NBA News Blog – Page 1640 – NBA Blog

Paul Davis out 6-8 months after right knee surgery

Los Angeles Clippers’ forward Paul Davis underwent successful surgery yesterday to repair the torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) and torn lateral meniscus in his right knee. The surgery was performed by Dr. James Andrews of the Alabama Sports Medicine and Orthopaedic Center in Birmingham, Alabama.

Davis is scheduled to remain in Birmingham undergoing physical therapy until his return to Los Angeles on January 11th. The timetable for his return is expected to be six to eight months.

Davis originally sustained the injury in the second quarter of the Clippers’ game in Dallas on December 21st. In 22 games this season, Davis averaged 2.5 points, 2.1 rebounds and 8.8 minutes per game.

NBA suspends Zach Randolph one game for throwing headband

InsideHoops.com NewsWire: Zach Randolph of the New York Knicks has been suspended one game without pay for throwing his headband and hitting an official, it was announced today by Stu Jackson, NBA Executive Vice President Basketball Operations.

The incident occurred with 1:47 remaining in the third period of the Knicks 107-97 loss to the Kings on Wednesday, Jan. 2 at Madison Square Garden.

Randolph will serve his suspension tonight when the Knicks visit the San Antonio Spurs at the AT&T Center.

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Jelani McCoy signs with D-League’s L.A. D-Fenders

The Los Angeles D-Fenders have reacquired center Jelani McCoy, who was a free agent. McCoy, Los Angeles’ first-round selection in the 2007 NBA D-League Draft, returns to the D-Fenders after earning the second NBA Gatorade Call-Up of the 2007-08 season by the Denver Nuggets.

McCoy, 6-10, 245-pounds, was signed on Nov. 29 and appeared in six games (one start) for the Nuggets. Before being waived by Denver on Dec. 27, McCoy averaged 1.2 rebounds, 0.8 blocks and 0.5 points in 5.5 minutes of action. During his first stint with the D-Fenders he averaged 8.0 points, 6.5 rebounds 4.0 blocks and 3.5 assists in two games.

A seven-year NBA veteran, McCoy has played with Seattle, the L.A. Lakers, Toronto, Cleveland and Atlanta. He holds NBA career averages of 4.7 points and 3.6 rebounds in 254 career appearances.

To make room for McCoy on the roster, the D-Fenders waived forward/center Robert Whaley due to injury. Whaley averaged 5.9 points, 3.1 rebounds and 0.9 assists in 13 games (8 starts) for the D-Fenders.

Iverson’s son OK after fall, surgery

The Rocky Mountain News reports: Allen Iverson was playing with plenty else on his mind. He had missed practice Monday and Wednesday (the Nuggets were off Tuesday) because his 4-year-old son, Isaiah, had fallen off a stool early Monday morning and suffered what Iverson called a “big gash under his mouth” that needed plastic surgery. “He had hands in his shirt, and it was a high stool,” said Iverson, who said there was lots of blood and his son must go back to the doctor every other day in the next week. “When he fell, he couldn’t brace it. . . . (It was tough because) my wife had to go through what she went through and my kids and (Isaiah) having to go through it. The toughest part was when they sedated him. . . . I was just mentally out of it.”

Damon Stoudamire wants trade from Grizzlies

Looks like Memphis point guard Damon Stoudamire, who this season in 21.5 minutes per game has averaged 7.3 points and 3.9 assists on 39.7% shooting, has no interest in being bench fodder while young Mike Conley and Kyle Lowry pass him on the depth charts. The Memphis Commercial Appeal reports:

Grizzlies veteran point guard Damon Stoudamire will seek a trade or contract buyout, his agent said Thursday. Stoudamire was removed from the starting lineup in favor of first-round draft pick Mike Conley. Stoudamire was on the inactive list for the Grizzlies’ victory Wednesday over Indiana. Aaron Goodwin, an experienced NBA agent with a star-studded client list, called the decision to relegate Stoudamire to an insurance player at the point unacceptable and disrespectful.

The Grizzlies have struggled this season and with 9 wins and 22 losses are tied for the 5th lowest winning percentage in the league.

Crumbling United States Basketball League (USBL) won’t play in 2008

The USBL, which has been steadily shrinking in size, for now has suspended their operations and not even setting up their 2008 season until they find more teams. The AP reports:

The United States Basketball League, down to only a handful of teams, has suspended operations. “We’re not going to schedule for the ’08 season until we have enough teams we feel comfortable going forward with,” USBL director of public relations Jake Gordon said. The league began the 2007 season with eight teams and lost two during the year, he said. One of the six remaining teams, the Albany Patroons, decided not to play in the post-season, leaving only five squads for the summer tournament — the Oklahoma Storm, the Gary Steelheads, the Dodge City Legend, the Kansas Cagerz and the Brooklyn Kings.

InsideHoops.com editor Jeff Lenchiner used to attend a few Brooklyn Kings games per season around 2003-2005, and estimates that around 75-125 fans attended an average game. And they played in a college gym that made no mention of an actual event going on outside on the street, so people walking by wouldn’t even know a semi-pro basketball game was taking place.

McGrady injury update: Out 7-10 days

Statement from Dr. Tom Clanton: “Rockets guard/forward Tracy McGrady underwent further examination and a second MRI at the Roger Clemens Institute at Memorial Hermann, which revealed a strained popliteus tendon in his left knee. This is in addition to his patellar tendinitis and bruised bone that had been diagnosed previously and were confirmed by the first MRI. McGrady is expected to miss between 7-10 days as he continues his current rehabilitation program.”

Latest All-Star voting results are in

Thursday afternoon, the latest updated results for fan voting that picks the All-Star game starters came in. InsideHoops.com has the full voting counts posted here (click this).

If voting ended today, here’s who would start:

East: Kidd, Wade, LeBron, Garnett, D-Howard.
West: Kobe, McGrady, Melo, Duncan, Yao.

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Bulls looking better under Boylan

The Bulls actually look like a real team again under new head coach Jim Boylan. Maybe they’ll soon be a force as it was expected they’d be. The AP reports:

Ben Gordon scored 22 points, Luol Deng added 21 points and 13 rebounds and the Chicago Bulls continued their strong play under interim coach Jim Boylan with a 109-97 win over the Charlotte Bobcats on Wednesday night. The Bulls, who improved to 3-1 under Boylan, rallied from a 12-point third-quarter deficit when Boylan tweaked his rotation to take advantage of Charlotte’s small lineup.

Lots of teams rally when a big change gets made, though. Let’s see if it continues.

Knicks hold Salmons to 32/11/6/6 yet still lose to Kings

The Knicks continued their losing ways Wednesday night in New York, losing to the injury-riddled Sacramento Kings 107-97. The final score is deceptive. This game wasn’t close at all and for all intents and purposes was really a 20-point Kings win.

In addition to Mike Bibby and Kevin Martin being out the Kings were also without Ron Artest, who had right elbow surgery today. But Brad Miller, John Salmons and Francisco Garcia played like stars.

Miller put up 26 points and 16 rebounds. Garcia shot badly but earned plenty of free throws to make up for it, getting 22 points, 7 rebounds, 3 steals and 2 blocks.

Salmons was king of the court, shooting 13-of-18 for 32 points, 11 rebounds, 6 assists and 6 steals.

For the Knicks, Eddy Curry found offense, shooting 10-of-17 (and just 4-of-11 free throws) for 24 points, most of which came in the first half. But he grabbed just 3 rebounds and was totally destroyed when attempting to play defense.

Stephon Marbury returned for the Knicks, coming off the bench to play reasonably well, getting 16 points and 4 assists.

Nate Robinson got 19 points on just 11 shots.

Jamal Crawford was awful, as was Quentin Richardson. And Zach Randolph had one of his worst games of the season and was ejected after throwing his headband in disgust.

The Knicks committed 21 turnovers and 32 fouls.