NBA Blog – NBA Basketball Blog
NBA Blog: The NBA basketball news blog section of Inside Hoops
NBA news blog
Tonight’s Washington Wizards at Detroit Pistons NBA game has been postponed.
Due to severe weather conditions in the Dallas area, the Pistons have been unable to fly back to Detroit after their game on Monday at American Airlines Center.
The date for the rescheduled game will be announced at a later time.
The Dallas Mavericks have signed forward Chris Silva to a 10-day contract.
Silva (6-8, 234) joins Dallas after beginning the year with the G League’s College Park Skyhawks, where he averaged 14.2 points (.586 FG%, .781 FT%), 7.6 rebounds, 2.3 assists, 0.9 blocks and 22.4 minutes in 11 regular-season games (10 starts) with the club.
Silva went undrafted in the 2019 NBA Draft and began his career with the Miami Heat on a Two-Way contract in 2019-20. Silva appeared in 69 NBA games with Miami, Sacramento and Minnesota from 2019-20 to 2021-22, averaging 2.8 points (.606 FG%) and 2.7 rebounds in 7.6 minutes per game.
The Libreville, Gabon native was a four-year player at South Carolina, where he increased his scoring average across all four seasons, from 5.4 ppg as a freshman in 2015-16 to 15.2 ppg as a senior in 2018-19. He started all 37 games for the Gamecocks’ Final Four team in 2017 and was selected as a member of the First Team All-SEC team in 2018, in addition to earning SEC Co-Defensive Player of the Year honors that same year.
While at South Carolina, Silva shared the floor with current Mavericks Two-Way player AJ Lawson in the 2018-19 season, when Silva was a senior and Lawson was a freshman for the Gamecocks. The duo also shared the floor with College Park in the G League earlier this season.
Silva is only the second player from Gabon to play in the NBA, joining Stephane Lasme who suited up in 16 career NBA games for Miami and Golden State. Silva’s father was a 6-11 center on the Gabonese national team and his mother was a track star. Silva attended Roselle Catholic High School in New Jersey, where he helped the Lions to a state championship as a senior.
Silva will wear No. 30 for the Mavericks.
Boston Celtics interim head coach Joe Mazzulla and his staff will coach Team Giannis in the 2023 NBA All-Star Game, which will be played on Sunday, Feb. 19 at Vivint Arena in Salt Lake City.
The Celtics clinched the best record in the Eastern Conference on Jan. 30 with a 36-15 overall record and own the highest win percentage in the NBA (.706). Boston ranks third in the NBA in points per game (117.8) and owns the highest plus/minus of any team while holding opponents to an average 112.3 points per game.
Mazzulla becomes the eighth coach in Celtics history to be given the honor of coaching an NBA All-Star Game, joining: Brad Stevens (2017), Doc Rivers (2008, 2011), Chris Ford (1991), K.C. Jones (1984-1987), Bill Fitch (1982), Tom Heinsohn (1972-1974, 1976) and Red Auerbach (1957-1967).
This is only the third time in the last 24 seasons that an All-Star team will be guided by a first-year NBA head coach.
The Indiana Pacers have signed center Myles Turner to a multi-year contract extension.
Per the Indianapolis Star, “Turner received approximately $58 million in new money through the 2025-26 season. According to news reports, Turner renegotiated his contract to add $17.1 million this year in addition to approximately $41 million over the next two seasons.”
Turner, who was originally selected by the Pacers with the 11th overall pick in the 2015 NBA Draft has appeared in 473 career regular-season games, posting averages of 13.2 points, 6.8 rebounds, and 2.3 blocks in 28.8 minutes per game. Additionally, he was named to the NBA All-Rookie Second Team and was selected to participate in the 2017 NBA Rising Stars Challenge during All-Star weekend. Turner led the league in blocked shots per game (2.7) and total blocked shots (199) during the 2018-19 season, and then again led the league in blocked shots per game (3.4) in the 2020-21 season. He is currently fourth all-time in Pacers history in blocked shots (1,086) and is second all-time in blocked shots per game (2.3).
In 2015, Turner introduced the W.A.R.M. (“Work As Role Models”) initiative, which was created to provided assistance and resources to those less fortunate, particularly those experiencing homelessness. His support of the W.A.R.M. program will continue this season when he hosts an event with his “Turner’s Block” fan section to create and assemble wellness kits for distribution following the Pacers game vs. Cleveland on Sunday, February 5, 2023.
The Sacramento Kings have signed Deonte Burton to a 10-day contract.
Burton joins the Sacramento Kings from the Stockton Kings (11-3), the Kings G-League affiliate, where he’s averaged 12.2 points, 5.3 rebounds and 3.0 assists while shooting 54.5 percent from the field through the regular season.
The 28-year-old has seen action in 71 regular season NBA games. Burton, a Milwaukee, Wisconsin, native played for the Oklahoma City Thunder from 2018-2020.
Via the Houston Chronicle:
Houston Rockets coach Stephen Silas isn’t one to lose his cool as he guides the NBA’s second-youngest roster. But Silas’s frustration was palpable Wednesday night after Houston’s 108-103 loss to Washington’s Wizards.
The Rockets appeared well on their way to the team’s first winning streak since mid-December as they leapt out to a 55-36 lead late in the second quarter. But as has become all too common this season, Houston couldn’t hang on in the second half. Washington began to cut into the Rockets’ lead at the end of the third quarter, and in the final frame, the Wizards went on a furious 23-4 run to secure a lead they wouldn’t relinquish. Such a poor second half performance irked Silas as he spoke to the media postgame.
“Late third quarter we got away from the things that are about winning, about building winning habits, about taking the right shots, about making the right pass,” Silas said. “We’re not a team that can take anything for granted. It’s just disappointing. It’s actually unacceptable.”
The Rockets are 11-37 this season, which is the worst record in the league.
Their leading scorers so far in 2022-23 are Jalen Green at 22.1 PPG, Kevin Porter Jr. at 19.2 PPG, and Alperen Sengun at 15.4 PPG.
Via the New Orleans Times-Picayune:
At the end of the first half, Brandon Ingram lined up a 3-point attempt from the right wing. His shot glanced off the rim, and he reacted by tossing a towel into the stands.
In his first game back after two months away, Ingram understandably showed signs of rust while scoring 13 points.
Ingram did not get much help in his return as the Pelicans fell to the Minnesota Timberwolves 111-102 on Wednesday at Smoothie King Center. It was the slumping Pelicans’ sixth straight defeat…
Ingram, who missed 29 consecutive games with a left toe contusion, shot 4 of 18 from the field. He also grabbed five rebounds and handed out five assists in 26 minutes. He was at his best in the fourth quarter, when he scored six points.
The leading Pelican scorers so far in 2022-23 are Zion Williamson at 26.0 PPG, CJ McCollum at 21.1 PPG, Ingram at 20.8 PPG, and Jonas Valanciunas at 14.8 PPG. The team is now 26-23.
Utah Jazz two-way forward Micah Potter was examined Jan. 21 by the Utah Jazz medical staff and underwent magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) testing. The MRI revealed loose body fragments in his right elbow.
Potter will undergo surgery to remove the loose body fragments from his elbow on Jan. 27 and be reevaluated in four to six weeks.
Potter (6-10, 248, Wisconsin) has seen action in three games for the Jazz in 2022-23, averaging 1.3 points and 1.0 boards in 4.7 minutes per contest. With the Salt Lake City Stars, he’s played in 12 Showcase and regular season games, with averages of 14.8 points, 6.9 rebounds, and 2.9 assists in 29.3 minutes per game.
New Orleans Pelicans forward Zion Williamson was recently re-evaluated for his right hamstring injury. The re-evaluation showed that Williamson’s hamstring is healing as expected and he is making progress with his recovery.
Williamson will continue his rehabilitation process, which includes strengthening his hamstring and gradually progressing to more movement.
He will be re-evaluated again in two weeks.
Williamson, who sustained a right hamstring strain on January 2 at Philadelphia, has missed the last 10 games for the Pelicans. He holds season averages of 26.0 points, 7.0 rebounds, and 4.6 assists per game in 29 contests.
Memphis Grizzlies center Steven Adams has been diagnosed with a PCL sprain in his right knee, which was sustained during the January 22 game against the Phoenix Suns.
Adams is expected to be sidelined 3-5 weeks.
Per the Memphis Commercial Appeal, “the injury was suffered on the last play of Sunday’s loss to the Phoenix Suns. Adams didn’t play Monday against the Sacramento Kings due to knee soreness but was seen limping as he left the locker room following the Grizzlies’ loss.”