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The Los Angeles Clippers announced today that guard J.J. Redick suffered a fracture in the small bone (pisiform) of his right hand and a tear of his right ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) in the second quarter of the Clippers 104-98 win over Sacramento on Nov. 29.
Redick is expected to miss approximately 6-8 weeks, and will be re-evaluated on Monday, Dec. 2 by hand specialist Dr. Steve Shin to determine further course of treatment.
Every team can use some experienced veterans at the end of the bench. Here’s ESPN.com on who the Los Angeles Clippers may want for added frontcourt depth:
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Lamar Odom remains the leading candidate to be signed by the Los Angeles Clippers to fill the opening they have in their frontcourt rotation.
By far.
But there’s at least one other known name on the Clippers’ list behind Odom in terms of potential in-season signees: Chris Wilcox.
Sources close to the situation say that Wilcox, who Clippers coach Doc Rivers knows well after their time together in Boston, is in L.A.’s thoughts as a fallback options should it ultimately decide to pass on bringing back Odom.
The Los Angeles Clippers today announced that forward Matt Barnes suffered a retinal tear in his left eye on Monday, Nov. 18 against the Memphis Grizzlies. Barnes will undergo a surgical procedure to repair the retina and is expected to miss a minimum of two weeks.
Barnes has appeared in eight games this season and is averaging 5.9 points, 4.3 rebounds and 1.6 assists in 20.0 minutes per game.
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Memphis Grizzlies guard Tony Allen has been suspended one game without pay for kicking Chris Paul of the Los Angeles Clippers in the face, it was announced today by Rod Thorn, President, Basketball Operations.
That’s right, folks. Just in case you were wondering, kicking a player in the face is not considered a valid defensive basketball play. And now you know!
But seriously: Allen jumped high in the air and while it’s not like he wound up and unleashed a blatant, premeditated roundhouse kick, it was still a wild, out-of-control move, and the end result was what amounted to a boot to CP3’s head.
The incident, for which Allen was assessed a Flagrant Foul 2 and ejected, occurred with 1:51 remaining in the first quarter of the Grizzlies’ 106-102 win over the Clippers on Monday, Nov. 18, at Staples Center.
Allen will serve his suspension on Wednesday, Nov. 20 when the Grizzlies play the Golden State Warriors at Oracle Arena.
To view the play, click on this link.
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The Miami Heat’s LeBron James and the Los Angeles Clippers’ Blake Griffin today were named NBA Eastern and Western Conference Players of the Week, respectively, for games played Monday, Nov. 11, through Sunday, Nov. 17.
James averaged a league-best 34.0 points in leading the Heat to a 3-0 week. He led Miami in scoring in all three games and shot .702 from the field (fifth in the league), .625 from three-point range, and .810 from the foul line. On Nov. 15, James tallied 39 points on 14-of-18 shooting and added six rebounds and four assists as the Heat topped the Dallas Mavericks 110-104.
Griffin helped the Clippers to a 3-0 week behind averages of 25.7 points (tied for third in the Western Conference), 11.3 rebounds (ninth in the conference), 4.7 assists and 1.0 steals. He posted a point-rebound double-double in all three games. On Nov. 13, Griffin scored 22 points and added 12 rebounds, seven assists and three steals as the Clippers beat the Oklahoma City Thunder 111-103.
Other nominees for the Eastern and Western Conference Players of the Week were Atlanta’s Jeff Teague, Chicago’s Luol Deng, Denver’s Ty Lawson, Golden State’s Klay Thompson, Houston’s Jeremy Lin, Minnesota’s Kevin Love, Oklahoma City’s Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook, Orlando’s Arron Afflalo and Portland’s LaMarcus Aldridge.
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Los Angeles Clippers forward Matt Barnes, a talented, competitive, good player who generally makes his team better, continues to have a bit of a problem controlling his temper.
Barnes has been fined $25,000 for failing to leave the court in a timely manner upon his ejection and using inappropriate language on his Twitter account during the game following his ejection, in violation of NBA rules, it was announced today by Rod Thorn, President, Basketball Operations.
The ejection occurred with 6.2 seconds remaining in the second quarter of the Clippers’ 111-103 victory over the Thunder on Wednesday, Nov. 13, at Staples Center.
The struggle is real. At least, that’s what the cool kids like to say these days. Anyway, here’s the Los Angeles Times Blog:
The Lakers suddenly have some catching up to do with the Clippers, and not just in the Pacific Division standings.
The Lakers’ home sellout streak ended at 270 games Tuesday night when the team drew 18,426, just short of the capacity of 18,997, during a 116-95 victory over the New Orleans Pelicans at Staples Center. The Lakers had sold out 320 straight games including the playoffs.
The last non-sellout for the Lakers at Staples Center came Dec. 6, 2006, against New Orleans/Oklahoma City, when they drew 18,535.
The Los Angeles Clippers are considered one of the best teams in the Western conference, and the Minnesota Timberwolves probably deserve to be in that conversation as well. So this was an early-season matchup worth watching. Here’s how it went down, as per the Minneapolis Star Tribune:
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In January 2012, the Timberwolves danced off the Staples Center floor while star Kevin Love raised his arms out in defiance after his long three-point shot beat the Los Angeles Clippers at the final buzzer before a national ESPN audience.
On Monday, he held his head with both hands in anguish after his tying putback layup at the rim came up short and bounced back to him to end a 109-107 loss to the Clippers at another final buzzer.
The night before inside the very same arena, the Wolves celebrated a rout of the once-mighty Lakers that ended a six-year, 22-game losing streak to the 16-time NBA champions.
This time, the Wolves rallied twice in the final five minutes against the new glamour NBA team in town only to watch their chance to force overtime disappear not once, but twice in the final two seconds when putback attempts by both Love and Nikola Pekovic wouldn’t go.
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Miami Heat guard Mario Chalmers has been fined $15,000 for hitting Los Angeles Clippers forward Blake Griffin in the throat with a forearm, it was announced today by Rod Thorn, President, Basketball Operations.
The foul on Chalmers, which was called a common foul on the floor, has been upgraded by the league office to a Flagrant Foul 2. The incident occurred with 8:05 remaining in the third quarter of the Heat’s 102-97 win over the Clippers on Thursday, Nov. 7, at AmericanAirlines Arena.
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The Los Angeles D-Fenders, a D-League team, have hired Luke Walton as a player development coach, it was announced today by team President/CEO Joey Buss.
“We are very excited to add Luke to our staff,” said Buss. “His championship experience will help build upon the winning culture that has been established with the D-Fenders. His extensive and successful NBA career will allow him to instill the work ethic it requires for our players to reach the NBA.”
“Luke has been a consummate professional throughout his career,” said D-Fenders General Manager Nick Mazzella. “Having played on two Lakers championship teams, Luke is aware of the hard work and type of culture required to win. He will be a valuable mentor to our players and will dedicate himself to improving their basketball skills and advancing their careers. We couldn’t be happier to have him join our talented coaching staff.”
Walton has spent the last 11 seasons playing in the NBA with the Los Angeles Lakers and Cleveland Cavaliers. Most recently, he appeared in 50 games with the Cavaliers during the 2012-13 season. The University of Arizona alumnus was selected with the 32nd overall pick in the 2003 NBA Draft by the Lakers and helped lead the team to back-to-back NBA Championships in 2009 and 2010. Walton has appeared in 564 career regular season games (138 starts), posting averages of 4.7 points, 2.8 rebounds and 2.3 assists in 17.2 minutes. Walton also served as an assistant coach on the University of Memphis basketball staff during the 2011 NBA lockout.
“I’m thrilled to be returning to the Lakers family,” said Walton. “I’m looking forward to working with the staff to develop young talent that can benefit the D-Fenders and the NBA. The D-Fenders have a proven record of developing top-flight players, and I plan to continue that tradition.”
Walton, a San Diego native, begins his first season as a player development coach. He is the third addition to Head Coach Bob MacKinnon’s staff, joining assistant coaches Casey Owens and Thomas Scott.