Category: NBA News Blog

NBA news blog

Jayson Tatum and Karl-Anthony Towns named NBA Players of the Week

Celtics All-Star forward Jayson Tatum has been named the Eastern Conference Player of the Week and Timberwolves center Karl-Anthony Towns named Western Conference Player of the Week for games played Dec. 13-19.

It is the first time this season – and the fifth time in Tatum’s career – that he has received the conference’s weekly award.

Tatum produced a team-best 31.3 points on 50.0% shooting (36.1% 3-PT, 86.7% FT), 7.3 rebounds, 4.0 assists, 1.3 steals, and 38.8 minutes over three home games – including two Boston wins – against Milwaukee, Golden State, and New York. He registered at least 25 points and 5+ rebounds in each of the three contests, including a season-high 42 points on 16-of-25 shooting (7-13 3-PT) in Boston’s 117-103 victory over the Bucks on Dec. 13.

In 30 games this season (all starts), Tatum has averaged 26.2 points (42.3% FG, 33.2% 3-PT, 81.9% FT), a career-high 8.6 rebounds, and 3.6 assists in 36.5 minutes. He has tallied at least 20 points in all nine games played in the month of December, averaging 30.6 points on 48.7% shooting (36.6% 3-PT), 8.8 rebounds, and 3.4 assists during that stretch.

This is the fifth time in his career that Towns has won the weekly award (Nov. 20, 2017, April 11, 2016, Mar. 13, 2017 and Oct. 28, 2019). Towns joins Kevin Garnett (15 times) as the only players in Timberwolves history to win the league’s weekly award five or more times.

Towns is the only player in the NBA this season to average 20+ ppg while shooting 50% or better from the field and 40% or better from three. Following the 3-0 week by the Timberwolves, he ranks 12th in the NBA in scoring (24.4 ppg) and tied for 17th in rebounds (9.0 rpg).

The 7-0 center has helped the Timberwolves climb back to .500 on the season, moving to 15-15 after Sunday night’s 111-105 win over the Dallas Mavericks, tied for the second-best 30-game start for the Wolves since 2006-07.

In the Dec. 15 124-107 victory at Denver, Towns scored 32 points on 12-of-18 shooting, while adding four rebounds, four assists and three steals, marking his seventh 30+ point game of the season and extending his franchise record to 85 career games with 30 or more points. With his three-pointer with 6:40 left in the third quarter against the Nuggets, Towns eclipsed 10,000 career points, joining Garnett as the only players in Timberwolves history to score 10,000+ points. He additionally became the first player from the 2015 draft class to notch 10,000 career points.

On Dec. 17 against the Los Angeles Lakers, Towns tallied his 12th 20+ point/10+ rebound game of the season (218th career), finishing with 28 points on 11-of-20 shooting, 10 rebounds, four assists and three blocks. Since he entered the league in 2015-16, no other player has registered more 20/10 games.

Towns finished the week on Dec. 19 against the Mavericks, leading the way for the Wolves with 24 points, seven rebounds and six assists, accounting for his 24th 20+ point game of the season (292nd career). He shot 11-of-13 from the charity stripe, marking a season-high for free throws made and was his third game of the season tallying 10+ free throws. The stat line also marked Towns’ seventh game of the season with 20+ points/5+ rebounds/5+ assists.

Celtics sign C.J. Miles to a 10-day contract

The Boston Celtics have signed 15-year NBA veteran C.J. Miles to a 10-day contract.

Originally selected by Utah in the second round (34th overall) of the 2005 NBA Draft, Miles, 34, has averaged 9.6 points on 41.1% shooting (35.8% 3-PT, 80.9% FT), 2.4 rebounds, 1.1 assists, and 20.4 minutes in 848 career NBA games (303 starts) with the Jazz, Cleveland, Indiana, Toronto, Memphis, and Washington.

Miles (G/F) has averaged at least 10.0 points in six of his 15 NBA seasons, including four straight double-digit scoring years from 2014-15 to 2017-18. The Dallas, TX native last played in the NBA in 2019-20, when he produced 6.4 points over 10 games with the Wizards.

Mavericks sign Theo Pinson to a 10-day contract

The Dallas Mavericks have signed forward Theo Pinson to a 10-day contract under the COVID-related hardship allowance.

Pinson (6-5, 212) spent the past two seasons with the New York Knicks after signing with the Brooklyn Nets as an undrafted rookie free agent in 2018. Pinson spent the beginning of this season with the Maine Celtics of the NBA G League, where he was averaging 16.4 points, 4.6 rebounds, 4.4 assists and 1.3 steals per game across 12 appearances (all starts). Pinson played four years at the University of North Carolina prior to entering the NBA and helped the Tar Heels win the 2017 NCAA Championship.

Pinson will wear #1 for the Mavericks.

NBA: Sixers sign Myles Powell, waive Grant Riller

The Philadelphia 76ers have signed Myles Powell to a two-way contract.

In a related move, the team has waived Grant Riller.

Powell joins Philadelphia after appearing in 14 total G League games over the last two seasons with the Westchester Knicks. Last season, Powell appeared in 13 of the team’s 15 games, averaging 17.8 points, 3.3 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 1.7 steals in 28.1 minutes per contest. He also ended the season ranked top-10 in the G League in three-point percentage at .446, finishing with the best mark of any player with at least 80 attempts from beyond the arc.

A Trenton, New Jersey native, Powell played collegiately at Seton Hall University where he was named the 2019-20 Big East Player of the Year as a senior, while finishing his college career as Seton Hall’s third all-time leading scorer. Over his four seasons as a Pirate, Powell appeared in 129 games (97 starts) with averages of 17.5 points, 3.3 boards, 2.3 assists and 1.3 steals. In his final collegiate season, Powell led Seton Hall in scoring at 21.0 points per game, powering the Pirates to a 21-9 record and the Big East regular season title.

After going undrafted in 2020, Powell signed with the New York Knicks.

He will wear No. 5 with Philadelphia.

Per NBA rules, teams are permitted to have a maximum of two players under two-way contracts in addition to the players under standard NBA contracts. A two-way player for the 76ers will also be eligible to provide services to the team’s G League affiliate – the Delaware Blue Coats.

Health update on Trail Blazers center Cody Zeller

Trail Blazers center Cody Zeller is progressing in his return to the court after recent imaging revealed a small fracture of his right patella, the team announced today.

Zeller will continue his recovery protocol and increase his on-court activity. He will be re-evaluated next week.

In 24 games this season, Zeller is averaging 5.1 points (56.6% FG, 76.6% FT), 4.6 rebounds and 0.8 assists in 13.3 minutes per game.

Five more Cavs players added to NBA’s health and safety protocols

The following Cleveland Cavaliers players have entered the NBA’s health and safety protocols today: center Jarrett Allen, forwards Lamar Stevens and Dylan Windler and guards Denzel Valentine and RJ Nembhard. They join Isaac Okoro and Evan Mobley, who entered the protocols previously. Further updates will be provided at the appropriate time.

NBA postpones five games between December 19-21 for coronavirus reasons

The next games for the Cleveland Cavaliers, Orlando Magic and Philadelphia 76ers, as well as the next two games for the Brooklyn Nets, have been postponed by the NBA because of players and staff members entering the NBA’s Health and Safety Protocols.

The following games are impacted:

Sunday, Dec. 19:
Denver at Brooklyn
Cleveland at Atlanta
New Orleans at Philadelphia

Monday, Dec. 20:
Orlando at Toronto

Tuesday, Dec. 21:
Washington at Brooklyn

Nuggets sign Davon Reed to another 10-day contract

The Denver Nuggets have signed guard Davon Reed to another 10-day contract, President of Basketball Operations Tim Connelly announced today.

Reed, 6-5, 208, also signed a 10-day contract with Denver on December 4th and appeared in six games (two starts), averaging 3.2 points, 3.8 rebounds, 1.3 assists and 1.5 steals in 16.5 minutes per game.

He has appeared in eight games (all starts) this season with the Nuggets’ G-League affiliate Grand Rapids Gold, averaging 15.1 points, 8.1 rebounds, 6.0 assists and 1.90 steals in 35.8 minutes per game. He also played for the Nuggets in both this year’s preseason and Vegas Summer League entry.

Reed, 26, previously appeared in 31 career NBA games for the Phoenix Suns (21 games in 2017-18) and Indiana Pacers (10 games in 2018-19). He has appeared in 94 career G-League games (89 starts) for Northern Arizona, Fort Worth, Sioux Falls and Grand Rapids, averaging 13.0 points, 6.3 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 1.1 steals per game.

The New Jersey Native was drafted with the 32nd overall pick in the second round of the 2017 NBA Draft. He spent four years at the University of Miami where he was named to the ACC All-Defensive Team and ACC All-Third Team in 2017.

Lakers’ Anthony Davis out at least four weeks with knee injury

A key Lakers star will be out of action until early 2022. Via the Orange County Register:

Amid a bumpy start, the Lakers (16-14) have continued to insist that at full strength they can be a contender.

But after Jaden McDaniels rolled into Anthony Davis’ left knee Friday night, that timeline got pushed back even further.

The Lakers announced Saturday an enormous injury setback for Davis, 28, who will miss at least four weeks (and could miss more) with an MCL sprain in his knee. The injury was confirmed the day after he was hurt against the Minnesota Timberwolves, when the team was able to get an MRI in Davis’ hometown of Chicago.

Not only will Davis miss a coveted matchup Sunday against the Bulls, his childhood team, but he’ll miss a month in a season quickly gone haywire for the Lakers, who have also been hammered by positive coronavirus tests in the past week.

The Lakers are just 6th in the Western conference.

Their scorers so far in 2021-22 are LeBron James at 25.7 ppg, Davis at 23.3 ppg, Russell Westbrook at 19.4 ppg, new addition Isaiah Thomas at 19.0 ppg in one game played, and Carmelo Anthony mostly off the bench at 13.2 ppg.

Nets sign James Ennis III and Shaquille Harrison to 10-day contracts

The Brooklyn Nets have signed free agent forward James Ennis III and free agent guard Shaquille Harrison to 10-day contracts.

Ennis III (6’6”, 215) has appeared in 388 career games (140 starts) across seven seasons with Orlando, Philadelphia, Houston, Detroit, Memphis, New Orleans and Miami, recording averages of 6.7 points on 45.7 percent shooting from the field, 36.0 percent shooting from 3-point range and 79.7 percent shooting from the free-throw line, 3.3 rebounds and 1.0 assists in 20.5 minutes per game. The 31-year-old has also seen action in 22 career playoff games (nine starts), averaging 7.6 points, 4.4 rebounds and 1.1 assists in 23.2 minutes per contest. Most recently, Ennis III appeared in 41 games (37 starts) for the Orlando Magic during the 2020-21 campaign, averaging 8.4 points on 47.3 percent shooting from the field, 43.3 percent shooting from long distance and 80.5 percent shooting from the charity stripe, 4.0 rebounds and 1.5 assists in 24.1 minutes per game. Ennis III, who has also played professionally in Australia and Puerto Rico, was originally selected by Atlanta with the 50th overall pick in the second round of the 2013 NBA Draft before his rights were traded to Miami on draft night. After beginning his collegiate career at Oxnard College (2009-10) and Ventura College (2010-11), the California native enrolled at Long Beach State University (2011-13), where he was named Big West Player of the Year and earned Honorable Mention All-America honors by the Associated Press in his final season with the 49ers before entering the NBA Draft.

Harrison (6’4”, 195) has appeared in 173 career games (23 starts) across four seasons with Denver, Utah, Chicago and Phoenix, recording averages of 5.2 points, 2.4 rebounds and 1.5 assists in 15.2 minutes per contest while shooting 43.6 percent from the field. The 28-year-old split the 2020-21 season between Utah and Denver, appearing in 34 games and posting averages of 2.1 points and 1.4 rebounds in 9.8 minutes per game. Harrison has appeared in and started seven games for the Delaware Blue Coats in the NBA G League this season, averaging 19.6 points on 52.0 percent shooting from the field, 7.0 rebounds, 5.7 assists and 2.9 steals in 32.2 minutes per contest. He also spent part of his first two professional seasons (2016-18) in the NBA G League with the Northern Arizona Suns. Harrison went undrafted in the 2016 NBA Draft after playing four collegiate seasons (2012-16) at the University of Tulsa, where he earned All-American Athletic Conference Second Team honors as a junior and senior. The Kansas City, Mo., native ranks second all-time in Tulsa history in assists (461) and third in steals (244).