NBA News Blog – Page 931 – NBA Blog

Nets beat Raptors in Brooklyn debut

Nets win their first-ever regular season game in Brooklyn

Brooklyn made a winning return to major pro sports on Saturday night, as the Nets beat the Toronto Raptors 107-100 in the first game at Barclays Center.

After a 55-year wait that was extended a couple of extra days by Superstorm Sandy, the borough finally has a team of its own again, and the Nets think it’s going to be a good one.

Brook Lopez scored 27 points and Deron Williams added 19 points and nine assists for the Nets. C.J. Watson finished with 15 points and Joe Johnson had 14.

A sold-out crowd of 17,732 that included entertainers Jay-Z, a part-owner, and wife Beyonce chanted ”Brooklyn! Brooklyn!” a few times during the game and loudly at the end, celebrating the name on the front of the shirt much more than the back.

And with good reason. Brooklyn hasn’t had a team to cheer since the Dodgers left for Los Angeles in 1957.

Kyle Lowry had 28 points, eight rebounds and eight assists for the Raptors, who fell to 0-2. DeMar DeRozan added 25 points.

— Reported by Brian Mahoney of the Associated Press

Hornets coach Monty Williams not a fan of NBA concussion policy

Monty Williams thinks protecting players from concussions is stupid

New Orleans Hornets coach Monty Williams blasted the NBA’s protocols for determining when a player can return from a concussion, a day after No. 1 draft pick Anthony Davis suffered a mild one.

Williams unloaded before Saturday’s game against the Chicago Bulls, saying, “Now, they treat everybody like they have white gloves and pink drawers and it’s getting old. It’s just the way the league is now.”

His comments came on the heels of Davis leaving Friday’s win over Utah after taking an inadvertent elbow to the head from teammate Austin Rivers in the first half. A Chicago product, Davis stayed back in New Orleans to be examined and did not accompany the team on the trip.

— Reported by the Associated Press

Brandon Rush out for season with torn ACL

Golden State Warriors guard/forward Brandon Rush will be sidelined for the remainder of the 2012-13 season after suffering a torn ACL in his left knee during the first quarter of last night’s game against the Memphis Grizzlies, the team announced today.

A surgery date has yet to be determined. It is anticipated that Rush will make a full recovery.

According to the Associated Press, “Rush leaped in the air for a dunk when Zach Randolph fouled him from behind in the first quarter of Golden State’s 104-94 loss to Memphis on Friday night. Rush landed awkwardly, and his knee bent badly as he tumbled to the court. He held back tears and had to be helped to the locker room.”

The Grizzlies frontcourt loves the Grizzlies frontcourt

Zach Randolph stood on one side of the locker room while Rudy Gay sat about 18 feet away and out of earshot.

When asked separately about how the Grizzlies’ front line, including center Marc Gasol, is playing so far this season, the starting forwards delivered nearly identical answers.

“We’ve got one of the best frontcourts in the league,” Randolph proclaimed.

“If not the best, we have one of the best front lines in the league,” Gay added. “And we’re definitely going to prove that this year.”

And to think that there are cynics who believe Gay and Randolph don’t mix.

— Reported by Ronald Tillery of the Memphis Commercial Appeal

Steve Nash suffers leg injury, will be re-examined in one week

Steve Nash out at least one week with leg injury

Los Angeles Lakers guard Steve Nash was examined by team doctor Steve Lombardo and had an MRI exam. Results of the MRI showed a small non-displaced fracture in the head of his fibula (left leg).

The injury occurred in the second quarter of Wednesday night’s game in Portland against the Trail Blazers. Nash is expected to be out a minimum of a week. He will be re-examined and an update on his condition will be given at that time.

According to the Orange County Register, “Nash was hurt when he got tangled up with Portland point guard Damian Lillard on Wednesday night and got kneed in the side of the leg. He tried to return later in the game, but the leg gave out on him, and he sat out the loss to the Clippers on Friday night that dropped the Lakers to 0-3.”

Anthony Davis leaves game with possible concussion

Anthony Davis, the overall No. 1 draft pick of the New Orleans, has left Friday night’s game against Utah and is being tested for a possible concussion and will not return.

Davis had eight points — all on dunks in the first half — six rebounds and two blocks. He was injured with 4:51 left in the first half. The Hornets released an official statement that he will be out for the rest of the game. The Hornets trailed 41-40 at halftime.

— Reported by the Associated Press

Josh Powell signs in Greece

Turkish Airlines Euroleague defending champs, Olympiacos Piraeus, announced on Friday the addition of power forward Josh Powell (2.06 meters, 29 years old) through a two-year deal. Powell arrives from Brujos de Guayama of Puerto Rico where he played 14 games averaging 16.1 points and 9.2 rebounds per game. Powell played college ball in N. Carolina State from 2001 to 2003. After that he played preseason with the Dallas Mavericks of the NBA but started his season in Russia with Lokomotiv Rostov and midseason moved to the Italian second division. He also spent the 2004-05 season with Pepsi Caserta in the Italian second division and was back to the States in 2005, again with the Mavericks.

— Reported by Euroleague.net

Hornets guard Eric Gordon out 4-6 more weeks

ERIC GORDON INJURY UPDATE: YEAH, STILL INJURED

New Orleans Hornets shooting guard Eric Gordon will be sidelined for four to six weeks because of recurring problems with his right knee, a league source confirmed Friday afternoon.

Gordon’s prognosis was determined after he underwent further evaluations with doctors in Chicago on Friday to determine the extent of the problems involving his right knee. Gordon could not be reached for comment but he told Yahoo! Sports on Friday that he would be out for an additional four to six weeks.

Hornets General Manager Dell Demps said through spokesman Harold Kaufman that the Hornets are still gathering information and at this point any prognosis would be speculation. There is no confirmation if Gordon will have to undergo surgery. He required arthroscopic surgery last February and missed all but nine games last season…

Gordon said he began experiencing soreness in his right knee about a month before training camp after participating in volunteer workouts with his teammates. He missed all of training camp and the Hornets’ eight-game preseason schedule.

— Reported by John Reid of the New Orleans Times-Picayune

Mavericks waive Eddy Curry, sign Troy Murphy

The Dallas Mavericks announced today that they have signed free agent center Troy Murphy.

Murphy will replace Eddy Curry on the Mavericks’ 15-man roster. Curry was waived after playing in the first two regular season games for Dallas. Curry averaged 4.5 points, 2.0 rebounds and 12.5 minutes.

Murphy (6-11, 245) was the 14th overall pick in the 2001 NBA Draft by the Golden State Warriors and has played in 715 games (481 starts) with Golden State, Indiana, New Jersey, Boston and Los Angeles Lakers. He holds career averages of 10.9 points, 7.9 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 27.5 minutes per game.

Murphy has averaged a points-rebounds double-double four times in his career, most recently in 2009-10 when, as a member of the Indiana Pacers, he averaged 14.6 points and 10.2 rebounds. Murphy spent last year with the Lakers and played in 59 games during the lockout-shortened season.

The Morristown, N.J., native played collegiately at Notre Dame where he was a consensus All-America selection as a sophomore and a junior and was an early-entry candidate in the 2001 NBA Draft.

Return of Kevin Garnett was critical factor in Celtics retooling

A LOOK BACK AT THIS PAST OFFSEASON

With Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen set to become free agents and well into their 30s, change appeared imminent. The Celtics faithful fully prepared for an offseason of adjustment, the organization taking a step back to potential mediocrity after five years of elite status.

But the Celtics instead took a surprising turn, adding eight players and re-signing Garnett, and they remain one of the East favorites as they head into the home opener Friday night against the Milwaukee Bucks.

Conventional wisdom said there was no way Garnett, playing on aging legs and tiring at the end of playoff games, would return. Allen, meanwhile, had grown increasingly unhappy with his situation in comparison with second-year guard Avery Bradley and wanted to explore free agency for the first time.

So the 2012-13 Celtics likely would consist of Rajon Rondo, perhaps Paul Pierce, and a bunch of pieces meshed together until the Celtics could attract a major free agent. But as free agency approached, the central figure in their quest to extend the Big Three Era was Garnett himself.

— Reported by Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe