NBA News Blog – Page 1318 – NBA Blog

Rockets recall Ishmael Smith from D-League

Houston Rockets General Manager Daryl Morey announced today that the team has recalled guard Ishmael Smith from Houston’s single-affiliation NBA D-League partner Rio Grande Valley. Smith is expected to join the team in Minnesota in time for tonight’s game against the Timberwolves.

The rookie guard was originally assigned to the Vipers on 1/17, and averaged 12.8 points, 7.0 assists and 4.0 rebounds in four games (one start) with Rio Grande Valley. During his assignment, Smith led Rio Grande Valley to a perfect 4-0 record, and in his last game with the Vipers against the Dakota Wizards on 1/22, posted his first career double-double with 11 points and 10 assists in 37 minutes to fuel a 114-101 Vipers win. Smith is the second Rockets player to be assigned to the Vipers and recalled this season; following rookie forward Patrick Patterson, who played in nine games for Rio Grande Valley during a month-long assignment from 11/9-12/13.

Smith (6-0, 175, Wake Forest), who earned a roster spot a

Melo hits six threes, drops 36 on Pacers

The Indiana Pacers today learned the hard way that Carmelo Anthony is still on the Denver Nuggets.

The AP reports:

Carmelo Anthony gave the home crowd nothing to boo about Sunday night, scoring 36 points in the Denver Nuggets’ 121-107 victory over the Indiana Pacers, who lost their fifth straight.

Anthony had been subjected to jeers by the home crowd as trade talk intensified last week, but on this night, the Denver fans showed him plenty of love, especially when he was raining 3s from all over the court as he put on a spectacular 23-point show in the third quarter.

Anthony’s career-best six 3-pointers all came in the third period as the Nuggets turned a close game into a laugher—a reversal of their game in November when the Pacers made their first 20 shots of the third quarter and rolled to a 144-113 win in Indianapolis.

Anthony’s previous high was five 3-pointers back in 2003, his rookie season.

Nene added 15 points and 10 rebounds for the Nuggets, who led by 25 and improved to 20-5 at the Pepsi Center, where they haven’t lost consecutive games all season. Tyler Hansbrough had 27 points and 10 rebounds for Indiana, which trailed 59-51 at halftime.

The Nuggets are still likely to send Melo, who has still refused to sign Denver’s contract extension offer, to another team before February’s trade deadline.

Chicago man gets 13 years for robbing Antoine Walker

The AP reports:

A Chicago man has been sentenced to 13 years in prison after pleading guilty to robbing former NBA star Antoine Walker at gunpoint at his home in 2007.
Demorris Hill was tried late last year for the robbery, but the jury wasn’t able to reach a unanimous verdict…

Two other men also have been convicted in the robbery, and a third is awaiting trial.

Hill is also charged in a similar robbery at the suburban Chicago home of New York Knicks Center Eddy Curry.

Kidd says players need to see arena in Brooklyn

The AP reports:

Jason Kidd says the Nets will have to finish building their arena in Brooklyn, N.Y. before free agents consider joining them there in 2012.

Kidd, who led the Nets to consecutive NBA finals in 2002 and ’03, says not having a building causes players to wonder whether it will ever be completed.

Kidd made his comments before his Dallas Mavericks played the Nets on Saturday night.

InsideHoops.com editor says: At the very least, free agents would probably want to be one hundred percent convinced that the building will be completed on time and the Brooklyn move is happening as scheduled. So far everything seems to be a go.

Wizards sign Mustafa Shakur to 10-day contract

Wizards President Ernie Grunfeld announced today that the team has signed guard Mustafa Shakur from the NBA Development League’s Rio Grande Valley Vipers to a 10-day contract

Shakur (6-4, 195) has averaged 16.7 points, 5.0 assists and 4.7 rebounds this season through 23 games with Rio Grande Valley. He spent time in training camp with the New Orleans Hornets earlier this season and has previously had stints with Oklahoma City, Sacramento and the D-League’s Tulsa Thunder (where he averaged 19.3 points, 6.9 assists and 4.5 rebounds during the 2009-10 season).

Hornets hold Hawks to 59 points

Sometimes, a team is at its worst and puts up a really awful performance. And then you can be even more terrible and play like the Atlanta Hawks yesterday.

The AP reports:

Josh Smith slumped in front of his locker, trying to figure out how a team that played so hard in an overtime win at Miami could return home and get blown out by 41 points.

That’s just what happened Friday night. Coming off a victory over LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and the mighty Heat, the Hawks were held to the lowest-scoring game in Atlanta history by Chris Paul and the New Orleans Hornets, who took control late in the first half and cruised to a 100-59 rout…

The Hawks have never had an offensive performance like this, at least since moving to Atlanta in 1968. Previously, their lowest-scoring game was a 73-63 loss to Cleveland in 1996.

Only Jordan Crawford’s 3-pointer with 32 seconds remaining kept Hawks from their worst offensive effort ever—a 57-point game in 1955 when the team was in St. Louis…

Paul scored 16 points and dished out eight assists in leading the Hornets to their seventh straight win against a team that shot 29 percent…

David West and Marco Belinelli both scored 15 points and Emeka Okafor pulled down 12 rebounds. The Hornets dominated on the boards, 55-32.

Jamal Crawford led the Hawks with 14 points, and Smith was the only player in double figures with 13. Johnson was 4 of 12 for nine points, less than half his 19.6 average.

Both the Hawks and Hornets are currently the 5th seed in their respective conferences.

Magic beat Raptors by 40

The Orlando Magic are better than the Toronto Raptors, but in case there was any confusion on the matter, Dwight Howard left no room for discussion.

The AP reports:

Dwight Howard kept getting easy baskets, so the Orlando Magic kept feeding him the ball.

It was just that simple against the lowly Toronto Raptors.

Howard had 31 points and 19 rebounds, helping the Magic rout the reeling Raptors 112-72 on Friday night…

Howard went 12 for 21 from the field and had nine offensive rebounds, almost as many as Toronto had as a team (14). He outrebounded the Raptors’ starting five (19-18) and dunked almost at will, scoring off what seemed like an endless stream of lobs from the Magic guards…

Ryan Anderson added 21 points for Orlando, which avenged a four-point home loss to the Raptors in November. J.J. Redick scored 12 points and Brandon Bass finished with 10.

DeMar DeRozan led the Raptors with 16 points. Andrea Bargnani scored all 11 of his points in the first half as Toronto picked up its sixth consecutive loss.

The Magic are now 28-15, the Raptors 13-30.

Nets hosting first Social Media Night

The New Jersey Nets are hosting their first-ever social media night tonight, Friday, January 21 as the Detroit Pistons come to town and play in Newark at the Prudential Center.

Fans part of “Nets Nation” who follow the team on Facebook and/or Twitter have an opportunity to receive 50 percent off of select tickets for the game.

Fans who purchase their tickets through the Nets on Facebook or Twitter will also receive a Nets gift bag that will include a Nets Nation t-shirt, a voucher to a future game, Nets branded items, a 15 percent discount at the team’s merchandise stands, and exclusive access to a post-game autograph session with select Nets players.

As a special offer, two fans which purchase the Social Media Night package will be selected to be upgraded to courtside tickets, and one fan who purchases the package will win a player-autographed item.

It’s cool of the Nets to keep using the web to stay in touch with loyal fans, so check out the offers. The team’s Twitter account name is “NetsBasketball.”

Carlos Delfino set to return for Bucks

Charles F. Gardner of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports:

Just one minute on the court will mean everything to Milwaukee Bucks forward Carlos Delfino.

And that chance could come as soon as Friday night, when the Bucks meet the Cleveland Cavaliers at Quicken Loans Arena.

Delfino practiced for the first time in more than two months on Thursday, before the Bucks headed to Ohio to face the Cavaliers. He has been sidelined with concussive symptoms since suffering several blows to the head in the first two weeks of the season.

“I’m pretty optimistic that tomorrow I can be at least on the bench,” Delfino said following practice. “I don’t know if I’m going to play, but at least it will be a really good feeling to put the uniform back on and to try to help.

“Every single minute I get to play from now to the end of the season is going to be a present for me. For a couple moments, I was thinking I wasn’t going to be able to play.

“Hopefully I can help. If it’s 1 minute or 48, I don’t care. If I can give a hand, it’s going to be good. Especially when we have a season full of injuries, if we can get more bodies, it’s going to be good.”

Tyrus Thomas out eight weeks with knee injury

Charlotte Bobcats forward Tyrus Thomas will be sidelined for approximately eight weeks after a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) revealed a tear of the lateral meniscus of the left knee. Surgery is expected in the coming days.

Thomas was a game-time scratch for tonight’s home game against Philadelphia, after he experienced swelling in the knee earlier today.

In 34 games played this season, Thomas has averaged 11.1 points, 5.8 rebounds and 1.6 blocks in 21.6 minutes off the bench.