Category: NBA News Blog

NBA news blog

Jazz move CJ Miles into starting lineup

The Utah Jazz are struggling lately. Deron Williams is frustrated. People aren’t happy. Minor changes are being made.

Jody Genessy of the Deseret News reports:

Jazz move CJ Miles into starting lineup

For the third consecutive game, the Utah Jazz will have a different lineup when they take to the Staples Center court tonight.

The Jazz’s starting small forward spot now belongs to C.J. Miles.

The sixth-year pro will replace Gordon Hayward in the opening lineup after the rookie replaced usual starter

Andrei Kirilenko at the 3 spot for one game (a 96-85 loss at Philadelphia).

This latest change comes on the heels of a four-game losing streak back East and just in time for a brutal back-to-back that includes tonight’s game against the two-time-defending-champion Los Angeles Lakers and Wednesday night’s home game against the NBA-leading San Antonio Spurs.

“The biggest thing I want to see is how our team responds,” Jazz coach Jerry Sloan said. “We’ve lost the last eight quarters we’ve played. We need to see if we can get some life and get back into this thing.”

The Jazz are still a winning team at 27-17, sitting at 6th in the Western conference.

Bucks sign Garrett Temple to 10-day contract

Bucks sign Garrett Temple to 10-day contract

The Milwaukee Bucks have signed guard Garrett Temple (6-5, 180) to a 10-day contract, General Manager John Hammond announced today.

Temple, 24, has appeared in 30 NBA games (four starts) in stints with San Antonio, Houston and Sacramento over the last two seasons with career averages of 4.6 points and 1.1 rebounds in 11.8 minutes. He appeared in three games earlier this season with San Antonio.

Undrafted out of Louisiana State University, Temple has appeared in 48 games (41 stats) the last two seasons in the NBA’s Development League (D-League) and averaged 14.3 points, 4.1 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 1.2 steals while knocking down 37.5 percent of his 3-pointers. He has split the 2010-11 D-League season between Erie and Rio Grande Valley and averaged 13.4 points, 4.8 rebounds, 3.3 assists, 1.0 steal and shot 38.7 percent from three in 18 games (11 starts).

The Bucks roster is now at 15 players.

Chris Bosh may not return for 1-2 weeks

The Miami Heat have not been at full strength lately, and it appears another week or two will go by before that situation is rectified.

Joseph Goodman of the Miami Herald reports:

Chris Bosh may not return for 1-2 weeks

Heat forward Chris Bosh indicated Monday that he could be sidelined for an extended period of time due to his high ankle sprain.

Bosh injured his ankle more than a week ago when Omer Asik of the Chicago Bulls fell on his leg while diving for a loose ball. A week after the sprain, Bosh was still experiencing too much pain to run on a treadmill. On Monday, Bosh sat out another practice. Guard Eddie House also did not practice due to an ankle sprain.

“It’s quite boring to be me right now at work,” Bosh said. “I’m still just trying to feel it out. It’s a different situation. I’ve never had a high ankle sprain. I don’t really know how to gauge anything.”

Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said Bosh isn’t “ready for anything full speed, or side-to-side or with contact.” The coach also didn’t refute questions that Bosh could be out one or two more weeks.

The Heat are currently 31-13 and are the second seed in the Eastern conference, behind the Boston Celtics.

Gregg Popovich will be head coach of NBA 2011 West All-Star team

Gregg Popovich will be head coach of NBA 2011 West All-Star team

San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich will coach the Western Conference All-Stars for the 2011 NBA All-Star Game, to be played on Sunday, Feb. 20, at STAPLES Center in Los Angeles.

With San Antonio’s 113-102 win over the Golden State Warriors Monday, the Spurs (38-7, .844) have clinched the best record in the conference through games played Feb. 6.

This season, Popovich has guided the Spurs to the league’s best record, earning consecutive Western Conference Coach of the Month honors for games played in October/November and December. The Spurs have enjoyed double-digit winning streaks of 12 and 10 games this season.

In his 15th season as head coach, Popovich has led the Spurs to four NBA titles (1999, 2003, 2005 and 2007) and is one of only five coaches in NBA history to have guided his teams to at least four championships. Popovich entered the season with a career mark of 736-362 and a winning percentage of .670, which ranked fourth in NBA history. His playoff career winning percentage of .618 (102-63) is the eighth best in NBA annals, while his 106 playoff wins are the third most in league history.

Popovich coached the West team during the 2005 All-Star Game in Denver, which the East won 125-115.

The coach of the East All-Stars will be determined by the team with the best record in the conference through games played Feb. 6. The Orlando Magic’s Stan Van Gundy, who coached last year’s East squad, is not eligible to coach this year’s All-Star Game.

The 2011 NBA All-Star Game will air live on TNT and ESPN Radio in the U.S., and reach fans in more than 200 countries and territories in more than 40 languages.

Mavericks sign Peja Stojakovic

The Dallas Mavericks announced today that they have signed forward Peja Stojakovic. Per team policy, terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Stojakovic (6-10, 229) is a 12-year NBA veteran and joins the Mavericks as a free agent. He holds career averages of 17.2 points, 4.8 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 34.0 minutes while shooting .450 from field goal range, .401 from behind-the-arc and .895 from the foul line. He has played in 779 career games (652 starts) with Sacramento, Indiana, New Orleans and Toronto.

The native of Belgrade, Yugoslavia is a three-time NBA All-Star (2002, 2003, 2004) and was named to the All-NBA Second Team in 2003-04. He ranks fifth all-time on the NBA’s three-point field goal list with 1,718 career made three-pointers, just one behind fourth-place Dale Ellis (1,719) and 14 behind teammate Jason Kidd (1,732) who is in third place. Stojakovic has made six or more three-point field goals in 32 career games which places him second in that category behind only Ray Allen’s 45 games with six or more from behind-the-arc.

Stojakovic has played in 76 career postseason games and reached the Western Conference Finals in 2002 with the Sacramento Kings when they lost to the Los Angeles Lakers in seven games. He holds playoff averages of 16.2 points and 5.7 rebounds in 36.3 minutes per game.

Raptors sign Sundiata Gaines to second 10-day contract

The Toronto Raptors announced Monday they have signed guard Sundiata Gaines to a second 10-day contract.

Gaines was signed to his original 10-day contract on January 13. He appeared in five games with Toronto averaging 5.8 points, 2.0 assists and 14.6 minutes. He had a high of 10 points in back-to-back games January 19 at San Antonio and January 21 at Orlando.

Gaines, 6-foot-1,195 pounds has appeared in 45 regular season games with Minnesota, Utah and Toronto averaging 3.5 points, 1.2 assists and 7.9 minutes. He was signed by Minnesota on November 12 and saw action in eight games totaling 21 points, six assists and 65 minutes. He was released by the Timberwolves on January 4.

Gaines played in 32 games with Utah in the 2009-10 season. He signed two 10-day contracts with the Jazz in January before being inked for the remainder of the season on January 25. He averaged 3.3 points, 1.2 assists and 6.8 minutes. He appeared in five postseason games where he totaled 11 points (5-for-6 FG) in seven minutes.

Gaines also played in the NBDL last season with the Idaho Stampede. He averaged 23.9 points with 4.7 rebounds and 6.9 assists in 14 games.

A 2008 product of the University of Georgia, Gaines began his professional career with NGC Cantu in the Italian League in the 2008-09 season. He averaged 13.1 points, 3.4 rebounds and 2.5 assists in 30 outings.

Toronto’s roster now stands at 15 players.

Mavericks trade Alexis Ajinca to Raptors

The Dallas Mavericks announced today that they have traded center Alexis Ajinca, a second round draft pick and cash considerations to the Toronto Raptors in exchange for the draft rights to forward Georgios Printezis.

Ajinca (7-2, 248) played in 10 games with 2 starts for Dallas this season. He averaged 2.9 points, 1.7 rebounds and 7.5 minutes per game as a Maverick. Ajinca was originally acquired via trade from Charlotte on July 13, 2010.

Printezis (6-9, 230) was the 58th pick of the 2007 NBA Draft by the San Antonio Spurs before Toronto acquired his rights from San Antonio for a future second round pick. Printezis is a native of Athens, Greece and plays professionally in Spain.

The Mavericks roster currently stands at 14 players.

Eric Gordon has sprained right wrist

Los Angeles Clippers guard Eric Gordon will not travel with the team to Dallas this afternoon due to a sprained right wrist.

Gordon, who suffered the injury in a fall during the second quarter of the Clippers 113-109 victory over the Golden State Warriors on Saturday, January 22 at STAPLES Center, will remain in Los Angeles to undergo further evaluation and treatment and is listed as a game time decision for tomorrow’s game against the Mavericks.

In 41 games played this season, Gordon has averaged a team-high 24.1 points per game.

Trail Blazers sign Chris Johnson to 10-day contract

The Portland Trail Blazers have signed center Chris Johnson of the NBA Development League’s Dakota Wizards to a 10-day contract, it was announced today by General Manager Rich Cho.

The NBA granted Portland a hardship exception, allowing the team to sign Johnson (6-11, 210 lbs) and expand its roster to 16 players. He is the fourth call-up of the 2010-11 NBA Development League season.

Johnson, 25, is averaging 17.2 points, 9.7 rebounds, 1.2 assists and 3.07 blocked shots in 27 games (all starts) with Dakota this season.

The LSU product is shooting 51.0% from the field and scored a career-high 34 points to go with 14 rebounds Jan. 22 vs. Rio Grande Valley.