Category: General NBA insight

“I don’t like it, I just don’t like it,” Rivers said before Boston’s game Friday night against the Portland Trail Blazers. “I do get the other side of it, but it’s a tough one. You have to coach your team to win in the long haul, and you have to do whatever you need to do. If that’s sitting players, then you sit players. It’s a tough one.”

Would Rivers shy away from resting his veterans in a similar situation?

“Listen, we’ll do it when we want to do it. And we should be able to do it,” said Rivers. “It can be early in the season, end of the season. Now if we give a guy [a day] off because he has a family thing — it’s just so many things here. Hopefully we all figure it out.

“Whatever is going to help your team win, a coach is going to do. If you don’t, and it hurts your team, then you’re the one that won’t be around. You have to do whatever’s best for your team.”

— Reported by Chris Forsberg of ESPN Boston

The Cleveland Cavaliers have waived forward Luke Harangody and signed forward Kevin Jones to a contract, Cavaliers General Manager Chris Grant announced today from Cleveland Clinic Courts.

The Cavs have assigned Jones to the Canton Charge, the Cavaliers exclusively owned and operated NBA Development League team, as one of their NBA roster players.

Harangody appeared in 42 games (one start) with the Cavs over two seasons and averaged 4.5 points and 3.5 rebounds in 15.0 minutes per game. Harangody did not appear in any games this season.

Jones, a 6-foot-8, 250-pound rookie forward from West Virginia University, has played in three games this season with the Charge and is averaging 27.0 points on .540 shooting and 13.7 rebounds in 41.3 minutes per game. He was one of three players on the Cavaliers training camp roster that were released and then designated for assignment to the Charge, playing under an NBADL contract.

The Dallas Mavericks announced today that they have signed free agent guard Derek Fisher.

Fisher (6-1, 210) is a five-time NBA World Champion and has played in 1,173 games (722 starts) with the Los Angeles Lakers, Golden State, Utah and Oklahoma City. He holds career averages of 8.6 points, 3.1 assists, 2.1 rebounds, 1.1 steals and 26.2 minutes per game. Fisher has played in all 82 regular season games in nine of his 16 NBA seasons.

Fisher was originally the 24 th overall pick in the 1996 NBA Draft by the Los Angeles Lakers and went on to win five World Championships in Los Angeles (2000, 2001, 2002, 2009, 2010). He also served as President of the NBA Players Association from 2006-2012.

The veteran point guard finished the 2011-12 season with the Thunder where he was a member of the 2012 Western Conference Championship team. Fisher has seen action in 229 postseason games.

The Little Rock, Ark., native played collegiately at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock where he played for four years and was named Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year as a senior.

Fisher will replace Troy Murphy on the Mavericks’ 15-man roster. Murphy was waived after playing in 14 games for Dallas and averaging 4.6 points, 3.5 rebounds and 18.3 minutes per contest.

Alexandra McHale, the daughter of Minnesota basketball legend Kevin McHale, died over the weekend, it was announced Sunday.

Known as Sasha, she died Saturday in a Twin Cities hospital. She had turned 23 in late October and had been in college at Minnesota Duluth until illness forced her to take a leave of absence.

She played varsity for Totino-Grace High School for three years and made honorable mention all-state in 2008, the year her team won the Class 3A state title.

“She was an outstanding basketball player and the life of the locker room,” said Shannon Hartinger, her coach at Totino-Grace for three years. “She was a joy to be around. You could tell she loved to play basketball.” …

Kevin McHale became coach of the Houston Rockets last season but has been on a leave of absence since Nov. 10. The Houston Chronicle said the leave was to deal with his daughter’s health issues after she was hospitalized for a condition related to lupus, a chronic autoimmune disease that can damage any part of the body. The Lupus Foundation of America estimates 1.5 million people in the country have it.

— Reported by the Minneapolis Star Tribune

The news first made Metta World Peace excited.

The NBA fined Brooklyn Nets forward Reggie Evans $5,000 for flopping on the Lakers forward during Tuesday’s game, a new league initiative passed this season in hopes of deterring such behavior.

“Yes!” World Peace said with delight.

Then the news disappointed him.

The NBA didn’t penalize Nets forward Gerald Wallace, whom World Peace believed flopped twice in the same game.

“That’s ridiculous,” World Peace said. “That’s worse than Evans. I’d rather Gerald Wallace get fined than Evans.”

— Reported by Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News
http://m.dailynews.com/ladn/db_299337/contentdetail.htm?contentguid=EqPAR048

Michael Jordan’s Bobcats are the NBA’s most surprising team so far this season.

Charlotte (6-4) has won five of its past six games and is one win away from matching last year’s win total.

The turnaround is impressive considering the Bobcats finished last season 7-59 and with the worst winning percentage (.106) in league history. They lost their final 23 games of the season.

But under the direction of defensive-oriented coach Mike Dunlap, they’ve been competitive and have developed a knack for closing games. Charlotte is 5-0 in contests decided by four points or less – and without much NBA experience on the roster.

— Reported by Steve Reed of the Associated Press

Kevin Love sure knows how to make an entrance.

His banged-up Minnesota Timberwolves never needing him more, Love made a surprise return to the starting lineup on Wednesday against Denver, nearly two weeks ahead of the rehabilitation schedule set for his broken right hand.

The All-Star and Olympic gold medalist’s injury was announced on Oct. 18, two weeks before the team opened its most promising season in years. The team initially set a return of six to eight weeks. But Love was able to avoid surgery, and he quietly worked to get back at just under five weeks.

— Reported by the Associated Press

The Boston Celtics announced today that they have waived center Darko Milicic.

“Darko has asked us to release him so he could deal with a personal matter,” said Celtics President of Basketball Operations Danny Ainge. “The whole Celtics family wishes Darko and his family well.”

Milicic, a 7’0” center, averaged 2.6 points and 4.2 rebounds across 5 preseason and regular season games with the Celtics this year.

Rajon Rondo had 20 points, nine rebounds and 10 assists to lead the Boston Celtics to a 101-95 win over the Chicago Bulls on Monday night.

Rondo took advantage of Bulls point guard Nate Robinson for three quarters, helping the Celtics build a 12-point lead on 56-percent shooting. He extended his streak of consecutive games with 10 or more assists to 31, the longest in the NBA since John Stockton had 37 straight between Feb. 27 to Nov. 29, 1989.

Brandon Bass led four other Celtics in double figures with 16 points as Boston held off a furious late Chicago rally to snap a five-game losing streak at the United Center. Kevin Garnett had 15 points.

Luol Deng led the Bulls with 26 points and 11 rebounds. Joakim Noah added 17 points and 11 boards and led Chicago’s fourth quarter rally with nine points.

— Reported by the Associated Press

Paul Millsap scored seven of his 34 points in the third overtime, Al Jefferson had 24 points and 17 rebounds, and the Utah Jazz picked up their first road win of the season, beating the Toronto Raptors 140-133 Monday night.

Utah rallied after trailing by 11 in the fourth quarter, and no was basket bigger than Jefferson’s 3-pointer with two seconds left in regulation, a shot that bounced around the rim before falling through. It was just the second 3-pointer of Jefferson’s nine-year career. He came in 1 for 25 from 3-point range.

Mo Williams had 17 points and 14 assists, Randy Foye scored 20 points and Marvin Williams had 17 as the Jazz opened a four-game trip by avoiding their first 0-5 start away from home since 1987. Derrick Favors scored 15 and Gordon Hayward added 12.

DeMar DeRozan matched his career high with 37 points, Jose Calderon had 20 points and 17 assists, and Amir Johnson fouled out with 11 points and 14 rebounds for the Raptors, who lost their fourth straight.

Linas Kleiza fouled out with 20 points and Andrea Bargnani scored 19 for the Raptors, who lost their eighth straight home game against Utah.

— Reported by the Associated Press