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The National Basketball Association announced today that two games scheduled for Saturday, Jan. 23 have been postponed due to potential severe weather conditions in the Eastern United States.
The game between the Boston Celtics and Philadelphia 76ers has been postponed and will be made up on Sunday, Jan. 24 at 7 p.m. ET. The game between the Utah Jazz and Washington Wizards has been postponed and will be rescheduled at a later date.
The L.A. Clippers announced today the team has acquired the draft rights to Maarty Leunen from the Houston Rockets in exchange for forward Josh Smith, the draft rights to Sergei Lishouck and cash considerations.
Leunen, 30, was a stand-out at the University of Oregon and the 54th overall pick in the 2008 NBA Draft by Houston. Leunen currently plays for Scandone Avellino of the Italian Serie A.
The Clippers signed Smith on July 16, 2015 as a free agent and the 11-year NBA veteran appeared in 32 games (1 start) for Los Angeles this season, averaging 5.7 points, 3.9 rebounds and 1.1 blocks in 14.3 minutes per game.
Originally selected by the Atlanta Hawks with the 17th pick in the 2004 NBA Draft, Smith has appeared in 868 career regular season games with Atlanta, Detroit, Houston and the Clippers and owns career averages of 14.8 points, 7.6 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 2.0 blocks in 32.9 minutes.
The rights to Lishouck, 32, were acquired by the Clippers on Jan. 7, 2015 from the Philadelphia 76ers. Originally drafted by the Memphis Grizzlies with the 49th overall selection of the 2004 NBA Draft, Lishouck currently plays for UCAM Murcia in Spain.
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Milwaukee Bucks Head Coach Jason Kidd is expected to resume his normal head coaching duties next week when the team returns from its current four-game road trip. Beginning with the Jan. 26 game vs. Orlando, Kidd will be back on the sideline, while his recovery and travel will continue to be monitored by his medical team. Kidd underwent right hip surgery on Dec. 21st and has missed the last 15 games while rehabilitating following surgery.
“I feel great after surgery and am looking forward to getting back on the sidelines full-time next week,” Kidd said. “I received a good report from my doctor last week in New York and I am ahead of schedule on my recovery. Provided everything continues to go well this week, I plan on being back to my normal duties on Monday.
“Joe (Prunty) and the rest of the coaching staff along with the players have done a very good job in my absence and I’m grateful for all of their efforts. We’re all looking forward to continued improvement during the second half of our season.”
The Bucks are currently 19-25 and 8-7 in the 15 games Kidd has missed following hip surgery. Milwaukee has two games remaining on its current road trip (Friday at Houston and Saturday at New Orleans), before returning home to host Orlando on Tuesday, Jan. 26 at 7 p.m. Coach Kidd will be available to the media following Monday’s practice at the Orthopaedic Hospital of Wisconsin Training Center.
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The Memphis Grizzlies announced today that the team has signed center Ryan Hollins to a 10-day contract.
Hollins (7-0, 240) enters his third stint with the Grizzlies this season. After joining Memphis for training camp, he was re-signed on Dec. 29 and made four regular season appearances before he was waived on Jan. 7. The 31-year-old also played five games, making three starts, for the Washington Wizards earlier this season.
The 10-year NBA veteran has averaged 3.7 points on 58.1 percent shooting and 2.2 rebounds in 490 career games (67 starts) with the Charlotte Bobcats, Dallas Mavericks, Minnesota Timberwolves, Cleveland Cavaliers, Boston Celtics, Los Angeles Clippers, Sacramento Kings, Washington Wizards and Memphis Grizzlies. The Pasadena, Calif. native was selected by Charlotte in the second round (50th overall) of the 2006 NBA Draft following his senior season at the University of California, Los Angeles.
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The Denver Nuggets have signed General Manager and Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations Tim Connelly, Assistant General Manager Arturas Karnisovas and their staff to multi-year contract extensions, President and Governor Josh Kroenke announced today.
“Over the past few years Tim, Arturas, and the rest of our front office staff have worked tirelessly in reshaping our roster and our entire organizational vision for the future,” said Kroenke. “Whether through the draft, trades, or free agency, we have an excellent mix of players and are extremely well positioned moving forward.”
Connelly took over as General Manager and Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations in 2013 after spending the previous three seasons with New Orleans serving as their Assistant General Manager. Prior to his time in New Orleans, Connelly spent 10 years with the Washington Wizards organization where he rose to director of player personnel.
Karnisovas came to Denver after spending five years with the Houston Rockets organization, where he most recently was the Director of Scouting. He spent four years with the NBA league office prior to that.
“We’re excited and honored by this opportunity to continue what we have started here in Denver,” stated Connelly. “We have a locker room full of dedicated players and staff, led by head coach Michael Malone, who look forward to winning in this great city for years to come. As a staff we would like to thank Josh and the entire Kroenke family for their continued support; we are unbelievably fortunate to work for such committed ownership.
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Quinn Cook of the Canton Charge, was today named NBA Development League Performer of the Week for games played Monday, Jan. 11 through Sunday, Jan. 17. The honor is the first of Cook’s career.
Cook (6-2, 179, Duke) led Canton to a 3-0 week, with all three wins coming on the road, to extend Canton’s winning streak to six games, bringing them back to .500 with an 11-11 record. Cook averaged 26 points (fourth in the league) on 52- percent shooting (30-for-58), including his connection on 8-of-15 attempts from behind the arc.
On Jan. 15, in the first game of a back-to-back vs. the Maine Red Claws, he scored 25 points on 11-of-19 shooting to go with six assists and four rebounds in a 105-93 win. On the following night, he recorded career highs with 32 points and three steals in a 96-83 victory over Maine.
For the season, Cook is pacing Canton with 19.0 points to go with 4.7 assists, 3.2 rebounds and 1.2 steals.
Other top D-League performers considered for this weekly honor include Bakersfield’s Xavier Munford, Idaho’s Bryce Dejean-Jones and J.J. O’Brien, Iowa’s Lazeric Jones, Los Angeles’ Vander Blue, Oklahoma City’s Marquis Teague, Sioux Falls’ Jarnell Stokes (on assignment from the Miami Heat) and Texas’ Brandon Ashley.
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The Orlando Magic have called-up guard Keith Appling from the Erie BayHawks of the NBA Development League and signed him to a 10-day contract, General Manager Rob Hennigan announced today. In addition, guard Devyn Marble has been recalled from Erie.
Appling (#15, 6’1”, 185, 2/13/92) has played in 17 games this season with Erie, averaging 16.8 ppg., 5.6 apg., 4.1 rpg. and 2.12 stlpg. in 31.3 minpg. He was leading the BayHawks in scoring, assists and steals at the time of his call-up. Appling appeared in five preseason games with Orlando, averaging 1.2 ppg. in 8.7 minpg., before being waived on October 19.
Not drafted by an NBA franchise in 2014, Appling appeared in 38 games last season with both the Los Angeles D-Fenders and Erie BayHawks of the NBA Development League, averaging 10.5 ppg., 3.9 apg. and 2.7 rpg. in 24.4 minpg. He also played with the Orlando Magic “White” team during the 2015 Southwest Airlines Orlando Pro Summer League, averaging a team-high 15.6 ppg., 3.0 apg., 1.2 rpg. and 3.00 stlpg. in 26.2 minpg.
Appling played in 142 games (123 starts) during four seasons at Michigan State University from 2010-14, averaging 10.6 ppg., 3.3 apg., 3.0 rpg. and 1.06 stlpg. in 29.8 minpg. He finished his collegiate career tied for third on the Spartans’ all-time list in games started, fourth in games played, seventh in free throws made (389), eighth in three-point field goals attempted (413) and steals (151), ninth in assists (465), tenth in free throws attempted (520) and 18th in points scored (1,509). Appling was named Second Team All-Big Ten as a junior (2012-13) by the league’s coaches and named Third Team All-Big Ten as a sophomore (2011-12). He helped Michigan State reach the Sweet Sixteen three times during the NCAA Tournament (2012-14) and the Elite Eight in 2014.
Marble (#11, 6’6”, 200, 9/21/92) has appeared in six games this season with Orlando, averaging 0.3 ppg. in 2.3 minpg. Originally selected in the second round (56th overall) by Denver, his draft rights, along with Evan Fournier, were acquired by Orlando in exchange for Arron Afflalo on June 26, 2014. Marble has also played in 14 games this season with Erie, averaging 14.8 ppg., 5.2 rpg., 2.2 apg. and 1.57 stlpg. in 30.9 minpg.
The Orlando Magic and the Erie BayHawks are in the second year of a three-year single affiliation partnership. Orlando became the 16th NBA team to have a one-to-one affiliation with an NBA D-League team. The partnership, also referred to as a “hybrid affiliation,” allows an NBA team to control the NBA D-League team’s basketball operations, while the existing local ownership maintains primary responsibility for the team’s off-the-court business operations and community initiatives.
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The Phoenix Suns announced today they have signed guard Lorenzo Brown to a second 10-day contract.
Brown signed his first 10-day contract with the Suns on Jan. 8. The 25-year-old guard has appeared in three games with Phoenix, totaling 13 points and six assists in 34 minutes.
A 6-5, 189-pound guard, Brown is a third-year NBA player who appeared in 55 total games with Philadelphia in 2013-14 and Minnesota in 2014-15. Originally selected with the 52nd overall pick by Minnesota in the 2013 NBA Draft, Brown played in 29 games (seven starts) with the Timberwolves last season seeing action in each of their final 22 games. Brown has four career double-digit scoring games, including a career-high 13 points in his final appearance of last season on April 15 against Oklahoma City.
The sixth Call-Up of 2015-16 at the time he signed with the Suns on Jan. 8, Brown averaged 16.4 points, 6.1 assists, 5.3 rebounds and 1.9 steals in 16 games this season with the Grand Rapids Drive of the NBA Development League.
On Thursday night, the Philadelphia 76ers let a 24-point lead slip away in an especially difficult overtime loss to the Chicago Bulls.
Two days later, they made sure that wouldn’t happen again.
Jahlil Okafor had 25 points and 10 rebounds and the 76ers snapped a four-game losing streak with a 114-89 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers on Saturday night.
Richaun Holmes added 17 points, and Ish Smith and Robert Covington scored 16 apiece for the Sixers. They improved to 5-37 with their most lopsided win of the season, erasing many of the lingering bad feelings that come from blowing a game they thought they had in the bag.
— Associated Press
Before the game, Detroit coach Stan Van Gundy said Golden State simply has more margin for error than other teams, meaning the Warriors can win even when they don’t play their best.
Not on this night against Van Gundy’s Pistons.
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope held his own against Stephen Curry for most of the night, scoring 20 points as the Pistons handed the Warriors their second loss in three games, 113-95 on Saturday.
Much of the pregame talk centered around how well Caldwell-Pope might be able to defend Curry. The Golden State star scored 38 points, but Caldwell-Pope gave the Pistons a boost offensively.
“I think we know that we’re capable of beating anybody,” Van Gundy said afterward…
Drummond had 14 points and 21 rebounds, and Reggie Jackson scored 20 points for Detroit. The Pistons had six players in double figures, while Golden State had only three. Klay Thompson scored 24 points for the Warriors.
— Associated Press