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James Harden not focused on NBA scoring title

James Harden not focused on NBA scoring title

James Harden not focused on scoring title

Here’s the Houston Chronicle reporting on Rockets guard James Harden, with stats through Tuesday’s games and not including Wednesday’s results:

With Oklahoma City’s Russell Westbrook scoring just 17 points on Tuesday, Rockets guard James Harden’s lead for the NBA scoring title grew to two-tenths of a point, the largest margin since Harden regained the scoring lead last week.

Harden is averaging 27.7 going into tonight’s game vs. San Antonio. Westbrook is at 27.5.

Harden did not know. He did not want to know, and his friends, family and teammates know not to tell him.

“I don’t want to hear it,” Harden said. “I don’t want to hear. I think the most important thing right now is winning. I’ve said it plenty of times, just winning and getting in a rhythm going into the postseason.

Flashback to Fat Lever

Here’s the Denver Post reporting on a versatile, highly-skilled former NBA guard with a great name and even better game:

Arguably one of the most underrated players in NBA history, Lever had 46 triple-doubles in his career with the Nuggets, more than two-thirds of the total triple-doubles in franchise history.

He was a triple-double threat every night. In six seasons with the Nuggets, Lever averaged 17.0 points, 7.6 rebounds and 7.5 assists and 2.5 steals per game.He was named to the second-team all-defense in 1988 and is among the Nuggets’ top 10 all time in steals (1,167), assists (3,566), field goals made (3,304) and rebounds (3,621).

“When you’re playing, you really don’t pay attention to it that much,” Lever said. “As I look back now, and every time someone throws a stat at me that I wasn’t aware of now sticks out. The triple-doubles come up more now because of (Oklahoma City guard) Russell Westbrook. If I had that kind of athleticism I’d still be playing. But at the same time it’s one of those things where you remember it, you enjoy it and then you move on. And then you try to share some of those experiences with someone else — your family, your kids, people that I run across.

“I enjoy it.”

Mavs hope Chandler Parsons will return before playoffs

Mavs hope Chandler Parsons will return before playoffs

Here’s ESPN Dallas reporting on the Mavericks, who recently clinched a Western conference playoff spot. Seven spots are now claimed. The team hopes there will be good news on the Chandler Parsons front soon.

The Dallas Mavericks hope that small forward Chandler Parsons, who will miss his second consecutive game Wednesday against the Phoenix Suns due to swelling and soreness in his right knee, will get some playing time before the playoffs begin.

However, there is no firm timetable for Parsons’ return.

“He’s doing better. He’s just not there yet,” Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle told reporters after Wednesday’s shootaround. “We’d like to get him back to play a game or two before the playoffs, if it’s possible. But nothing is for sure.”

Nikola Pekovic had Achilles surgery this morning

The Minnesota Timberwolves announced that center Nikola Pekovic underwent a successful debridement and repair of his right Achilles this morning. The surgery was performed by Dr. Robert Anderson at Ortho Carolina in Charlotte, North Carolina. Pekovic will be sidelined indefinitely. An update on his progress will be provided when appropriate.

Pekovic played in 31 games this season, averaging 12.5 points and 7.5 rebounds per contest. The five-year veteran holds career averages of 12.9 points and 6.9 rebounds per game.

The Wolves are 16-61 through Tuesday’s games, which is the second worst record in the league. The NBA’s regular season ends in one week, on Wednesday, April 15.

Knicks sign Ricky Ledo for rest of season

Knicks sign Ricky Ledo for rest of season

New York Knicks President Phil Jackson announced today that the team has signed guard Ricky Ledo for the remainder of the season.

Ledo, 6-7, 195-pounds, is averaging 9.5 points and 3.4 rebounds over 21.1 minutes in eight games with the Knicks and 5.9 points and 2.2 rebounds over 13.9 minutes in 13 games with both Dallas and New York on the season. He signed the first of two consecutive 10-day contracts with the Knicks on Mar. 19.

More overseas games for Celtics next season

More overseas games for Celtics next season

Here’s the Boston Herald reporting on the Celtics, who are already one of the most famous basketball teams in the world and will get even more live-and-in-person overseas exposure next season:

The Celtics might not be among the better NBA teams in the United States these days, but the franchise continues to be a major brand beyond the borders.

As such, it will soon be announced that the club is playing a third international game outside of the league’s footprint. It was reported here in November that the Celts will play preseason games in Milan and Madrid against local teams next October, and sources now say they will play a regular-season game against Sacramento in Mexico City in late November or early December.

The Kings will be the home team in that game, meaning the Celtics still will have 41 dates at the Garden, not including the preseason and playoffs.

Bucks sign Jorge Gutierrez to multi-year contract

Bucks sign Jorge Gutierrez to multi-year contract

The Milwaukee Bucks have signed guard Jorge Gutierrez to a multi-year contract, General Manager John Hammond announced today. Gutierrez is the 60th Gatorade Call-Up of the 2014-15 NBA Development League season.

Gutierrez appeared in seven games for the Bucks earlier this season and averaged 3.6 points and 2.1 rebounds while playing 13.4 minutes per game. He made one start for Milwaukee on Feb. 2 at Toronto, and tied his career high for scoring with 13 points on Feb. 6 at Houston. He signed his initial 10-day contact on Jan. 28 and a second 10-day contract on Feb. 7.

Gutierrez has also played 15 games for the Canton Charge of the NBA D-League this season and averaged 13.5 points, 5.1 assists, 4.4 rebounds and 1.7 steals in 29.8 minutes per game.

Timberwolves sign Arinze Onuaku

Timberwolves sign Arinze Onuaku

The Minnesota Timberwolves have signed forward Arinze Onuaku (Ah-rin-zay On-ooh-ah-koo) for the remainder of this season. The Timberwolves were granted an NBA hardship exception for a 16th roster spot due to having four players out due to injury.

Onuaku, 27, averaged 17.5 points, on 62.2% shooting, and 12.2 rebounds in 41 games this season for the Canton Charge of the NBA D-League. He was named to the NBADL All-Star Game for the third consecutive season. Onuaku was signed by the Indiana Pacers on September 5, 2014 after playing with their NBA Summer League team. He was waived by the Pacers on October 25, 2014.

The 6-10 forward played in three games for the New Orleans Pelicans and two games for the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2013-14, averaging 0.6 points and 1.6 rebounds in those five games. In May of 2014, he joined the Chongqing Flying Dragons for the 2014 Chinese NBL, and averaged 28.6 points and 14.8 rebounds in 19 games. Onuaku averaged 14.8 points, on 62.8% shooting, and 10.1 rebounds for Canton in 2013-14 and 12.6 points and 9.5 rebounds for the Charge in 2012-13.

Onuaku went undrafted in the 2010 NBA Draft after a four-year career with Syracuse University where he averaged 9.2 points and 6.0 rebounds in 134 games. He finished his collegiate career first on Syracuse’s all-time field goal percentage list at 64.8% (540-for-833).

Greg Monroe set to return for Pistons

Greg Monroe set to return for Pistons

Here’s Michigan Live reporting on the 30-47 Detroit Pistons, who have gotten 16 ppg, 10.4 rpg and 2.0 apg from Greg Monroe this season:

For the last five games this season, the Detroit Pistons will get one more look at playing Andre Drummond, Greg Monroe and Reggie Jackson together.

With Monroe on his way back into the lineup, and perhaps on his way out as a Piston via unrestricted free agency this summer, it’s an alignment head coach Stan Van Gundy said he wants to see more before some very important business decisions.

“Reggie will have to adjust, and I’ll have to adjust, and we’ll have to figure it out,” Van Gundy said. “We’ve seen Reggie play real, real, well; we’ve seen Greg play real, real well. So we’ve just got to make it all fit together.”

Monroe is expected to return after missing 11 games with a right knee strain when the Pistons host the Boston Celtics at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday.

Knicks MSG TV ratings reportedly down

Knicks MSG TV ratings reportedly down

Here’s the New York Post reporting on the 15-62 Knicks. As you’d expect, TV ratings for the squad are down in dramatic fashion:

The Knicks’ worst season in history has taken a toll on MSG Network, and it bottomed out during Friday night’s telecast in Washington.

According to a source, the Knicks-Wizards matchup mustered a rating of 0.18 — which is believed to be the smallest number for a Knicks live telecast in many years. That rating represents 14,000 viewers for a game in which the Knicks fell behind 30-10 after one quarter…

Though the fans are still packing the Garden, the network’s ratings are down 39 percent, the spokesman said.