Inside Hoops – Page 803 – NBA Blog

Pistons assign Darrun Hilliard and Reggie Bullock to D-League

The Detroit Pistons announced today that the team has assigned guard Darrun Hilliard and forward Reggie Bullock to the team’s NBA Development League (D-League) affiliate, the Grand Rapids Drive.

Hilliard has appeared in seven games for the Pistons this season, averaging 3.0 points and 0.9 rebounds in 6.5 minutes per game. Bullock has appeared in 14 games averaging 5.6 minutes a game.

In two games with the Drive, Hilliard has averaged 27.0 points, 4.5 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 3.0 steals in 31.0 minutes per game. He scored a team-high 23 points with four rebounds, three assists and three steals in 33 minutes in his last appearance vs. Fort Wayne (12/13). Bullock is making his first appearance with the Drive this season.

Raptors assign Norman Powell to D-League

The Toronto Raptors announced Saturday they have assigned guard Norman Powell to Raptors 905, the NBA Development League affiliate of the Raptors. Powell is expected to be in uniform Saturday when Raptors 905 plays host to the Delaware 87ers at Hershey Centre in Mississauga (2 p.m. ET).

Powell has appeared in 12 games this season with the Raptors, averaging 1.4 points, 1.3 rebounds and 5.9 minutes. Powell was selected in the second round (46th overall) by Milwaukee in the 2015 NBA Draft. His draft rights were then traded by Milwaukee to Toronto along with a protected future first-round draft choice (originally belonging to the Los Angeles Clippers) for guard Greivis Vasquez.

Powell will remain on the Raptors’ roster and will be placed on the team’s inactive list.

Mike D`Antoni is new Sixers associate head coach

The Philadelphia 76ers today announced the team has agreed to terms with Mike D’Antoni to become Associate Head Coach. D’Antoni brings 25 years of coaching experience to the Sixers’ staff, including 12 seasons as an NBA head coach.

D’Antoni most recently served as head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers from 2012-2014 after four seasons at the helm for the New York Knicks (2008-2012), five seasons for the Phoenix Suns (2003-08) and one season for the Denver Nuggets (1998-99). All told, D’Antoni owns a NBA coaching record of 455-426 for his career.

In Phoenix, D’Antoni amassed a 253-136 record with the Suns, where he coached point guard Steve Nash to back-to-back Most Valuable Player Awards in 2005 and 2006. The Suns eclipsed the 60-win mark in 2004-05 – after which D’Antoni was named NBA Coach of the Year—and in 2006-07. The Suns made back-to-back appearances in the Western Conference Finals in 2005 and 2006.

D’Antoni has also served on the USA Olympic Basketball coaching staff under head coach Mike Krzyzewski, where he helped guide Team USA to gold medals in 2008 and 2012. He has nearly a decade of additional international head coaching experience.

Originally a second round selection by the Kansas City-Omaha Kings in the 1973 NBA Draft out of Marshall University, D’Antoni went on to play out a 13-year career for Olimpia Milano of the Italian League and became the club’s all-time leading scorer, winning multiple league championships.

Ty Lawson suspended two games

Houston Rockets’ guard Ty Lawson has been suspended for two games without pay for driving while ability impaired, in violation of the law of the State of Colorado, the NBA announced today.

Lawson’s suspension will begin with tomorrow night’s game between the Houston Rockets and the Los Angeles Clippers.

Warriors get chance for revenge against Bucks tonight

The Warriors (25-1) get a chance to smack around the Bucks (10-17) tonight, at Golden State. Will be fun to see what happens. Here’s CSN Bay Area reporting:

The Bucks dealt the Warriors their first loss of the 2014-15 regular season on Saturday in Milwaukee — Golden State’s final stop on a seven-game road trip.

Less than a week later, the Bucks will face a rested Warriors team at Oracle Arena. Warriors players, recalling a late-game dunk by Michael Carter-Williams and the subsequent celebration, are plenty motivated. And interim head coach Luke Walton is all for it.

“They had a little celebration. It is what it is. They won a regular season game. The 24-1 shirts in the NBA store and the streak-buster shirts, I’m not sure if … that’s what I want to promote for my team. But hey, to each his own. I don’t really get caught up in it.

“I think Michael Carter-Williams getting a dunk at the end of the game and looking at our bench like, ‘Dude, you lost your spot.’ It’s not quite common that you should be looking toward someone’s bench and yelling when you’ve got some ground to make up. But I love the intensity. It is what it is.

“And they’ve got to come in here on Friday night.”

LaMarcus Aldridge fitting in well with Spurs

The San Antonio Spurs are 22-5 this season — the second best record in the legaue behind the 25-1 Warriors. LaMarcus Aldridge has been as good an addition to the Spurs as expected. Here’s ESPN.com reporting:

The Los Angeles Clippers face the San Antonio Spurs on Friday night (8 p.m. ET, ESPN/WatchESPN), their first meeting since Chris Paul’s game-winning shot with one second left in Game 7 of their first-round playoff series in the spring. It is the latest game-winning field goal in a Game 7 in NBA history.

LaMarcus Aldridge, probably the biggest offseason acquisition by the Spurs, has ratcheted up his production in his last 13 games, since he came back after a two-game absence due to an ankle sprain. Since his return, Aldridge has been averaging more points and shooting a higher percentage while playing fewer minutes…

Aldridge is starting to make open jumpers. On shots farther than 10 feet from the basket, Aldridge is making 47 percent of his open jumpers in the last 13 games, compared with 37 percent in the first 12 games (Source: NBA SportsVU Player Tracking Data). Open shots are defined as shots in which the defender was more than 4 feet from the shooter at the time of the shot.

Brandon Jennings to use D-League for physical rehab

The Detroit Pistons announced today that guard Brandon Jennings has been assigned to the team’s NBA Development League (D-League) affiliate, the Grand Rapids Drive. Jennings, who is continuing his rehabilitation process, will see his first game action on Saturday, December 19 vs. the Iowa Energy.

The six-year NBA veteran missed 41 games last season and has not played this season after suffering a ruptured left Achilles tendon at Milwaukee on January 24, 2015. The 6-foot-1, 170-pound guard was acquired in a trade from Milwaukee on July 31, 2013 and has averaged 15.5 points, 2.9 rebounds, 7.3 assists and 1.2 steals in 121 games with Detroit.

“This is a great example of the many benefits our D-League team offers, supporting Tom Gores’ vision to push for a hybrid affiliation with the Grand Rapids Drive,” said Jeff Bower, general manager of the Detroit Pistons. “It gives Brandon an opportunity to go play in a game, work on his conditioning and compete in a similar system that’s being run by Otis Smith and his staff.”

Jennings will join Festus Ezeli of the Golden State Warriors as one of the most notable NBA players to play in a D-League game on a rehab assignment to date. Ezeli played in two games with the Santa Cruz Warriors in late January 2015 after missing 16 games due to sprained left ankle. He returned to help the Warriors win the 2015 NBA Championship. Other prominent NBA players who practiced with D-League teams, but did not play, while on rehab assignments include Rajon Rondo, Amar’e Stoudemire, Kawhi Leonard and Carl Landry.

Iman Shumpert day-to-day with groin strain

Cavaliers guard Iman Shumpert experienced a right groin strain during the Cavaliers game Tuesday night in Boston. He is Out for tonight’s game in Cleveland vs. Oklahoma City and will continue to receive treatment. His status will be Questionable thereafter pending further evaluations.

Shumpert recently returned to action from injury and has played in just two games so far this season, coming off the bench both times. It’s likely that he may eventually return to the starting lineup. But for now, J.R. Smith has played 19 games and started all 19 of those outings at the shooting guard spot.

The Cavs are an Eastern conference-best 16-7 so far this season, and still waiting the return of point guard Kyrie Irving.

Brandon Jennings may use D-League for physical rehab purposes

Here’s the Detroit Free Press reporting on Pistons guard Brandon Jennings, who is still in recovery from injury but expects to return soon:

Detroit Pistons point guard Brandon Jennings told reporters he is planning a rehabilitation stint with NBA Development League affiliate Grand Rapids.

And as he nears a return to the NBA from the ruptured left Achilles that ended his 2014-15 season, Jennings is set on playing Saturday, when Grand Rapids hosts the Iowa Energy.

“There’s about an 80% chance I will be playing in the D-League on Saturday,” he said at the Pistons practice facility after team preparations for tonight’s game against the Boston Celtics (7:30 p.m., FSD). “I don’t care. I just want to play, man. I just want to get out there and hoop and see where it’s at.”

Greg Monroe hopes to return soon from knee injury

Here’s the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel with good news on the Bucks, whose center Greg Monroe doesn’t expect to miss much time:

Milwaukee Bucks center Greg Monroe said he was confident his knee injury would not keep him out too long, even before he underwent a magnetic resonance imaging exam Wednesday.

The exam revealed a left knee medial collateral ligament sprain, similar to an injury that sidelined him for 11 games last season when he was with the Detroit Pistons.

“I know how it felt last season and this is not nearly as much,” Monroe said in the Bucks locker room before they met the Los Angeles Clippers.

Monroe missed his second game on the road trip after injuring his knee during a drill at the Bucks’ shootaround Tuesday at Beverly Hills High School. The Bucks lost to the Los Angeles Lakers, 113-95, on Tuesday night after Monroe warmed up but could not go because of the injury.