NBA Blog – NBA Basketball Blog
NBA Blog: The NBA basketball news blog section of Inside Hoops
NBA news blog
After undergoing three shockwave treatments for plantar fasciitis in his left foot, Sacramento Kings’ guard Tyreke Evans visited foot specialist Dr. Richard Ferkel yesterday and was cleared to begin basketball activities.
If all goes well, Evans should gradually return to action within a week or two.
Al Iannazzone of the Bergen Record reports (via blog):
| Deron Williams |
|
|
| Puffy yet quick |
No doubt was used a lot at Nets practice today, after coach Avery Johnson uttered those two words on ESPN Radio yesterday after being asked about Deron Williams’ future.
Johnson reiterated it today when he was asked about the Nets’ prospects of signing Williams to a new contract/extension when the time is right.
“I have no doubt and I’m really, really confident that we’ll be able to re-sign him,” Johnson said.
Then Johnson went on to say it’s not really a story. We disagree there.
Williams’ future is the main story around the Nets right now. They’re playing great with straight wins and have a big game tomorrow against the Bulls, which should feature a great point guard battle between Williams and Derrick Rose.
The San Antonio Spurs today announced that they have signed guard/forward Danny Green from the Reno Bighorns of the NBA Development League for the remainder of the season. Green becomes the 16th call-up of the 2010-11 D-League season. Per team policy, terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Green (#4, 6’6”, 210, 6/22/87) originally signed with the Spurs on November 17. He appeared in two games, totaling 6 points in 9 minutes, before being released on November 23. Most recently, in 16 games with Reno, he averaged 20.1 points, 7.5 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 1.38 steals in 37.4 minutes per game. He shot .451 (114-253) from the field, .434 (36-83) from three-point territory and .795 (58-73) from the free throw line.
He appeared in 20 regular season games last season with the Cleveland Cavaliers, averaging 2.0 points in 5.8 minutes per game.
Originally selected by Cleveland with the 46th pick in the second round of the 2009 NBA Draft out of North Carolina, Green played in more games (145) and achieved more wins (123) than any Tar Heel player before him. He is the only player in ACC history with at least 1,000 points, 500 rebounds, 250 assists, 150 three-pointers, 150 blocks and 150 steals. He had career averages of 9.4 points, 4.1 rebounds and a .455 shooting percentage from the field.
The AP reports:
 |
Even a shortage of big men couldn’t slow the Bulls’ march to the top of the Eastern Conference.
Derrick Rose scored 23 points in Chicago’s seventh straight win, a 98-79 victory over the Washington Wizards on Tuesday night that moved the Bulls into sole possession of first place in the East.
Luol Deng added 20 points and Keith Bogans scored 17, his highest total since joining the Bulls. Bogans took all of his 10 shots from behind the 3-point arc, hitting a season-high five…
Washington center JaVale McGee had a rare triple-double with 11 points, 12 rebounds and 12 blocks, the most by an NBA player since Toronto’s Keon Clark had 12 on March 23, 2001.
“I had three (blocks) the first quarter and I was trying to match that in the second quarter and I had seven, so I was like I’m going to try and get 14,” McGee said. “It was working for me tonight. I was blocking so good in the first half people were starting to hesitate and were more afraid to go up and it was easier to block shots.”
The New Jersey Nets have assigned rookie point guard Ben Uzoh to the team’s D-League affiliate, the Springfield Armor, Nets General Manager Billy King announced today.
Uzoh, who signed with the Nets as a free agent after going undrafted out of Tulsa, has appeared in 32 games with New Jersey, averaging 3.4 points and 1.4 assists in 9.1 minutes. He tallied a career-high 18 points in 22 minutes at Houston on 2/26.
The AP reports:
Marcus Thornton and Samuel Dalembert had career scoring nights with 42 and 27 points and the Kings beat the Golden State Warriors 129-119 Monday night in what might have been the final meeting ever in Sacramento between the Northern California rivals.
Al Thornton scored 23 points and Stephen Curry added 19 to lead the Warriors, who were never in this game a night after beating Minnesota 100-77 in their most lopsided win of the season.
The AP reports:
Brook Lopez scored 20 points, Deron Williams added 16 and made the clinching 3-pointer, and the Nets extended their longest winning streak in three years to five games with an 88-79 victory Monday night.
Kris Humphries had 16 points and 15 rebounds, following his strong performance against Blake Griffin by turning in one against Kevin Garnett to help the Nets snap a nine-game home losing streak against the Celtics…
Ray Allen scored 19 points and Garnett had 18 for the Celtics, who couldn’t overcome horrible shooting nights from All-Stars Paul Pierce and Rajon Rondo and fell back into a tie with Chicago for the best record in the Eastern Conference.
The AP reports:
For the Miami Heat, there was symmetry in the turnabout.
Lose by 30 in San Antonio, win by 30 in Miami.
Chris Bosh scored 30 points and grabbed 12 rebounds, Dwyane Wade scored 29 and the Miami Heat avenged their worst loss of the season by rolling past the NBA-leading Spurs 110-80 on Monday night…
LeBron James finished with 21 points, eight assists and six rebounds for the Heat, who have won three straight and moved within two games of Eastern Conference front-runners Boston and Chicago.
Tony Parker scored 18 points and Tim Duncan added 14 for the Spurs, who had won 15 of their last 18 against Miami. Before Monday, San Antonio’s worst loss of the season had been a 96-72 defeat in New Orleans.
Mary Schmitt Boyer of the Cleveland Plain Dealer reports:
Since a 4-4 stretch following their league-record 26-game losing streak, the Cavs have lost four straight by an average of about 16 points. They were barely competitive in the last three.
Coach Byron Scott admits his young team has regressed.
“I think the last two games, yeah, think so,” he said. “We discussed that this morning as coaches. That’s one of the most frustrating things for us is that we’ve regressed instead of progressed — especially when you see progression coming and all of a sudden the last two games you take a couple of steps back.
“That’s very frustrating for me and for all our coaches — and, hopefully, for the players as well. We’ve got to figure out a way to get back to where we’re taking small steps forward instead of taking big steps backward. It just can’t happen.”
This young team has confounded its coaches and fans all season, and Scott admitted almost anything could be behind this latest swoon. With eight players age 24 or younger — four are 22 or younger — the Cavs have a roster full of guys who have never played this many games before. This far out of the playoffs, it’s possible the players are just counting down the 17 games to the end of the season.
Memphis Grizzlies forward Rudy Gay underwent a follow-up magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) today on his left shoulder, which revealed that while the shoulder is healing from a subluxation, it needs more time to fully recover. There is no timetable for his return.
The 6-8, 240-pound forward has missed the last 10 games after suffering the injury on Feb. 15 vs. Philadelphia.
Currently in his fifth NBA season, Gay is averaging 19.8 points and 6.2 rebounds while posting career highs in assists (2.8), steals (1.69), blocks (1.07), field goal percentage (.471), three-point field goal percentage (.396), free throw percentage (.805) and minutes (39.9, 3rd in the NBA).
The 24-year-old holds career averages of 17.8 points, 5.6 rebounds and 1.9 assists on .457 shooting in 36.0 minutes in 372 games, all with the Grizzlies.
