NBA News Blog – Page 1314 – NBA Blog

Flip Murray signs in Turkey

Euroleague.net reports: Less than a week before the Turkish Airlines Euroleague Top 16 starts, Turkish powerhouse Efes Pilsen has reinforced its perimeter game with the addition of veteran scorer Ronald ‘Flip’ Murray, the club announced Friday. Murray (191, 31), who signed until the end of the current season, has spent his entire professional career in his native United States, playing for eight NBA teams in as many years. Murray last played with Chicago, averaging 10.1 points, 2.9 rebounds and 1.8 assists in 29 games after arriving there in February of 2010. He has also played for NBA teams in Milwaukee, Seattle, Cleveland, Detroit, Indiana, Atlanta and Charlotte.

InsideHoops.com editor says: I’m a bit surprised Murray was unable to find a job in the NBA this season. He’d have been a decent scoring option off a bench for the league minimum.

Allen Iverson to have growth removed

Ric Bucher of ESPN The Magazine reports:

Former NBA star Allen Iverson plans to have a growth removed from his right leg in the United States and intends to rejoin his Turkish team in time for the playoffs.

Iverson, who signed a two-year, $4 million deal with the Turkish team Besiktas this fall after no NBA team showed any interest, had tests on the calf three weeks ago to find the cause of persistent pain, his business manager and longtime friend, Gary Moore said Wednesday.

An MRI originally showed a tiny shadow between the two bones in Iverson’s lower leg, but he continued to play. When the pain worsened, a second MRI was taken in the last few days and showed the shadow had doubled in size to a half-penny. Moore said the shadow could be anything from a lesion to a cyst to a tumor…

Besiktas spokesman Kursat Kaplan told The Associated Press on Wednesday the team would assess Iverson’s future after another MRI this week. Iverson, though, Moore said, is proceeding as if the shadow is benign and expects to be back on the court for Besiktas in four to six weeks.

InsideHoops.com editor says: I’m still hoping that Iverson somehow makes his way back to the NBA and goes out on a good note here, but it doesn’t sound likely. He never appeared to back down from his need to start and not be used as a bench reserve. It’s too bad. Anyway, as for Iverson’s current health issue, obviously everyone including myself hopes that it’s a minor, harmless growth that is removed without issue.

Andrei Kirilenko becomes US citizen

The AP reports:

Kirilenko and his wife, Masha, both passed the citizenship tests and were sworn in as U.S. citizens Monday afternoon.

Their two sons, both born in the U.S., now are citizens as well. He said their young daughter, adopted in Russia, still has visa issues because she was born in Russia.

InsideHoops.com editor says: I just wonder how this will affect his hairstyle.

Lakers destroy Cavaliers by 55

The AP reports:

The Lakers humiliated the Cavs while sending them to their 11th straight loss, rolling to a 112-57 victory on Tuesday night in their best defensive performance of the shot clock era.

It was the Lakers’ third-largest margin of victory since moving to Los Angeles, with the two biggest coming in 1972 and 1966.

“You don’t ever imagine something like that,” Kobe Bryant said. “You just go out there and do your job and we did it for 48 minutes.”

Ron Artest and Andrew Bynum each scored 15 points, while Pau Gasol had 13 points and 14 rebounds. Bryant, Lamar Odom and Shannon Brown also scored 13 points for the defending NBA champion Lakers, who led the league’s worst team by 32 points at halftime on their way to winning their fifth in a row.

“I thought that was embarrassing,” said Cavs coach Byron Scott, who once starred for the Lakers. “I told them at halftime, `You look scared. You look flat-out scared. You’re playing against the world champions, and instead of just competing and playing hard, you look scared. You look scared to death.’ That was my take on it, as simple as that.” …

The Cavs were without starting center Anderson Varejao, who tore his right ankle in a routine conditioning drill. Also missing were missing Joey Graham (right quad strain), Daniel Gibson (left ankle sprain), Leon Powe (right torn meniscus) and Anthony Parker (lower back strain).

T-Wolves get 5 Ts in 10 seconds in loss to Spurs

The AP reports:

Referee Ken Mauer certainly won’t be accused of being biased toward his hometown Minnesota Timberwolves anytime soon.

Mauer, a cousin of Twins superstar Joe Mauer and a St. Paul native, whistled the Wolves for five technical fouls in a dizzying 10 seconds of the third quarter, allowing the calm and collected San Antonio Spurs to take control of another head-scratchingly tight game between the best team in the NBA and one of the worst.

Manu Ginobili had 19 points, making all five of those technical free throws, and the Spurs beat the Timberwolves 107-96 on Tuesday night.

“I’ve never seen that before,” said Wolves forward Kevin Love, who picked up the final technical of the spree. “Five in a row, that had to be a first. That was crazy.”

Richard Jefferson scored 17 and Tony Parker had 12 points and 13 assists for the Spurs, who beat the Timberwolves for the 16th straight time. Ginobili also had nine rebounds and six assists.

Love had 20 points and 20 rebounds for the Timberwolves, his sixth 20-20 game of the season. Orlando’s Dwight Howard led the league with three 20-20 games all of last season.

Matt Barnes out eight weeks after knee surgery

Los Angeles Lakers forward Matt Barnes underwent successful surgery today on a torn lateral meniscus in his right knee, it was announced today.

The surgery was performed by Lakers team physician Dr. Steve Lombardo at the Kerlan-Jobe Orthopaedic Clinic in Los Angeles. Barnes is expected to be out for approximately eight weeks.

Barnes suffered the injury on January 7 in a game against the New Orleans Hornets.

In 37 games this season, Barnes has averaged 7.4 points, 4.8 rebounds and 1.7 assists in 20.8 minutes.

January 11 Bucks at Hawks game rescheduled for March 15

The National Basketball Association game scheduled for this evening between the Milwaukee Bucks and the Atlanta Hawks at Philips Arena has been postponed due to severe weather conditions in the Atlanta area.

Tonight’s postponed game has been rescheduled for Tuesday, March 15 at 7 p.m. ET at Philips Arena in Atlanta.

Overseas: Mario Bennett beaten up in Bucharest nightclub

The AP reports:

American basketball player Mario Marcell Bennett says he was beaten by security guards at a nightclub in Bucharest.

The 37-year-old Bennett, who plays for CSM Bucharest, says he was attending a concert by U.S. rapper Ja Rule on Saturday and the artist recognized him and invited him on stage.

Bennett, a Denton native, says security guards surrounded him and hit him and “beat me like a dog.” On Pro-TV, Bennett showed gashes on his scalp and injuries to his legs.

InsideHoops.com adds: Bennett went to Arizona State University and was drafted by the Phoenix Suns in the first round (27th pick overall) of the 1995 NBA Draft.

Mavericks sign Sasha Pavlovic to 10-day contract

The Dallas Mavericks announced today that they have signed forward Sasha Pavlovic to a 10-day contract. Per team policy, terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Pavlovic (6-7, 235) is a seven-year NBA veteran and joins the Mavericks as a free agent. He holds career averages of 5.5 points, 1.9 rebounds, 1.0 assists and 16.5 minutes in 452 career games (127 starts) with Utah, Cleveland and Minnesota.

Originally a first round draft pick (19th overall) of the Utah Jazz in 2003, Pavlovic played one season in Utah before being selected by the Charlotte Bobcats in the 2004 expansion draft and traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers for a first round draft pick. Pavlovic played in Cleveland from 2004-09 and had a career year in 2006-07 when he averaged 9.0 points, 2.3 rebounds and 1.9 assists while helping the Cavaliers win the Eastern Conference Championship and earn a trip to the 2007 NBA Finals.

The native of Bar, Yugoslavia, was also a member of the Serbia and Montenegro 2004 Olympic Team that competed in Athens, Greece.

Suns recall Garret Siler from D-League

The Phoenix Suns have recalled Garret Siler from the Iowa Energy of the NBA Development League, the team announced. Siler will be available tonight when the Suns host the Cleveland Cavaliers at US Airways Center.

Originally assigned to the Energy on Jan. 2, Siler appeared in four games (one start) with Iowa, averaging 4.5 points and 5.0 rebounds in 16.3 minutes. Siler’s best game with Iowa came Jan. 7 at Bakersfield when he scored a season-high eight points and a season-high tying seven rebounds.