Inside Hoops – Page 1718 – NBA Blog

Andrew Bynum suffers left ankle sprain

The Lakers had avoided any substantial injury scares with Andrew Bynum’s fragile lower body in this breakout season for him, but he left late in the first quarter Sunday night with a moderate sprain of his left ankle.

Bynum appeared to turn the ankle when landing on teammate Josh McRoberts’ foot. He limped off the court with 1:49 left in the first quarter with the Lakers ahead by one point and went for X-rays, which showed no fracture. He will be re-evaluated Monday, when the Lakers have the day off before back-to-back games vs. New Jersey on Tuesday and the Clippers on Wednesday.

— Reported by Kevin Ding of the Orange County Register

Rondo has triple-double as Celtics rout Heat

Rajon Rondo had a triple-double and the Boston Celtics handed Miami its biggest loss of the season, pulling away for a 91-72 win over the Heat on Sunday.

The Celtics outscored the Heat 31-12 in the third quarter, turning a 49-44 halftime lead into an 80-56 advantage. They stayed ahead by at least 19 the rest of the way for their fifth straight win…

Rondo finished with 16 points, 14 assists and 11 rebounds, reaching the triple-double mark with 8 1/2 minutes to play. It was his 13th consecutive game with at least 10 assists and his fifth triple-double of the season…

The Heat, playing their third game in four days, were led by LeBron James with 23 points but he had no assists for only the second time in his career. Dwyane Wade added 15 points. The Heat continued to struggle on the road, losing for the seventh time in their last 10 games away from home. Miami has the fewest home losses in the league at 21-2 but is only 16-12 on the road.

Paul Pierce scored 23 points, and Brandon Bass added 16 points and 10 rebounds for Boston.

— Reported by the Associated Press

Terrence Ross declares for 2012 NBA Draft

Guard Terrence Ross has decided to enter his name into the 2012 NBA Draft and will forgo his final two years of eligibility at the University of Washington.

“I discussed the pros and the cons with my family and I just think this is a great step for me and it’s time for me to take my game to the next level,” Ross said about his decision.

“Being at Washington and playing for Coach (Lorenzo) Romar has been a blessing,” Ross continued. “On the court, off the court, with school and in life…it’s just been a real blessing to consider myself a Husky and get to where I am right now.”

Ross (Portland, Ore./Jefferson HS) helped the Huskies to a 24-11 record, NIT semifinal appearance and Pac-12 regular season championship in 2012. As a freshman in 2011, he was part of a Husky team that went 24-11, won the Pac-10 Tournament championship and advanced to the third round of the NCAA tournament.

In 2012, Ross established himself as not only one of the Pac-12’s most complete players, but one of the nation’s top athletes. He ranked among conference leaders in eight categories: points (16.4, 4th), rebounds (6.4, 6th), offensive rebounds (5.1, 3rd), free throw percentage (.766, 11th), steals (1.3, 12th), 3-PT FG makes (2.1, 8th), 3-PT% (.371, 14th) and blocks (0.9, 13th).

He earned first team All-Pac-12 honors in 2012 and led Washington in scoring, tallying 574 total points – tied for 9th most in UW single-season history.

He also was second on the team in minutes, rebounds, steals, 3-point makes, 3-point field goal percentage and blocks.

Ross was the only Husky to reach 30 points this season, doing so twice. He was second with 9 games of 20-plus points.

Ross flourished in Washington’s run to the NIT semifinals in New York. He averaged 25.0 points in four games. He was a perfect 15-of-15 from the free throw line and led UW shooters from three point range, making 15-of-37 attempts (.405).

“We wish Terrence the best,” Husky Coach Lorenzo Romar said from New Orleans, where he is taking part in Final Four festivities. “He was refreshing to coach because of his humility and team-first attitude. We wish him well and anticipate that he will have an excellent NBA career.”

Warriors sign center Mickell Gladness for rest of season

The Golden State Warriors have signed center Mickell Gladness for the remainder of the season, the team announced today.

Gladness, 25, has appeared in six games with Golden State since signing a 10-day contract on March 22, averaging 2.0 points, 1.3 rebounds and 1.0 block in 7.3 minutes per contest. He has scored a career-high six points on two occasions during his six games with the Warriors, including Saturday night vs. New Jersey when he finished with six points and three rebounds in a career-high 12 minutes. He has also blocked a career-high two shots on three different occasions while with Golden State.

The 6’11” center made his NBA debut earlier this season as a member of the Miami Heat, appearing in eight games over two different stints with the club. Prior to joining the Heat for their 2011-12 training camp, Gladness appeared in four games for the Dakota Wizards, the Warriors’ NBA Development League team, averaging 7.8 points, 5.3 rebounds and 1.75 blocks in 20.8 minutes per contest. Overall, he has appeared in 81 D-League games over three seasons, averaging 4.6 points, 3.8 rebounds and 1.41 blocks combined with Dakota and Rio Grande Valley. A product of Alabama A&M, Gladness went undrafted in the 2008 NBA Draft and played one season professionally overseas before joining the D-League for the 2009-10 campaign.

Michael Jordan says he has no plans to sell the Charlotte Bobcats

Bobcats Sports & Entertainment Chairman Michael Jordan today released the following statement:

“I was disturbed to hear the false report that I intend to sell my majority interest in the Charlotte Bobcats. I am 100% committed to building the Bobcats into a contender and have no plans to sell the team.”

Bobcats Sports & Entertainment owns the Charlotte Bobcats and operates Charlotte’s Time Warner Cable Arena.

105-year-old fan Allene Wynn meets Lakers

I don’t know about you people, but when I turn 105 years old I’m probably going to start slowing down a bit, and might consider taking it easy. Sure, I’ll still be doing backflips, going hiking, playing basketball and doing other stuff like that, but will I also have time to keep attending NBA games? I sure hope so. Anyway, check out this story:

Dave McMenamin of ESPN Los Angeles reports:

The Los Angeles Lakers might have parted ways with their oldest player when they traded Derek Fisher, but they still have the support of one of their oldest fans.

Allene Wynn of Pacoima, Calif., turned 105 years old this week and celebrated her birthday at the Lakers game against the New Orleans Hornets as a guest of the team.

Wynn was visited by several members of the team outside the locker room before the Lakers’ 88-85 win, including Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum.

“It just made me feel good all over to meet him in person. I’ve been wanting to meet him for years,” Wynn told ESPNLosAngeles.com about her interaction with Bryant. “I got to touch him. I shook hands with him and hugged him. I said, ‘Wait, let me hug you, baby.'”

Bryant seemed mutually appreciative of meeting Wynn.

“That’s unbelievable, 105 years old,” Bryant said with a smile. “I don’t think this game did anything to relax her.”

Jeremy Lin needs knee surgery, out 6 weeks

The New York Knicks season has been a wild, unpredictable ride filled with surprises, disappointments, and extended winning and losing streaks. But now now one of the bright spots will be out recovering instead of helping the squad play like a functional unit.

Brian Mahoney of the Associated Press reports:

Say so long to Linsanity.

Jeremy Lin will miss the rest of the regular season because he needs knee surgery that will sideline him six weeks and could leave the Knicks without their star point guard in the playoffs—if they make it that far.

Lin had an MRI exam this week that revealed a small, chronic meniscus tear and he has elected to have surgery next week in New York.

With the regular season ending April 26, the biggest story in basketball this season is done unless the Knicks make a deep postseason run.

Speaking slowly during a pregame press conference, Lin was unable to hide his disappointment with the decision that was reached earlier Saturday after a painful workout.

“It (stinks) not being able to be out there with the team,” he said.

Upcoming: Lin-surgery.

Spurs beat Pacers for 7th straight win

The San Antonio Spurs don’t care that you think they are too old to matter anymore. They’ll keep right on winning, whether you like it or not.

The AP reports:

The San Antonio Spurs made it seven straight wins by beating the Indiana Pacers 112-103 in the NBA on Saturday.

Tim Duncan had 23 points and 11 rebounds while Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili added 18 points apiece for the Spurs, who are 8-1 since making a rare plunge into midseason moves by adding forwards Stephen Jackson and Boris Diaw .

Despite their hot form, San Antonio has not been able to reduce its 2-1/2 game deficit to first-placed Oklahoma City, which is also on a winning streak.

Paul George and Danny Granger each scored 18 for the Pacers, who are struggling to break out of the jammed East playoff picture and secure some home-court edge.

Kings sign Terrence Williams for rest of season

The Sacramento Kings have decided they like guard/forward Terrence Williams enough to keep him around. The team today signed Williams for the remainder of the season, according to Kings’ President of Basketball Operations Geoff Petrie.

Williams, currently in his third NBA season, is averaging 7.5 points (.500 FGs, .286 3FGs, .667 FTs), 3.3 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 1.0 steals per game through four outings with the Kings off the bench. He was originally signed to a 10-day contract with Sacramento on March 21, 2012.

The 18-33 Kings are currently 14th in the Western conference.

Gerald Wallace goes wild, Nets beat Warriors

New Jersey Nets forward Gerald Wallace went crazy Friday night, leading the New Jersey Nets to a 102-11 road win over the Golden State Warriors. Wallace shot 7-of-16 for 24 points, 18 rebounds, five assists and six steals in the win.

Here’s the Associated Press:

Wallace scored 10 points over the final 6 minutes and made a pair of key defensive stops as New Jersey rallied from 19 points down in the second half to beat the Golden State Warriors 102-100 on Friday night.

“The future looks good, if we had everybody healthy,” Wallace said after the Nets opened a four-game West Coast trip with their first win at Oracle Arena in more than six years. “We have an elite point guard, we have one of the up-and-coming centers … so our future looks great.”

Wallace might not have had the same feelings two weeks ago after arriving in a trade from Portland. New Jersey lost its first five games with Wallace to drop 19 games below .500.

The Nets have turned things around lately and have won three of their last four…

Kris Humphries added 20 points and nine rebounds while Deron Williams had nine points and a season-high 20 assists to help New Jersey to its third win in four games.

David Lee had 27 points and six rebounds for Golden State, which led 76-57 midway through the third quarter but couldn’t get much going offensively the rest of the way.