Rockets recall Patrick Beverley from D-League

Houston Rockets General Manager Daryl Morey announced today that the team has recalled guard Patrick Beverley from Houston’s single-affiliation NBA D-League partner the Rio Grande Valley Vipers.

Beverley (6-1, 185, Arkansas), who was signed by the Rockets on Jan. 7 and assigned Rio Grande Valley, averaged 13.7 points, 7.0 assists, 6.7 rebounds and 2.00 steals in three starts with the Vipers.

He came to the Rockets from Spartak St. Petersburg in Russia, where he earned Eurocup MVP for the 2011-12 season and 2012 All-Eurocup First-Team honors. He originally played two seasons at Arkansas before leaving school to sign a professional contract with BC Dnipro of the Ukrainian UBL for the 2008-09 season. Beverley was then drafted by the L.A. Lakers in the second round (42nd overall) of the 2009 NBA Draft and later traded to the Miami Heat. He decided to stay in Europe and signed with Olympiakos in Greece on Aug. 26, 2009. He again joined the Heat for the 2010 NBA Summer League and was signed by Miami on Aug. 2, 2010. Beverley was waived by the Heat at the end of training camp on Oct. 25, 2010.

Memphis Grizzlies recall guard Tony Wroten from D-League again

The Memphis Grizzlies recalled guard Tony Wroten from the NBA Development League’s Reno Bighorns, Grizzlies General Manager and Vice President of Basketball Operations Chris Wallace announced today.

In his third assignment this season, Wroten (6-6, 208) recorded 24.0 points, 2.0 rebounds and 1.50 steals on .410 shooting in 29.0 minutes in two games after being re-assigned to the Bighorns on Jan. 11.  The 19-year-old scored a D-League season-high 27 points on Jan. 12 at Idaho, his fifth 20-point performance with Reno this season.

The Seattle native has averaged 15.7 points, 2.6 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 1.50 steals on .410 shooting in 25.4 minutes in 10 games (two starts) over three assignments with Reno this season.

Wroten will join the Grizzlies for tonight’s tilt with the Los Angeles Clippers at 7 p.m. CT at FedExForum.

Drafted by Memphis in the first round (25th overall) of the 2012 NBA Draft after one season at the University of Washington, Wroten has totaled two points, two rebounds and two assists in 14 minutes over six appearances for the Grizzlies during his rookie season.

Rockets recall Terrence Jones from D-League again

Terrence Jones

Houston Rockets General Manager Daryl Morey announced today that the team has recalled forward Terrence Jones from Houston’s single-affiliation NBA D-League partner the Rio Grande Valley Vipers.

Jones (6-9, 252, Kentucky) has averaged 19.2 points and 11.0 rebounds in nine games (nine starts) with Rio Grande Valley this season. Re-assigned to the Vipers on Dec. 26, Jones has helped Rio Grande Valley pull to within a half game of first place in D-League’s Central Division. Through Jan. 13, Jones stands second in the D-League in rebounds per game (11.0) and ninth in the league in scoring average (19.2). In his rookie campaign with the Rockets, Jones has averaged 3.1 points and 1.6 rebounds in 11 games with Houston in 2012-13.

Kevin Love will have hand surgery Tuesday, out 8-10 weeks

kevin love

The Minnesota Timberwolves today announced that Kevin Love will undergo surgery to repair the third and fourth metacarpal in his right hand tomorrow, Tuesday, Jan. 15. The surgery will be performed by Dr. Michelle Carson at Hospital for Special Surgery in New York. He injured his hand during the third quarter of the Jan. 3 game at Denver.

Love is expected to be sidelined for 8-10 weeks.

For the season, Love has played in 18 games and leads the Wolves in scoring (18.3 ppg), rebounds (14.0 rpg) and double-doubles (14).

Brandon Jennings, Kevin Durant named Players of week through January 13

brandon jennings

Milwaukee Bucks guard Brandon Jennings and Oklahoma City Thunder forward Kevin Durant today were named Eastern and Western Conference Players of the Week, respectively, for games played Monday, Jan. 7 through Sunday, Jan. 13.

Jennings led Milwaukee to a 3-1 week, including come-from-behind road victories over the Chicago Bulls and Toronto Raptors.  He spearheaded both efforts, scoring 20 points in the third quarter of the Jan. 9 game at Chicago, 12 of which came from behind the arc. He was second in the Eastern Conference in scoring with 24.5 ppg while shooting 48 percent from the field for the week to go along with 6.5 apg and 4.0 rpg.

kevin durant

Durant helped Oklahoma City to a 3-1 record last week, scoring more than 25 points in each contest, including a season-high 42 points in Los Angeles against the Lakers on Jan. 11.  He averaged a league-best 32.5 points to go with 6.8 rpg and 5.5 apg.

Other nominees for the Eastern and Western Conference Players of the Week were Brooklyn’s Deron Williams, Denver’s Kenneth Faried, Indiana’s David West, Portland’s LaMarcus Aldridge, and Orlando’s Nikola Vucevic.

Spurs recall Cory Joseph from D-League again

Cory Joseph

The San Antonio Spurs today announced that they have recalled guard Cory Joseph from the Austin Toros of the NBA Development League.

Joseph, who has been assigned to the Toros three times this season, has appeared in 14 games with Austin, averaging a team-high 20.7 points, 5.9 rebounds, 4.6 assists and 1.29 steals in 39.2 minutes while shooting .465 (100-215) from the field, .442 (19-43) from three-point range and .780 (71-91) from the foul line.

The University of Texas product has appeared in nine games this season for the Spurs, averaging 2.1 points and 1.4 assists in 7.2 minutes.

Manu Ginobili out 10-14 days

manu ginobili

The San Antonio Spurs today announced that Manu Ginobili underwent an MRI this morning that revealed a Grade 1 left hamstring strain.  The injury occurred in the second quarter of Sunday night’s game vs. Minnesota.

Ginobili is expected to miss 10-to-14 days.

The 29-11 Spurs are currently the 3rd seed in the Western conference, behind the Clippers at No. 2 and the Thunder at No. 1.

Luke Harangody named D-League Performer of Week

Luke Harangody

Luke Harangody of the Fort Wayne Mad Ants was today named NBA Development League Performer of the Week for games Played Jan. 7-13.

A 6-8, 240-pound forward out of Notre Dame, Harangody led the Mad Ants to a 3-0 week, including two wins at the 2013 NBA D-League Showcase in Reno, Nev.  He averaged 21.3 points on 43 percent shooting to go with  16.3 rebounds and 3.0 assists.  He scored a season-high 27 points in a 116-97 win over the Rio Grande Valley Vipers on Jan. 9 and posted a season-high 21 rebounds in a 112-84 road win over the Erie BayHawks on Jan. 12.

Other top performers considered include Austin’s Cory Joseph, on assignment from the San Antonio Spurs; Bakersfield’s Damion James; Canton’s Micheal Eric; Erie’s D.J. Kennedy; Idaho’s Nolan Smith, on assignment from the Portland Trail Blazers; Iowa’s Morris Almond; Los Angeles’ Courtney Fortson; Maine’s Shelvin Mack; Rio Grande Valley’s Andrew Goudelock; Reno’s Jerome Jordan; Santa Cruz’s Taylor Griffin; Springfield’s James Mays; Sioux Falls’ Demetris Nichols; Texas’ Chris Roberts and Tulsa’s Jeremy Lamb on assignment from the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Lakers end 6-game losing streak with win over Cavaliers

dwight howard

Dwight Howard arrived at Staples Center expecting to sit out another game to rest his injured shoulder. He ended up helping the Los Angeles Lakers out of their longest losing streak in nearly six years, which made that shoulder feel a whole lot better.

Howard had 22 points and 14 rebounds in his return from a three-game absence, and the Lakers snapped their six-game losing streak with a 113-93 victory over the

Cleveland Cavaliers on Sunday night.

”When we play like this, we win, and we win big,” Howard said. ”We’ve just got to continue to learn from games like that, and hopefully we can just string together some wins.”

Kobe Bryant scored 23 points for the Lakers, who finally earned their first victory of 2013 while ending their longest skid since February 2007. Howard went 9 for 11 despite his torn labrum while leading Los Angeles to a comfortable victory over the lowly Cavaliers, who beat the Lakers last month.

Steve Nash said the win was ”mandatory” for the Lakers, and they played with an appropriate effort. Nash had 10 points and nine assists for the Lakers, whose skid has been severe enough to cause fans to worry about this star-packed roster’s playoff chances even in mid-January…

Irving and Dion Waiters scored 15 points apiece for Cleveland, which has lost seven of nine. Alonzo Gee added 14 points for the Cavaliers, who fell behind by 19 points in the first quarter of their second stop on a five-game West Coast road trip…

Nash hit three free throws, improving to 18 for 18 this season and increasing his minuscule lead on Mark Price for the best free throw percentage in NBA history. … Cleveland continues its road trip in Sacramento on Monday night against the Kings, who have lost four straight. … The Lakers won despite 22 turnovers, including 18 by their starting lineup.

— Reported by Greg Beacham of the Associated Press