Inside Hoops – Page 920 – NBA Blog

Isaiah Thomas, Tim Duncan named NBA Players of Week through April 12

Isaiah Thomas, Tim Duncan named NBA Players of Week

Boston Celtics guard Isaiah Thomas and the San Antonio Spurs’ Tim Duncan today were named NBA Eastern and Western Conference Players of the Week, respectively, for games played Monday, April 6, through Sunday, April 12.

Thomas led the Celtics to a 3-0 week, which included a pair of wins over the Cleveland Cavaliers and one win over the Detroit Pistons. He averaged 22.7 points (fourth in the conference), 5.7 assists (10th in the conference), and 2.7 rebounds. Thomas poured in a season-high 34 points on 10-of-17 shooting, and added six assists during a 113-103 win over the Pistons on April 8.

Duncan helped the streaking Spurs to a 4-0 week, extending their winning streak to 11 games. He averaged 17.3 points, 9.8 rebounds, 2.5 assists, 3.3 blocks and 1.5 steals. Duncan tallied three rejections on April 10, including a block on Houston Rockets guard James Harden with 2.9 seconds remaining that sealed a 104-103 victory for San Antonio.

Other nominees for the Eastern and Western Conference Players of the Week were Brooklyn’s Brook Lopez, Dallas’ Dirk Nowitzki, Golden State’s Stephen Curry, Indiana’s C.J. Miles, the Los Angeles Clippers’ Chris Paul, and Toronto’s DeMar DeRozan and Lou Williams.

Kings sign David Stockton through 2015-16 season

Kings sign David Stockton through 2015-16 season

The Sacramento Kings announced today that the team has signed David Stockton through the 2015-16 season. The Kings had previously signed Stockton to a 10-day contract on February 20.

A day later, Stockton made his NBA debut at the STAPLES Center against the Los Angeles Clippers. He recorded one point (0-2 FG, 1-1 FT), two rebounds and one assist in seven minutes off the bench in his lone appearance with the Kings.

Stockton, a 5-11, 165-pound guard, averaged 20.1 points (.461 FG%, .398 3pt%, .824 FT%), 4.2 rebounds, 9.4 assists, 2.5 steals and 30.5 minutes per game in 43 contests of which he started 38 for the Sacramento Kings NBA D-League affiliate Reno Bighorns in 2014-15. Stockton recorded two triple-doubles, a 36-point, 10-rebound, 14-assist performance against Idaho on March 22 and a 26-point, 10-rebound, 15-assist effort vs. Bakersfield on March 31. Eight times he scored 30 or more points, including a career-high 44 points on March 4 vs. Rio Grande. He had 21 point-assist double-doubles, including a 37-point, 22-assist game against Texas on March 6. Among D-League leaders, he ranked 11th in scoring, third in assists and second in steals per game. Undrafted, Stockton was selected by the Maine Red Claws in the third round of the 2014 NBA Development League Draft on November 1, 2014. He was later traded to the Reno Bighorns on draft night.

Like his father, Hall of Fame guard John Stockton, he played collegiately at Gonzaga (2010-11 – 2013-14).

Suns sign Jerel McNeal through 2015-16 season

Suns sign Jerel McNeal through 2015-16 season

The Phoenix Suns have signed guard Jerel McNeal through the 2015-16 season. The Suns had previously signed McNeal to a 10-day contract on April 1.

McNeal, whose first name is pronounced Jah-rell, made his NBA debut with the Suns on April 2 and has appeared in four games with the team since initially signing.

In 27 games with the Bakersfield Jam this season, McNeal averaged 18.5 points, 4.6 assists, 4.0 rebounds and 2.1 steals. The 6-3 guard scored a season-high 40 points on 16-of-23 shooting for the Suns’ NBA Development League affiliate on March 7 at Austin.

A two-time NBA D-League All-Star, McNeal had previously signed with an NBA team during the regular season on two occasions though he made his debut with the Suns earlier this month. The 27-year-old spent 10 days with the New Orleans Hornets from March 9-19, 2011, and ended the season with the Utah Jazz from March 27-April 17, 2013. This was McNeal’s fourth career D-League season with Bakersfield (2012-15) and the Rio Grande Valley Vipers (2010-11) as he holds career averages of 18.7 points, 5.1 assists, 3.6 rebounds and 1.6 steals in 135 games.

Undrafted out of Marquette University in 2009, McNeal has participated in NBA training camps with the Los Angeles Clippers (2009), Houston Rockets (2010) and Toronto Raptors (2012) and has also played professionally in Belgium, Italy and China. McNeal played four seasons at Marquette (2005-09) where he remains the Golden Eagles’ all-time leading scorer (1,985 career points) and earned Associated Press All-America Second Team honors as a senior in 2008-09.

Budenholzer, Hawks enjoying amazing success

Budenholzer, Hawks enjoying amazing success

Here’s the Atlanta Journal Constitution reporting on the Hawks, whose success has been a terrific season-long story:

With general manager Danny Ferry on a leave of absence the entire season, the Hawks submitted head coach Mike Budenholzer for consideration in voting for the NBA’s Executive of the Year Award, a person familiar with the situation told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Budenholzer has been serving as the head of basketball operations since September when Ferry took the leave following the discovery of racially insensitive remarks about free-agent target Luol Deng during a June conference call with team ownership and management. At that time, CEO Steve Koonin elevated Budenholzer to lead the basketball operations and make final decisions.

The Hawks clinched the Southeast Division title and the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference last month as part of a record-breaking season. The team extended its franchise record for wins in a season with its 60th victory Friday night. The Hawks have also had a franchise record 19-game win streak, which included an NBA record 17-0 mark in January. The win streak is the longest in Atlanta professional sports history.

Crucial game for Miami Heat tonight

Crucial game for Miami Heat tonight

Here’s the Miami Herald blog with some insight on the Heat, whose time is running out if they hope to grab a spot in the postseason:

With three games left in the regular season, the Heat desperately needs a victory on Saturday night. The Heat has three games left in the regular season and now trails the Nets and Celtics by two games in the loss column after both teams won in convincing fashion on Friday night. The Pacers are earned an important victory, which further complicated the Eastern Conference playoff race. It’s not a true must-win scenario for the Heat, but another loss could doom the Heat’s playoff chances all the same.

While the Nets and Celtics enjoyed games on Friday against teams resting players or preparing for the playoffs, the Heat has no such luck on Saturday against the Raptors. Toronto can secure home-court advantage in the playoffs with a victory against the Heat.

Brett Brown thinks Joel Embiid will play in 2015 summer league

Brett Brown thinks Joel Embiid will play in 2015 summer league

Here’s the Philadelphia Inquirer reporting on the Sixers, who are hoping to eventually get big things from center Joel Embiid once he’s healthy enough to begin his pro basketball career. But first, summer league action would be a nice start:

Brett Brown said he “personally” would be disappointed if Joel Embiid didn’t play in the summer league.

“Personally, I expect him to play in the summer league,” Brown said. “But if I guessed any of this wrong, I want to make sure that the club is on record not being definitive. We are not in the position to say that now.”

Brown raised a few eyebrows Wednesday when he would not commit on whether the 7-foot rookie center would play this summer.

Jeremy Lin sits out practice with knee soreness

The season ends Wednesday. It’ll all be over soon

Here’s the Los Angeles Daily News blog reporting on Lakers guard Jeremy Lin, who is probably thankful that the season ends Wednesday:

Jeremy Lin sits out practice with knee soreness

Lakers guard Jeremy Lin missed Saturday’s practice so he could receive treatment to heal persistent soreness in his left knee. Lin has missed the past two games because of his latest injury, and a recent MRI confirmed an abnormality in his meniscus that has existed since having surgery in 2012.

The Lakers (21-58) have not ruled out Lin playing for Sunday’s game against the Dallas Mavericks (48-31) at Staples Center.

Aaron Craft named D-League Defensive Player of Year

Aaron Craft named D-League Defensive Player of Year

Santa Cruz Warriors guard Aaron Craft has been selected as the 2015 NBA Development League’s Defensive Player of the year by a vote of the league’s 18 head coaches. Craft will be honored with a trophy for his efforts by NBA D-League President Malcolm Turner prior to tonight’s playoff game against the Oklahoma City Blue, which will be broadcast live on ESPNNEWS at 10:30 p.m. ET.

Craft (6-2, 192, Ohio State) played in all 50 regular season games for Santa Cruz, anchoring a Warriors defense that held opponents to league-lows 42 percent shooting from the field and 99.6 points per 100 possessions. Santa Cruz’ opponents averaged 102.2 points, good for third-lowest in the NBA D-League. Individually, Craft averaged an NBA D-League best 2.5 steals while topping the league with a 1.4 steal-to-turnover ratio. Additionally, he averaged 9.2 points, 6.2 assists and 4.9 rebounds in 36.1 minutes.

“Aaron has shown his aptitude, intensity and desire on the defensive end all season long,” said Chris Alpert, Vice President of Basketball Operations for the NBA D-League. “His ability as a lock-down defender has been a tremendous asset for coach Casey Hill and the Warriors this season. We congratulate Aaron on an impressive rookie campaign and this well-deserved award.”

Craft helped lead the Warriors to the West Division Championship and a 35-15 record, tied for the best in the league. The team earned the top overall seed in the Western Conference and currently owns a 1-0 lead over the Blue in the first round of the 2015 NBA D-League Playoffs.

“Aaron is one of the soundest defenders I’ve ever been around and without a doubt he deserves this award,” said head coach Hill. “He has been phenomenal for our team all year long and it has been amazing to coach him.”

A four-year contributor at Ohio State, Craft was a two-time Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year (2012, 2014) and was named the NABC Defensive Player of the Year as a senior in 2014. Undrafted last season, Craft earned an invitation to the Golden State Warriors training camp in September 2014.

Thabo Sefolosha suffers major injuries from incident outside NYC nightclub

Thabo Sefolosha suffers major injuries from incident outside NYC nightclub

Thabo Sefolosha suffers major injuries from incident with NYC police

Atlanta Hawks forward Thabo Sefolosha suffered injuries during yesterday’s early morning incident where he was arrested near the 1OAK nightclub in New York City after Pacers forward Chris Copeland had been stabbed. But did these injuries occur due to the arrest from police, or did something else happen with Thabo beforehand that we don’t know about? We do not know this.

An examination of Sefolosha’s right leg, including an X-ray at Barclays Center yesterday and an MRI today at Peachtree Orthopaedics revealed a fractured fibula and ligament damage that will require surgery. He is out for the remainder of the season, including the entire postseason, and a timeline for his return will be updated at a later date.

“This is a very difficult situation for Thabo and our thoughts and support will be with him during his recovery. We know that his approach and dedication will serve him well in his rehabilitation,” Head Coach Mike Budenholzer said. “Our team remains focused and will be prepared as we head into the postseason.”

Unfortunately your browser does not support IFrames.

Thabo Sefolosha — Video of Brutal Clash with Cops … Headlocked & Taken Down
– Watch More
Celebrity Videos
or
Subscribe

Dwight Howard hopes to play 20 NBA seasons

Dwight Howard hopes to play 20 NBA seasons

Here’s the Houston Chronicle reporting on center Dwight Howard, who hope to put two decades of NBA work in before he hangs up his sneakers and Superman cape.

Dwight Howard said he hopes he can have a career as long as the one his Wednesday night opponent — Tim Duncan — has had in San Antonio.

Duncan, 38, has played 17 years in the NBA and is still starting for the Spurs and is considered to be one of the best big men in the league.

“That’s always been my goal- to play 20 years in the league so I think it can be done,” said Howard, who is in his 11th NBA season. “It would be great. Tim (Duncan) is still playing great basketball. He has migrated to different spots on the floor instead of just the post.”