Author: Inside Hoops

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Oct 8: Raptors 113, Knicks 111

The AP reports: Losing in Mike D’Antoni’s preseason debut isn’t keeping the New York Knicks from enjoying life with their new coach. Chris Bosh had 20 points and seven rebounds and the Toronto Raptors beat New York 113-111 on Wednesday night… Zach Randolph, who had 19 points and 13 rebounds, isn’t worried about his place despite D’Antoni’s up-tempo style… Andrea Bargnani added 15 points, Kris Humphries had 13 and Jermaine O’Neal added eight points and six rebounds for Toronto, which won for the second time in two nights… David Lee led the Knicks with 22 points and nine rebounds, Nate Robinson added 16 points and Wilson Chandler had 15. Stephon Marbury came off the bench to score 10 points in 23 minutes.

Oct 8: Sixers 98, Celtics 92

The AP reports: Lou Williams scored 27 points and Thaddeus Young added 21 to help the Philadelphia 76ers beat the NBA champion Boston Celtics 98-92 on Wednesday night in the exhibition opener for both teams. Williams was 7-of-12 from the field and 12-of-13 from the line. Leon Powe led the Celtics with 12 points and Tony Allen had 11. The Celtics’ Big Three—Ray Allen, Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett—got off to a fast start, but played limited minutes.

Wolves to sign David Harrison

The Rocky Mountain News (Chris Tomasson) reports: The Minnesota Timberwolves are coming to Denver, and center David Harrison will be with them. A source said Wednesday that Harrison, a former University of Colorado star, will sign with the Timberwolves (it’s for one year and nonguaranteed). But Harrison, a free agent who played the past four seasons with Indiana, won’t play in Friday’s preseason game against the Nuggets at the Pepsi Center.

InsideHoops.com editor says: Harrison must prove himself worthy of being in the league. Right now he’s right on the bubble of sticking around for a while or falling out in a season or two. He’s 26, looked somewhat decent as a rookie (like a good future backup center), then in four seasons doesn’t seem to have improved at all. Time to show something.

B.Haywood to have wrist surgery

Washington Wizards President Ernie Grunfeld announced today that center Brendan Haywood will have surgery to repair a torn dorsal scapho-lunate ligament in his right wrist. He originally suffered the injury during last week’s training camp in Richmond, VA.

Haywood visited two hand specialists in New York earlier today who both concluded that surgery was necessary to repair the torn ligament. No timetable will be determined for Haywood’s return until after surgery, which has yet to be scheduled.

“Brendan worked extremely hard over the summer after having a career year last season,” said Grunfeld. “This is disappointing, but we’re confident that he will do everything necessary to recover from this injury and continue that progress.”

Haywood averaged career highs of 10.6 points, 7.2 rebounds and 1.7 blocks last season while shooting .528 (316-599) from the field.

Antawn Jamison has knee contusion

Wizards forward Antawn Jamison has been diagnosed with a right knee contusion after an MRI today revealed no other damage. No timetable has been set for his return, but Jamison is expected to be ready for the start of the regular season.

Jamison left last night’s preseason game at Dallas at the 7:40 mark of the first quarter and did not return.

InsideHoops.com editor says: It’s great news for the Wizards that the injury is minor, especially with word about to come out that Brendan Haywood needs wrist surgery. Wizards star Gilbert Arenas is already out until maybe January, or later, leaving Jamison and small forward Caron Butler to once again carry the team for a long stretch of time.

Lakers waive Dwayne Mitchell

The Los Angeles Lakers have waived free agent guard Dwayne Mitchell, it was announced Wednesday.

Mitchell, a 6’5” 220-pound guard out of Louisiana Lafayette, was a member of the Lakers 2008 Summer-Pro League team in Las Vegas, where he averaged 6.7 points and 1.5 rebounds in 15.0 minutes over six games.

The Lakers preseason roster now stands at 18.

There are going to be a ton of fringe players cut by NBA teams over the next week or so. Almost all of them have tiny, nonguaranteed contracts that basically only exist for training camp purposes.

Cavs release Michael Dickerson

The Cleveland Cavaliers have granted a release to guard Michael Dickerson. Dickerson was excused from camp on October 1st in order to attend to a personal matter and has not been able to return. He was unable to pursue his return to the NBA at this time, while addressing the personal matter, but expects to still pursue a return to the league in the future.

InsideHoops.com editor says: That was quite a comeback.

Cavs release Lance Allred

The Cavaliers released center Lance Allred Wednesday. Allred joined the Cavaliers with a 10-day contract on March 13th of 2008 and then signed another 10-day contract on March 25th. He was signed for the remainder of the season on April 4th and opened camp with the Cavaliers for the 2008-09 season on September 30th. Allred played in the Cavaliers game last night at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland vs. the Toronto Raptors and saw 4:10 of action with one rebound and one blocked shot.

Hanno Mottola of Finland retires

Fiba.com reports: Finland coach Henrik Dettmann has heaped praise on Hanno Möttölä following the big man’s decision to retire as a basketball player at the age of 32. Möttölä made the surprise announcement after helping the Finns preserve their EuroBasket Division A status with a fourth-place finish in Group A in this summer’s qualifying campaign for next year’s Final Round in Poland… Möttölä was the first-ever Finn to reach the NBA and he was also the first from his country in the Euroleague, not to mention the first Finland player to compete in that competition’s Final Four.