January 12, 2011 – NBA Blog – NBA Basketball Blog

Cavaliers struggling even more than expected

Jason Lloyd of the Akron Beacon Journal reports:

Life after LeBron James was going to be difficult for the Cavaliers. Everyone knew that before the season began, but no one saw this coming. Since starting the season 5-5, the Cavs have lost 25 of their past 28 games.

They set two futility records in a 112-57 loss Tuesday to the two-time defending NBA champion Los Angeles Lakers: The 55-point margin of defeat marked the worst loss in franchise history and the 57 points were the fewest the Cavs ever scored in a game.

If the Lakers didn’t score at all in the second half, their 57 points at halftime would have been enough to force overtime. Had the Lakers scored just one more basket, they would have doubled the Cavs’ scoring.

”We knew it wasn’t going to be easy, but to come out and not compete? There’s no excuse for that,” said Cavs coach Byron Scott, who won three NBA championships as a player with the Lakers. ”I’m a Cleveland Cavalier right now, and the way we performed, that’s embarrassing to me.”

Allen Iverson to have growth removed

Ric Bucher of ESPN The Magazine reports:

Former NBA star Allen Iverson plans to have a growth removed from his right leg in the United States and intends to rejoin his Turkish team in time for the playoffs.

Iverson, who signed a two-year, $4 million deal with the Turkish team Besiktas this fall after no NBA team showed any interest, had tests on the calf three weeks ago to find the cause of persistent pain, his business manager and longtime friend, Gary Moore said Wednesday.

An MRI originally showed a tiny shadow between the two bones in Iverson’s lower leg, but he continued to play. When the pain worsened, a second MRI was taken in the last few days and showed the shadow had doubled in size to a half-penny. Moore said the shadow could be anything from a lesion to a cyst to a tumor…

Besiktas spokesman Kursat Kaplan told The Associated Press on Wednesday the team would assess Iverson’s future after another MRI this week. Iverson, though, Moore said, is proceeding as if the shadow is benign and expects to be back on the court for Besiktas in four to six weeks.

InsideHoops.com editor says: I’m still hoping that Iverson somehow makes his way back to the NBA and goes out on a good note here, but it doesn’t sound likely. He never appeared to back down from his need to start and not be used as a bench reserve. It’s too bad. Anyway, as for Iverson’s current health issue, obviously everyone including myself hopes that it’s a minor, harmless growth that is removed without issue.

Andrei Kirilenko becomes US citizen

The AP reports:

Kirilenko and his wife, Masha, both passed the citizenship tests and were sworn in as U.S. citizens Monday afternoon.

Their two sons, both born in the U.S., now are citizens as well. He said their young daughter, adopted in Russia, still has visa issues because she was born in Russia.

InsideHoops.com editor says: I just wonder how this will affect his hairstyle.

Lakers destroy Cavaliers by 55

The AP reports:

The Lakers humiliated the Cavs while sending them to their 11th straight loss, rolling to a 112-57 victory on Tuesday night in their best defensive performance of the shot clock era.

It was the Lakers’ third-largest margin of victory since moving to Los Angeles, with the two biggest coming in 1972 and 1966.

“You don’t ever imagine something like that,” Kobe Bryant said. “You just go out there and do your job and we did it for 48 minutes.”

Ron Artest and Andrew Bynum each scored 15 points, while Pau Gasol had 13 points and 14 rebounds. Bryant, Lamar Odom and Shannon Brown also scored 13 points for the defending NBA champion Lakers, who led the league’s worst team by 32 points at halftime on their way to winning their fifth in a row.

“I thought that was embarrassing,” said Cavs coach Byron Scott, who once starred for the Lakers. “I told them at halftime, `You look scared. You look flat-out scared. You’re playing against the world champions, and instead of just competing and playing hard, you look scared. You look scared to death.’ That was my take on it, as simple as that.” …

The Cavs were without starting center Anderson Varejao, who tore his right ankle in a routine conditioning drill. Also missing were missing Joey Graham (right quad strain), Daniel Gibson (left ankle sprain), Leon Powe (right torn meniscus) and Anthony Parker (lower back strain).

T-Wolves get 5 Ts in 10 seconds in loss to Spurs

The AP reports:

Referee Ken Mauer certainly won’t be accused of being biased toward his hometown Minnesota Timberwolves anytime soon.

Mauer, a cousin of Twins superstar Joe Mauer and a St. Paul native, whistled the Wolves for five technical fouls in a dizzying 10 seconds of the third quarter, allowing the calm and collected San Antonio Spurs to take control of another head-scratchingly tight game between the best team in the NBA and one of the worst.

Manu Ginobili had 19 points, making all five of those technical free throws, and the Spurs beat the Timberwolves 107-96 on Tuesday night.

“I’ve never seen that before,” said Wolves forward Kevin Love, who picked up the final technical of the spree. “Five in a row, that had to be a first. That was crazy.”

Richard Jefferson scored 17 and Tony Parker had 12 points and 13 assists for the Spurs, who beat the Timberwolves for the 16th straight time. Ginobili also had nine rebounds and six assists.

Love had 20 points and 20 rebounds for the Timberwolves, his sixth 20-20 game of the season. Orlando’s Dwight Howard led the league with three 20-20 games all of last season.