NBA Blog – NBA Basketball Blog
NBA Blog: The NBA basketball news blog section of Inside Hoops
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The Boston Celtics announced today that they have waived forwards Kris Joseph and Jarvis Varnado.
Joseph, a 6’7” forward, appeared in six games for the Celtics and averaged 1.2 points in 4.0 minutes per game. Varnado, a 6’9” forward, appeared in five games for the Celtics and averaged 1.2 points in 3.6 minutes per game
The Celtics roster now stands at 13.
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LeBron James scored 24 points and the Miami Heat had a rebounding edge for a change Sunday to beat the woeful Washington Wizards 99-71.
The Heat, beaten on the boards by a total of 38 rebounds over the previous three games, this time enjoyed a 50-39 advantage. Udonis Haslem led them with 12 rebounds, and Chris Bosh had nine.
The game matched the teams with the best and worst records in the Eastern Conference, and in the late going it looked like it. Miami scored the game’s final 21 points and held Washington scoreless over the last 7:07.
James extended his streaks of scoring at least 20 points to 32 consecutive games this season, and 53 in a row including last year’s playoff run. He shot 9 for 17 and had seven assists.
The Heat were coming off only their third home loss of the season Friday against Chicago.
— Reported by Steven Wine of the Associated Press
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In the nine games that Varejao has missed with a bruised right knee, Thompson has begun to blossom into a regular solid contributor for the Cavaliers at power forward. He’s averaging 13.2 points and 12.9 rebounds over those nine games, and Saturday against Houston he logged his career-high in rebounds when he snagged 16.
All are better than his season averages of 9.6 points and 9.0 rebounds that includes games in which Varejao has played.
And overall, he’s been more active, more steady for the Cavaliers.
“The way he’s playing right now, if Andy were healthy we’d be that much better,” Cavaliers coach Byron Scott said.
— Reported by Jodie Valade of the Cleveland Plain Dealer
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The Dallas Mavericks announced today they have requested waivers on guard Chris Douglas-Roberts. He was signed as a free agent by Dallas on Dec. 23, 2012.
Douglas-Roberts (6-7, 210) played in six games for Dallas and averaged 2.8 points, 0.8 rebounds and 0.7 assists in 10.5 minutes.
Prior to his stint with the Mavericks, Douglas-Roberts (6-7, 210) played in 11 games (all starts) for the NBA D-League’s Texas Legends. He averaged a league-high 22.5 points, 5.3 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 1.9 steals in 38.5 minutes per game. In those 11 contests, he shot 49.4 percent (79-160 FGs) from the field, 39.5 percent (15-38 3FGs) from 3-point range and 90.4 percent (75-83 FTs) from the line.
The Mavericks’ roster now stands at 14 players.
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To Kevin Durant, an early afternoon start in Toronto against an improving Raptors team was a trap waiting to be sprung on Oklahoma City.
But with a balanced offensive attack, and a defensive correction in the second half, the Thunder steered clear of getting caught.
Russell Westbrook scored 23 points, Durant had 22 and Oklahoma City beat the Raptors 104-92 on Sunday, giving the Thunder a winning start to a stretch that sees them play 11 of 13 on the road…
Serge Ibaka had 19 points and eight rebounds and Kevin Martin scored 16 for Oklahoma City, who came in having played an NBA-low 12 road games this season but improved to 9-4 as visitors…
Nick Collison had 10 points and eight rebounds to help the Thunder win for the fifth time in eight games since their season-long 12-game winning streak.
Oklahoma City is 14-0 this season when at least five players score in double figures.
”Everybody participated, everybody chipped in and everybody did their job,” Thunder coach Scott Brooks said. ”We’re good when we force the defense to chase the ball around and the ball finds a good shot. It’s not really who finds it, just as long as it’s a good shot.”
Westbrook and Durant each had seven assists. For Durant, that was his most since dishing out a career-high 10 against Golden State on Nov. 18…
Alan Anderson scored 19 of his career-high 27 points in the second quarter and Amir Johnson had 19 for the Raptors, who lost their second straight after winning eight of nine.
”I praised our guys, the way we fought and scrapped,” Raptors coach Dwane Casey said. ”But at the end of day reality set in.”
DeMar DeRozan scored 11 points but made just four of 16 field goal attempts. DeRozan made only 3 of 11 attempts in Friday’s loss to Sacramento.
— Reported by Ian Harrison of the Associated Press
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The Philadelphia 76ers announced today that they have recalled rookie forward Arnett Moultrie from their NBA Development League affiliate, the Sioux Falls Skyforce and waived rookie guard Maalik Wayns. The Sixers roster now stands at 13.
Moultrie (6-10, 245) was the 27th overall pick in the 2012 NBA Draft by Miami. He was traded to Philadelphia on draft night in exchange for the draft rights to Justin Hamilton (45th overall pick) and a protected future first round pick
In seven games during his assignment with the Skyforce, Moultrie averaged 9.7 points, 6.1 rebounds and 1.6 assists in 26.3 minutes per game. He has appeared in 11 games for the Sixers this season.
Wayns (6-1, 195) was not selected in the 2012 NBA Draft following his junior season with Villanova. He signed as a free agent with the Sixers on July 31 and saw action in 20 games this season, averaging 2.5 points and 1.0 assists in 7.8 minutes per game.
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The Portland Trail Blazers have assigned guards Will Barton and Nolan Smith to the Idaho Stampede of the NBA Development League, it was announced today by Trail Blazers General Manager Neil Olshey.
The two players will join the Stampede for the NBA Development League Showcase in Reno, Nev. The Stampede are first scheduled to play on Monday, Jan. 7, against Texas.
Barton appeared in two games (both starts) with the Stampede from Dec. 7-8, posting averages of 19.5 points and 6.0 rebounds in 42.0 minutes per game. The 6-foot-6 rookie has played in 28 games for the Trail Blazers this season, averaging 2.9 points and 1.4 rebounds in 10.1 minutes. Barton was selected by the Trail Blazers with the 40 th pick in the 2012 NBA Draft.
In 18 games this season with the Trail Blazers, Smith is averaging 2.5 points and 1.2 assists in 8.2 minutes per game. Now in his second NBA season, Smith was selected by the Trail Blazers with the 21 st pick in the 2011 NBA Draft.
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The Indiana Pacers announced Sunday they have waived forward Sam Young, the fourth-year player out of Pitt, was signed as a free agent by the Pacers in September. He played in 28 games and averaged 3.6 points and 2.9 rebounds per game.
Additionally, the Pacers announced Sunday they have recalled rookie center Miles Plumlee from the Fort Wayne Mad Ants of the NBA D-League.
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The Minnesota Timberwolves today announced the team has waived forward Lazar Hayward.
Hayward signed with the Timberwolves as a free agent on Dec. 31. The 6-6 forward appeared in two games for Minnesota and totaled 2 points, 2 assists and 1 rebound in 12 minutes.
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Iman Shumpert is hoping to be cleared by doctors this week and could rejoin the lineup within one or two weeks.
“You’ve got to listen to the doctors because I’m just young and I just want to play,” Shumpert, the second year guard said on Saturday. “So part of it is me just being competitive and wanting to play. But I mean, we’re going to read the data and make sure everything is okay. If I feel any pain I’m not going to do no more.”
Shumpert suffered a devastating knee injury during Game 1 of the Knicks playoff series with the Miami Heat last May. Normally, it takes a player a calendar year to regain full strength which is clearly the case for Minnesota’s Ricky Rubio, who suffered a similar injury and has struggled since returning to the lineup.
— Reported by Frank Isola of the New York Daily News