NBA News Blog – Page 296 – NBA Blog

Hornets will allow partial fan attendance, at 15% capacity, starting March 13, 2021

The Charlotte Hornets will welcome back a limited number of fans at Spectrum Center, starting with the team’s game on Saturday, March 13 against the Toronto Raptors at 7 p.m.

The Hornets’ reopening plan has been approved by state and county authorities, allowing the team to host fans at 15% capacity, which is approximately 3,000 fans per game.

Prior to reopening to the general public, the Hornets will host frontline healthcare workers from longtime partner Novant Health on Thursday, March 11 vs. Detroit. The Hornets will provide 500 complimentary tickets to Novant Health employees as a thank you for their work throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We are thrilled to welcome Hornets fans back to Spectrum Center, even though it will be in a limited capacity,” said Hornets President & Vice Chairman Fred Whitfield. “The energy, excitement and passion that our fans bring every night to Spectrum Center has been missed by our players, coaches and staff, and we cannot wait to have them back in the Hive. This is a great first step for not only our fans, but our city and our entire community.

“On behalf of our entire organization, I’d like to thank Governor Cooper, Mecklenburg County Manager Dena Diorio and our state and county health officials for their leadership, guidance and input throughout this process as we worked to reopen Spectrum Center to our fans.”

The team also laid out a long list of health safety standards they plan to adhere to.

Bulls could choose to avoid big trades as deadline slowly approaches

Via the Chicago Sun-Times, here’s Chicago Bulls executive vice president of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas discussing the team’s roster in regard to the trade deadline that arrives later this month:

“But Billy and I spend more time talking about how we can improve this group and focus now on this group that we have, that’s actually playing well and had a first month of winning in February. I think overall this group is doing so much better, and I’m looking forward to seeing the next 40 games.’’

So does that mean the Bulls will likely stay as is, continuing to develop and being evaluated? They very well could, especially if that’s what the market is dictating.

“I never look at players as trade commodities,’’ Karnisovas said. “Right now, we’re focused on winning games because the separation between fourth and 10th place is a game and a half. So this group is doing pretty well, and hopefully we can get Lauri [Markkanen] back and [Otto Porter] and see what we can do with this team.

It sounds like the Bulls are focused more on now than what could come later. Which makes sense considering the team’s improvement since last season. Although currently 10th in the East, the Bulls through yesterday’s games sit just half a game out of the 8th playoff spot.

Nate McMillan named interim head coach of Atlanta Hawks

Atlanta Hawks President of Basketball Operations/General Manager Travis Schlenk announced today that assistant coach Nate McMillan has been named interim head coach of the team.

McMillan joined the Hawks coaching staff on Nov. 11, 2020. As head coach with Seattle (2000-05), Portland (2005-12) and Indiana (2016-20), McMillan led his teams to a 661-588 (.529) mark in 1,249 career regular season games and has 53 games of postseason coaching experience. Last season, the Pacers finished 45-28 (.616), second in the Central Division and fourth in the Eastern Conference. In his four years with Indiana, the club recorded a 183-136 mark (.574), advancing to the playoffs each season.

Hawks fire head coach Lloyd Pierce

Atlanta Hawks President of Basketball Operations/General Manager Travis Schlenk announced today that Lloyd Pierce has been relieved of his head coaching duties.

“We would like to thank Lloyd for his work and commitment to not only the Hawks organization but the city of Atlanta. He and his wife, Melissa, are tremendous people who have made a positive impact throughout the city,” said Schlenk. “We have high expectations for our team on the court and we believe by making this change now that we can have a strong second half of the season.”

Pierce was named the 13th full-time head coach in Hawks history on May 11, 2018. He compiled a 63-120 (.344) in 183 games.

Bulls at Raptors game scheduled for Feb. 28, 2021 is postponed

The NBA game scheduled for tonight between the Chicago Bulls and Toronto Raptors at Amalie Arena in Tampa, Fla. has been postponed in accordance with the league’s Health and Safety Protocols.

Because of positive test results and ongoing contact tracing within the Raptors, the team will not have the league-required eight available players to proceed with the scheduled game against the Bulls.

In Knicks win over Pacers, Julius Randle continued his fine play

It’s always cool when NBA players admit to being motivated by the team or players they’re up against. Via the NY Daily News:

Julius Randle showed why he was an All-Star selection over Domantas Sabonis.

In a head-to-head physical battle between the two powerful forwards, Randle won the box score and the game, 110-107, pushing the Knicks (17-17) to .500 for the first time since January.

Randle finished with 28 points and 10 boards in 42 minutes, fighting Sabonis on the block and in the paint.

Randle acknowledged he was motivated by the matchup.

“Sometimes there are just individual matchups that you take — not personal or nothing, like you don’t like the other guy, just personal from a competitive standpoint,” Randle said. “So it was that.”

The Knicks are outperforming expectations this season and are now tied with the Raptors for the East’s 4th best record. They’re the most fun-to-watch Knicks squad in recent memory. And they’re doing it with defense: the team ranks 3rd best in the league.

Nets win streak ends with loss to Mavs

With two of the Nets big three out, the Nets on Friday fell to a Mavericks squad that recently welcomed Kristaps Porzingis back to action. Via the NY Post:

The NBA’s longest winning streak ended Saturday with a thud, the sound of the red-hot Nets crashing back down from Cloud 9.

The Nets were undersized and undermanned, playing without Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant. But they aren’t using any of that an alibi for getting thrashed, 115-98, by Dallas at Barclays Center.

“No, this is a no-excuse team. If you’re on the floor, you’re going to play as hard as you can. They just got the best of us, and they got the win. That’s all it really was,” said Jeff Green, forced out of the game as well. “It’s not about us running out of gas or anything. We just didn’t come ready to play and they won.”

Not only did Irving’s scratch to rest his surgically repaired right shoulder pare the Big 3 down to a Big 1 in James Harden, the Nets also saw Tyler Johnson ruled out just before tipoff with a migraine and Green’s own shoulder injury removed him with 3:17 left in the third.

And the NY Daily News:

On one end of the floor, Luka Doncic spins off his man, drives down the lane and euro-steps around James Harden for the easy basket. On the other, Harden lulls his man to sleep, one flurry of crossovers after another, before stepping back for a contested three that borders on equal parts un-guardable and flat-out unfair.

Watching Doncic and Harden go toe-to-toe at Barclays Center on Saturday was like the viral meme of two Spidermen pointing at one another. Doncic finished with 27 points, seven assists and the victory, while Harden recorded 29 points and six assists in a superstar showdown that substantiated the similarities between the two offensive masterminds.

“Both of these guys are great one-on-one players,” Mavericks head coach Rick Carlisle said. “They’re great passers. They can both play the team movement game very well. Harden has been in a situation the last few years where the offense has really revolved around him, and our team it does around Luka similarly, but our style is a little bit different than Houston and Brooklyn, but both of these guys are generational type players. There’s no question about it, and that’s another thing that makes a game like this very compelling.”

In the Mavs win, supporting Doncic’s effort was Porzingis with 18 points, four rebounds, three blocks in 26 minutes, Tim Hardaway Jr. scoring 13 off the bench, Dorian Finney-Smith with 12 points, eight rebounds, four assists and two steals, and Josh Richardson with 11 points.

Nets bring Andre Roberson and Iman Shumpert back, on 10-day contracts

The Brooklyn Nets have signed guard/forward Andre Roberson and guard Iman Shumpert to 10-day contracts.

Roberson (6’7”, 210) was originally signed by Brooklyn on Feb. 16, playing 22 minutes across two games. He spent the first seven seasons (2013-20) of his NBA career with the Oklahoma City Thunder, appearing in 302 games (269 starts) and averaging 4.6 points and 4.0 rebounds in 22.3 minutes per game. Returning from a left knee injury, the San Antonio native saw action in seven games in the 2019-20 season, recording averages of 2.9 points and 3.9 rebounds in 12.4 minutes per contest. An NBA All-Defensive Second Team selection in 2017, the 29-year-old Roberson has also made four playoff appearances with the Thunder, including a trip to the Western Conference Finals in 2016.

Shumpert (6’5”, 215) previously signed with the Nets on Jan. 30 and made his season debut on Feb. 23 vs. Sacramento, logging six minutes of action. He also appeared in 13 games last season with the Nets after signing with Brooklyn on Nov. 13, 2019, recording averages of 4.2 points and 2.6 rebounds in 18.5 minutes per contest prior to being waived by the Nets on Dec. 12, 2019. In 460 career games (246 starts) split between Brooklyn (2021, 2019), Houston (2019), Sacramento (2018-19), Cleveland (2015-18) and New York (2011-15), the 30-year-old has registered averages of 7.2 points, 3.3 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 1.1 steals in 24.9 minutes per game. Shumpert has also appeared in 79 career postseason games with the Knicks, Cavaliers and Rockets and won an NBA Championship with Cleveland in 2016.

Jayson Tatum will start in place of Kevin Durant in 2021 NBA All-Star Game

Celtics forward Jayson Tatum will replace injured Nets forward Kevin Durant as a starter in the 2021 NBA All-Star Game.

Tatum had previously been named an All-Star reserve.

Also today, it was announced that Durant’s injury replacement on the All-Star team is Pacers forward Domantas Sabonis.

The Nets today announced that Durant will remain out through the All-Star break.

Domantas Sabonis picked as injury replacement for Kevin Durant in 2021 NBA All-Star game

Indiana Pacers forward Domantas Sabonis has been named by NBA Commissioner Adam Silver to replace injured Brooklyn Nets forward Kevin Durant in the 2021 NBA All-Star Game, which will be played on Sunday, March 7 at State Farm Arena in Atlanta.

Earlier today, the Nets announced that Durant will be out through the All-Star break. It’s presumed that this is mostly for precautionary reasons.