Inside Hoops – Page 1505 – NBA Blog

Kobe scores 34, Lakers beat Sixers

Kobe Bryant scored 34 points, Metta World Peace added 19 points and a career-high 16 rebounds and the Los Angeles Lakers won consecutive games for the first time in nearly a month with a 111-98 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers on Sunday.

Dwight Howard had 17 points and 11 rebounds for the Lakers, who led 60-50 at halftime. Darius Morris had a career-high 15 points, all in the first half, and Chris Duhon scored 14.

The Lakers (11-14), who beat Washington 102-96 on Friday night, won two in a row for the first time since a three-game streak from Nov. 16-20.

Even without injured stars Steve Nash and Pau Gasol, the Lakers hardly resembled the team which entered the night four games below .500.

Nick Young paced the reeling Sixers (12-12) with 30 points while Spencer Hawes and Evan Turner added 16 apiece. Thaddeus Young had 14 for Philadelphia, which dropped its third straight game for the first time this season.

— Reported by the Associated Press

Jose Calderon triple-double helps Raptors beat Rockets

Add tight defense to a triple-double, and it was quite a game for Jose Calderon.

Calderon had 18 points, 14 assists, and 10 rebounds to lead short-handed Toronto over the Houston Rockets 103-96 Sunday, giving the Raptors consecutive wins for the first time in eight long months.

Calderon started for the third straight game in place of the injured Kyle Lowry, who has a tear in his right triceps.

The 31-year-old Spanish guard, who’s the longest serving Raptor, has been a perennial backup in Toronto…

Alan Anderson had 24 points, while DeMar DeRozan added 19 points for the Raptors, who hadn’t won consecutive games since April 13 and 15 of last season.

Ed Davis added 13 points for Toronto.

James Harden scored 28 points for the Rockets, while Marcus Morris added 19.

The Raptors took a 77-71 lead into the fourth quarter, and stretched their advantage to nine points. But Houston made for some tense moments late in the game, cutting Toronto’s lead to four points with a couple of minutes to go.

— Reported by the Associated Press

Joel Przybilla suspended for hitting ref with ball

Joel Przybilla of the Milwaukee Bucks has been suspended one game without pay for throwing the basketball and hitting a referee, it was announced today by Stu Jackson, NBA Executive Vice President, Basketball Operations.

The incident occurred with 1:36 remaining in the fourth quarter of Milwaukee’s 111-85 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers on Saturday, Dec. 15 at the BMO Harris Bradley Center.

Przybilla will serve his suspension on Tuesday, Dec. 18 when the Bucks host the Indiana Pacers at the BMO Harris Bradley Center.

Video: Ricky Rubio returns for Timberwolves

Point guard Ricky Rubio is finally back in action for the Minnesota Timberwolves yesterday in an overtime win over the Dallas Mavericks. Watch highlight of Rubio’s return:

Trail Blazers recall Victor Claver and Joel Freeland from D-League

The Portland Trail Blazers have recalled forwards Victor Claver and Joel Freeland from the team’s NBA Development League affiliate, the Idaho Stampede, it was announced today by General Manager Neil Olshey.

Portland assigned Claver and Freeland to the Stampede on Dec. 14. The two rookies played in both of Idaho’s games vs. Santa Cruz this weekend in Boise.

Freeland posted averages of 20.5 points, 10.5 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 37.0 minutes in the two contests. Freeland led the Stampede in scoring on Dec. 14 with 22 points.

Claver averaged 6.5 points, 7.5 rebounds, 1.5 assists, 3.0 steals and 34.0 minutes in two games with Idaho. He recorded five steals against Santa Cruz on Dec. 14.

Both players will be available for Portland’s contest vs. New Orleans tonight.

Knicks edge Cavs despite 41 points from mask-wearing Kyrie Irving

Once they outlasted Kyrie Irving, the New York Knicks could turn their attention to the next point guard coming to Madison Square Garden.

Even Linsanity shouldn’t be as tough to deal with as the guy wearing the black mask Saturday night.

Raymond Felton scored 25 points, Tyson Chandler had 23, and the New York Knicks overcame Irving’s career-high 41 points and the absence of Carmelo Anthony to post a 103-102 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers.

The Knicks won their fourth straight when Anderson Varejao missed the second of two free throws with 1 second left. They improved the NBA’s only unbeaten home record to 10-0, their best start since the 1991-92 team won its first 11 at Madison Square Garden.

”Guys stepped up. Raymond played great, Tyson played great, and it was just enough,” Knicks forward Steve Novak said.

Anthony, the NBA’s No. 2 scorer, missed the game after spraining his left ankle Thursday in the third quarter of a victory over the Los Angeles Lakers. But Chandler scored 21 in the second half and grabbed 10 rebounds, and Felton and Jason Kidd combined for 15 assists.

It almost wasn’t enough thanks to Irving, who had no problems wearing a black protective mask after breaking a bone in his face on a hard fall Friday night against Milwaukee…

Rookie Chris Copeland scored 11 in his first career start in place of Anthony, who had 30 points in 22 minutes before getting hurt when he landed awkwardly after a hard foul by Dwight Howard. The Knicks improved to 2-1 without him, adding this to a surprising rout in Miami on Dec. 6.

— Reported by Brian Mahoney of the Associated Press

Ricky Rubio returns for Timberwolves in OT win over Mavericks

The white sleeve on Ricky Rubio’s left knee served as a reminder of what he went through to get back on the court.

While it served to protect his surgically repaired joint, it clearly does nothing to constrict the creativity and unbridled joy that made him one of the most exciting players in the league before he went down last season.

Nine long months later, it’s as if Rubio never left.

Zipping passes between his legs to his Timberwolves teammates in a dazzling season debut, Rubio had nine assists and eight points in 18 minutes of Minnesota’s 114-106 overtime victory over the Dallas Mavericks on Saturday night.

Andrei Kirilenko scored five of his 14 points in overtime while Rubio watched from the bench because of a minutes restriction…

Nikola Pekovic scored 21 points for the Timberwolves, who won their fourth straight game despite playing without All-Star Kevin Love because of an illness.

O.J. Mayo had 20 points, six assists and five rebounds and Shawn Marion had 14 points and 10 rebounds for the Mavericks, who led by 13 early before Rubio came off the bench for the first time since he tore the ACL and LCL in his left knee in March…

Alexey Shved had 18 points and six assists and the Wolves scored the first 10 points in overtime to send an amped crowd home happy.

Derek Fisher scored 20 points for the Mavericks, who turned the ball over 20 times. They led 98-96 after Fisher’s four-point play with 2:50 to go.

— Reported by Jon Krawczynski of the Associated Press

Rockets recall Terrence Jones from D-League

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 is scheduled to be active for this afternoon’s game at Toronto (12/16/12).

Jones (6-9, 252, Kentucky ), who was assigned to the Vipers on Dec. 14, has averaged 22.5 points and 17.5 rebounds in two starts with Rio Grande Valley this season.

Playing in Milwaukee always scary for Caron Butler

Racine native Caron Butler likes to come home, don’t get him wrong.

But playing against the Bucks in Milwaukee has been a nightmare for the Los Angeles Clippers forward. Butler will try again when the Clippers, winners of eight straight games, meet the Bucks, winners of four in a row, on Saturday night.

He has been injured three times at the BMO Harris Bradley Center, including suffering a ruptured right patella tendon in a game on Jan. 1, 2011, when he was with the Dallas Mavericks. He missed the rest of the season and the Mavericks’ run to the NBA championship.

“I’m going to pray in all type of different languages and ways before I step on the court, because the last three times I’ve been here I’ve had some crazy luck,” Butler said after the Clippers’ shootaround at Marquette’s Al McGuire Center.

“I need a voodoo doctor and everything out there.”

— Reported by Charles F. Gardner of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Kyrie Irving suffers broken bone in jaw

A CT scan at the Cleveland Clinic following the Cavaliers game Friday night at Quicken Loans Arena vs. the Milwaukee Bucks revealed that Cavs guard Kyrie Irving sustained a small left maxillary fracture.

Irving did not fly with the team to New York City after the game so he could be fitted with a protective mask.

He will travel to New York City today and will be available to play vs. the Knicks tonight at Madison Square Garden.

According to the Associated Press, “Irving was injured when he was knocked down in the first quarter by Bucks forward forward Luc Mbah a Moute, who was called for a foul. Irving’s face slammed into the floor, and he writhed in pain for several minutes before getting up and making two free throws. He stayed in the game. At the end of the quarter, last season’s NBA rookie of the year sat on the bench with a towel on his face, but he played 36 minutes and finished with a team-high 26 points. Following the game, the Cavs indicated Irving would be on the flight to New York, but a CT scan at the Cleveland Clinic revealed what the team described as “a small left maxillary fracture.”