NBA News Blog – Page 921 – NBA Blog

Al Horford and Tim Duncan named Players of Week

The Atlanta Hawks’ Al Horford and the San Antonio Spurs’ Tim Duncan today were named Eastern and Western Conference Players of the Week, respectively, for games played Monday, Nov. 19, through Sunday, Nov. 25.

Horford led the Hawks to a 4-0 week, averaging 16.5 points, 9.8 rebounds and 4.5 assists. He recorded a career-high 10 assists on Nov. 21 as Atlanta topped the Washington Wizards 101-100. Horford’s 26-point, 13-rebound double-double in a 101-91 win over the Charlotte Bobcats on Nov. 23 helped the Hawks to improve their road record to 4-2, tops in the conference.

Duncan helped the Spurs to a 3-1 week with averages of 22.0 points, 12.8 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 1.3 blocks. He posted three consecutive point-rebound double-doubles in games against the Los Angeles Clippers, Boston Celtics and Indiana Pacers. Duncan’s lone game last week without a double-double still showed a balanced stat line of 26 points, six assists, five rebounds and three blocks as the Spurs bested the Raptors 111-106 on Nov. 25 – a game in which Duncan recorded his 2,500th career block.

Other nominees for the Eastern and Western Conference Players of the Week were Atlanta’s Jeff Teague, Boston’s Rajon Rondo, Charlotte’s Ramon Sessions, Denver’s Andre Iguodala, Houston’s Chandler Parsons, Memphis’ Rudy Gay, Miami’s Chris Bosh and LeBron James, Oklahoma City’s Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook, and Sacramento’s Tyreke Evans.

Jazz assign guard Kevin Murphy to D-League

Utah Jazz general manager Dennis Lindsey announced today that the team has assigned rookie guard Kevin Murphy to its NBA Development League (D-League) affiliate, the Reno Bighorns. He is expected to be in uniform for the Bighorns’ season opener against the Santa Cruz Warriors on November 30 at the Reno Events Center in Reno, Nev.

Selected by the Jazz in the second round (47th overall selection) of the 2012 NBA Draft, the 6-6, 185-pound Murphy played four seasons at Tennessee Tech, where he averaged 15.8 points and 4.2 rebounds per game. Murphy averaged 20.6 points, 5.2 rebounds and 2.3 assists as a senior and finished his career as the Golden Eagles’ second all-time leading scorer (2,019 points).

Murphy becomes the sixth player in Jazz history to be assigned to the D-League, and the first since current Jazz teammate Jeremy Evans was in March 2011.

Nene rests Sunday but expected to play against San Antonio

After playing a surprising 29 minutes off the bench in the Wizards’ 108-106 double overtime loss to Charlotte, Nene slouched in his locker room stall, left foot in a bucket of ice, and joked with teammate Kevin Seraphin that he needed a teleporter to take him to the training room.

Nene eventually got up and moved around on his own strength afterward. But he was a spectator for Sunday’s light practice, looking on in a red T-shirt and leaving for the locker room afterward, accompanied by the team masseuse.

Coach Randy Wittman said he expects to have the Brazilian big man in uniform when the Wizards host San Antonio on Monday, though conditioning remains a concern for games that basically amount to training camp and preseason with Nene missing three months of action.

— Reported by Michael Lee of the Washington Post

Anthony Davis might miss two more weeks with ankle injury

It could be another two weeks before New Orleans Hornets rookie forward Anthony Davis recovers sufficiently from a stress reaction in his left ankle to resume playing.

Davis said Sunday after the team’s shootaround at a downtown hotel that a precautionary MRI following three ankle sprains in as many days revealed the problem, which is a precursor to a more serious stress fracture that would likely manifest itself without rest and rehabilitation.

Davis first injured his ankle June 30 in New Orleans, his first workout following the NBA draft. That slowed him in the early portion of the U.S. Olympic Team’s training camp in Las Vegas.

This latest issue, he said, is unrelated.

— Reported by Jimmy Smith of the New Orleans Times-Picayune

Houston Rockets recall Donatas Motiejunas from D-League

Houston Rockets General Manager Daryl Morey announced today that the team has recalled forward/center Donatas Motiejunas from Houston’s single-affiliation NBA D-League partner Rio Grande Valley.

Motiejunas (7-0, 222, Lithuania), who was assigned to Rio Grande Valley on Nov. 13, averaged 24.0 points and 9.5 rebounds in two starts with the Vipers. In Friday’s season opener against Bakersfield, Motiejunas led the team with 31 points and eight boards in 36 minutes. Last night, he posted a double-double with 17 points and 11 rebounds against the Jam.

Darrell Arthur set to return for Grizzlies

Grizzlies forward Darrell Arthur is expected to make his regular-season debut Friday night but insists he was ready the first time he participated in practice.

Doctors and the head athletic trainer cleared Arthur for contact workouts last week. He stepped onto the court and soon caught a lob pass from teammate Josh Selby. When Arthur threw down the alley-oop dunk, he removed any doubts about his recovery.

“A lot of guys were telling me to take my time and don’t rush,” Arthur said. “But I went and caught a lob from Josh Selby and everybody was like (darn!). That’s the type of player I am. I’m going to make those athletic plays. That’s how I knew I was ready.”

— Reported by Ronald Tillery of the Memphis Commercial Appeal

NBA admits error at end of Raptors-Bobcats game

Too little, too late.

The NBA admitted on Thursday to missing a foul on the decisive play of Toronto’s loss to the Bobcats a day earlier.

“On the final possession of Charlotte’s 98-97 win over Toronto on Nov. 21, the game officials missed a foul by Charlotte’s Michael Kidd-Gilchrist against Toronto’s Andrea Bargnani on a jump shot. Bargnani should have been given two free throws and the clock stopped with approximately 2.4 seconds remaining in the game,” read the missive at NBA.com.

Credit the league for admitting the error, but it won’t do much for the Raptors.

The ninth loss of the season (against three victories) stays on the books and the disappointment remains.

— Reported by Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun

Kings upset listless Lakers, 113-97

The Los Angeles Lakers had talked about bringing Showtime back to the franchise when they hired Mike D’Antoni to implement his fast and flashy offense.

The curtains are still waiting to be raised on that act.

Kobe Bryant scored an efficient 38 points but Dwight Howard and Pau Gasol struggled inside, and the lethargic Lakers lost 113-97 to the struggling Sacramento Kings on Wednesday night to snap a three-game winning streak.

”If we’re going to play Showtime, my God, they just closed the whole theatre on us,” D’Antoni said. ”Showtime, are you kidding? It was Muppet Time.”

Marcus Thornton scored 23 points and Tyreke Evans had 18 to pace Kings, who had lost five straight games. Jason Thompson added 13 points and 10 rebounds to help Sacramento run away in the fourth quarter and cement the latest Lakers setback…

Bryant finished 11-of-20 shooting and Jodie Meeks had 15 points off the bench as D’Antoni lost for the first time on the Lakers bench. A night after beating Brooklyn in Los Angeles, the Lakers might’ve been bad enough to give D’Antoni a headache to go with the pain still throbbing in his surgically replaced knee.

— Reported by Antonio Gonzalez of the Associated Press

Reggie Evans fined $5,000 for flopping

Reggie Evans has made history.

Evans, who was one of the main subjects of the NBA’s preseason instructional video about the new flopping rules, has become the first player to be fined for flopping under the new anti-flopping policy.

The Nets’ backup power forward was fined $5,000 after he committed his second flop of the season in the third quarter of Tuesday night’s 95-90 loss to the Lakers in Los Angeles, when he clearly exaggerated contact from Lakers forward Metta World Peace.

“It’s a tough spot for us, because Reggie sets physical screens, he rebounds, and I don’t necessarily consider him a flopper,” Nets coach Avery Johnson said before last night’s game here against the Warriors. “I don’t see him flopping in practice, he just plays hard and goes all out. It’s just a tough one. Hopefully he won’t be a marked man, even if there is a physical confrontation out there on the floor, that they won’t consider it flopping.”

— Reported by Tim Bontemps of the New York Post

Spurs recall guard Cory Joseph from D-League

The San Antonio Spurs today announced that they have recalled guard Cory Joseph from the Austin Toros of the NBA Development League.

Joseph has seen action in one game for the Spurs this season prior to his assignment to Austin on Nov. 15. For his career, the University of Texas product has appeared in 30 games for the Silver and Black, averaging 1.9 points and 1.1 assists in 8.9 minutes.

Joseph will be available tonight when San Antonio plays at Boston at 6:30 p.m.