Author: Inside Hoops

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Nov 10: Suns 107, Grizzlies 102

The AP reports: Rookie O.J. Mayo did all he could to rally Memphis in the fourth quarter against the Phoenix Suns. Unfortunately, the Grizzlies had no answer for Leandro Barbosa. Mayo had 19 of his game-high 33 points in the final period, but the victory went to the fifth-year veteran known as the Brazilian Blur and Phoenix as the Suns won 107-102 on Monday night. Barbosa almost went shot-for-shot with the rookie in the fourth, scoring 16 of his team-high 27 points in the period, including the go-ahead 3-pointer with 43.8 seconds left… Amare Stoudemire scored 18 points, Boris Diaw added 13 and Nash had 12 points and six assists for the Suns, who have won five of their past six games overall… Rudy Gay scored 20 and Marc Gasol finished with 15 for the Grizzlies, who were 1-3 on their four-game Western road trip.

InsideHoops.com Notes: Grizzlies point guard Mike Conley shot 0-of-6 for no points, 3 steals and almost nothing else in almost 25 minutes. Kyle Lowry struggled off the bench behind Conley, however, shooting 1-of-6 for 2 points.

Nov 10: Celtics 94, Raptors 87

The AP reports: Paul Pierce walked into the postgame interview room with his right hand wrapped in ice, cooling down after a hot shooting final quarter. “We’re cooling it down,” Kevin Garnett joked after Pierce scored 22 of his 36 points in the fourth quarter to lead Boston’s 94-87 comeback win over the Raptors on Monday night… Pierce made 7-of-9 shots in the final quarter—including a pair of 3s just 40 seconds apart midway into the period—as Boston overcame an eight-point deficit en route to its fifth straight win… Garnett added 21 points and 10 rebounds, and Ray Allen had 19 points for the Celtics (7-1). Boston scored 58 points in the second half after getting just 36 in the opening 24 minutes… Jermaine O’Neal recovered from a rough night in Sunday’s win over Charlotte, leading the Raptors (4-3) with 23 points and 11 rebounds. Anthony Parker scored 15 and Jason Kapono 14 for Toronto.

InsideHoops.com Notes: Chris Bosh shot just 3-of-8 for 9 points and 7 rebounds. Jason Kapono shot 6-of-10 for 14 points. Andrea Bargnani did almost nothing in 11 minutes.

Nov 10: Heat 99, Nets 94

The AP reports: Dwyane Wade scored 19 of his 33 points in the fourth quarter, 14 of those in the final 4 1/2 minutes, and the Heat rallied to beat the New Jersey Nets 99-94 on Monday night to stay perfect at home this season. He entered the game 0-for-9 from 3-point range this season, but connected on four against the Nets, including three from beyond the arc during the frantic comeback… Michael Beasley scored 29 points and Daequan Cook added 15 for the Heat, who scored 26 points off turnovers and went 25-for-26 from the foul line—including a game-sealing 6-for-6 effort by Chris Quinn in the final 12.9 seconds… Yi Jianlian made a career-best five 3-pointers and finished with 24 points and 10 rebounds for the Nets, who got 22 points from Vince Carter… Former Heat guard Keyon Dooling scored 18 points for New Jersey, which also got 12 from Jarvis Hayes and 11 from Bobby Simmons.

InsideHoops.com Notes: Brook Lopez played just 14 minutes for the Nets and did little. Mario Chalmers, who starts at point guard for the Heat, had just 2 assists. Shawn Marion, Marcus Banks and Mark Blount didn’t play.

Nov 10: Blazers 106, Magic 99

The AP reports: Brandon Roy scored 27 points to lead the Blazers. Dwight Howard, battling a chest cold, had 29 points and a season-high 19 rebounds. Hedo Turkoglu added 35 points for the Magic, who finished their homestand 4-1. Point guard Steve Blake and reserve Travis Outlaw had 20 apiece as Portland’s bench outscored Orlando’s 40-12… Trailing 73-72 entering the final period, Portland scored the first 11 points of the fourth quarter, fueled by two 3-pointers by Rudy Fernandez. He finished with 16 points… The Magic shot only 29.2 percent from behind the arc, which Van Gundy attributed to poor ball movement… Travis Outlaw, who played 41 minutes, more than any Blazers’ starter, made 3-of-5 3-pointers.

InsideHoops.com Notes: Keith Bogans, who had 12 points, was the only Magic bench player to score.

Nov 10: Pacers 107, Thunder 99

The AP reports: T.J. Ford had 24 points, 10 assists and seven rebounds on Monday night to help Indiana beat the Oklahoma City Thunder 107-99… Ford scored 11 points in the fourth quarter as Indiana (3-3) pulled away. Danny Granger added 20 points and seven rebounds for the Pacers, who won their second straight… Kevin Durant led the Thunder (1-6) with 37 points and eight rebounds, but he was dissatisfied with his team’s effort in the fourth quarter… Indiana F Troy Murphy left the game during the second quarter with the stomach flu and did not return.

InsideHoops.com Notes: Earl Watson started at point guard for the Thunder and shot 2-of-11 with 9 assists. Russell Westbrook came off the bench to shoot 1-of-10.

2009 All-Star balloting to begin Tuesday

An All-Star lineup of players will unveil the official 2009 NBA All-Star Ballot on Tuesday, November 11 during a special event in Phoenix, the host city of NBA All-Star 2009.  In the event, multiple well-known NBA players will ceremoniously cast the very first All-Star ballots.

Players who will be there include Shaquille O’Neal, Grant Hill, Raja Bell, former players Detlef Schrempf, Glen Rice, Cedric Ceballos, Dan Majerle, and Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon.

Cool stats worth knowing

Phoenix’s Shaquille O’Neal needs 20 points to tie John Havlicek for 10th on the all-time scoring list (26,395). O’Neal is averaging 14.8 points over six games. He scored a season-high 29 points Saturday at Milwaukee. The Suns host Memphis tonight and Houston Wednesday.

O’Neal’s teammate, Amare Stoudemire, has attempted 15 or more free throws in a franchise-record tying three-straight games (Connie Hawkins: January, 1970; Stoudemire: April, 2004). The last player to attempt 15 or more free throws in three straight games was Dwight Howard in December, 2007.

Toronto’s Chris Bosh is the second player in team history to pass the 7,000-point mark in career scoring. He has 7,011 points, second behind Vince Carter, who scored 9,420 points between 1998-2004.

Miami’s Mario Chalmers — one of only two rookies starting at point guard (Chicago’s Derrick Rose) — leads rookies in assists (5.7 apg) and steals (2.8 spg). Rose is second in assists (5.1 apg) and tied for fourth in steals (1.1 spg).

Milwaukee guard and former NBA Development League player Ramon Sessions is averaging 17.2 points, 6.2 assists and 3.6 rebounds.

Atlanta, which remained undefeated (5-0) with an 89-85 triumph over host Oklahoma City yesterday, is off to its best start since the 1997-98 season 11-0.

–NBA News

Players of Week: LeBron, Amare

The Cleveland Cavaliers’ LeBron James and the Phoenix Suns’ Amare Stoudemire today were named the Eastern and Western Conference Players of the Week, respectively, for games played Monday, Nov. 3 through Sunday, Nov. 9. James’ league-best 34.5 ppg on the week helped Cleveland to a 4-0 mark. James added 9.8 rebounds, 5.3 assists, 1.8 steals and 1.3 blocks per contest. Stoudemire led the Suns to a 3-1 week. Stoudemire averaged 28.3 points, 7.0 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 1.8 steals and 1.5 blocks on the week.

Stuckey tested for dizziness

Detroit Pistons’ guard Rodney Stuckey did not travel with the team to Sacramento today. He remained in Detroit for precautionary, follow-up testing after experiencing symptoms of light-headed and dizziness in Sunday night’s game versus Boston. He is listed as day-to-day.

InsideHoops.com editor says: Maybe he got dizzy watching Allen Iverson run in circles.