Inside Hoops – Page 1410 – NBA Blog

Warriors sign Malcolm Thomas to 10-day contract

The Golden State Warriors have signed forward Malcolm Thomas to a 10-day contract, the team announced today. Thomas joins the Warriors from the Los Angeles D-Fenders of the NBA Development League, marking the 22nd Call-Up of the 2012-13 NBA season.

Thomas, 24, appeared in just one game for the D-Fenders, posting 13 points, 17 rebounds, four assists, three steals and one block in 41 minutes versus Texas on Wednesday, March 6.

After going undrafted out of San Diego State in the 2011 NBA Draft, Thomas played in the D-League for much of last season, earning First Team All-NBA D-League and All-Defensive Team honors by averaging 13.4 points, 9.1 rebounds and 2.3 blocks per game in 25 games combined with Los Angeles, Rio Grande Valley and Austin. Additionally, he earned a pair of Call-Ups during his rookie campaign, signing briefly with both the San Antonio Spurs and Houston Rockets.

Jeremy Lin getting few fourth-quarter minutes lately for Rockets

After spending another fourth quarter on the bench, Rockets guard Jeremy Lin said he understood Rockets coach Kevin McHale sticking with Patrick Beverley at point guard, even if watching in close games is still not easy.

“Every player understands it’s just a matter of riding the hot hand,” Lin said. “For me, or any athlete it’s just a matter of not getting too high or too low. I feel like in the time I’m out there, I’m playing my brand of basketball. I’m happy about that. Whatever time I get, I have to keep playing the way I play. At this point, we’re making this playoff push. We’re really trying to get these wins.

“It’s hard for any athlete to sit there when it matters. It’s not about individual egos right now. Obviously, everyone wants to be out there. One through 15 everybody wants to be out there, but that’s just not the way it works sometimes. It’s just buying into the team. We really are a team, we enjoy being around each other. That makes it easy to sacrifice for each other.”

Lin has not played in the fourth quarter of the Rockets’ past three games, sitting out late in close games against the Magic and Mavericks and in the home rout against the Mavericks. Rockets center Omer Asik also sat out the fourth quarter against the Mavericks, but also said he was unconcerned with his own playing time.

— Reported by Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle

Chauncey Billups and Denver still share love

He’s forever Denver’s.

“At guard, from Park Hill Colorado, No. 1, Chauncey Billups!”

And as in the glory days of 2009, the Pepsi Center crowd cheered with pride.

Chauncey was back home Thursday night, and PA announcer Kyle Speller gave the Clippers guard a special shout-out during pregame introductions.

Billups plays for Los Angeles, but he’s always this town’s guy, a former George Washington High School standout who starred at Colorado and had two stints with the Nuggets, the second featuring a trip to the 2009 conference finals.

“I just think Chauncey’s a winner — he’s a class human being, he cares about the game, he cares about the city of Denver,” Nuggets coach George Karl said. “He’s just one of those guys, whenever he retires, I’m sure the Nuggets will figure out how he can be part of the Nuggets organization if he wants to be part of the Nuggets.”

— Reported by Benjamin Hochman of the Denver Post

Nuggets love fast-break basketball

The Nuggets, led by the super speedy Ty Lawson, are really fast. Denver entered Thursday’s home game against the Clippers as the No. 1 team in the NBA with 19.7 fast-break points, 57.7 points in the paint and ranked second to the Clippers with 19.5 points off turnovers.

Asked about defending this type of offensive onslaught, Clippers coach Vinny Del Negro said, “You have to load up, and when our guys shoot 3s, we have to start getting back, especially if you are in the corner you have to start sprinting back and loading up and finding a man. It doesn’t particularly have to be your man, but you have to stop the ball and find where the threats are. It can’t be a once in a while thing; it has to be every time.”

I asked George if there’s a certain way to coach hustle, notably with his big men. Here’s how he put it:

“The best way to coach it is, they get rewarded if they stay on the court if they run and they don’t stay on the court if they don’t,” Karl said. “That’s the simple philosophy. Big guys have to run and rebound, and if they don’t, we play small.”

— Reported by Benjamin Hochman of the Denver Post

Mavs could be in for another busy summer

Just like last summer, this is shaping up to be a very busy summer for the Dallas Mavericks.

The Mavs are still in search of a top-flight talent who will make Dirk Nowitzki the team’s second-best player. But whether they can lure Dwight Howard, Chris Paul — or any superstar — to Dallas remains to be seen.

“The challenge is the same annual things since I got here,” said Donnie Nelson’ the Mavs’ president of basketball operations. “Whether it’s through the draft, trade or free agency, to get the most and right kind of talent and give the talent an opportunity to come together.

“And hopefully there’s not too much change. But that’s part of our industry, especially with the new CBA (collective bargaining agreement).”

— Reported by Dwain Price of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram (Blog)

Nuggets win 7th straight, rout Clippers 107-92

The Denver Nuggets routed the surging Los Angeles Clippers 107-92 on Thursday night, riding 21 points from Ty Lawson and 20 from Danilo Gallinari to their 12th straight home win.

Seven Nuggets scored in double figures as Denver won its seventh straight overall and improved to 27-3 at home, tied with the Miami Heat for best in the NBA.

Despite 19 points from Matt Barnes and 17 from Blake Griffin, the Clippers saw their five-game road winning streak come to an end.

More importantly, they lost the season series to the Nuggets 2-1, a tiebreaker that could come into play if Denver can catch them for the third seed in the Western Conference playoffs. Right now, the Nuggets are in fifth, behind Memphis…

Both teams had 11 turnovers, Denver outscored Los Angeles by a dozen points from long range and Paul was good, not great, scoring 16 points and dishing out 10 assists, one fewer than Lawson had…

Jamal Crawford, who had a game-high 22 points in the Clippers’ win over Denver on Christmas Day, sat out with a sore left ankle that he injured Wednesday night in L.A.’s 117-101 win over Milwaukee in which he scored 25 points…

Denver is 27-11 against Western Conference teams. … The Clippers have won six of the last nine games against the Nuggets.

— Reported by Arnie Stapleton of the Associated Press

Thunder hold off J.R. Smith, Knicks as Melo sits

Kevin Durant had 34 points, including the go-ahead free throws with 1:38 left, and the Oklahoma City Thunder pulled out a 95-94 victory over the New York Knicks on Thursday night.

Russell Westbrook struggled over the final three quarters but finished with 21 points, six rebounds and five assists in the Thunder’s first trip to New York since Dec. 22, 2010. Durant also had eight boards and six assists.

Oklahoma City posted its third straight win, fighting off a spirited effort by a Knicks team missing Carmelo Anthony. The All-Star forward missed his second straight game with what the Knicks said is a stiff and sore right knee.

J.R. Smith scored a season-high 36 points for New York, but missed a turnaround jumper that would have won it as time ran out.

Neither team led by more than two points over the final 10 1/2 minutes. Durant scored 12 in the final period while Westbrook was shut out, hitting a pair from the line with 1:38 to play that made it 95-94…

Anthony was hurt Monday in Cleveland, falling to the court without contact as he tried to catch a pass. Coach Mike Woodson said he is day to day and doesn’t believe the injury is serious, but the Knicks said the same about Jeremy Lin last season and others in recent years, so their fans won’t relax until they see Anthony back on the floor…

Raymond Felton and Amare Stoudemire each had 16 points for the Knicks, who were playing their fourth game in five nights against the rested and much more athletic Thunder…

Oklahoma City G Ronnie Brewer didn’t play. Brewer was a starter for the Knicks to begin the season, but eventually lost his place in the rotation entirely after a lengthy slump and was dealt to the Thunder for a second-round pick at the trade deadline.

— Reported by Brian Mahoney of the Associated Press

Anthony did not play for the second straight game because of fluid on his knee. “I’m not overly concerned,” Woodson said. “He’s day-to-day and eventually he’ll be back on the floor playing.” Woodson said he wanted to get Anthony back down to about 34-35 minutes per game instead of close to 40. Anthony sat out Wednesday’s 87-77 win in Detroit after falling to the floor during Monday’s win in Cleveland; he initially said he received treatment on the knee during halftime of Sunday’s loss to the Miami Heat. The Knicks are now 4-5 this year without Anthony, the NBA’s second-leading scorer (28.2)… Stoudemire remains on a 30-minute limit, but Woodson said that could change going forward. “Maybe his minutes will increase as we get closer to the playoffs or get in a playoff series,” said Woodson, adding that he wanted to protect Stoudemire until then.

— Reported by Adam Zagoria of NBA.com

Every game counts for playoff-hungry Warriors

Just over an hour before the Warriors tipped off against Sacramento on Wednesday, a backroom off the Warriors locker room erupted into cheers. Moments later, several players exited looking like they’d just won something.

In a way, they had.

Utah, part of a group of six teams contending for the final three playoff spots in the Western Conference, just put the finishing touches on a collapse at Cleveland, which allowed Golden State to extend its lead over the Jazz to 2.5 games later in the night.

Being in contention for the postseason has turned the Warriors into fans of teams they’d usually have no interest in monitoring.

“It’s a little bit of a different mindset,” All-Star forward David Lee said. “We’re watching Utah play and we’re watching Houston play before our games start and the Lakers play. We’re all excited about the outcomes of those games and we’re rooting for teams in the Eastern Conference.”

— Reported by Kyle Bonagura of CSN Bay Area

Kobe Bryant doing what he can to salvage season for Lakers

It was Kobe Bryant’s 1,443rd game as a Los Angeles Laker. And there he was on Wednesday night, soaking his 34-year-old feet in ice water, feet that helped carry the Lakers to a 108-102 victory over the New Orleans Hornets at the New Orleans Arena, one that left the 31-31 Lakers 2½ games out the final playoff spot in the Western Conference.

Because the Lakers remain in danger of missing the playoffs for only the second time during Kobe’s 17th season in Los Angeles, Kobe’s drive to get them into the postseason has become one of the NBA’s most interesting sidebars.

To say the least, it has been a wild ride. The Lakers are playing for their second head coach this season. And their legendary owner Jerry Buss died of cancer at a time he felt he had put together a team, with the acquisition of guys like Dwight Howard and Steve Nash joining folks like Kobe and Pau Gasol, good enough to win a 17th NBA championship.

Let’s say this much. Bryant is doing his best in what seems to be a lost cause.

— Reported by Peter Finney of the New Orleans Times-Picayune

Campaign to keep Kings in Sacramento continues

The public relations campaign to keep the Kings in town continued today with a blast from the franchise’s past.

Former Kings star Mitch Richmond greeted a few dozen fans at midtown’s Firestone Public House, signing posters and hats. Richmond has pledged $1 million to be part of a local ownership contingent seeking to block the Kings’ move to Seattle.

“It would be a sad day if the Kings leave this community,” Richmond said. “I know Seattle is a good place, I think Seattle’s team (the Sonics) should have never left. But we want our team here.”

— Reported by Ryan Lillis of the Sacramento Bee