomach cramps.

Oklahoma City Thunder Executive Vice President and General Manager Sam Presti announced that the team has signed Antonio Anderson to a second 10-day contract.

Anderson originally signed with Oklahoma City on February 22.  He saw action in one game for the Thunder averaging 2.0 points and 1.0 rebound in 15.0 minutes.

Earlier this season Anderson appeared in 32 games (32 starts) with the Rio Grande Valley Vipers of the NBA Development League where he averaged 15.5 points, 4.0 rebounds, 5.9 assists and 1.3 steals in 39.6 minutes per contest.

The Chicago Bulls announced today that Lindsey Hunter has been hired as a Player Development Assistant.

“During his time with the Bulls, Lindsey has been very valuable to our team in a number of ways,” said Chicago Bulls General Manager Gar Forman.  “With his experience and knowledge of the game, along with the relationships that he has built with our players, I have no doubt he will be an asset to the team.”

Hunter, 39, assumes his new role following a 17-year career in the NBA.  Over his professional career, he played in 937 games (438 starts) and averaged 8.5 ppg, 2.7 apg, 2.2 rpg and 1.20 spg in 24.8 mpg.  During that time, he recorded career shooting averages of .388 from the field, .360 from downtown and .746 from the line.  Hunter was also a member of 12 playoff teams, appearing in 129 NBA playoff games (13 starts), where he averaged 3.5 ppg, 1.3 rpg, 1.2 apg and 13.8 mpg en route to two NBA Championships (2002 Los Angeles Lakers and 2004 Detroit Pistons).

“This move is a natural progression for me.  Not only will it help our team in the short term, but I hope that it will reap rewards over the long term as well,” said Hunter.  “I am pleased to remain a member of the Bulls organization.”

Hunter signed with Chicago as a free agent on Nov. 13, 2008.  During his one-plus seasons with the Bulls, he played in 41 games and posted 2.1 ppg and 1.1 apg in 9.4 mpg.  The Utica, Miss. native also played with the Pistons (1993-2000, 2003-08), the Milwaukee Bucks (2000-01), the Lakers (2001-02) and the Toronto Raptors (2002-03).  Originally selected by the Pistons in the first round (10th overall) of the 1993 NBA Draft out of Jackson State, Hunter earned NBA All-Rookie Second Team honors in 1994.

InsideHoops.com says: Nice move! And expected. Though, ideally it would have happened 2-3 years ago, instead of Hunter wasting an NBA roster spot. Anyway, he’ll be good at this.

Ken Sugiura of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports:

Through Wednesday’s games, forward Josh Smith was the only player in the NBA averaging at least 15 points, 8 rebounds and 4 assists per game. Since being left out of the All-Star game, a season-long goal of Smith’s, he has been playing arguably the best basketball of his career.

Said Woodson, “He’s playing so much better right now, it’s a joke.”

Woodson said he will write letters to fellow coaches urging them to vote for Smith for the All-Defensive team, just as he wrote to Eastern Conference coaches to make the case for Joe Johnson, Al Horford, Jamal Crawford and Smith for the All-Star team. Woodson said he had never promoted his players in this way until this year.

Said Woodson, “Because we’ve never been good enough.”

Don Walker of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reports:

After holding the line for three seasons, the Milwaukee Bucks are raising season-ticket prices, especially in the high-end seats.

The price for the courtside club seats located behind the benches is $119 per game for a season-ticket package, an increase of $5 a game. Some other high-end seats will go for $94 ($4 increase) and $89 ($4 increase). Some of the lower-priced season tickets are $28 ($1 increase), $18 ($1 increase) and $9 ($1 increase).

In recent years, many professional sports franchises have raised prices on seats but have generally increased prices by a higher percentage for high-end seats while trying to hold down prices on cheaper seats.

Colin Stephenson of the Newark Star-Ledger reports:

Coming off his career-high, 21-point scoring output in Wednesday’s loss to Cleveland, Nets rookie Terrence Williams was asked Thursday how he would sum up his first professional season so far.

“Rocky,’’ was the term he chose.

“I really didn’t know what to expect,” he said Thursday. “I tried to come here and use the same game that I used in college, but my shot wasn’t falling. I had to re-evaluate myself as a player and change my game to more so going to the hole, but still do the other little things that I do and love to do, as far as, like, passing, playing ‘D’ and rebounding.”

InsideHoops.com Says:

It’s tough to judge Williams just yet. He’s athletic and shows occasional flashes but for the most part has done what the majority of Nets players did this season — fairly little. In 19.4 minutes per game, Williams is averaging 6.4 points and 3.6 rebounds with 37.8% shooting from the field. But, again, it’s probably best to study his game more closely next year when the team is presumably better.

Euroleague.net reports:

Besides sealing its ticket to the Quarterfinal Playoffs on Thursday night, Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv also set a new Euroleague record for points in one quarter with 43. Maccabi broke the previous record of 41 set almost 10 years ago and since tied once, both times in the regular season. Maccabi’s record is all the more remarkable for having come in a Top 16 game with qualification on the line and doing all the scoring when it was needed most - in the fourth quarter. Maccabi defeated Montepaschi Siena 97-82.