Inside Hoops – Page 1198 – NBA Blog

Mavs are leading the NBA in steals

The new NBA season is still young, but here’s the Fort Worth Star-Telegram blog with a positive note on the 2013-14 Dallas Mavericks:

A mere 10 games into the season and the Dallas Mavericks are surprisingly leading the NBA in steals with 10.2 per game.

That’s a monumental accomplishment for a team that’s never finished higher than fourth in steals in its entire 34-year history.

Asked what he attributes his team’s steals’ total to, coach Rick Carlisle said: “A lot of gambling, probably. Steals can be a great thing and it also can at times mess you up if you swing and miss a lot.

“But we’ve got some guys with pretty good anticipation and quickness in (Monta) Ellis, and (DeJuan) Blair’s gotten quite a few steals. As long as we’re within our system when we”re going to for them, I’m OK — as long as we’re in a position of strength — and generally we’ve been OK with that.”

LeBron James, Blake Griffin named NBA Players of Week through November 17

The Miami Heat’s LeBron James and the Los Angeles Clippers’ Blake Griffin today were named NBA Eastern and Western Conference Players of the Week, respectively, for games played Monday, Nov. 11, through Sunday, Nov. 17.

James averaged a league-best 34.0 points in leading the Heat to a 3-0 week. He led Miami in scoring in all three games and shot .702 from the field (fifth in the league), .625 from three-point range, and .810 from the foul line. On Nov. 15, James tallied 39 points on 14-of-18 shooting and added six rebounds and four assists as the Heat topped the Dallas Mavericks 110-104.

Griffin helped the Clippers to a 3-0 week behind averages of 25.7 points (tied for third in the Western Conference), 11.3 rebounds (ninth in the conference), 4.7 assists and 1.0 steals. He posted a point-rebound double-double in all three games. On Nov. 13, Griffin scored 22 points and added 12 rebounds, seven assists and three steals as the Clippers beat the Oklahoma City Thunder 111-103.

Other nominees for the Eastern and Western Conference Players of the Week were Atlanta’s Jeff Teague, Chicago’s Luol Deng, Denver’s Ty Lawson, Golden State’s Klay Thompson, Houston’s Jeremy Lin, Minnesota’s Kevin Love, Oklahoma City’s Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook, Orlando’s Arron Afflalo and Portland’s LaMarcus Aldridge.

Derrick Rose feels perfectly healthy these days

Here’s the Chicago Sun-Times on Chicago Bulls star Derrick Rose feeling perfectly healthy these days:

The hamstring injury that kept him out of Friday’s game at Toronto seems to be behind him after he helped the Bulls rout Indiana on Saturday with 6-for-11 shooting from beyond the arc.

“He did [everything at the shootaround,’’ coach Tom Thibodeau said. “He feels pretty good.’’

Asked if he’s 100 percent, the Bulls star said, “I think so. I was out there just taking my time [against Indiana on Saturday], and really being patient. It allowed me to play great.’’

LeBron James interested in bringing MLS team to Miami

Here’s the South Florida Sun Sentinel reporting:

Miami Heat forward LeBron James caused a stir when he teamed up with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh three years ago.

Now, James is contemplating linking up with another superstar from a different sport. On Monday, James confirmed he has interest in teaming up with soccer icon David Beckham in bringing a Major League Soccer team to Miami.

“There’s some interest on both sides,” James said. “David has become a good friend of mine over the last few years. I think it would be great for this city to have a football club for sure. There’s interest on both sides but it’s preliminary talks.”

Warriors center Jermaine O`Neal day-to-day with injuries

Golden State Warriors center Jermaine O’Neal has been diagnosed with a bruised right knee and minor right groin strain after undergoing an MRI yesterday (Sunday). He did not travel with the team for tonight’s game in Utah against the Jazz and is listed as day-to-day. His return to action will be based on his progress.

O’Neal left Saturday night’s home game against the Utah Jazz with 11:26 remaining in the fourth quarter after suffering an injury that was preliminarily diagnosed as a sprained right knee and strained right groin.

Knicks assign Chris Smith to D-League

New York Knicks President General Manager Steve Mills announced today that the team has assigned guard Chris Smith to the Erie Bayhawks of the NBA Development League.

Smith, 6-2, 200-pounds, has not appeared on a game since signing as a free agent on Sep. 10, 2013.

It’ll be interesting to see how well Smith plays in the D-League. Many people were surprised that the Knicks gave him a contract, and suspect it was mostly to make his brother J.R. happy — which is a strange reason to sign a player.

Kings struggles have coach seaching for answers

Here’s the Sacramento Bee reporting:

Less than five minutes into the third quarter, the Kings had tested coach Michael Malone’s patience to the point that he benched most of his starting lineup.

Except for forward Luc Mbah a Moute, the starters were done for the night.

Malone said he wasn’t trying to send a message. He was trying to win a game. But that didn’t happen, with the Kings falling to the Memphis Grizzlies 97-86 today at Sleep Train Arena.

The Kings have lost seven of their last eight games and continue to confound their coach with lackluster effort.

That has left Malone searching nightly for a group that will at least play hard so there’s no guessing whom he might have to turn to for a spark.

Iman Shumpert had a second, unreported knee surgery during summer

The New York Knicks season is off to a rough start. Even taking Tyson Chandler’s injury into consideration, and the assumption that J.R. Smith will play better soon, the team could be in need of a shakeup. One of their prime pieces to trade is young athletic guard Iman Shumpert. Here’s the New York Daily News reporting on some interesting new developments:

Iman Shumpert had a second left knee operation over the summer, the Daily News has learned and it is unclear if the unreported surgery could impact his trade value with the desperate Knicks trying to package Shumpert in a number of proposed deals including one for Boston’s Rajon Rondo.

According to a source, Shumpert had arthroscopic surgery on his left knee last July that the Knicks never reported. In September, the Daily News reported that Amar’e Stoudemire had knee surgery over the summer which the Knicks also elected not to make public.

Shumpert originally tore the ACL and meniscus in his left knee against the Miami Heat during Game 1 of the 2012 NBA Playoffs. Shumpert didn’t return until Jan. 17, 2013 and has experienced soreness on several occasions, including the Knicks second round playoff series against Indiana. In October, Mike Woodson cryptically said that Shumpert “battled this summer with some of his injuries” and added that Shumpert did experience knee pain but left it at that.

After 9-0 start to season, Indiana Pacers finally lose

They had to lose sometime. After starting the season winning nine games in a row, the Indiana Pacers finally fell. Here’s the Associated Press:

Luol Deng scored 23 points, Derrick Rose added 20 points and the Chicago Bulls knocked off the NBA’s last unbeaten team with a 110-94 win over the Indiana Pacers on Saturday night.

Taj Gibson had 15 points and eight rebounds for Chicago (5-3), which won its fourth straight game behind 11-of-19 shooting from 3-point range…

Roy Hibbert led Indiana (9-1) with 14 points and 10 rebounds. Paul George, who averaged 24.6 points per game coming in, was held to 12 points.

Dwight Howard speaks on Omer Asik`s frustrations

Omer Asik and the Houston Rockets are in a tough situation. Asik wants a bigger role, but Dwight Howard is the bigger talent. And while the two have spent time playing next to each other, that does not appear to be a long-term solution. Here’s the Houston Chronicle reporting:

Dwight Howard and Chandler Parsons said they understand Omer Asik’s frustrations with his role with the Rockets this season. Asik has started eight of the 10 games this season. He didn’t play on Thursday in New York amidst reports that he was requesting to be traded.

Howard said that understands that Asik is in a tough situation.

“Totally, I understand where he is coming from – his frustration, sharing the floor,” Howard said. “I understand it’s tough for him. The only thing I can do is be his friend off the floor and help him anyway I can. I understand its a tough situation for him, but we are all family and we have to learn to fight through frustrations.”