Inside Hoops – Page 2415 – NBA Blog

Suns notes

Matt Barnes is averaging 12.0 points, nearly double what he averaged last season with Golden State, 5.7 rebounds and 2.3 assists in 29.3 minutes on the season.

Shaquille O’Neal has the second-highest field goal percentage (.599) in the NBA this season. Shaq is averaging 14.9 points and 8.5 rebounds in 27.5 minutes. He needs one block to pass Tree Rollins for 7th place on the NBA’s all-time blocks list.

Raja Bell is shooting a team-best .481 (37-77) from behind the arc (12th). Against New Jersey on Sunday, he scored 13 points (5-8 FG, 3-4 3FG) and had four rebounds.

Amare Stoudemire is averaging a team-high 21.7 points (12th in NBA), 8.0 rebounds (28th) and 1.3 blocks (40th). On Nov. 30 against New Jersey, he tallied 25 points, 12 rebounds, three assists, two blocks and two steals.

Steve Nash led the Suns in scoring for the second time over the past four games with 25 points and nine assists against New Jersey. Nash is shooting .512 (33rd) from the field, .436 (33rd) from three-point range and .922 (8th) from the line on the season.

UPCOMING GAMES

The Suns head to New Orleans to face Chris Paul, David West and Tyson Chandler of the New Orleans Hornets at New Orleans Arena on Wednesday, December 3 for the first time since the Hornets took the Suns’ home opener on October 30, 108-95. Phoenix has lost five-straight to the Hornets following a stretch during which the Suns won 11-of-12 matchups. The Suns are 4-1 this season in the front end of a back-to-back set.

The Suns take on Dirk Nowitzki and Jason Kidd of the Dallas Mavericks at American Airlines Center on Thursday, December 4 for the first matchup between these two teams this season. The Suns have an advantage in the all-time series, 69-49. Phoenix has won five of the last nine games in the series and has split the last 14 meetings with Dallas.

Phoenix plays host to Deron Williams, Carlos Boozer and Mehmet Okur of the Utah Jazz on Saturday, December 6. The Suns have a slight advantage in recent history, posting eight wins in the last 15 matchups. On March 7, 2008, Shaquille O’Neal became the 11th player in NBA history to reach 26,000 career points with a 20-point, seven rebound and two-block effort in the final meeting between the clubs last season.

The Milwaukee Bucks, featuring Richard Jefferson, Michael Redd and Andrew Bogut make their only visit of the season to the Valley on Tuesday, December 9. The Suns have won 31 of the last 35 meetings overall, including 20 consecutive wins at home to share the league’s longest-active home winning streak against a single opponent.

Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol and Derek Fisher of the Los Angeles Lakers host the Suns at STAPLES Center on Wednesday, December 10. These two teams have faced one another 206 times during the regular season, more than any other opponent in Phoenix history. On January 17, 2008, Steve Nash dished out a season-high 20 assists in a 106-98 win at STAPLES Center. Phoenix lost three of four contests last season, but the Suns have won 11 of the last 17 regular season matchups.

With five consecutive wins against Dwight Howard and the Orlando Magic, the Suns look to continue their winning ways against the Magic on Friday, December 12 at US Airways Center. Phoenix has won 10 of the last 12 meetings, sweeping the season series the past two years. On November 10, 2007, Leandro Barbosa tallied a career-high 39 points in a 106-96 victory.

Houston Comets (WNBA) shutting down

The AP reports: The Houston Comets, a franchise that won the first four WNBA championships, is disbanding. The league-owned team will be shut down because new owners couldn’t be found. “You have to build on strength,” WNBA president Donna Orender told The Associated Press in a telephone interview. “My outlook is to build on the fact that the league has great momentum and in Houston we didn’t have the enough runway to get a deal done in time for the 2009 season. So right now we have to move on.”

Ticker reports: The league will hold a dispersal draft for the remaining players on the Comets. “December 8 we will have a dispersal draft and the players who are available to be drafted will be drafted in an inverse order of finish by the current WNBA teams”, Orender said. “So the Atlanta team will have the first available player or the player they so chose on December 8.”

The Houston Chronicle reports: The decision to shutter the team came almost four months after the league took it over. The WNBA began running the Comets when owner Hilton Koch had decided to put the team up for sale. In mid-August, Houston Mayor Bill White issued a letter to potential investors, placing the value of the franchise at $10 million and setting a November deadline to find local ownership. Koch bought the team from Houston Rockets owner Leslie Alexander in October 2006. The team broke away from the Rockets’ organization, established a new front office, saw longtime head coach Van Chancellor resign and moved assistant coach Karleen Thompson into the top job.

Houston Rockets Owner Leslie Alexander issued the following statement today regarding the WNBA’s announcement that the Houston Comets will suspend operations this week. Alexander was the original president and owner of the Comets from the 1997-2006 seasons before selling the team to Houston businessman Hilton Koch on January 31, 2007: “While this is a sad day for me personally, as well as for all who worked so hard to bring women’s basketball to our great city, the Comets were a source of deep pride for all Houstonians. I will never forget our team making history by winning that first WNBA championship—then following it up with three more consecutive titles. The team was a great source of inspiration and had a great impact on thousands of young women everywhere. I will choose to focus on the many great times that we shared, and the incredible players like Cynthia Cooper, Sheryl Swoopes, Tina Thompson and Kim Perrot, and of course our Hall of Fame coach Van Chancellor. We had the most loyal and energetic fans in the league, and the team will be missed by all.”

Dec 1: Heat 130, Warriors 129 OT

The AP reports: Chris Quinn hit a tying 3-pointer with 7.1 seconds left in overtime, Michael Beasley stole the ensuing inbounds pass and made the decisive free throw, and the Miami Heat pulled off a wild 130-129 comeback win over the Golden State Warriors on Monday night… Jamal Crawford scored six of his 40 points in overtime and dished out seven assists, but his team fell short again. Udonis Haslem scored on a putback for Miami at the buzzer of regulation to force the extra session… Wade finished with 37 points and 13 assists, and Haslem and Shawn Marion each had 21 points. Beasley, who jumped in front of Andris Biedrins’ inbounds pass at the end, added 19 points and six rebounds off the bench… Corey Maggette had 29 points, Biedrins 17 points and 15 boards and Brandan Wright 16 points for a Warriors team that went 0-5 on its recent road trip. It was Golden State’s first 0-5 trip since the 2003-04 season.

Dec 1: Celtics 107, Magic 88

The AP reports: Paul Pierce scored 17 of his 24 points in the third quarter to lead the Boston Celtics to their ninth straight win, 107-88 over the Orlando Magic on Monday night… Ray Allen added 21 points, Rondo had 16 points with 12 assists and Kevin Garnett scored 15 points for the Celtics (17-2) in a win over a top Eastern Conference rival… Rashard Lewis paced Orlando (13-5) with 30 points. Turkoglu had 19 and Dwight Howard, the NBA’s leading rebounder, had 14 points with 15 boards and four blocked shots… The Magic were without their starting backcourt for the second consecutive game.

Dec 1: Bobcats 100, Wolves 90

The AP reports: Jason Richardson scored 25 points in another strong performance after being sidelined with knee trouble, leading the suddenly efficient Bobcats to a 100-90 win over the error-prone Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday night… Emeka Okafor, often invisible in the paint this season, added a season-high 24 points on 9-of-14 shooting. The notoriously poor free-throw shooter made all six from the line and added 10 rebounds. Raymond Felton had a season-high 14 assists, and didn’t commit his only turnover until just more than 2 minutes remained… Randy Foye scored 23 points and Mike Miller added 19 points and 10 rebounds for Minnesota, which was never in sync in its second straight loss. Top scorer Al Jefferson was held to eight points on 3-of-11 shooting and Minnesota committed 14 of its 18 turnovers in the first half.

Tracy McGrady likely out week or so

Rockets G Tracy McGrady was evaluated by Dr. James Andrews in Birmingham, AL this afternoon. Dr. Andrews confirmed the initial medical assessment of Rockets Team Physician Tom Clanton that McGrady is suffering from general soreness in his left knee related to his continuing rehabilitation from off season surgery.

McGrady will continue his current rehab program designed to alleviate the discomfort in his knee. He will likely be out for the next week and will continue to have his playing time restricted upon his return in order to lessen the stress on the injured knee.

Rockets G Brent Barry, who missed the last two games with a calf injury, was seen by Clanton this morning at Memorial Hermann—Texas Medical Center and diagnosed with a small tear in the Plantaris muscle on his right leg. The injury will require him to rest for approximately the next two weeks before resuming his on court practice activities in preparation for a return to game action.

East player of month: LeBron James

Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James was named today as the NBA’s Eastern Conference Player of the Month for games played in the month of November.

In 15 games during the month, James averaged 28.6 points on .497 shooting, 7.1 rebounds and 6.2 assists per game. James has now won the award eight times in his career: for the first time this season; two times during 2007-08, once in 2006-07, twice in 2005-06 and twice during the 2004-05 campaign.

During November, James ranked second in the NBA in points per game (28.6) and ranked sixth in assists (6.2) and steals (2.1) among Eastern Conference players. James led his team to a 13-2 record during the month, which tied for the most wins in a month in franchise history and was their best November record ever. James also won Eastern Conference Player of the Week twice during the month (for weeks ending November 9th and 16th).

With his second steal at Dallas on November 3rd, he became the youngest player (23 years, 308 days) and fastest (395 games) to reach the following milestones in five statistical categories: 10,000 points, 2,500 rebounds, 2,500 assists, 700 steals and 300 blocks.

During the month of November, James scored 41 points three times and became the first player since Michael Jordan in 1991 to reach the 40-point mark at least three times in his team’s first eight games of a season. James scored 41 points twice against Chicago (November 5th and November 8th), becoming the first player to have consecutive games with 40 or more points versus Chicago since Rick Barry (1974-9175) and he has now scored 30 or more points against the Bulls in seven straight games. He joins Nate Archibald (9 games from 3/10/72-10/10/73), Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (8 games from 2/13/71-2/20/72) and Oscar Robertson (7 games from 12/2/67-11/9/68) as the only players to accomplish that feat. In the Cavs’ next game on Nov. 11th, he scored 41 points versus Milwaukee on 16-24 shooting (.667) and added six assists and three steals. With James’ 13th point in the first quarter at New Jersey on November 18th, he became the youngest player in NBA history (23 years, 324 days) to score 11,000 points, surpassing Kobe Bryant who reached the plateau at 25 years, 99 days.

The New Orleans Hornets’ Chris Paul was named the Western Conference Player of the Month. Other nominees for Eastern Conference Player of the Month were New Jersey’s Devin Harris, Orlando’s Dwight Howard and Toronto’s Chris Bosh.

West player of month: Chris Paul

The NBA announced today that New Orleans Hornets point guard Chris Paul was selected as the Western Conference Player of the Month presented by Kia for games played from the start of the season (Oct. 28) through November. The honor is the third of Paul’s career (December, 2007 and March, 2008). He becomes the first Hornet to win the award three times.

“It is an honor to receive this award, especially with how many great players are in this conference,” said Paul. “I have to give a lot of credit to my coaches and teammates, we are all striving towards one collective goal, a championship.”

Paul averaged 20.3 points, 11.6 assists, 5.7 rebounds and 2.8 steals in guiding the Hornets to a 9-6 mark since the start of the season. Paul’s start included collecting an NBA-leading two triple-doubles and 12 double-doubles. He also scored 20-plus points in 10 of the 15 games and had 10 games of 20-plus points and 10-plus assists. In addition, Paul had a steal in every game during the season to extend his steals streak to 99 straight games, just six short of the NBA record set by Alvin Robertson (Nov. 16, 1985-Dec. 29, 1986).

“Chris is a special player and deserves all the credit and awards coming his way,” said Hornets Head Coach Byron Scott. “He is one of the best players in our league and the leader of our team.”

Paul had 24 points, 15 assists and one steal in a 104-92 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Nov. 1. He collected 30 points, 13 assists, seven rebounds and four steals in a 86-93 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers on Nov. 12. On Nov. 22, he had 29 points, 16 assists, 10 rebounds and three steals to secure his first triple-double of the season in a 109-97 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder. Paul had his second straight triple-double against the Los Angeles Clippers on Nov. 24, garnering 14 points, 17 assists and 10 rebounds in a 99-87 win. He collected 22 points to go along with 10 assists and three steals in a 105-101 win on Thanksgiving night on TNT at Denver.

Paul ranks first in the NBA in assists, steals and triple-doubles, while ranking second in double-doubles and 21st in scoring.

Rookies of Month: Derrick Rose, OJ Mayo

The Chicago Bulls’ Derrick Rose and the Memphis Grizzlies’ O.J. Mayo today were named the Eastern and Western Conference Rookies of the Month, respectively, for games played from the start of the season (Oct. 28) through November.

Rose is ranked first among all Eastern Conference rookies in scoring average (18.4), assists per game (6.0) and minutes per game (38.0). He has scored in double-figures in all but one game and has led his team in scoring six times and in assists 13 times. He became the first Bulls rookie since Michael Jordan, in 1984-85, to score 10 or more points in the first 10 games of his rookie season. His nine assists in his NBA debut tied for the second-most by a No. 1 pick in his pro debut since the common draft began in 1966.

Mayo leads all rookies in scoring with 21.9 ppg, the highest scoring average for a first-year player since Allen Iverson (23.4 ppg) in 1996-97. He ranks in the Top 10 among rookies in seven major categories, including scoring average, minutes, assists, steals, field goal percentage, three-point field goal percentage and free throw percentage, and is the first rookie to have four 30-plus point games within his first 17 career games since Allen Iverson (five) in 1996-97. In addition, Mayo is on pace to become just the fifth rookie since the 1996-97 season to average over 39.0 minutes, joining LeBron James, Tim Duncan, Allen Iverson and Shane Battier.

Other nominees for the Eastern and Western Conference T-Mobile Rookies of the Month were Charlotte’s D.J. Augustin, Memphis’ Marc Gasol, Miami’s Michael Beasley and Mario Chalmers, Milwaukee’s Luc Richard Mbah a Moute, New Jersey’s Brook Lopez, Portland’s Rudy Fernandez, Sacramento’s Jason Thompson and San Antonio’s George Hill.

Players of Week: Devin Harris, Brandon Roy

The New Jersey Nets’ Devin Harris and the Portland Trail Blazers’ Brandon Roy today were named the Eastern and Western Conference Players of the Week, respectively, for games played Monday, Nov. 24, through Sunday, Nov. 30.

Harris averaged a league-best 30.0 points on .535 shooting and added 6.8 assists and 4.3 rebounds as New Jersey went 3-1 on its West Coast trip. On Nov. 30, Harris led the Nets to their first win at Phoenix since 1993 by scoring a career-high 47 points to go along with eight assists and seven rebounds. In that game, Harris set a franchise record for consecutive free-throws made (17-17). On Nov. 26, the 6-3 guard hit the game-winning shot in overtime as the Nets beat Sacramento 116-114.

Roy led the Trail Blazers to a 4-0 record, averaging 20.0 points, 6.0 assists and 5.3 rebounds. On Nov. 28, Roy recorded his first double-double of the season with 25 points and 10 assists in a 101-86 win over New Orleans. Roy has scored 10 or more points 17 times this season, including 12 games with 20 or more points, and leads the team in scoring (20.9 ppg), assists (5.3 ppg) and minutes (36.3).

Other nominees for the Eastern and Western Conference Players of the Week were Cleveland’s LeBron James, Dallas’ Jason Terry, Houston’s Yao Ming, Los Angeles Lakers’ Kobe Bryant, New Orleans’ Chris Paul, Orlando’s Dwight Howard and Toronto’s Chris Bosh.