Category: General NBA insight

Nikola Mirotic scored 14 of his 28 points in the fourth quarter, and the Chicago Bulls clinched a playoff spot with a 98-86 win over the Charlotte Hornets on Monday night.

Pau Gasol had 27 points and 12 rebounds as Chicago moved into a tie with Toronto for third place in the Eastern Conference. Jimmy Butler added 19 points in his return to the lineup after missing 11 games with a sprained left elbow.

The Bulls played without center Joakim Noah, who was scratched because of general soreness, but managed to bounce back from an ugly 107-91 loss at Detroit on Saturday.

Kemba Walker had 29 points and Mo Williams scored 15 for the Hornets, who were without Cody Zeller (right shoulder) and shot just 34.6 percent from the field.

— Associated Press

James Harden scored 19 of his 44 points in the fourth quarter and Josh Smith added 18 to help the Houston Rockets beat Indiana 110-100 on Monday night, handing the Pacers their sixth straight loss.

The Rockets (47-23) have won four of five.

Indiana’s sinking playoff hopes took another big hit despite 23 points from C.J. Watson.

George Hill had 20 points for the Pacers (30-40).

— Associated Press

The Los Angeles Clippers announced today they have signed forward Jordan Hamilton for the remainder of the season.

Hamilton appeared in eight games (two starts) for the Clippers averaging 4.0 points, 1.4 rebounds and 0.3 assists in 9.6 minutes.

Hamilton, who was the 40th GATORADE call-up of the 2014-15 season, appeared in 27 games (22 starts) for the Reno Bighorns of the NBA Development League and averaged 18.1 points, 7.6 rebounds and 3.6 assists in 28.6 minutes.

Originally drafted by the Dallas Mavericks with the 26th overall pick in the first round of the 2011 NBA Draft, Hamilton was traded to the Denver Nuggets on Draft Day. He has career averages of 5.7 points and 2.7 rebounds in 13.1 minutes over 134 games (17 starts) with the Nuggets, Houston Rockets and Clippers.

The Los Angeles native spent two years at the University of Texas, earning second team All-American by the USBWA following his sophomore season. He averaged 14.5 points, 5.7 rebounds and 1.8 assists for his career at Texas over 70 games.

Even the biggest stars of the Houston Rockets’ past couldn’t outshine James Harden on Thursday night.

Harden scored a career-high 50 points with 10 rebounds to lead the Rockets to a 118-108 win over the Denver Nuggets on a night when the team celebrated the 20th anniversary of the franchise’s back-to-back NBA titles in 1994 and 1995.

Harden got a boost by knowing players such as Hakeem Olajuwon and Clyde Drexler were watching from the front row.

“That’s a special group right there,” Harden said.

— Associated Press

Rio Grande Valley Vipers guard Jarvis Threatt was today named NBA Development League Performer of the Week for games played Monday, March 9 – Sunday, March 15. The honor is the first of Threatt’s career.

Threatt (6-2, 165, Delaware) led Rio Grande Valley to a 2-0 week and averaged 25.0 points on 55 percent shooting, to go with 12.5 assists, 9.0 rebounds and 2.0 steals. On March 15, Threatt notched a triple-double with 18 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds in a 131-125 win over the Santa Cruz Warriors. It was the fourth triple-double in Vipers franchise history, joining Will Conroy, Gary Talton and Toure’ Murry. The win ended Santa Cruz’s 11-game winning streak.

Threatt has appeared in 27 games and is averaging 10.8 points, 4.3 assists, 3.0 rebounds and 1.1 steals.

Other top performers considered included Bakersfield’s Jerel McNeal, Canton’s Arinze Onuaku, Maine’s Omari Johnson and Tim Frazier, Santa Cruz’s Mychel Thompson and Texas’ Dwight Powell.

Atlanta Hawks sign Austin Daye to 10-day contract

The Atlanta Hawks have signed forward Austin Daye to a 10-day contract, it was announced today by Head Coach Mike Budenholzer.

Daye appeared in 26 games (four starts) earlier this season with the San Antonio Spurs, averaging 4.0 points and 2.3 rebounds in 10.3 minutes.

In 10 games this season with the Erie BayHawks of the NBA Development League, Daye has averaged 16.0 points, 7.0 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.1 blocks in 28.5 minutes.

A five-year NBA veteran, Daye has played in 285 career games (29 starts) with Detroit, Memphis, Toronto and San Antonio, totaling 5.2 points and 2.6 rebounds in 14.2 minutes. He has also appeared in five career playoff games. Daye was originally selected by the Pistons in the first round (15th overall) of the 2009 NBA Draft after a two-year college career at Gonzaga.

He will wear uniform no. 3.

Brooklyn Nets guard/forward Sergey Karasev has been diagnosed with a dislocated patella and a torn MCL of the right knee, along with multiple loose bodies in the knee joint, General Manager Billy King announced.  The injury occurred during the fourth quarter of last night’s game versus New Orleans.  Karasev will undergo surgery tomorrow, March 12th, at the Hospital for Special Surgery in Manhattan and will be out for the remainder of the season.

Karasev played in 33 games (16 starts) for Brooklyn this season, posting averages of 4.6 points and 2.0 rebounds in 16.8 minutes per game.

David Stockton named D-League Performer of Week through March 8

Reno Bighorns guard David Stockton was today named NBA Development League Performer of the Week for games played Monday, March 2 – Sunday, March 8. The honor is the first of Stockton’s career and the first for the Bighorns this season.

Fresh off a 10-day contract with the Sacramento Kings, Stockton led the Bighorns to a 2-1 record last week, averaging a double-double of 38.7 points and 13.7 assists to go with 6.7 rebounds and 4.3 steals.

In his first game back in Reno, Stockton scored a career-high 44 points, dished out 10 assists and notched a near-quadruple-double registering eight steals and seven rebounds in a 158-152 win over the Rio Grande Valley Vipers. Two days later, he amassed 22 assists to go with 37 points and five rebounds as his Bighorns defeated the Texas Legends 147-111. To finish the week, Stockton tallied 35 points, nine assists and eight rebounds as Reno fell 117-115 to the Iowa Energy on the road in Des Moines.

This season Stockton ranks fourth in the NBA D-League averaging 8.4 assists and second on the Bighorns averaging 18.5 points.

Other top performers considered included Austin’s Orlando Johnson, Bakersfield’s Jerel McNeal, Delaware’s Victor Rudd, Erie’s Peyton Siva, Iowa’s Jarnell Stokes on assignment from the Memphis Grizzlies, Maine’s Tim Frazier, Santa Cruz’s Darington Hobston, and Texas’ Eric Griffin.

Nick Young still out with knee injury

The Lakers are 16-45 this season. Nick Young is scoring 13.4 points per game on horrible 36.6% shooting. Here’s the Los Angeles Daily News blog with a health update:

The outlook Lakers coach Byron Scott has on Nick Young’s progress on his swollen left knee no longer seems as positive.

Two days after holding out hope Young could begin on-court work to test out his knee, Scott revealed the possibility that Young could face a prolonged absence because of his injury that Scott said is “slowly healing.”

“It might take another week, or two or three,” Scott said about Young after talking with team doctors and head athletic trainer Gary Vitti. “[Nick] doesn’t know. It depends on how fast he heals. We’re not in a hurry. He still has some pain in there. That’s the biggest concern.”