Category: General NBA insight

Al Jefferson had a pretty good inkling it was Charlotte’s night when he banked in a 31-footer from well beyond the top of the key to beat the shot clock midway through the fourth quarter.

“I didn’t call the bank, but I trusted my right hand,” Jefferson said with a laugh.

Jefferson scored 34 points and the Bobcats stunned NBA-leading Indiana 109-87 Wednesday night, handing the Pacers just their second two-game skid of the season. Jefferson was 16 of 25 from the field and had eight rebounds for the Bobcats (28-33), who won their fifth straight at home to equal their combined win total from the previous two seasons.

“I’m not accepting that we’re a team that guys look at on the schedule anymore and say, ‘OK, we have the Bobcats (so) we can take the night off.” Jefferson said.

— Associated Press

The Brooklyn Nets have signed center Jason Collins to a second 10-day contract, General Manager Billy King announced today.

Collins, who signed his first 10-day contract on February 23, has appeared in five games for the Nets, totaling three points and five rebounds in 36 minutes.

Currently in his 13th NBA season, Collins has played in 718 NBA games, with averages of 3.6 points and 3.7 rebounds in 20.7 minutes per game.

Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban is not a fan of the NCAA and the rule that requires players to be one year removed from high school and at least 19 years old before entering the NBA.

Cuban thinks the NBA Development League is preferable to a year in college, saying the one-and-done players are not prepared mentally and emotionally for the NBA.

“I think what will end up happening — and this is my opinion, not that of the league — is if the colleges don’t change from the one-and-done, we’ll go after the one,” Cuban said, according to ESPNDallas.com. “The NCAA rules are so hypocritical, there’s absolutely no reason for a kid to go (to college) because he’s not going to class.

“He’s actually not even able to take advantage of all the fun because the first semester he starts playing basketball. So if the goal is just to graduate to the NBA or be an NBA player, go to the D-League.”

— Sports Xchange

Here’s the Los Angeles Times, via the Chicago Tribune website, reporting on NBA legend Scottie Pippen, who has been dealing with an annoying legal situation:

Scottie Pippen has filed a countersuit against a Malibu man who alleged the former NBA All-Star assaulted him at a restaurant last year.

Camran Shafighi filed a $4-million lawsuit against Pippen, accusing him of a “brutal and unjustified physical attack” that allegedly occurred outside upscale Nobu restaurant after Shafighi had sought a picture with the former Chicago Bull.

But in a cross-complaint filed earlier this month, Pippen’s lawyer Mark J. Geragos alleged Shafighi cursed at Pippen using racial slurs, spat on him and his children and said, “I’m going to kill you.”

The cross-complaint also alleges that Shafighi was “extremely aggressive and noticeably intoxicated” and calls for unspecified damages “according to proof.”

Here’s the New York Post reporting on Nets point guard Deron Williams, who appears to have a good head on his shoulders when it comes to gun laws:

Don’t expect Deron Williams to make the same mistake Raymond Felton did.

“I got my license to carry in like 26 states, but I’m not bringing my gun to New York City,” Williams said before the Nets practiced at UCLA on Tuesday and before they traveled up the coast for Wednesday night’s game with the Trail Blazers. “I know better than that.”

Felton, the Knicks’ starting point guard, was charged Tuesday with criminal possession of a weapon in the second, third and fourth-degrees.

New York has among the strictest state laws on gun control in the country.

So many times this season, the Minnesota Timberwolves failed in close games down the stretch.

On Tuesday night, they turned the tables on the Phoenix Suns.

Kevin Love fell an assist shy of his second triple-double in three games and the Timberwolves used a fourth-quarter outburst to beat the Suns 110-101.

Love, whose first career triple-double came at Utah on Saturday, had 33 points and 13 rebounds for the Timberwolves, who trailed by eight with 7:57 to play, then outscored the Suns 24-6.

He knew late in the game about that one missing assist.

“I think when we were up 10 they told me that if I can get an outlet here, you get your triple-double,” Love said, “but at the point I just wanted to secure the rebound and get to the free throw line, get the lead up a little bit more so we wouldn’t have to worry about much. Nine assists again, I have been there a few times.”

— Associated Press

James Harden spent the fourth quarter smiling on the Houston Rockets’ bench. DeMarcus Cousins finished the final period in the Sacramento Kings’ locker room.

Their performances were just as different on the floor, too.

Harden scored a season-high 43 points in three quarters, and the Rockets routed the Kings 129-103 on Tuesday night after Cousins was ejected for vehemently arguing with an official.

“These are the type of wins that we need, especially late in the season, to lock down and focus,” Harden said.

Harden helped Houston go ahead by 25 points in the first quarter, 31 in the second and 33 in the third. He shot 11 of 20 from the floor, made 15 of 16 free throws and added eight assists, three steals and two rebounds.

— Associated Press

ESPN.com reported: NBA president of basketball operations Rod Thorn and vice president Kiki VanDeWeghe acknowledged in a recent interview with ESPN.com that the league office, at least in an exploratory fashion, has weighed expanding the dimensions of the court and the introduction of a 4-point shot. In a sitdown with ESPN’s TrueHoop TV conducted during All-Star Weekend in New Orleans earlier this month, Thorn and VanDeWeghe spoke of both concepts mostly from a hypothetical standpoint but did concede that both ideas have been presented for discussion at a league level.

NBA RESPONSE FROM SENIOR VP TIM FRANK: “No one at the NBA, nor the competition committee, has had any serious conversations about increasing the size of the floor or adding a 4-point line. Rod Thorn and Kiki VanDeWeghe were entertaining a line of questioning about out of the box ideas and ESPN.com chose to make a story that doesn’t exist.”

Read NBA fan reaction or share your opinion in this forum topic.

Dee Bost is a former high school quarterback who once collected MVP honors in the North Carolina Class 3A State Championship Game.

Today he’s the NBA D-League’s top quarterback, averaging a league-best 8.8 assists through 35 games with the Idaho Stampede. That’s no small feat, considering he shared a backcourt for much of this season with Pierre Jackson, the most dynamic scorer the NBA D-League has seen in recent years, and someone who had the ball in his hands … a lot. (Jackson left Idaho last week to sign a contract overseas).

In his first full week sans Jackson, Bost did okay, if your definition of okay is averaging a triple-double. In two games, the 6-2 guard from Mississippi State, who went undrafted in 2012 out of Mississippi State, averaged 20.5 points, 14.5 assists and 11.5 rebounds, as the Stampede posted wins over the Maine Red Claws and Los Angeles D-Fenders.

Bost, who played his first professional season for KK Buducnost in Montenegro (Adriatic League), was in training camp with the Portland Trail Blazers in October, and subsequently picked up by the Trail Blazers’ NBA D-League affiliate Idaho. He was recently selected to play in the 2014 NBA D-League All-Star Game in New Orleans, tallying four points and seven assists in 20 minutes.

As far as his NBA chances go, Bost continues to be somewhat of a mixed bag in the eyes of most scouts. He has NBA-caliber speed and quickness, along with very good vision. The strength of his game is his ability to get in the lane and find people. The flipside is Bost is very turnover prone — he’s averaging 3.5 turnovers this season — and when you pair that with streaky outside shooting, his attractiveness as a backup point guard at the NBA level diminishes.

Still, guards who average better than 8.0 assists and 6.0 rebounds in a very competitive NBA D-League, and have impressive physical tools, are going to be on the radar for NBA teams. If Bost can reign it in a bit, and continue to improve as a perimeter shooter, he has a chance to play in the NBA someday.

— Via NBA D-League News

The Milwaukee Bucks haven’t won too often this season, and a road victory has been even rarer.

They earned both in a laugher over the nearly-as-hapless Philadelphia 76ers.

O.J. Mayo made seven 3-pointers and scored 25 points, Ersan Ilyasova added 20, and the Bucks placed seven players in double figures in a 130-110 rout of the 76ers, who lost their 11th straight game on Monday night.

“In our situation, it’s great to get a win any way we can get it,” Bucks coach Larry Drew said.

Ramon Sessions scored 16 points, Khris Middleton and Brandon Knight had 15 each, and Giannis Antetokounmpo posted 13 for the Bucks (11-45), who own the NBA’s worst record. John Henson added 12 for the Bucks, who had their highest scoring game of the season.

— Associated Press