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Springfield, Massachusetts gets D-League basketball team

NBA Development League President Dan Reed announced today at a press conference at the Basketball Hall of Fame that HWS Basketball, LLC will be bringing an NBA D-League team to Springfield, Massachusetts for the 2009-10 season.  The team will play at Springfield’s MassMutual Center.

The new team will be owned and operated by Michael Savit who is the managing partner of HWS Basketball, LLC, a group of local investors.  Savit brings with him to Springfield and the NBA D-League a wealth of minor league operational and sports business experience, including time as Senior Vice President at the Cleveland-based International Management Group (IMG) and as the managing partner of minor league baseball teams in the South Atlantic League, Midwest League, Southern League, California League, Coastal Plain League and New York-Penn League.

Savit and his group have been awarded the right to relocate the NBA D-League team currently playing in Anaheim, California to Springfield.  While the local ownership group will have the option to retain rights to current Anaheim Arsenal players, they will announce a new name, colors, and a mascot for the Springfield team later on this spring.

“As the NBA D-League continues to move east, we’re very excited to bring a team to a place that not only has rich basketball history, but also boasts an impressive ownership group, strong civic leadership and community support,” said Reed.  “We’re thrilled to welcome such a well-respected and experienced operator in Mike Savit to our ownership ranks, and look forward to not only bringing our unique brand of affordable, family-friendly, and NBA-caliber basketball to Springfield, but becoming a vital part of the greater Springfield community.”

Today’s announcement featured Reed, Savit, Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno, James E. Rooney, executive director of the Massachusetts Convention Center Authority, University of Massachusetts men’s basketball head coach and Springfield native Derek Kellogg and George Ramirez, the deputy director and general counsel of the Department of Business Development, Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development.   Rooney served as a master of ceremonies for the event.

“Today is an exciting day for Springfield!” said Savit.  “I’m thrilled to be a part of the group that brought professional basketball back to the game’s birthplace and I can’t wait to contribute to this city’s great basketball history and become part of the fabric of the community.”

“The National Basketball Association, Springfield and the MassMutual Center are a powerful combination,” said Rooney of the MCCA, which owns the venue. “The entire Pioneer Valley will undoubtedly embrace our new pro team, and we plan to be worthy partners with our top-tier service and state-of-the-art amenities.”

The team in Springfield will be affiliated with two NBA team parent-clubs, which will be able to assign their first and second year players to the club up to three times during a season. Thus far, the 2008-09 NBA D-League season has had 30 NBA players assigned on 39 occasions to NBA D-League affiliates to continue to develop their games. An announcement regarding Springfield’s NBA team affiliations will occur during the offseason.

Pierce scores 27, Celtics beat Thunder 103-84

The AP reports: Boston Celtics spokesman Jeff Twiss scored it as the first, unofficial triple-double in Glen “Big Baby” Davis’ career: 19 points, 10 rebounds—and 10 stitches. The Celtics power forward left in the third quarter after being elbowed in the head and returned after getting stitched up to score 15 points in the final 10 minutes and lead Boston to a 103-84 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Sunday night… “Baby’s a bleeder,” said Paul Pierce, who scored 27 points… Eddie House scored 14 of his 16 in the second half—nine of them during an 11-1 run in the third quarter when the Celtics took the lead for good. Reserve Mikki Moore scored 12 with 11 boards and Rajon Rondo had 12 assists to help the Celtics win their sixth out of seven despite missing Garnett for the 15th time in 19 games… Russell Westbrook scored 23 points and Kevin Durant added 21 for the Thunder, which lost their third straight and fifth of six.

Davis has 19 points as Celtics beat Hawks 99-93

The AP reports: With Kevin Garnett watching, Glen Davis helped keep the Boston Celtics hustling and winning. Davis, who moved into the starting lineup as Garnett was held out with a sore knee, had 19 points and matched his career high with 12 rebounds to lead the Celtics past the Atlanta Hawks 99-93 on Friday night. Ray Allen led Boston with 22 points and Paul Pierce had 21, but Davis was the key while filling in for Garnett. Boston coach Doc Rivers said his team won with “mental toughness.”

NBA rule change on too many players on court

The NBA Board of Governors voted to approve a playing rules change in regards to “too many players on the court”, which will take effect beginning Friday, March 27.

Under the playing rules change, when a “too many players on the court” violation is called, a technical foul will be assessed against the offending team and the non-offending team will have the option of either accepting or nullifying the game action that occurred during the violation.

Option 1 — Accept Game Action

The non-offending team can opt to ACCEPT all play that occurred during the violation, including any points scored, with no adjustment of the game clock.

Option 2 — Nullify Game Action

The non-offending team can opt to NULLIFY all play that occurred during the violation, other than any acts of unsportsmanlike conduct or flagrant fouls or any points scored from free throws as a result of such actions.

Under this option, following the technical foul, the game clock would be reset to the time when the ball was put into play with too many players on the court and, depending on how the ball was originally put into play, play would resume in accordance with the following:

1) If the original play commenced with a throw-in, then the ball would be returned to the original throw-in spot and play commenced with a throw-in.

2) If the original play commenced with a missed free-throw attempt where the ball remained in play, then play would be commenced with a jump ball held at center court between any two players who were on the floor at the time play was suspended due to the violation.

3) If the original play commenced with a jump ball, then play would be commenced with a jump ball held at the original jump-ball spot between the same two players who participated in the original jump ball.

Magic bounce Celtics from 2nd in East

The AP reports: Dwight Howard blocked a potential go-ahead layup by Paul Pierce with 3.8 seconds left, and the Orlando Magic clinched their second straight Southeast Division title with an 84-82 win over the Celtics on Wednesday night. Howard had 24 points and 21 rebounds as the Magic (53-18) bumped Boston (54-19) by percentage points for second in the Eastern Conference. Orlando remains five games back of Cleveland for the conference lead with 11 games left. The Magic took the division title with Atlanta’s loss to San Antonio… Rashard Lewis had 21 points, and Hedo Turkoglu added 13 points for the Magic, who nearly blew a 16-point lead before holding on for their fourth straight win and 11th in their last 13 games. The Magic were held to just 14 points in the final period.

Ray Allen scores 20, Celtics beat Clippers 90-77

The AP reports: Ray Allen scored 20 points and the Boston Celtics, sparked by an alley-oop dunk from Garnett, pulled away for a 90-77 win over the Los Angeles Clippers on Monday night. Garnett played 18 minutes, hitting all five field-goal attempts while scoring 12 points. He added two rebounds and two assists in his third game back since missing 13 with a sprained right knee… Zach Randolph led the Clippers with 17 points and 14 rebounds, while Baron Davis had 13 points, eight assists and seven boards.

Davis, Celtics blow by Grizzlies in second half

The AP reports: With Kevin Garnett playing limited minutes and Paul Pierce scoring limited points, Glen Davis stepped up for the best scoring night of his career. Davis had a career-high 24 points on 8-of-11 shooting, and the Boston Celtics pulled away in the second half for a 105-87 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies on Saturday night… Ray Allen added 20 points and six assists, while Eddie House contributed 15 points as the Celtics won their third straight overall and fifth in a row over the Grizzlies. Garnett, still playing limited minutes in his second game back from a right knee injury, scored 10 points and grabbed four rebounds in 17 minutes… Hakim Warrick scored 20 points for Memphis, which dropped its sixth straight at home and fourth in a row overall. Rudy Gay finished with 15 points on just 5-of-15 shooting, while O.J. Mayo and Mike Conley scored 12 apiece.

Celtics reassign J.R. Giddens to D-League

The Boston Celtics announced today that they have reassigned rookie guard J.R. Giddens to their NBA Development League affiliate Utah Flash. This is the third time this season that Giddens has been assigned to Utah.

Giddens has appeared six games this season for the Celtics scoring four points in eight total minutes.  Giddens has averaged 17.6 points, 5.7 rebounds, 1.27 steals and 1.40 blocks per game in 15 games for the Flash this season.

Pierce scores 36 as Celtics beat Wade-less Heat

The AP reports: The only All-Star healthy enough to play made the difference. Paul Pierce scored 36 points without Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen to share the load, Dwyane Wade missed his first game of the season, and the Boston Celtics clinched the Atlantic Division title with a 112-108 overtime victory over the Miami Heat on Wednesday night… “We’re a team, the Miami Heat, with or without D-Wade,” said Michael Beasley, who led Miami with 21 points off the bench… Rajon Rondo had 27 for Boston. Miami, in its third overtime game in its last five, got 19 points from Mario Chalmers and 17 from Jermaine O’Neal.