Inside Hoops – Page 1392 – NBA Blog

Dwyane Wade says knee pain is subsiding

Dwyane Wade sat out for the second game in a row as he continued to rest a sore right knee.

Wade said he underwent an MRI that returned negative and said the pain in his knee was diminishing.

“It’s just a bruise,” Wade said. “It’s just about understanding when you have something lingering it can affect other parts of your body. You have to be smart about it.

“You have to understand what’s coming down for our team in the next few days. [Sunday] was a good day, and hopefully it will feel better by Wednesday so I can get back on the court.”

Wade said he first took a hit on the knee in the team’s previous home game against Orlando on March 6, then hit it again against the Celtics on March 18.

— Reported by Andre C. Fernandez of the Miami Herald

Short-handed Pacers hold off Hawks 100-94

The Indiana Pacers built a team to withstand the perils of a long NBA season.

On Monday night, they showed why depth matters.

With Indiana playing without four key contributors because of injuries, Gerald Green scored 17 of his 19 points in the second half, including a game-saving 3-pointer in the final minute, to help the Pacers fend off Atlanta’s furious fourth-quarter rally for a 100-94 victory.

”I feel good about our depth,” coach Frank Vogel said. ”If a guy goes down, it won’t be the end of the world for us.”

He should.

The Pacers, who haven’t won a division title since 2003-04, maintained their grip on the Central Division race, extending their lead over second-place Chicago to five games with 11 left on Indiana’s schedule. The Pacers’ magic number is now seven and they’re back in the No. 2 slot in the Eastern Conference, a half-game ahead of the Knicks…

Already playing without swingman Danny Granger, who missed another game with patellar tendinosis in his left knee, and forward David West, who has now missed five straight games with a lower back sprain, the Pacers got even worse news about an hour before tip-off when Vogel announced point guard George Hill would sit out with a strained left groin and swingman Lance Stephenson, Granger’s replacement, would miss the game with a strained right hip flexor.

Suddenly, Green, D.J. Augustin and Tyler Hansbrough, who has been filling in for West, were all in the starting lineup. But the Pacers just rolled on…

”We have to play better and I think we have to look at some things, some lineups and things like that, but I think it’s unacceptable to be up 25 points or 22 points at the beginning of the fourth and let it get down to four,” said Hibbert, who had 17 points, 13 rebounds and three blocks. ”That’s just unacceptable.”

— Reported by Michael Marot of the Associated Press

Qualcomm CEO joins Sacramento bid to keep Kings

Add another investor to the group Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson is assembling to keep the Kings from moving to Seattle.

Johnson announced Monday night that Paul Jacobs, CEO of the international technology company Qualcomm, has agreed to become part of the Sacramento bid. Jacobs joins a group that includes billionaire investor Ron Burkle, 24 Hour Fitness founder Mark Mastrov and TIBCO Software CEO Vivek Ranadive.

”A true Dream Team! This Fab Four is a bracket buster,” Johnson wrote on Twitter.

Sacramento city officials reached a preliminary agreement Saturday with the investment group for a new $447 million downtown arena. The city plans to contribute $258 million to the $447 million project, mostly by leasing out parking assets and donating land.

— Reported by the Associated Press

Miami Heat winning streak reaches 27 games

Late in the third quarter, the game was tied and the Miami Heat winning streak seemed to be in jeopardy.

Then LeBron James got mad.

And then the Orlando Magic had no chance.

James finished with 24 points, 11 assists and nine rebounds, throwing down a dunk to start a huge, swift run that decided everything and the Heat won their 27th straight game by topping the Magic 108-94 on Monday night.

”We are not taking this team for granted,” James said. ”I continue to always say that in professional sports, wins are hard to come by and teams like this are really rare. To be part of a team like this, we do not take it for granted.”

That dunk – which came one possession after James badly missed a layup and got frustrated – started what became a 20-2 run over merely a 4 1/2-minute portion of the third and fourth quarters, and it put the Heat in control for good.

He left one rebound shy of a triple-double, feigning disappointment. That’s about all the Heat could complain about afterward.

Mario Chalmers scored 17, and Chris Bosh and Ray Allen each added 12 for Miami, giving Heat coach Erik Spoelstra his 250th win and bringing the reigning NBA champions within six games of matching the Lakers for the longest winning streak in league history, a 33-game run.

— Reported by Tim Reynolds of the Associated Press

John Wall explodes for 47 points in Wizards win over Grizzlies

John Wall finished Washington’s last game on the bench after getting two technical fouls.

He stuck around for the finish of his best NBA performance Monday, scoring 17 of his career-high 47 points in the fourth quarter as the undermanned Wizards beat the Memphis Grizzlies, 107-94.

”I was just in a zone. I made my first couple of shots and I knew I was in a great rhythm. Ten points in the first quarter, I knew I had it going,” Wall said after posting the third-highest point total in the NBA this season.

Wall, who added eight assists and seven rebounds, shot 13 of 22 from the field and made a career-high 19 free throws on 24 attempts.

”That was an incredible performance for him. We jumped on it and he carried us. It felt to me that it was all under control. All within our offense. All within what we were doing,” Wizards coach Randy Wittman said.

Emeka Okafor added 21 points and nine rebounds for a Washington team that was without five members of its rotation.

Already without guard Bradley Beal (sprained left ankle), guard A.J. Price (groin) and forward Trevor Ariza (flu), Wittman announced before the game that forwards Nene (sore right knee) and Martell Webster (abdomen strain) were also out.

— Reported by Harvey Valentine of the Associated Press

Nuggets 15-game winning streak ends with loss to Hornets

Even Brian Roberts couldn’t believe the performance he delivered to help end Denver’s 15-game winning streak.

Starting for only the second time, the rookie doubled his season high with 18 assists, Ryan Anderson scored 23 points and the short-handed New Orleans Hornets beat the Nuggets 110-86 on Monday night.

”It’s crazy to fathom, having 18 assists,” Roberts said. ”Guys play years and don’t have that many assists. Somebody pointed out I had more assists than they had as a team. For me to come out in my second start and do that is just a testament to my teammates making shots.”

And to Roberts’ work ethic, too. He never had 10 assists in four years at the University of Dayton, where he was more of a scorer than a facilitator. Then he spent five years trying to make an NBA roster before hooking on with the Hornets last summer, re-working his game to become a pass-first player.

Eleven of those passes turned into assists in the first half alone against the Nuggets, who finished with four fewer assists than Roberts. He became the 20th rookie to have 18 assists or more and the first since Darren Collison did it for New Orleans in 2010…

Danilo Gallinari had 24 points for the Nuggets, who were without starting point guard Ty Lawson (right heel injury) for the third consecutive game. Denver lost for the first time since Feb. 22 against Washington after matching its 1969-70 ABA team’s record of 15 straight victories.

”We played a bad game and they played a great game,” said Nuggets point guard Andre Miller, who had nine points and six assists.

— Reported by Guerry Smith of the Associated Press

Hawks guard Devin Harris misses game with foot injury

Devin Harris missed Monday’s game against the Pacers with a left foot injury.

Harris was hurt in the third quarter of Sunday’s victory over the Bucks and was unable to return after scoring 16 points. It marked the 14th game Harris missed this season with foot problems that have plagued him most of the season’s second half.

His status for Wednesday’s game against the Raptors in undetermined.

“He is still a little sore,” coach Larry Drew said. “We’ll see how he is (Tuesday).”

— Reported by Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal Constitution

Magic center Nikola Vucevic misses game due to concussion

Nik Vucevic sat out as the Orlando Magic attempted to end the Miami Heat’s winning streak at 26 games on Monday night.

“I sure am going to miss him tonight,” Magic coach Jacque Vaughn predicted about 90 minutes before tipoff.

Vucevic suffered a mild concussion on March 19, and he can’t play again until he passes the NBA’s concussion protocol. Even after he’s cleared medically, Vaughn will face a decision whether or not to put Vucevic back on the floor.

Vucevic’s absence meant the Magic were missing four players who started in the season-opener: shooting guard Arron Afflalo, small forward Hedo Turkoglu, power forward Glen Davis and Vucevic.

— Reported by Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel

Mavericks sign Justin Dentmon to a 10-day contract

The Dallas Mavericks today signed Texas Legends guard Justin Dentmon to a 10-day contract, for the 29th NBA-to-D-League “Call-Up” of the 2012-13 NBA Development League season. He joins 122 players with NBA D-League experience currently on NBA rosters.

Dentmon (6-0, 185, Washington) has appeared in 40 games for the Austin Toros and Texas this season. He was acquired from Austin via trade on Jan. 22 and in 22 games for Texas is averaging 26.0 points, 3.4 assists, 1.8 steals and 38.5 minutes.

Dentmon comes off a 2012 NBA D-League season where he led the Austin Toros to the NBA D-League championship, while also capturing to the league’s MVP award. He was also named to this year’s NBA D-League All-Star games as a member of the Prospects All-Star team. He had two NBA stints in 2011-12 with the San Antonio Spurs and Toronto Raptors.

Dentmon is expected to join the Mavericks today and be available when the team hosts the Los Angeles Clippers on Tuesday at American Airlines Center.

Clippers sign DaJuan Summers to second 10-day contract

The Los Angeles Clippers announced today that they have signed forward DaJuan Summers to a second 10-day contract.

Summers has appeared in two games for the Clippers, averaging 1.0 points and 1.0 rebounds in 3.5 minutes of action.

The 26th D-League to NBA “Call-Up” of the 2012-13 season, Summers averaged 18.0 points and 7.6 rebounds in 33.1 minutes of action for the Maine Red Claws of the NBA Development League this season over 29 games (16 starts).

The 6’8” Georgetown product was the 35th overall pick in the 2009 NBA Draft as an early entrant candidate. He appeared in 81 games (7 starts) for the Detroit Pistons and New Orleans Hornets from 2009-2012, averaging 3.4 points and 1.0 rebounds in 10.0 minutes of action.