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Lakers guard Jose Calderon, who was injured in the first quarter of Saturday night’s game in Memphis, was evaluated and had an MRI by team orthopedist Dr. David McAllister of UCLA Health. The results confirmed a right hamstring strain, which is expected to sideline Calderón 2-4 weeks.
In 14 games (nine starts) this season for the Lakers, Calderón is averaging 4.7 points, 2.6 assists, and 2.2 rebounds in 13.9 minutes per game while shooting 41.7% from three-point range.
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Memphis Grizzlies General Manager Chris Wallace today announced the team has signed guard Toney Douglas pursuant to the NBA’s hardship rule.
Douglas (6-2, 195) has appeared in 370 regular season games (65 starts) and averaged 7.8 points, 2.2 rebounds and 2.3 assists in 19.2 minutes during his seven-year NBA career with the New York Knicks, Houston Rockets, Sacramento Kings, Golden State Warriors, Miami Heat and New Orleans Pelicans.
Most recently, Douglas was a member of the Cleveland Cavaliers’ 2016 preseason roster. He played in 61 games (18 starts) last season with New Orleans and averaged 8.7 points, 2.3 rebounds and 2.6 assists in 20.7 minutes while shooting 41.1 percent from the field, 39.9 percent from three-point range and 84.8 percent from the free throw line.
The 30-year-old has competed in 15 playoff games (three starts) with New York and Miami, including a 10-game postseason run with the Heat in 2013-14. During his stint in Miami, Douglas was coached by then-Heat assistant and current Grizzlies head coach David Fizdale.
A native of Jonesboro, Ga., Douglas was drafted by the Los Angeles Lakers in the first round (29th overall) of the 2009 NBA Draft after his senior season at Florida State University. While with the Knicks, he scored 29 points and made a career-high nine three-pointers against the Grizzlies on March 17, 2011 at Madison Square Garden.
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ESPN today announced that Earvin “Magic” Johnson, the two-time Naismith Basketball Hall of Famer and sports icon, will return to the company and re-join NBA Countdown as a studio analyst this season, first appearing as part of ABC’s Christmas NBA coverage. From there, Johnson will join NBA Countdown pre-game coverage for the NBA Saturday Primetime on ABC series – the NBA’s marquee game of the week, starting Jan. 21, 2017.
Johnson will re-unite with Michael Wilbon, who is also making his return to NBA Countdown as an analyst this season on Saturday nights. They will join Sage Steele, returning for her 4th season as NBA Countdown host, to form the new Saturday trio.
Saturday editions of NBA Countdown begin at 8 p.m. ET and are 30 minutes long, prior to the 8:30 p.m. game broadcast.
InsideHoops.com says: Magic Johnson’s NBA analysis tends to be on the… basic side of things. But he’s famous, likable, a familiar face to the masses, and a basketball legend.
Jeff Hornacek, psychic.
Before Sunday night’s game, Hornacek spoke about the Knicks’ need to finish and step on opponents’ throats which sort of became a theme when the Knicks let a 21-point lead get whittled to one before winning. But earlier in the day, he told his wife he believed Brandon Jennings would have a big game.
Hornacek was 2-for-2. Jennings scored 19 points and made huge endgame plays.
“He gave us a big lift. I saw it this morning,” Hornacek said after the 106-98 victory against the Kings…
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Joakim Noah returned from a two-game absence with a sprained ankle. Noah has battled a series of ills, including flu and a hamstring which everybody concedes has hindered his acclimation to a new system.
“I feel better, but I still have a lot of work to do. Can’t get frustrated with the process,” Noah said. “Our team is definitely playing a lot better basketball right now. So just keep focusing on the positive and just keep focusing on my improvement. I’ve had a lot of knick-knacks from the start of this. The hamstring, ankles, I got sick. I’m just trying to get some consistency right now. … It’s going to come.”
— NY Post
Quick Take: Noah started the game, played almost 25 minutes, and only put up two points and five rebounds. He’s having an underwhelming season so far.
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All it took for Dwight Powell to play his best NBA game was to be patient and not get ahead of himself.
Powell used that strategy to tally a career-high 17 points and pull down eight rebounds Saturday night as the Dallas Mavericks crushed the Chicago Bulls 107-82. It was just the fourth win of the season for the Mavs, who entertain the Charlotte Hornets on Monday night at American Airlines Center.
The Mavs have been searching for this production out of Powell ever since they signed him to a four-year, $37 million contract July 8. And they believe they’ve figured out a way to squeeze the best out of Powell — a third-year pro described as a gym rat by the coaching staff.
“He is just getting better and getting more experience,” coach Rick Carlisle said. “He is recognizing situations a little bit better.”
Quick Take: The Mavs have been one of the worst teams in the league so far this season, with a 4-15 record through Sunday’s games. With Dirk Nowitzki mostly watching from the sideline this season, Deron Williams missing a lot of time, Jose Barea out and lots of other stuff going wrong, there’s nowhere to go but up. Maybe. Hopefully.
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Reggie Jackson’s return was a welcomed sight for the Pistons fans at The Palace. But on the same night Jackson made his season debut, the defense departed — and the Pistons paid for it.
They had a good start but a lackluster second quarter put them in a hole they couldn’t dig out of, as they fell to the Magic, 98-92, on Sunday night at The Palace.
The loss ended the Pistons’ three-game win streak; they also had won seven straight against the Magic — including the last four at home.
Jackson, who missed the first 21 games after recovering from tendinitis treatments in his knee and thumb, made his first shot of the game — a second-chance 3-pointer — and finished with 18 points and four assists in 23 minutes.
Quick Take: The Pistons are 11-11 this season. They’re being led in scoring by Tobias Harris (17.1 ppg), Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (15.2 ppg), Andre Drummond (14.3 ppg) and Marcus Morris (14.0 ppg). Reggie Jackson, now that he’s back, will be a nice upgrade over Ish Smith.
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Sometimes, as they do in Kevin Durant’s case, numbers tell the story.
Twenty games into his inaugural Warriors season, Durant not only leads his team with 27.3 points per game but leads his team — and the entire NBA — in scoring efficiently.
Durant ranked seventh in the league in points per game and eighth in field-goal percentage (56.2) entering Sunday’s games. That made him the only player in the top 10 in scoring to also rank among the top 20 in field-goal percentage.
Widen the scope and Durant’s efficiency becomes even more striking. The only other players in the top 10 in scoring to also rank among the top 30 in field-goal percentage were New Orleans’ Anthony Davis (No. 1 in scoring and No. 21 in field-goal percentage through Saturday) and the Warriors’ Stephen Curry (No. 8 in scoring, No. 29 in field-goal percentage).
Quick Take: Things are as expected in Golden State. The offense is beautiful and amazing. The defense is still improving. And overall, Durant has been the best of a very talented bunch.
“Stan has to become a much better worker and learner,” Pistons president-coach Stan Van Gundy said Friday before Detroit’s game against the Atlanta Hawks (8 p.m., FSD).
“He just does. He’s a great competitor — if you put him on the floor, he’s going to work really, really hard. But he’s got to get better at all the stuff that leads up to going onto the court.”
Van Gundy specifically pointed to practice and off-days, where Johnson, now 20, sometimes puts in less than 100 percent effort compared to his fellow bench counterparts.
“He’s got to be a better practice guy,” Van Gundy said. “He’s got to be a better workout guy. He’s got to be better with all that stuff. Really working to get better. Once he’s out there competing, you don’t have a problem with that. He’ll play as hard as anybody, but he’s got to understand that’s not the whole thing. It’s preparing to play.”
Quick Take: In his rookie season (last year) Stanley Johnson played 23.1 minutes per game and averaged 8.1 points and 4.2 rebounds, on just 37.5% shooting. This season, Johnson is playing 14.9 minutes per game and getting just 4.0 points on 41.7% FG. More is expected of him. But as mentioned above, he’s not even 21 years old yet. Plenty of time for improvement.
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Long before he received a flagrant-1 foul in the Warriors’ double-overtime loss to Houston on Thursday night, Draymond Green was flailing his leg to draw fouls.
“Draymond’s been doing this since college,” Warriors head coach Steve Kerr said Friday. “I never saw him play in high school, but maybe he’s been doing this since high school.”
After Green’s leg extensions became a major story line in the 2016 playoffs, referees are wary of the tactic. Midway through the second overtime Thursday, after Green kicked James Harden in the face coming down on a putback attempt, the Golden State forward was assessed a flagrant-1.
Quick Take: Green needs to break the habit. I can’t think of any other player in the league that high-kicks like Draymond does. And the kick often doesn’t even look natural. He has to work to stop it. It’s that simple.
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Jodie Meeks made his Orlando Magic debut Friday night, giving hope to an offense that ranked last in the NBA in points per possession and last in 3-point shooting percentage.
Coach Frank Vogel subbed Meeks into the Magic’s game against the Philadelphia 76ers at the Wells Fargo Center at the start of the second quarter.
Vogel expected to play Meeks for a four- or five-minute burst in each half. Meeks made his first shot attempt, a 3-pointer that put Orlando ahead 28-23.
Quick Take: The Magic are 7-12 this season through Thursday’s games. Their shooting has been horrible this season. Any help Meeks can provide in that department would be greatly appreciated.