Author: Inside Hoops

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Magic hand Celtics first loss of season

The Boston Celtics had been a perfect 8-0 and the league’s only remaining undefeated team but Sunday evening they lost 102-104 in Orlando to the Magic. Hedo Turkoglu stepped up in the 4th quarter, especially from three-point range.

Orlando got 44 free throw attempts in the game, while Boston had just 26. Both teams struggled from the charity stripe, however. Dwight Howard alone had 20 free throws, making just 10.

Boston dominated the glass, winning the rebounding battle 41-28. Aside from Kevin Garnett’s 11 rebounds it was a total team effort on the boards.

For Orlando, Dwight Howard shot 7-of-9 for 24 points and 3 blocks. He had just 6 rebounds. Rashard Lewis shot 6-of-11 for 22 points and 3 assists, but just 2 rebounds. Jameer Nelson took 15 shots to get 18 points, 5 rebounds and 6 assists. Hedo Turkoglu took 13 shots for 16 points and 6 rebounds. And Keith Bogans needed 10 shots to get 10 points.

For Boston, Paul Pierce shot 10-of-17 for 28 points, 5 rebounds, 6 assists and 2 steals. Ray Allen needed 17 shots to get 19 points, plus 5 rebounds. Rajon Rondo, a bright spot for the Celtics today, shot 8-of-9 for 18 points and 5 rebounds, though he dished just 3 assists. Kevin Garnett was quiet offensively, shooting 7-of-13 and not getting a single free throw attempt for 14 points, 11 rebounds and 1 assist. He fouled out.

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Warriors assign Kosta Perovic to D-League

The Golden State Warriors have assigned center Kosta Perovic (COAST-a PEAR-a-vich) to the Bakersfield Jam of the NBA Development League, Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations Chris Mullin announced today.

Perovic, 22, has not appeared in any of Golden State’s first seven games during the 2007-08 regular season, spending the first five games on the inactive list.  The 7-2 center, who was originally drafted by Golden State with the 38th overall selection in the 2006 NBA Draft out of Serbia, is a rookie this season after staying overseas to play the 2006-07 campaign in Serbia.

Perovic is the sixth player assigned to the D-League from the NBA following Ramon Sessions (Milwaukee Bucks), Kyrylo Fesenko (Utah Jazz), Steve Novak (Houston Rockets), Brandon Wallace (Boston Celtics) and JamesOn Curry (Chicago Bulls).

The D-League is way ahead of last years pace in terms of NBA player assignments. During the 2006-07 season there hadn’t been one NBA player assigned at this point. The first player sent to the NBA Development League occurred on November 22, 2006 when Ryan Hollins of the Charlotte Bobcats was assigned to the Fort Worth Flyers from the Charlotte Bobcats.

Perovic joins a Bakersfield club led by head coach Jim Harrick who won the 1995 NCAA Championship with UCLA. The team tips off their second season in the NBA Development League on November 24 when they visit the Austin Toros, the affiliate of the defending NBA Champion San Antonio Spurs.

Rasho Nesterovic out 1-2 weeks with ankle sprain

The Toronto Raptors announced Sunday that following further evaluation and testing by team medical personnel, centre Rasho Nestervoic is expected to be sidelined for one to two weeks with a Grade 2 sprain of his right ankle.

Nesterovic sustained the injury at the six minute mark of the third quarter of Wednesday’s game versus Utah. He will not join the team on its upcoming road trip to Dallas (Tuesday) and Memphis (Wednesday).

Warriors sign DJ Mbenga

The Golden State Warriors, who with a 1-6 record have been one of the league’s worst teams in the still-young season, have signed free agent center DJ Mbenga to a contract, it was announced today by Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations, Chris Mullin.  Per team policy, terms of the agreement were not announced.

Mbenga (Ben-ga), 27, was not drafted by an NBA team, but was signed as a free agent by the Dallas Mavericks prior to the 2004-05 season.  He played three seasons with the Mavericks (2004-05, 2005-06, 2006-07) prior to being waived before the start of this season (October 30).  A native of the Congo, Mbenga has averaged 1.3 points and 0.9 rebounds in 79 career regular season games.  He appeared in a career-high 43 games with the Mavericks during the 2005-06 campaign and logged a career-best 237 minutes overall.

Mbenga will join the Warriors in New York on Monday and will wear uniform #28.

Warriors waive Stephane Lasme

The Golden State Warriors have waived forward Stephane Lasme, it was announced today by Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations, Chris Mullin.

Lasme, 24, was selected by the Warriors in the second round of the 2007 NBA Draft (46th overall).  He appeared in one regular season game (11/8 vs. Dallas) and did not register a stat line. The 6’8″ native of Gabon, Africa appeared in four preseason games with Golden State, averaging 5.0 points, 2.3 rebounds and 2.25 blocked shots in 16.3 minutes.

Lakers need to be on national TV more

The Los Angeles Lakers only have 328,238,101,204,104,111,428 games on national television this season. It isn’t enough.

I propose that every single Lakers game be televised not just on both ESPN and TNT but also on CBS, NBC, Fox, ABC and whatever the WB is called these days, as well as on HBO, Cartoon Network, Lifetime, MTV, VH1 and every other main station. All at the same time.

/end sarcasm

Nets sign Eddie Gill

The New Jersey Nets have signed free agent guard Eddie Gill, Nets President Rod Thorn announced today.  Per team policy, terms of the contract were not released.

Gill, a member of the Nets’ 2007 training camp roster, appeared in four games during the preseason, including two starts, and averaged 4.3 points, 3.8 assists and 2.5 rebounds.  He was waived by the Nets on October 25, 2007 and was then selected Number One overall in the 2007 NBA Development League Draft by the Colorado 14ers.

A five-year NBA veteran, Gill began his career by appearing in eight games for the Nets during the 2000-01 season before making stops in Memphis, Portland and Indiana.  The 6’0” guard has averaged 3.1 points and 1.1 assists in 167 career games.  While playing for the Nets in 2001, he was credited with scoring the eight millionth point in NBA history during a game against the Boston Celtics on 4/15/01.

Celtics off to their best start since 1972-73 season

At 7-0, and with four of the seven wins coming by 20 points or more, the Celtics are off to their best start since the 1972-73 season when they opened 10-0. The franchise’s best start of all time came in 1957-58 when Boston reeled off 14 straight victories to open the season.

Paul Pierce is leading the team in scoring at 23.4 points plus 5.0 rebounds, 4.6 assists and 2.0 steals per game. But Kevin Garnett is truly dominating and has averaged 21.0 points, 14.0 rebounds, 4.9 assists, 2.9 steals and 1.4 blocks per game. And Ray Allen is putting up 20.6 points, 4.4 rebounds and 3.6 assists. Allen and Pierce are shooting 49.0% or better, and KG is hitting 54.6% of his shots.

Eddie House, Rajon Rondo, Kendrick Perkins and James Posey add scoring. Perkins is averaging just 5.1 rebounds per game in 26 minutes. He needs to raise that number.

The Celtics as a team are shooting a fantastic 50.1% from the field.