Category: General NBA insight

Deron Williams had the Brooklyn Nets speeding toward a Game 7 when suddenly everything stopped.

He had just crashed to the court with what looked like yet another ankle injury. Kevin Garnett waved for help, and Williams slowly began limping back toward the bench. Then he decided to stay in.

For all the big names and big salaries on the Nets, Williams knows they aren’t going anywhere unless he leads them.

Williams shook off his second-half injury to score 23 points and Brooklyn forced a seventh game in its first-round series by beating the Toronto Raptors 97-83 on Friday night…

DeMar DeRozan scored 28 for the Raptors, who will have to go the distance if they are to win a seven-game series for the first time in franchise history. They haven’t won any postseason series since 2001, and never really had a chance to wrap this one up after falling behind by 26 points…

Lowry shot 4 of 16 for 11 points after scoring 36 in the Raptors’ Game 5 victory. He was the only other Toronto player in double figures.

— Associated Press

Dallas Mavericks’ forward-center DeJuan Blair has been suspended one game without pay for kicking center Tiago Splitter of the San Antonio Spurs in the head, it was announced today by Rod Thorn, President, Basketball Operations.

The incident, in which Blair was ejected, occurred with 3:08 remaining in the fourth quarter of the Mavericks’ 93-89 loss to the visiting San Antonio Spurs last night at American Airlines Center. Blair will serve his suspension tomorrow when the Mavericks host the Spurs.

To view the play, click on this link.

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver has banned Donald Sterling for life from any association with the Clippers or the NBA, it was announced today at a press conference in Manhattan.

Commissioner Silver has also fined Mr. Sterling $2.5 million, the maximum amount allowed under the NBA Constitution. The fine money will be donated to organizations dedicated to anti-discrimination and tolerance efforts that will be jointly selected by the NBA and the Players Association.

As part of the lifetime ban, Mr. Sterling may not attend any NBA games or practices, be present at any Clippers office or facility, or participate in any business or player personnel decisions involving the team. He will also be barred from attending NBA Board of Governors meetings and participating in any other league activity.

Commissioner Silver also announced that he will urge the Board of Governors to exercise its authority to force a sale of the team.

The discipline issued today is based on the Commissioner’s conclusion that Mr. Sterling violated league rules through his expressions of offensive and hurtful views, the impact of which has been widely felt throughout the league.

Statement from National Basketball Retired Players Association regarding alleged comments by Donald Sterling:

“While facts are still being confirmed as it pertains to alleged comments made by Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling, the National Basketball Retired Players Association (NBRPA) finds these reported statements deeply troubling. While every American is entitled to due process, offensive comments pertaining to race have no place in our society and certainly not in professional basketball. Our long-term partners, the NBA and National Basketball Players Association, have been amongst the most progressive institutions globally as it relates to fostering diversity and inclusion, and our membership similarly believes that bigotry and hatred must always be combatted.”

The National Basketball Retired Players Association (NBRPA) is comprised of former professional basketball players from the NBA, ABA, Harlem Globetrotters and WNBA. It is a 501(c) 3 non-profit organization with a two-pronged mission to assist former NBA, ABA, Harlem Globetrotters and WNBA players in their transition from the playing court into life after the game, while also positively impacting communities and youth through basketball.

The Fort Wayne Mad Ants defeated the Santa Cruz Warriors 119-113 to secure the 2014 NBA Development League Championship for the first time in team history. The Mad Ants’ Tony Mitchell led all scorers with 32 points, while 2014 NBA D-League Co-Most Valuable Player Ron Howard and teammate Matt Bouldin finished the game with 23 and 20 points, respectively. The Warriors Seth Curry scored a team-high 29 points in defeat.

Fort Wayne led by as many as 20 points in the second half but Santa Cruz wouldn’t fall quietly, capturing the lead for the first time since the first quarter when Mychel Thompson connected on an and-one layup to take a two-point lead, 103-101, with 5:01 to play. The teams knotted in four ties and the lead changed hands twice before the Mad Ants victory was sealed. Howard hit a jumper to take go ahead 113-111 and the team never looked back en route to the six-point championship win. The Mad Ants finished their season with a perfect 6-0 record, having won 17 of their last 20 regular season contests.

Both clubs shot less than 40 percent in a jitter-filled first quarter, eventually scoring 27 apiece to end the frame, the first NBA D-League finals quarter played in Fort Wayne.

Mitchell put the Mad Ants on his back in the second quarter, notching 17 points on eight-of-12 shooting from the field as the home team stretched its lead to as many as 19 points. Santa Cruz’ Cameron Jones kept his Warriors in the game, though, scoring nine of his 13 first half points in the second period. Mitchell scored 17 of Fort Wayne’s 38 second-quarter points and his team outscored Santa Cruz by as many in the second (38-21), shooting 59 percent as a team to the Warriors’ 39 percent. Fort Wayne took a 65-48 lead into the halftime break.

The Warriors cut Fort Wayne’s 20-point third quarter lead to as few as five points, 83-78, as the team embarked on a 13-1 run in the second half of the period. The Mad Ants weathered the storm, though, finishing the third up 11, 91-80. Santa Cruz held Mitchell scoreless in the third and Jones and Seth Curry combined for 18 of the Warriors’ 32 points in the stanza.

Jones scored 28 for the Warriors while Lance Goulbourne chipped in with 20 in the loss.

Fort Wayne Mad Ants guard/forward Ron Howard and current Minnesota Timberwolves and former Iowa Energy guard/forward Othyus Jeffers were today named the 2013-14 NBA Development League’s Co-Most Valuable Players, as voted by the NBA D-League’s 17 head coaches.

Howard (6-5, 200, Valparaiso) played in 49 regular season games for the Mad Ants, averaging a team-high and career-best 20.5 points to go with 4.3 rebounds and 4.3 assists. Howard spearheaded Fort Wayne’s offense, leading the team in scoring 24 times and serving as the high-assist man in 22 games. A seven-year Mad Ants veteran, Howard became the league’s all-time leading scorer on March 29 when he scored 20 points to pass Renaldo Major’s previous record of 4,252 points.

Selected as an All-Star in 2014 for the third time in his career, Howard led his Mad Ants to a franchise record and NBA D-League best 36-14 record, the East Division Championship and the top-overall seed in the 2014 NBA D-League playoffs. Fort Wayne won 13 of its last 15 regular season games and boast a perfect 4-0 record in the 2014 postseason having swept the Reno Bighorns and Sioux Falls Skyforce en route to the team’s first-ever NBA D-League Finals appearance. In four playoff games, Howard is averaging 17.3 points, 4.3 assists and 3.8 rebounds.

The recipient of back-to-back NBA D-League Jason Collier Sportsmanship awards, Howard and the Mad Ants begin their inaugural trip to the NBA D-League Finals tonight when the team takes on the Santa Cruz Warriors in California. Howard will be presented with his Co-MVP trophy on Saturday when the series moves to Fort Wayne for Game 2.

Jeffers (6-5, 210, Robert Morris) played in 44 of the Energy’s 50 regular season games before earning a GATORADE Call-Up to the Timberwolves on April 8. He averaged a team-high 20.9 points, good for eighth-best in the NBA D-League, to go with 9.9 rebounds (fourth) and 2.2 steals (fifth). He led Iowa in scoring 20 times and was the team’s high-rebounder in an additional 20 contests. Jeffers scored in double figures in 43 of his 44 games with the Energy, scoring 30 or more points twice.

A 2014 NBA D-League All-Star, Jeffers joins Howard as the only NBA D-League players to play in three NBA D-League All-Star Games. He was named NBA D-League Performer of the Week on Dec. 2 and was the season’s first NBA D-League Player of the Month for games played in November and December. During the 2013-14 season, Jeffers appeared in six NBA contests following call-ups to Minnesota and the San Antonio Spurs. A five-time GATORADE Call-Up recipient, Jeffers owns NBA averages of 3.8 points, 1.6 rebounds and 11.9 minutes over 37 games.

Jeffers led the Energy to the Central Division Championship and the third-overall seed in the 2014 NBA D-League playoffs before being signed by Minnesota. A five-year veteran of the Energy, Jeffers was the 2009 NBA D-League’s Rookie of the Year and boasts career averages of 19.0 points, 8.3 rebounds, 3.1 assists, 1.9 steals and 35.8 minutes in 185 games.

“I’m thrilled that our coaches honored both Othyus and Ron as Co-MVPs in our league this season,” said Chris Alpert, Vice President of Basketball Operations for the NBA D-League. “Both Ron and Othyus had impressive seasons, leading their teams to Division Championships while putting up the best numbers of their respective careers. I’m proud to honor them both, and congratulate each of them on the tremendous and well-deserved award.”

LeBron James scored 32 points and added eight assists, Chris Bosh scored 20 points and the Miami Heat held on to beat the Charlotte Bobcats 101-97 on Wednesday night to take a 2-0 lead in the teams’ Eastern Conference first-round series.

Dwyane Wade scored 15 points, plus had a steal in the final seconds to help seal the win for Miami. Mario Chalmers added 11 for the Heat.

Michael Kidd-Gilchrist scored 22 points for Charlotte, which got 18 points and 13 rebounds from Al Jefferson, who played through a left plantar fascia strain and shot 9 for 23 from the floor.

— Associated Press