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The Houston Chronicle reports:
Rockets guard Chase Budinger on Sunday was ruled out for two to three weeks with a sprained right ankle, following an MRI. Budinger turned the ankle on a drive in the second quarter on Saturday.
Budinger is averaging 8.2 points and three rebounds, making 40.9 percent of his shots.
The Rockets are not expected to add a player to their open roster spot with Budinger out.
A huge snowstorm struck the Northeast United States on Saturday, and as a result beat writers covering the Los Angeles Lakers were all unable to make it to Detroit for Sunday’s Lakers at Pistons game (6 p.m. ET start time).
Kevin Ding of the Orange County Register reports (via blog):
Phil Jackson has cited the drain of travel distance to road cities being one reason why it’d be harder for the Lakers ever to go 72-10 the way the center-of-the-country Chicago Bulls did.
Well, here’s a reminder that cold-weather teams such as Chicago (and everyone else in the Eastern Conference who has to go more regularly to cold-weather cities) have travel issues brought on by snow and ice that the warm-weather Lakers rarely encounter.
The Lakers made it from Newark, N.J., to Detroit (or more accurately, they flew into Pontiac, Mich., to be closer to the arena in Auburn Hills) in the wee hours of Sunday morning despite an incredible snowstorm that began Saturday and grounded pretty much all commercial planes in the Northeast. It wasn’t an easy feat, and the club had booked hotel rooms in Newark for the night with the expectation that their plane might not be able to get in the air amid the still-descending snow.
None of the writers who travel separately from the team plane will make it to cover the Lakers-Detroit game, which is pretty much a historic development. Personally, I’ve never not been able to get to the next city because of weather.
I assume the reporters will still write game articles today, but from hotel rooms for a change.
The Boston Celtics announced today that guard Lester Hudson has been recalled from the Maine Red Claws of the NBA Development League. Hudson appeared in three games for the Red Claws averaging 16.3 points, 6.0 rebounds and 4.7 assists per game.
Hudson, a 6’3” guard, has appeared in 13 games for the Celtics this season and registered season-highs of six points and three assists against Philadelphia on November 3.
Mike Monroe of the San Antonio Express-News reports:
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At some point late in the first quarter of Saturday’s Spurs-Pacers game at the AT&T Center, Matt Bonner broke the fourth metacarpal — the bone in the meaty part of the hand that leads to the ring finger — on his right hand.
X-rays taken at the arena showed a partial fracture, and the initial diagnosis does not appear to indicate a need for surgery to repair the bone. Bonner will be re-examined on Monday before a final timetable for his return is announced, but he is certain to miss a significant number of games. He is optimistic his hiatus will last no more than a month.
“It’s not broken all the way through, so it should heal itself in about four weeks,” he said. “That’s about it.”
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High-jumping New York Knicks guard Nate Robinson is an exciting player who can score, leap very high and make lots of questionable court decisions. The Knicks have played relatively well lately, and they’ve done so with Nate not getting off the bench.
But Robinson’s agent had had enough and wants a change.
Howard Beck of the New York Times reports:
Nate Robinson has been locked out of the Knicks’ rotation and pushed to the edge of irrelevancy. His future surely lies beyond New York, and his agent is now pushing to accelerate the process.
Aaron Goodwin, who has represented Robinson for his entire career, said it was time for the Knicks and Robinson to part ways.
“I want to do what I can to get Nate out of New York,” Goodwin said in a telephone interview Saturday afternoon. “There’s no reason to allow this kid’s career to get rotted by what’s going on here in New York.”
It is not yet clear whether Goodwin will seek a trade or a buyout of Robinson’s one-year, $4 million contract. He spoke briefly Saturday with the team president, Donnie Walsh, and the two agreed to discuss the issue again in a few days.
Marc Berman of the New York Post reports:
“I have asked the Knicks to move Nate,” Goodwin told The Post “At this point it’s personal. I don’t think Mike [D’Antoni] has [ever] done anything to show it’s basketball-related. I felt that way talking to Walsh during the Chicago game when they went 4-of-23 in the third quarter and the gentleman didn’t look for Nate to help out. They had a 39-point second half and for whatever reason he didn’t consider Nate.”
Robinson signed a one-year, $4 million contract days before training camp and the player needs to give his approval for a trade under CBA law because it was a one-year deal. If Robinson is traded to a team that makes the playoffs, he would get an additional $1 million bonus.
The Knicks want to keep their salary cap room for next season. It’s tough to see the Knicks trading Robinson. Better for them to keep his expiring contract around.
Read fan reaction and share your own opinion in this forum topic.
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Rockets F Carl Landry was forced to leave last night’s game in Dallas at the 9:28 mark of the second quarter following a collision with Mavericks F Dirk Nowitzki which resulted in damage to five teeth.
Landry was treated this morning by Rockets team dentist Dr. Thomas O’Brien who performed a series of procedures including a root canal and two dental bridges to repair the damage.
Landry will not play tonight against the Oklahoma City Thunder and will be listed as day-to-day moving forward.
The 6-9, 248-pound power forward is having an excellent season for the Rockets, averaging 16.0 points and 5.9 rebounds in 25.9 minutes per game.
The AP reports:
Houston’s Carl Landry was taken to a hospital after breaking teeth in a collision with Dirk Nowitzki during the second quarter of Friday night’s game between the Rockets and Mavericks.
Nowitzki drove into the lane and missed a short jumper with 9:28 left in the second quarter. He was fouled by Landry, who was hit in the mouth on Nowitzki’s follow-through.
The Houston Chronicle reports:
The Mavs’ Dirk Nowitzki and the Rockets’ Carl Landry were lost early in the second quarter when Landry cut off Nowitzki on a drive, catching Nowitzki’s right elbow in the mouth, dislodging or breaking parts of five of Landry’s teeth.
Landry was taken to the emergency room and will see an oral surgeon today to determine the extent of the damage. Nowitzki needed 30 minutes for pieces of Landry’s teeth to be removed from his elbow.
After they left, the Rockets answered the Dallas runs as they could not in the previous two meetings this season, won by the Mavericks by an average of 24.5 points after the Rockets had taken early leads. The Mavericks seemed to lose their poise, drawing six technical fouls, some at the worst possible times.
Michael Lee of the Washington Post reports:
He was driving into the lane, hitting finger rolls and off-balanced runners off the glass. He was completing crossover dribbles, stepping back and draining three-pointers, and confidently whirling back with his hand raised high. And, he was setting up teammates with open jumpers and layups.
More importantly, Gilbert Arenas was smiling, having fun and cracking jokes with his teammates. Arenas was playing freely and delivered the type of flashback performance for a full game that the Washington Wizards have only seen glimpses of ever since his left knee betrayed him more than two years ago. Feeling unburdened back in his native West Coast, Arenas erupted for season-highs of 45 points and 13 assists as he led the Wizards to a 118-109 victory over the Golden State Warriors at Oracle Arena on Friday.
“I’ve been the coy fish for a couple of games. I’m just trying to get back in attack mode,” Arenas, a native of Los Angeles, said. “Since I came on this West Coast trip, I don’t have that pressure of Washington standing on my shoulders. I get to play freely and game by game, since we’ve been on this trip, I felt good.”
Have Wizards opinions? Express them on the Washington Wizards forum.
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Golden State Warriors center Mikki Moore underwent successful surgery today to remove bone spurs in his right ankle, the team announced. The surgery was performed by Dr. David Porter in Indianapolis, IN. Moore is expected to be sidelined for a minimum of three (3) months.
This season Moore was not contributing a lot to the Warriors, averaging 5.0 points and 3.0 rebounds in 17.7 minutes per game.
With a 7-18 record, the Warriors are currently 14th out of 15 Western conference teams, ahead of the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Read fan reaction or share your own opinion in this forum topic.
The NBA Development League today issued suspensions to four players following two separate altercations during Reno’s 98-90 victory over the Bakersfield Jam in Reno on Tuesday, Dec. 15, it was announced by Chris Alpert, NBA D-League Vice President of Basketball Operations and Player Personnel.
Reno’s Cezary Trybanski received a two-game suspension, while Bakersfield’s Amara Sy and Rodney Webb were each suspended for one game. Jared Newson, who was waived by the Jam due to injury prior to the game but was seated near the bench in street clothes, received a one-game suspension.
Trybanski was suspended two games for attempting to strike Bakersfield’s Terrence Gamble and for punching Webb. Webb is being suspended for one game for striking Trybanski in the chest and for escalating the altercation between Trybanski and Gamble. Newson was suspended one game for leaving the bench area during the altercation.
Sy is being suspended for one game for striking an opposing player in the groin during a separate incident in the same game. That incident occurred with one minute left to play in the fourth quarter.
Trybanski will serve his two-game suspension beginning tonight when Reno plays the Sioux Falls Skyforce in Sioux Falls and on Dec. 21 when the team travels to play the Rio Grande Valley Vipers. Webb will serve his one-game suspension tonight when the Jam hosts the Idaho Stampede. Newson will serve his suspension when and if he is reacquired by an NBA D-League team. Sy will also serve his suspension tonight against the Stampede.