NBA News Blog – Page 1456 – NBA Blog

New Knicks provide thrilling spark in overtime home loss to Thunder

Behind huge games from Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook, Saturday night in New York the Oklahoma City Thunder topped the Knicks 121-118 in overtime. Durant (10-of-25, 14-of-15 free throws) scored 36 points, while Westbrook (13-of-23) was dominant with 31 points, nine rebounds and 10 assists.

For the Knicks, tonight marked the debut of new squad members Tracy McGrady, Eddie House and Sergio Rodriguez. And although victory narrowly eluded them, the results were more positive than anyone could have expected.

While Rodriguez provided a much bigger spark than his five points and six assists suggests, the Knicks were carried by David Lee’s 30 points (12-of-16), 10 rebounds and six assists, McGrady’s 26 points and five assists, and Eddie House’s 24 points and five rebounds off the bench.

Here’s what Knicks coach Mike D’Antoni said after the game about McGrady and House:

“I thought it was really, really good. Just their intensity. Just the little things, getting the ball here and there. Talking in the timeouts. Talking going on the floor, understanding who they got. Just all the intangibles that they’re bringing. It’s something that we really work on, in a sence, that’s pretty good. As soon as they get used to each other a little bit better, Tracy gets his legs a little bit more. He kind of ran out of gas toward the end. Foul shots were tough, you saw it. But, not having played all year, a couple of years, almost, 26 points, not bad against a team that defends really well. They’re long and athletic. They’re palying well.”

More D’Antoni thoughts on McGrady:

“His basketball IQ is way up. He does that. He makes the soccer pass or the hockey pass, whatever you want to call it. Butu he does that. Obviously, he can score. He’s very intelligent on defense. He’s pointing and talking. The guy has been around and been an all-star a long time.”

Although the Knicks lost tonight, this was the most fun night of pro basketball Madison Square Garden has enjoyed in years. Unless you love watching amazing individual performances where one superstar shines while everyone else watches. Then, the shows LeBron James and Kobe Bryant put on in recent seasons eclipse tonight.

As for Rodriguez, he was a one-man carnival. In a good way. The guard flung himself all over the court on both ends of the floor, made tons of brilliant passes, and was an absolute joy to watch.

Great showing by the new Knicks, even in a loss.

Good first half in Tracy McGrady debut

Starting at shooting guard alongside Chris Duhon, Tracy McGrady looked very good and certainly better than expected in his New York Knicks debut Saturday night as the team hosts the Oklahoma City Thunder in Madison Square Garden.

T-Mac came out gunning and shot 7-of-12 for 19 points, two rebounds, three assists (two turnovers) and a steal in 17 first half minutes.

The Knicks lead 57-52 at the break.

Also in the first half, David Lee shot 6-of-9 for 16 points and five rebounds.

For the Thunder, Russell Westbrook (6-of-9) has 15 points and four rebounds. Kevin Durant (4-of-10) has 14.

The Knicks had 14 first half assists, the Thunder just six.

McGrady played six games for the Houston Rockets and has not been on the court since December 23 until tonight.

Ronnie Brewer out 3+ weeks with hamstring injury

Ronald Tillery of the Memphis Commercial Appeal reports:

Grizzlies swingman Ronnie Brewer will miss at least three weeks with a partially torn right hamstring.

Brewer, who was injured Friday during the Grizzlies’ 100-87 double overtime loss to Miami, had his condition confirmed this morning after a magnetic resonance imaging exam.

Brewer did not travel this afternoon with the team to New Jersey where the Griz will face the Nets on Sunday evening. The Grizzlies are officially saying that Brewer will be out indefinitely and a timetable for his return will be set in a week.

Jon Brockman out two to four weeks

Sacramento Kings forward Jon Brockman will miss two to four weeks of action with a sprained medial collateral ligament in his right knee, which was confirmed by an MRI taken yesterday.

Brockman, currently in his rookie season, is averaging 3.0 points (.511 FGs, .600 FTs) and 4.6 rebounds per game through 44 outings of which he has started in four.

Rockets waive Brian Cook, keep Garrett Temple 10 more days

Houston Rockets General Manager Daryl Morey announced today that the team has signed guard Garrett Temple to a second 10-day contract and has waived forward Brian Cook.

Temple (6-6, 190, LSU), who has averaged 6.0 points and 2.3 rebounds in three games with Houston, signed his first 10-day contract with the Rockets on Feb. 8, marking his first-ever GATORADE Call-Up to the NBA. Temple was playing with Houston’s single-affiliation NBA D-League partner Rio Grande Valley, where he was averaging 14.9 points, 3.7 rebounds and 3.4 assists in 30 games (30 starts) with the Vipers. He was originally signed as an undrafted rookie free agent by Houston on Sept. 22, 2009. Temple averaged 2.5 points and 0.3 assists in four preseason games with the Rockets before being waived on Oct. 21. He also averaged 4.6 points and 0.4 assists in five games with Houston in the 2009 NBA Summer League.

Cook (6-9, 250, Illinois), who was in his second season with the Rockets, averaged 1.4 points and 0.6 rebounds in 15 games this season. He was acquired by Houston from Orlando in a three-team trade on Feb. 19, 2009, and exercised the player option on his contract for the 2009-10 season on June 22.

Deron Williams dislikes Ronnie Brewer trade

Tim Buckley of the Deseret News reports:

He doesn’t like it, but Deron Williams knows trades come with the territory.

“It stinks that these things happen in the NBA,” Williams said Friday, one day after the Jazz dealt close friend and starting shooting guard Ronnie Brewer to Memphis for a protected 2011 first-round draft choice.

This particular trade, however, left Williams particularly offended — so much so he questioned the team’s thinking and suggested it could influence the length of his future with the franchise.

The All-Star point prefaced Friday’s remarks by saying, “I haven’t really got nothing much good to say about the trade, so …”

Pacers almost traded TJ Ford, Brandon Rush to Bobcats

Mike Wells of the Indianapolis Star reports:

T.J. Ford didn’t expect there was a possibility that he would be traded. Brandon Rush said he was “shocked” four times during a 40-second interview.

The two Indiana Pacers were caught off guard when they heard the team was working on a deal to send them to the Charlotte Bobcats for Gerald Henderson, Nazr Mohammed and D.J. Augustin on Thursday.
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The deal fell through when the Bobcats pulled out about 10 minutes before the trade deadline.

“I was definitely more shocked than anything,” Rush said. “I didn’t see it coming. Nobody told me anything about being on the trade block. It was more of a shock.”

Tracy McGrady would take pay cut to play with stars in New York

The AP reports:

“I’ve made a lot of money over my career and I could retire right now and I could be fine financially. My kids can be fine when they get older. Money is not an issue for me,” McGrady said.

“So if these guys were to bring in a LeBron, a D-Wade, along with a Chris Bosh or a (Amare) Stoudemire, I’d be a damn fool to not want to stay here. So I’m just telling you right now that I will definitely embrace the opportunity to be here. Money is not an issue.”

McGrady said the Knicks were his preference once Houston decided to try to trade him, adding he would have sought a buyout if he were sent elsewhere. He finally got his wish Thursday in a three-team deal that included Sacramento, saying he was disappointed this season by a lack of communication from Rockets management.

“I didn’t know. I really didn’t know,” McGrady said. “And that’s just the unfortunate situation, that I just like for management to be upfront and honest with me. That’s all I ask, honesty. And if we can’t sit and have a conversation eye to eye and be honest with me, then all the respect and trust goes out the window.”

Antawn Jamison shoots 0-for-12 in Cavaliers debut

Forward Antawn Jamison struggled mightily in his Cleveland Cavaliers debut, coming off the bench to shoot 0-for-12 as the team lost 110-93 to the Bobcats in Charlotte.

Playing 26 minutes, Jamison finished with two points, seven rebounds, an assist and a steal.

Stephen Jackson (9-of-17) played well for the Bobcats, finishing with 29 points, eight rebounds and four assists (though, five turnovers). Boris Diaw had 18 points and nine rebounds. And All-Star Gerald Wallace contributed 18 points, five rebounds and an impressive nine assists.

For the Cavs, LeBron James had an extremely quiet night with 22 points, three assists, nine rebounds and four steals.

As a team, the Cavs shot just 39.0%. They amazingly shot better from three-point range than overall, hitting 12-of-29 (41.4%) from outside the arc.

Charlotte had 10 more rebounds than Cleveland, and had 27 assists compared to just 15 for Cleveland.

Jamison is obviously a better player than he showed today, so this is a fluke, but it’s worth keeping an eye on Cavs team chemistry over the next 1-2 weeks.

Rockets re-assign Jermaine Taylor to D-League

Houston Rockets General Manager Daryl Morey announced today that the team has re-assigned guard Jermaine Taylor to Houston’s single-affiliation NBA D-League partner the Rio Grande Valley Vipers. In his first stint with Rio Grande Valley, Taylor averaged 21.8 points, 4.0 rebounds, 1.3 assists and 1.25 steals in four games (one start). He also posted back-to-back 30-point outings with the Vipers at Albuquerque (30 points on 2/2/10 and 32 points on 2/3/10).

Taylor (6-4, 210, Central Florida) has averaged 2.6 points and 0.2 assists in 17 games with the Rockets. A rookie out of Central Florida, Taylor recorded a season-high seven points (2-2 FG, 3-3 FT), one rebound and one steal in just 2:17 of action vs. Atlanta (1/25/10). Taylor, who had his draft rights acquired by Houston from Washington on June 25, 2009, was selected by the Wizards in the second round (32nd overall) of the 2009 NBA Draft. He also averaged 11.0 points and 2.3 assists in four games (two starts) with Houston in the 2009 NBA Summer League.