NBA Blog – NBA Basketball Blog
NBA Blog: The NBA basketball news blog section of Inside Hoops
NBA news blog
The Indiana Pacers signed 6-8 forward Ben Moore to a two-way contract today. He’ll mostly play with their G League affiliate, the Fort Wayne Mad Ants.
Moore, who participated in Pacers’ training camp, has spent this season playing for the Mad Ants. The former SMU player has played in 24 games for the Mad Ants, averaging 11 points per game on 52 percent shooting and averaging 6.6 rebounds.
Charlotte Hornets head coach Steve Clifford has been medically cleared to return to coaching the team on a full-time basis.
Clifford will officially re-join the team starting with practice on Tuesday, Jan. 16, before returning to the sidelines on Wednesday, Jan. 17, vs. the Washington Wizards.
He has been away from the team since Dec. 6 to address his health. Hornets Associate Head Coach Stephen Silas served as the team’s acting head coach while Clifford was out.
 |
The Miami Heat are having a very good season. With a 24-17 record, they’re 4th in the East, which is better than most observers expected. But they’re about to lose a key dose of backcourt scoring.
According to a report by Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports, guard Dion Waiters, who has been out of action since December 22, “is expected to” undergo season-ending surgery on his injured left ankle.
Waiters’ stats aren’t mind-blowing: 14.3 points, 2.6 rebounds and 3.8 assists per game, shooting just 39.8% from the field and 30.6% from three-point range in 30 games played. But he’s provided heart, hustle and a confidence that’s helped the team formulate a winning culture this season.
According to the Palm Beach Post, “The Heat are 7-2 since Waiters was injured (8-2 including the Dallas game in which Waiters played 8:34 before being injured) and have picked it up offensively. In the last 10 games, Miami is averaging 104.3 points and shooting 46.4 percent as opposed to 99.9 points on 45.2 percent shooting the first 31.”
The New Orleans Pelicans yesterday waived forward Jalen Jones.
Jones was originally signed to a two-way contract by the Pelicans on August 2. He appeared in four games with New Orleans, totaling five points and three rebounds in 19 minutes. Jones has appeared in 17 G League games this season with the Greensboro Swarm and Texas Legends, averaging 19.1 points, 6.9 rebounds and 2.2 assists.
New Orleans’ roster currently stands at 16, including one two-way player (Charles Cooke).
The Milwaukee Bucks yesterday converted guard Sean Kilpatrick’s contract from a two-way deal into a standard NBA contract.
The team also parted ways with Joel Bolomboy, waiving the forward.
Since signing a Two-Way contract on Dec. 18, Kilpatrick has played in five games with the Bucks. He’s averaging 5.2 points on 52.6 percent shooting, in 9.2 minutes per game.
Kilpatrick was waived by the Brooklyn Nets on Dec. 7 after averaging 4.9 points and 2.2 rebounds over 16 games.
Bolomboy played in six games with the Bucks this season, averaging 1.5 points and 1.7 rebounds in 6.3 minutes per game. Bolomboy was also on the active roster for 10 games with the Bucks’ G League affiliate, the Wisconsin Herd, and averaged 15.0 points and 11.2 rebounds per game while shooting 54.3 percent from the field.
The Bucks roster now stands at 16 players.
 |
Andrew Bogut’s time with the Lakers is over. The young team, built for the future, waived the veteran center today.
Since becoming a Laker on September 19, Bogut appeared in 24 games, including five as a starter. He did little, putting up 1.5 points and 3.3 rebounds in 9.0 minutes per outing.
The team’s roster now consists of 16 players, including two Two-Way players.
The Lakers are a disappointing 11-27 this season, which is the second worst record in the NBA, just above the rebuilding Atlanta Hawks (10-28).
The Cavs are 25-12 this season through yesterday’s games, They’re led by LeBron James (27.7 ppg, 8.1 rpg, 9.2 apg, 1.62 spg and 1.03 bpg), Kevin Love (20.1 ppg, 10.1 rpg), Derrick Rose (14.3 ppg, though that’s only in seven total games played), Dwyane Wade (11.3 ppg, almost entirely as a reserve) and Jeff Green (10.8 ppg, entirely as a reserve). But Tuesday was a huge day: new point guard Isaiah Thomas made his long-awaited debut for the squad. And in the limited minutes he played, it was a complete success.
Here’s the News Herald reporting:
The Cavaliers played nearly half the season — 43.9 percent of it to be exact — without getting any return from their biggest dividend in the trade that sent Kyrie Irving to the Celtics.
The waiting officially came to an end Jan. 2 at The Q when 5-foot-9 guard Isaiah Thomas with 4:29 left in the first quarter entered a game for the first time since May 19 of last year when a hip injury prematurely ended his playoff run with the Celtics…
“It was a special moment,” Thomas said. “I hadn’t even played in a game, so you think I would have been here a few years and battled in the Finals with this team. It was special to have my wife and kids here to see that. That was genuine love right there”
Thomas scored 17 points and had three assists in 19 minutes in the Cavaliers’ dominating 127-110 demolition of the Trail Blazers. He looked at ease. He looked confident, and if he was rusty, he’s going to be fun to watch when he shakes the rust off.
And here’s the Akron Beacon Journal reporting:
Thomas entered at the 4:33 mark in the first quarter to a standing ovation and 28 seconds later passed to former Celtics teammate Crowder for a layup.
Thomas’ first field goal was a 14-footer off a James assist with 1:11 to go in the quarter. His most daring play came at the 32.8 second mark when he drove for a layup, somewhat of a prayer heave, and was fouled by Al-Farouq Aminu as he went down behind the basket. Thomas converted the free throw.
Lue called a timeout at 9:32 in the second quarter to get Thomas out. At that point, Thomas had made 3-of-6 field goals, 1-of-4 3-pointers and his only free throw with one assist for a plus/minus of plus-7.
Toronto Raptors forward Serge Ibaka has been suspended by the team for one game after a violation of team rules.
The suspension stems from an altercation between Ibaka and a Raptors team staff member after their December 27 game against the Thunder in Oklahoma City.
Raptors president Masai Ujiri: “Both parties have apologized. We’ve discussed this internally as a team, and we won’t be discussing it any further.” … “Now we’re focused on moving forward together, and we look forward to having Serge back in the lineup.”
Ibaka won’t play tonight (Friday) night against the Hawks.
The Clippers are 14-19 and should get power forward Blake Griffin back in action pretty soon. The Kings are 11-22 and pretty much just building for the future. The two sides did battle yesterday, and LAC came away with a convincing win. Here’s the Sacramento Bee reporting:
The Kings, young and old, had a part in a 122-95 beating the Los Angeles Clippers handed them Tuesday night at Staples Center.
The Clippers had their way most of the night as Sacramento’s defense allowed season highs in points for a quarter (41 in the second), half (71 in the first) and be reserves(72)…
The Kings (11-22) watched Milos Teodosic post 10 assists, a season high for the rookie. Montrezl Harrell came off the bench to score a game-high 22 points, also his season high…
The Kings scored 30 points in the first quarter, but offered no resistance on defense. So while the Kings’ shots stopped falling, the Clippers continued to score at will.
The Pistons are 19-14 this season, which is the 4th best winning percentage in the Eastern conference. They’ve stumbled lately, however. The squad was putting up more wins earlier in the season. Although they’ve won two in a row, they’ve secured victories in just five of their last 10. And now guard Reggie Jackson is hurt. Results on his injury should be known today. Here’s Michigan Live reporting:
Detroit Pistons point guard Reggie Jackson will undergo an MRI Wednesday to determine the severity of the sprained right ankle he suffered during Tuesday’s 107-83 victory over the Indiana Pacers at Little Caesars Arena.
Jackson was injured with 5:25 to play in the third quarter, when he jumped to make a pass and landed on Myles Turner’s foot, twisting the ankle.
Pistons coach Stan Van Gundy said after the game that X-rays came back negative.