NBA Blog – NBA Basketball Blog
NBA Blog: The NBA basketball news blog section of Inside Hoops
NBA news blog
Mike Monroe of the San Antonio Express-News reports:
 |
The deal that will keep guard Manu Ginobili with the Spurs for three more seasons has been completed, and the team plans to announce the contract extension on Friday.
Negotiations on final details were hammered out late Thursday afternoon and Ginobili was expected to sign the new contract, the details of which were approved by the NBA office on Thursday.
The extension will pay Ginobili $38.9 million through the 2012-13 season.
The AP reports:
New Orleans Hornets majority owner George Shinn is negotiating to sell his stake in the NBA club to south Louisiana businessman Gary Chouest, who has owned 25 percent of the team since 2007, according to a person familiar with the situation.
The person familiar with both men’s plans and the anticipated sale, told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity Thursday because an agreement has not been signed.
Shinn, a 68-year-old businessman who made his fortune developing a chain of business schools in his native North Carolina, has been either the sole or majority owner of the Hornets since the club’s inception in Charlotte in 1988. The club moved to New Orleans in 2002 and three years ago Chouest paid about $62 million for his share of the team.
Kevin Ding of the Orange County Register reports (via blog):
 |
Andrew Bynum said Thursday he is leaning toward sitting out until the Lakers open the playoffs rather than risk a setback in his strained left Achilles’ tendon.
Bynum referred to coming back for the last two games of the regular season “possible,” but he later noted: “It’s like, what’s the point? Another possibility to go back a couple steps.”
Bynum was firm in his declaration that he would play in the playoff opener, likely to be April 18. If Bynum doesn’t play until then, he will have missed a month since being hurt March 19.
“I’m going to play in the first game of the playoffs,” he said.
Oklahoma City Thunder Executive Vice President and General Manager Sam Presti announced today that the team has assigned guard Kyle Weaver to the Tulsa 66ers of the NBA Development League.
This will mark Weaver’s third assignment to the 66ers this season. In his two prior stints with Tulsa, Weaver appeared in five games (all starts) averaging 12.4 points, 7.2 assists, 5.4 rebounds, 1.40 steals, 1.40 blocks and 42.6 minutes per contest.
The second-year guard has made five appearances for the Thunder this season and recorded averages of 3.0 points and 1.5 rebounds in 12.0 minutes per game.
Weaver is expected to be in uniform today when the Tulsa 66ers take on the Sioux Falls Skyforce at 12:30 PM in Tulsa for the first round of the NBA D-League Playoffs.
Raptors forward Hedo Turkoglu left Wednesday’s game versus Boston at Air Canada Centre at the 1:15 mark of the first quarter after being struck in the nose. A CT scan performed at Mt. Sinai Hospital revealed a small new non-displaced fracture on an old nasal fracture. The scan also showed no significant displacement, and no skull or midface injuries.
Turkoglu’s status is listed as day-to-day.
The Raptors travel to Atlanta to face the Hawks on Friday at Philips Arena (7:30 p.m., TSN/FAN 590).
The AP reports:
D.J. Augustin’s clutch shooting, so familiar to basketball fans in his hometown of New Orleans, sent the Charlotte Bobcats into uncharted territory: the NBA playoffs.
Shortly after congratulating the current Louisiana state champions from his old high school, Augustin hit three 3-pointers in the fourth quarter, including one with 16 seconds left to give Charlotte the lead for good in a dramatic 104-103 victory over the Hornets on Wednesday night.
That secured the first playoff berth for the Bobcats, in their sixth year since joining the NBA and first with Michael Jordan as their majority owner.
The AP reports:
 |
Don Nelson emerged from the Golden State Warriors locker room all disheveled from a wild celebration after finally overtaking Lenny Wilkens as the NBA’s winningest coach.
His gray hair was soaked to the scalp not with Dom Perignon, but a concoction of fizzy soft drinks after a 116-107 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Wednesday night gave Nelson win No. 1,333 for his career…
In 31 seasons on the bench, Nelson is 1,333-1,061 in a career that has made stops in Milwaukee, Golden State (twice), New York and Dallas. He won five titles as a player, has been named coach of the year three times, but has never made an NBA Finals as a coach.
New Orleans Hornets All-Star point guard Chris Paul will miss the remainder of the season due to a ligament tear in his right middle finger. No surgery is required for the injury. The timetable for his return to basketball activities is approximately seven weeks.
“It has been a very difficult season for me in terms of injuries,” said Paul. “I hate not being out on the court helping my team, but the best thing for me to do is to get completely healthy. I am hopeful to be back playing basketball by June.”
Joel Litvin, NBA President, League and Basketball Operations, issued the following statement regarding the final seconds of the Oklahoma City Thunder at Utah Jazz game last night at EnergySolutions Arena:
“On the final play of last night’s Oklahoma City-Utah game, the officials missed a foul committed by the Jazz’s C.J. Miles on the Thunder’s Kevin Durant during a three-point shot attempt.”
Tuesday night in New York, the Boston Celtics visited the Knicks in Madison Square Garden and left with a loss. The highlights of the evening were the scoring of Danilo Gallinari, the fantastic play of Earl Barron, and the amazing, electric atmosphere in MSG.
Although the Knicks leading scorer was Gallinari, who shot 10-of-15, and hit 10-of-11 free throws for 31 points and five rebounds, the real surprise of the evening came from Barron, a random free agent center the Knicks recently picked up to help them close out the season.
Starting alongside David Lee, Barron was fantastic, shooting 8-of-13 for 17 points and 18 rebounds in over 44 minutes of play. There was no reason to consider taking Barron out. He constantly set screens, moved without the ball, created passing lanes, and helped the team virtually every minute he was on the floor.
Barron is auditioning for a real NBA contract, but yesterday’s play showed he belongs on a roster. He showed a high basketball IQ in almost everything he did.
The Knicks can also be proud of their fans and home arena. The Garden was simply electric. And in the 4th quarter, as it became apparent the Knicks really might win, fans were going bonkers. Fans gave up home long ago that the team would make the playoffs. Yet they continue to pack MSG and provide very loud support.
For the Celtics, no one really stepped up. They were led by Ray Allen’s 17 points (6-of-9), but the shooting guard had no rebounds and just one assist. Kendrick Perkins (6-of-8) had 14 points and eight rebounds. Kevin Garnett was disappointing with 14 points on 12 shots, just four rebounds and four assists. Paul Pierce was underwhelming as well, with 13 points on 10 shots, six rebounds and more turnovers than assists. Rajon Rondo had just six points and six assists.
The bright spots for the Celtics were 54.8% shooting, and the fact that they almost won despite almost everyone on the roster having an off night.
To keep perspective, Boston is mainly focused on staying healthy for the playoffs, while New York will miss the post-season and has a roster is filled with players who will be free agent this summer.
But fans in Madison Square Garden last night enjoyed a real thrill.