Inside Hoops – Page 467 – NBA Blog

Mike Muscala cleared to play for Sixers

The Sixers are about to get a bit deeper in the frontcourt. Bench help. But still. Here’s the Philadelphia Inquirer reporting:

Mike Muscala will make his 76ers debut Tuesday night against the Detroit Pistons at the Little Caesar Arena. The reserve center was cleared Tuesday afternoon after missing the first three Sixers games because of a sprained left ankle.

“I sprained my ankle about a month ago before the training camp,” Muscala said Oct. 16. “So I was kind of dealing with a lot of swelling from that. It wasn’t bothering me at all, but I kind of nicked it in the last preseason game” against the Dallas Mavericks on Oct. 8 in Shenzhen, China.

Utah Jazz assign Tony Bradley to G League

The Utah Jazz have assigned center Tony Bradley (6-11, 248, North Carolina) to the Salt Lake City Stars, the Jazz’s exclusively owned and operated NBA G League team. This marks Bradley’s first assignment to the Stars this season.

Entering his second season with the Jazz, Bradley saw action in 24 games (all starts) on assignment with the Stars last year, averaging 15.4 points, 10.2 rebounds, 1.4 assists and 1.3 blocks in 29.6 minutes per contest. The 20-year-old also played in nine games with the Jazz in 2017-18, totaling a career-high four points and three rebounds at Oklahoma City on Dec. 20.

The Theme Night Mini-Plan for the 2018-19 season is on sale now, which includes tickets to the following six nights at the Stars: Wizard Night, Princess Night, Star Wars Night, World Record Night, Superhero Night and Fairy Tale Night. The mini-plan also guarantees fans will receive that evening’s giveaway item, with tickets starting at $10 per ticket. To purchase the Theme Night Mini-Plan, call (801) 325-STAR (7827).

Will Barton out after surgery

Denver Nuggets guard Will Barton has undergone surgery to repair core and hip muscle injuries. The procedure was performed by Dr. William Meyers at the Vincera Institute in Philadelphia, PA.

Barton’s status will be re-evaluated in six weeks.

According to the Denver Post, “Nuggets coach Mike Malone said Torrey Craig, Juan Hernangomez and Trey Lyles were the most likely candidates to fill Barton’s minutes for the time being.”

The Nuggets are off to a 3-0 start this NBA season. they came extremely close to making the playoffs last year and look excellent early on. It’s a shame they’ll be without Barton for a while.

Lakers assign Isaac Bonga to G League

The Los Angeles Lakers have assigned guard Isaac Bonga to the South Bay Lakers, the team’s G League affiliate.

Bonga appeared in five preseason games for the Lakers, averaging 3.6 points, 2.4 rebounds and 1.4 assists in 10.7 minutes. The rookie guard was selected by the Philadelphia 76ers with the 39th overall pick in the 2018 NBA Draft and acquired by the Lakers on July 6, 2018.

The South Bay Lakers opened their 2018-19 training camp today and will host the Northern Arizona Suns for their lone preseason game on Saturday, October 27 at 12:00pm PT from the UCLA Health Training Center.

Iman Shumpert scores 26, Kings beat Thunder

Many of you forgot about Iman Shumpert. Like, sure, you remember that he exists as a person and that he plays basketball. But how recent are your memories of him on the court? And did you know what team he’s on right now? Some of you did. Most did not.

Well. He’s on the Kings. And scored a team-high 26 points last night, in a win against the Thunder who did have Russell Westbrook, Paul George and Steven Adams playing, so yes they actually really were the Thunder. Shumpert shot 9-of-13, including 4-of-7 threes, for 26 points, 3 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals and 2 blocks. Nice line.

Here’s the Sacramento Bee reporting:

Shumpert scored a team-high 26 points in leading the Kings to a 131-120 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder to spoil the home opener at Chesapeake Energy Arena and the first game this season for All-Star guard Russell Westbrook.

At 6-foot-5, one of Shumpert’s roles was to defend the Thunder’s Paul George, a five-time All-Star who stands four inches taller, but instead showed out on offense early. He made his first three 3-point shots and in nine first-quarter minutes led all scorers with 16 points on 5-of-7 shooting.

Shumpert’s scoring “gave us some confidence,” coach Dave Joerger said. “Also, to be able to stay in front of Paul George is a tough task. … It was a big key for the game.”

De’Aaron Fox said Shumpert has been excited to play. The second-year guard was happy to have a veteran who brings it on both sides of the floor.

“He’s been around the block, he’s won a championship,” Fox said. “He knows what he’s doing when he’s out there. He’s one of our vocal leaders.”

Fox finished with 22 points and 10 assists while playing a season-high 42 minutes.

Bulls sign Shaquille Harrison, waive Omer Asik

The Chicago Bulls have signed guard Shaquille Harrison. And in a preceding move, the Bulls waived center Omer Asik.

Harrison (6-4, 190) was waived by the Phoenix Suns on Oct. 15, 2018. He played in four games (three starts) for the Suns during the 2018 preseason and averaged 7.5 points, 3.8 rebounds, 2.3 assists, 1.25 steals and 1.25 blocks in 22.4 minutes per game. Harrison first signed with Phoenix on Feb. 21, 2018, and averaged 6.6 points, 2.7 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 1.13 steals in 23 games last season, his first in the NBA.

In college, Harrison was a four-year letter-winner at the University of Tulsa from 2012-16. He is the only Tulsa player to start every game his team played during his career, averaging 11.1 points, 4.5 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 1.83 steals over 133 games. Harrison left school ranked second all-time with 461 career assists, third all-time with 244 career steals, and second with his 133 starts. He was the only Tulsa player to ever compile at least 1,300 points, 400 assists and 200 steals, and the only player with 50 or more steals in all four seasons.

Asik came to the Bulls in a trade with the New Orleans Pelicans on Feb. 1, 2018. He also played for Chicago in the 2010-11 and 2011-12 NBA seasons. He has career averages of 2.9 points and 4.4 rebounds in 152 games for the Bulls. Asik has not played during the 2018-19 season due to illness.

NBA fight suspensions for Brandon Ingram, Rajon Rondo and Chris Paul

Los Angeles Lakers forward Brandon Ingram has been suspended four games without pay, Lakers guard Rajon Rondo has been suspended three games without pay, and Houston Rockets guard Chris Paul has been suspended two games without pay, for their roles in an on-court altercation with 4:13 remaining in the fourth quarter of the Rockets’ 124-115 win over the Lakers on Oct. 20 at Staples Center. The suspensions were announced today by Kiki VanDeWeghe, Executive Vice President, Basketball Operations.

Ingram has been suspended for aggressively returning to and escalating the altercation and throwing a punch in the direction of Paul, confronting a game official in a hostile manner, and instigating the overall incident by shoving Rockets guard James Harden. Rondo has been suspended for instigating a physical altercation with, and spitting and throwing multiple punches at, Paul. Paul has been suspended for poking at and making contact with the face of Rondo, and throwing multiple punches at him.

Paul will begin serving his suspension tonight when the Rockets face the Los Angeles Clippers at Staples Center. Ingram and Rondo will begin serving their suspensions on Mon., Oct 22, when the Lakers host the San Antonio Spurs.

To view the incident, click on this link.

Kings sign Troy Williams to two-way contract

The Sacramento Kings have signed forward Troy Williams to a two-way contract.

In two NBA seasons, Williams has accrued averages of 6.2 points (.449 FG%, .290 3pt%, .661 FT%), 2.6 rebounds, .8 assists and 16.9 minutes per game in 51 played games with three teams; Memphis (2016-17), Houston (2016-18), and New York (2017-18).

An undrafted product out of the University of Indiana, Williams has appeared in 52 games and 32 starts in two seasons in the NBA G League and has averaged 16.7 points (.462 FG%, .332 3pt%, .742 FT%), 5.0 rebounds, 1.8 assists, 1.3 steals and 25.0 minutes per game for Iowa (2016-17) and Rio Grande Valley (2016-18). In 19 games during the 2017-18 season with Rio Grande, Williams accrued career-highs in points (19.8), field goal percentage (.462), three-point percentage (.333), rebounds (6.1), assists (2.2), steals (1.9), and minutes (29.0).

Kings scoring big, but so are opponents

In Kings Game 1 this season the team lost 123-117 to the Jazz. Willie Cauley-Stein led the team with 23 points, De’Aaron Fox scored 21, Buddy Hield 19 and Nemanja Bjelica 18. In Kings Game 2 this season, the squad lost 149-129 to the Pelicans. Cauley-Stein scored 20, Marvin Bagley had 19 off the bench, Fox scored 18, and Frank Mason off the bench had 18 as well. Here’s the Sacramento Bee with more:

The Kings’ plan to play at a high pace is showing on the scoreboard in the early going.

Sacramento is averaging 123 points and has shot better than 50 percent in both regular-season games. However, their opponents are also scoring at a high level while shooting with accuracy…

Kings guard De’Aaron Fox said the team’s offense isn’t an issue and the high number of points being scored against them is a result of faster play, which has also led to a lot of fouls. Sacramento was whistled 26 times Friday, just one more than New Orleans.

“With pushing the pace, that means both teams are going to get more possessions,” Fox said. “Right now, we are getting a lot of fouls and putting the team on the free-throw line a lot. That’s definitely affecting our defense.”

The speed of the game also suits what the Pelicans want to do, coach Alvin Gentry said.

“I think we’ve got to lock in a little more defensively, but I want us to play at that pace,” he said. “More so than anything, I think we did a good job of finding the hot hand. When (Nikola Mirotic) got going, we ran a lot of good stuff with him.”

Boban Marjanovic scores 13 points in 16 minutes for Clippers

Whenever Boban Marjanovic makes an appearance on the court, it’s a fun event. And it needs to happen more often, because he has a habit of scoring around a point per minute when he gets to string a bunch of minutes together. At least, that’s what it feels like. Normally we’d go check the stats and give an exact number, but in this case just enjoy the magic of the Boban and read what happened yesterday. Here’s the OC Register reporting:

Trust him, Coach Doc Rivers told his Clippers before Friday’s game against the Oklahoma City Thunder, they’ve got stuff worth sticking to.

In a 108-92 victory against the Thunder – who were without superstar guard Russell Westbrook, who continued his recovery from arthroscopic right knee surgery – the Clippers looked secure in their sets until they didn’t … and then they did again when it mattered most.

The coalescing that needed to hurry and happen for the Clippers (1-1) to close out games was found Friday, at least, with a lineup that featured Luc Mbah a Moute, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Lou Williams, Boban Marjanovic and Tobias Harris, whose 14 fourth-quarter points led the late charge before 14,816 fans at Staples Center…

After being mostly stymied in three minutes of first-half action, Marjanovic entered the game late in the third quarter to cause some of the havoc Clippers fans have come to love from him.

The 7-foot-3 center plucked five rebounds off the rim and scored 13 points in 15 minutes, picking up for Gallinari, who cheered enthusiastically from the bench alongside fellow starters Bradley and Patrick Beverley.