NBA News Blog – Page 1122 – NBA Blog

Deron Williams dislikes temporary Nets arena in Newark

Deron Williams can’t crack the cold and uncomfortable Rock, so he’s waiting for a better home in Brooklyn.

After another horrendous shooting night for himself and the Nets in Newark, Williams expressed displeasure with the team’s stopgap home court at the Prudential Center, essentially calling it inadequate for basketball.

“I don’t like this arena one bit. It’s a good thing it’s not our arena next year,” he said matter-of-factly after shooting 5-of-18 in an 84-74 loss to the Thunder Saturday night. “Even last year, it just doesn’t feel like our home arena, I don’t know why.”

“It just doesn’t have good visual. The depth perception is not there.”

The Nets (4-12, 1-5 at home), who are scheduled to move to the $1 billion Barclays Center next season, shot a paltry 31% overall, and just 3-of-23 from beyond the arc — leaving the team with a 38% shooting percentage at home and 43% on the road.

— Reported by Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News

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Jay-Z’s 40/40 club in NYC briefly closed for health violations

Jay-Z’s 40/40 Club was shut down for a slew of health-code violations just a day after its celebrity-drenched $10 million relaunch — and now it faces a dreaded “C” grade, The Post has learned.

An inspector found perishable food at dangerously warm temperatures inside the walk-in refrigerator and discovered “hot” food left out on the counter on Thursday, Health Department sources said.

A worker was also seen mixing salsa with his bare hands.

The refrigerator was at a rancid 60 degrees instead of 41 — jeopardizing the safety of 50 pounds of raw chicken wings, five pounds of raw shrimp and 100 turkey burgers, the sources said.

— Reported by Philip Messing and Kevin Fasick of the New York Post

UPDATE FROM TMZ: But Ron Berkowitz, a rep for the club, tells TMZ the motor in one of the refrigerators blew just moments before the health inspector arrived … causing the temperature in the fridge to rise. Berkowtiz says the staff identified the problem immediately and had no intention of serving the food from that fridge. Berkowitz says the fridge was fixed by noon the next day and the club was permitted to re-open.

Metta World Peace having a forgettable season

Friday marked a typical night for Metta World Peace. He missed all four of his shots against Orlando. He was scoreless. And he was benched in the second half.

Typically exuberant and optimistic, he sounded fine.

“I feel good. I feel awesome. Just because my numbers [stink] don’t mean I don’t feel good,” he said. “I can’t control everything. I can’t control not starting. All I can control is going out there and playing hard. I can’t control not being in a rhythm, but that doesn’t mean I don’t feel good.”

World Peace, 32, averaged a career-low 8.5 points last season. Through 15 games this season, he’s averaging 5.1 points and 19.8 minutes. He is shooting 32.3% overall and a woeful 12.1% from three-point range, making four of 33 attempts.

— Reported by Mike Bresnahan of the Los Angeles Times

Eric Gordon open to signing Hornets extension

Shooting guard Eric Gordon said he’s willing to sign a long-term contract extension with the Hornets, who have until Wednesday to make that happen. But as the clock ticks away on that deadline, it’s also ticking on the timeline that is keeping Gordon sidelined with a bone bruise in his right knee that has limited the Hornets’ leading scorer to just two games this season.

The question begs, therefore: have the Hornets seen enough in two games, one of which Gordon made the winning shot, to offer Gordon an extension that would keep him in New Orleans for another four or five years? Or does the team wait until the season ends, and with a new owner in place, then possibly commit its resources to an extension, or just allow Gordon to test the market as a restricted free agent?

And will the Hornets be open to satisfying Gordon’s financial demands, whatever they may be?

Gordon, who was ruled out for two to three weeks on Jan. 6 because of swelling in the knee after his second game — a 40-minute outing in a loss to the 76ers — says he’d have no problem putting his name on a long-term contract with the Hornets right now.

— Reported by Jimmy Smith of the New Orleans Times-Picayune

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UNC guard Dexter Strickland out for season

North Carolina junior Dexter Strickland will miss the rest of the season after tearing his right anterior cruciate ligament in Thursday’s win at Virginia Tech.

Strickland was hurt when his knee buckled on a drive early in the second half. The school said Friday that Strickland’s surgery to repair the injury hasn’t been scheduled yet.

“Positive thinking!” Strickland posted on his Twitter account Friday night. “Everything happens for a reason, God always has a plan! Thanks to everyone who is praying for me! I appreciate it!”

The 6-foot-3 guard had started every game for the eighth-ranked Tar Heels, averaging about eight points and shooting a team-best 57 percent while thriving in transition. He was the team’s top perimeter defender and doubled as the No. 2 ballhandler behind point guard Kendall Marshall.

— Reported by ESPN.com

Chris Paul is buying Avril Lavigne’s mansion

Los Angeles Clippers star Chris Paul is planning to stay in town a while … ’cause he’s about to drop $8.5 MILLION on a sick Bel Air mansion that he’s buying from Avril Lavigne … TMZ has learned.

Sources tell us … Paul fell in love with the 12,184 square foot place, which Avril originally listed for $9.5 mil and decided he had to make a move.

The mansion — located in a hoity-toity private community called Bel Air Crest — includes 8 bedrooms and 10.5 bathrooms, a wine cellar, 10-car garage, gym, sauna and a covered outdoor living room.

— Reported by TMZ

Detroit Pistons sign guard Walker Russell Jr

The Detroit Pistons announced today that the team has signed guard Walker Russell Jr. from the NBA D-League’s Fort Wayne Mad Ants. Per team policy, terms of the contract were not disclosed.

Prior to his signing, Russell Jr. led the D-League with 9.9 assists per game and averaged 16.0 points in 16 games for the Mad Ants this season. He recorded seven points/assists double-doubles and dished out a season-high 19 assists to go with 19 points at the Bakersfield Jam (1/9/12). Russell Jr. has recorded 12-plus assists five times and scored 20-plus points four times this season.

Russell Jr. was a member of the Pistons 2011-12 training camp roster before being waived just before the start of the season. He was also a member of the Pistons’ team at the 2007 NBA Summer League in Las Vegas and was invited to the New York Knicks’ 2007-08 training camp. A local product from Rochester, MI, he’s the son of former Piston Walker D. Russell. In 17 games last season, he averaged 17.7 points, 3.2 rebounds and 7.9 assists in 37 games with the Mad Ants.

Bucks suspend Stephen Jackson for unexcused absence

Guard Stephen Jackson has been suspended for an “unexcused absence” and will not play when the Bucks meet the New York Knicks on Friday night at Madison Square Garden, according to coach Scott Skiles.

A source said Jackson missed the bus to the team’s morning shootaround.

Skiles said Shaun Livingston will start at the shooting guard position in Jackson’s place.

The Bucks will have nearly a full complement of players – minus Jackson – with the return of guard Mike Dunleavy Jr. and forward Luc Richard Mbah a Moute. Dunleavy has missed the last 10 games with a groin injury, while Mbah a Moute has been sidelined for 11 of the team’s 13 games due to right patella tendinitis.

“He (Dunleavy) went the last couple days and got through it fine,” Skiles said after the shootaround at the remodeled Garden. “Luc as well went the last two days, and he’s OK today. Both guys will play.”

— Reported by Charles F. Gardner of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Blog

Bobcats will use Bismack Biyombo as a center

Rookie Bismack Biyombo is beginning to make quite an impression with the Charlotte Bobcats.

Enough so that he’s moving up the depth chart.

Bobcats coach Paul Silas said starting Saturday night against Chicago, Biyombo will move to center where he’ll backup starter Byron Mullens for the remainder of the season. That’s a good move for Biyombo, who had been buried on the depth chart beneath a glut of power forwards including Tyrus Thomas, D.J. White and, at times, Boris Diaw.

The decision comes after Biyombo’s most impressive game as a professional Tuesday night at Orlando.

Biyombo registered his first double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds in the loss to the Magic, and played well on defense. Even though Magic center Dwight Howard scored 25 points, Silas likes the job Biyombo did on Orlando’s dominant big man. Biyombo had four blocks and nine defensive rebounds and seemed to frustrate Howard late in the game.

— Reported by Steve Reed of the Associated Press

Kwame Brown had his shoulder surgery, still out at least 3 months

Golden State Warriors center Kwame Brown underwent successful surgery yesterday (Wednesday, January 18) to repair his torn right pectoralis major (the large chest muscle that attaches to his right shoulder), the team announced today.

The procedure was performed by Dr. Neal ElAttrache at the Kerlan-Jobe Orthpaedic Clinic in Los Angeles. Brown will remain in Southern California for a brief time and begin rehabilitation upon his return to the Bay Area sometime next week. He is expected to be out for a minimum of three months.

Brown, 31, suffered the injury at the 6:22 mark of the fourth quarter during the Warriors’ game against the Miami Heat on Tuesday, January 10. In nine games this season, he posted averages of 6.3 points and 6.3 rebounds in 20.8 minutes.