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Warriors center Damian Jones, who exited last night’s game with 5.7 seconds remaining in the third quarter with a left shoulder injury, underwent an MRI late last night in Detroit.
It has been determined that Jones has suffered a torn left pectoral muscle. He is scheduled to see a specialist in the coming days.
Jones’ long-term status and an estimate return date will be updated once he has met with the specialist.
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The Cleveland Cavaliers have signed guard Jalen Jones and forward Jaron Blossomgame to Two-Way contracts. And in a related move, Cleveland waived Two-Way players Andrew Harrison and Billy Preston.
Jones (6-7, 220) split last season between Dallas and New Orleans, appearing in 16 games and averaging 4.6 points and 2.4 rebounds in 11.3 minutes per game. The Texas A&M product also played in 32 games (21 starts) with Texas and Greensboro in the NBA G League, averaging 19.5 points, 6.8 rebounds and 2.2 assists in 31.4 minutes per game in 2017-18.
Blossomgame (6-7, 220) has played in 10 games (seven starts) in the NBA G League this season with the Austin Spurs and the Canton Charge, the Cavaliers’ exclusively owned and operated NBA G League team, averaging 20.9 points on .537 shooting, 7.5 rebounds and 2.4 assists in 32.6 minutes per game. With Canton, he has appeared in four games (one start) and averaged 16.8 points on .511 shooting, 7.3 rebounds and 1.0 blocks in 26.9 minutes per game. The 6-7 forward out of Clemson was originally selected by the San Antonio Spurs with the 29th overall pick in the 2017 NBA Draft.
Per NBA rules, teams are permitted to have two Two-Way contract players on their roster at any given time, in addition to their 15-man regular season roster. A Two-Way player can spend up to 45 days with the Cavs.
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It’s easy to give a head coach a pass when multiple key players on his team are injured. But once they return to action? And then go ahead and play for a while? Then increased attention shifts not just on the team, but also on the head coach to make the most of the health-filled opportunity. Here’s the Chicago Sun-Times with some Bulls discussion:
There is nothing set in stone that this is absolutely Fred Hoiberg’s last year coaching the Bulls.
The Sun-Times confirmed that over the weekend.
What can’t be denied, however, is the growing whispers coming from atop that the next month will be crucial for Hoiberg even finishing out the rest of this season in that coaching seat.
The Saturday debut of Lauri Markkanen was a critical first step in that evaluation process, as the second-year player was sidelined throughout the first 23 regular-season games, recovering from a right elbow injury suffered the first week of training camp.
Once Hoiberg gets the remaining injured pieces back in Kris Dunn (left knee) and Bobby Portis (right knee), there needs to be results. Wins and losses will carry weight for Hoiberg in his fourth season, but not as much as this group showing some serious forward strides in development and quickly.
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You remember guard Brandon Knight. He has talent. He played a few seasons each with the Pistons, Bucks and Suns. As recently as 2015-16, he put up 19.6 points, 3.9 rebounds and 5.1 assists per game for Phoenix. Then got hurt in 2016-17 and hasn’t played since. Now he’s on the Rockets and hasn’t been heard from until pretty much right now, thanks to a big step in his eventual return. Here’s the Houston Chronicle reporting:
Rockets guard Brandon Knight, who has been out since the 2016-17 season when he had knee surgery to repair a torn left ACL, took a major step in his comeback, playing for the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, the Rockets’ G League affiliate.
Knight, 26, had a follow-up surgery this summer, pushing back his return to the court after he was acquired along with center Marquese Chriss in the trade that sent Ryan Anderson and De’Anthony Melton to the Suns.
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When something is broke, you fix it. Even if that means taking a break from wearing extremely cool jerseys. Even if losing games probably had nothing to do with which jerseys were being worn. Now that you have surely gained a wealth of clarity from those sentences, here’s the Miami Herald with a Heat update:
The Miami Heat has apparently given up on trying to win in the Vice Nights jerseys for now. The Heat’s Friday game against the New Orleans Pelicans was scheduled to be the seventh straight home game for Miami to wear its black alternate jerseys, but when the Heat arrived on the court — still the Vice-themed variant Miami has used — the Heat donned its typical red and black warmups. A team spokesman said the team made a last-minute decision to wear red, instead.
The Vice Nights jerseys drew plenty of attention for Miami, but also coincided with a recent home losing streak. The Heat (7-13) debuted the black, pink and blue jerseys Nov. 9 against the Indiana Pacers and haven’t won at AmericanAirlines Arena since. Miami is 0-6 while wearing the alternate jerseys
And here’s the South Florida Sun Sentinel on the situation:
The Heat had the Vice Nights black jerseys in their locker stalls during the media viewing period just an hour prior to Friday night’s game.
The team continued to play on the special Vice Nights court trimmed in pink and blue pastels, again opening with the team’s special Vice Nights introduction video.
The Rockets aren’t off to a good start this season. Their defense has dropped off considerably from last year. Having Nene in action to add depth to the frontcourt should help a bit. Not sure how much. But some. Here’s the Houston Chronicle reporting:
Rockets center Nene is expected to make his season debut on Saturday against the Bulls, with the Rockets holding him out one more day on Friday in part because they are playing a back-to-back but also because he went through his most demanding practice on Thursday.
“The important thing is I feel better,” Nene said. “I feel good. I’ve been working. In the last two, three practices I did what I need to do to see the movement I’m going to use in a game, especially in my style, my game style. I feel OK.”
Washington Wizards center Dwight Howard underwent an L4-L5 lumbar microdiscectomy earlier today. The team says the procedure went as planned with no complications.
The procedure was performed by Dr. Robert Watkins in Marina Del Rey, CA, and was recommended after consultation with Dr. Watkins and Wizards Director of Medical Services and Orthopedist Dr. Wiemi Douoguih determined that the disc herniation was causing severe nerve irritation and gluteal pain.
Howard’s progress will be re-evaluated in around two to three months.
Yes, the headline sounds like an attack on Jimmy Butler. It isn’t. It’s just a factual look at how the Timberwolves have been playing lately. Here’s the St Paul Pioneer Press reporting:
Since Nov. 10, the day the Timberwolves agreed to trade Jimmy Butler to Philadelphia, Minnesota has been the NBA’s best defensive team.
“We’re paying more attention to the detail, understanding what we have to do, watching film,” Timberwolves forward Taj Gibson said. “You’re seeing more guys watching film, pulling in the coaches (and asking), ‘What hand does he want to use? What hand doesn’t he want to use? What do you want me to do more?’ ”
Over their past nine games, including Wednesday’s 128-89 victory over perpetual nemesis San Antonio, the Wolves have ranked No. 1 in defensive rating (99.8 points allowed per 100 possessions), opposing field-goal percentage (41.8 percent), fast break points allowed (7.9 a game) and points allowed in the paint (40.9).
They’re also second in steals per game (10.1) and, most important, 7-2, since trading their best player.
Nets guard Spencer Dinwiddie has started zero of the 22 games he’s played this season, yet is 3rd in scoring at 16.0 ppg in 27.6 minutes per game for the 8-14 Nets. With the recent injury to Caris LeVert there has been even more pressure than expected on Nets guards, including Dinwiddie. But beyond that injury and focusing on the future more than the present, the Nets will soon have a huge decision to make. Here’s the New York Post reporting:
A week from Saturday, the Nets can give Spencer Dinwiddie up to a four-year, $47.5 million extension, and he hopes they do.
He prefers staying in Brooklyn to free agency. But even though the deal looks like a bargain for the Nets, it’s certainly no lock they make it.
“I’d love to have an extension. I’d love to be here for a long time. If I don’t get an extension, I’ll be looking forward to unrestricted free agency and going through the season trying to help the Nets win games as much as possible,” Dinwiddie said. “Either I’m going to sign an extension or I’m going to be an unrestricted free agent, simple as that. The ball is very much in [general manager] Sean Marks and the Nets’ court.
“Everybody knows what my extension number is: Four for $47 ¹/₂ million. … Can’t go above. It’s not like I’m really looking to go below. It is what it is. I’ll find out when you guys find out. We’ll either see something on the ESPN ticker that says ‘Spencer Dinwiddie offered $47 ¹/₂ million from the Brooklyn Nets,’ and then you guys will know how much money my bank account has at that moment in time.”
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The Celtics are a disappointing 11-10 so far this season. Not the start that was expected of them. Fortunately, it’s a long season, and if as the playoffs approach they start playing more like they contender they have the ability to be, October and November’s results will mostly be forgotten about. One bright spot so far has been the play of Marcus Morris. Here’s the Boston Herald reporting:
In the realm of predictions, perhaps only Marcus Morris could see this happening.
The Celtics forward, who became irreplaceable over the first 21 games this season as an off-the-bench scorer, has also emerged as the Celtics’ best two-way player.
And after Monday’s win in New Orleans, when the additions of Morris and Marcus Smart to the starting lineup helped galvanize one of the team’s few impressive performances this season, he may be part of a new-look starting lineup.
“May,” because when Jaylen Brown returns from back trouble (he’s expected to be a scratch tonight against Cleveland) there’s a chance Brad Stevens returns to his former rotation. The Celtics coach is clearly still weighing various rotational possibilities.
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