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Brook Lopez replaces injured Rajon Rondo on 2013 East All-Star team

An injured guard is out but a healthy center is in for the 2013 NBA Eastern conference All-Star team.

Brooklyn Nets center Brook Lopez has been selected as a reserve on the 2013 Eastern Conference All-Star Team by NBA Commissioner David Stern. Lopez replaces injured guard Rajon Rondo, who is out for the rest of the season with a torn ACL.

This is the first career selection for Lopez, who is averaging a team-leading 18.6 points per game, best among NBA centers. Lopez is also 7th in the league in blocks per game (2.2), 22nd in field goal percentage (52.3%) and is the only player in the NBA averaging at least 18 points, seven rebounds and two blocks per game this season.

Lopez is the 13th player in Nets franchise history to be selected to the NBA All-Star Game, joining Buck Williams (three times), Otis Birdsong, M.R. Richardson, Derrick Coleman, Kenny Anderson, Jayson Williams, Stephon Marbury, Jason Kidd (five times), Kenyon Martin, Vince Carter (three times), Devin Harris and Deron Williams.

The 62nd NBA All-Star Game will be played at the Toyota Center in Houston on Sunday, Feb. 17, 2013 (8 p.m. ET), televised exclusively on TNT and broadcast exclusively on ESPN Radio in the U.S. The All-Star Game will reach fans in more than 215 countries and territories in more than 47 languages.

Read NBA fan reaction and share your views in this basketball forum topic.

Nets start tough stretch against Heat

The Nets begin a tough three-game stretch Wednesday night against LeBron James and the NBA champion Miami Heat, who have won the last 12 meetings and remain the league’s standard in Carlesimo’s eyes.

”They’re the best team in the league until somebody beats them,” Carlesimo said Tuesday after practice. ”Maybe when the year’s out and we’ve played 82 games, somebody will have a better record than them. But they’re still the champions and they’re still going to the finals on a pretty regular basis, so until somebody knocks them off, this to me is the barometer you measure against and we haven’t shown yet that we can beat these guys. So that’s a huge challenge for us.”

So are the Chicago Bulls at home on Friday, and the Los Angeles Lakers next Tuesday. Starting Wednesday on ESPN, it’s the kind of high-profile stretch that can earn the Nets, who may be a little overlooked despite a 27-18 record, some added respect within the league.

— Reported by Brian Mahoney of the Associated Press

Tornike Shengelia named D-League Performer of Week

Tornike Shengelia, playing for the Springfield Armor on assignment from the Brooklyn Nets, was today named NBA Development League Performer of the Week for games played Jan. 21-27.

A 6-8, 207-pound forward from the Republic of Georgia, Shengelia played in two of the Armor’s four games last week, helping the team to a 2-2 record. He began his assignment, the second of his career, by tying an Armor franchise record with 39 points on 17-of-21 shooting to go with a game-high 18 rebounds and six assists in a 123-115 home win of the Maine Red Claws. He finished the week with a 24-point, 13-rebound performance in a 111-100 victory over the visiting Santa Cruz Warriors.

For the week, Shengelia averaged 31.5 points, 15.5 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 41.0 minutes. He shot 76 percent from the floor (25-of-33) while going 4-of-7 (57 percent) from behind the three-point line.

Other top performers considered include Austin’s Rick Jackson, Bakersfield’s Damion James, Canton’s Kevin Jones, Erie’s D.J. Kennedy, Fort Wayne’s Luke Harangody, Idaho’s Coby Karl, Iowa’s Paul Harris, Los Angeles’ Elijah Millsap, Maine’s DaJuan Summers, Reno’s Walker Russell, Jr., Rio Grande Valley’s Terrel Harris, Santa Cruz’s Stefhon Hannah, Sioux Falls’ Donald Sloan, Texas’ Sean Singletary and Tulsa’s Jeremy Lamb, on assignment from the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Nets recall Tornike Shengelia and Tyshawn Taylor from D-League again

The Brooklyn Nets have recalled forward Tornike Shengelia and guard Tyshawn Taylor from the Springfield Armor of the NBA Development League, it was announced today by General Manager Billy King. The two players were assigned to Springfield on January 22.

In three games for the Armor this season, Shengelia holds D-League averages of 28.3 points, 13.7 rebounds, 7.0 assists and 3.0 steals per game. Shengelia posted a franchise-high tying 39 points to go along with 18 rebounds on January 24 vs. Maine.

Taylor has averaged 26.5 points, 7.5 assists and 4.3 rebounds in four D-League contests this season.

Rockets continue to beat the Nets

Jeremy Lin said the Houston Rockets just needed to see what they were doing wrong in order to fix it.

James Harden scored 29 points, Chandler Parsons added 16 points and a career-high 11 assists and the Rockets dominated inside to beat Brooklyn 119-106 on Saturday night for their 12th consecutive win over the Nets.

Omer Asik had 20 points and 16 rebounds for Houston, which outrebounded the Nets 50-31 and outscored Brooklyn 60-24 in the paint. Houston had 31 assists on 43 field goals and committed only 11 turnovers, the team’s lowest total in three weeks.

The Rockets dropped seven in a row from Jan. 9-19, and Lin said a lengthy film session on Thursday helped them correct their mistakes…

Nets star Deron Williams scored 27 points, but cooled off after a 20-point first quarter. He was ejected with 1:07 left after arguing a call with referee David Jones and didn’t speak to the media after the game…

Brook Lopez scored 21 points and Joe Johnson added 13 for Brooklyn, which trailed by as much as 18 in the first half.

“We dug a hole because we weren’t defending well or we couldn’t put the ball in the basket,” Nets coach P.J. Carlesimo said.

The Rockets had 17 assists on their first 20 field goals. Parsons had eight assists by himself in the first half, matching his career high for a game…

Harden missed a free throw, snapping a streak of 36 straight successful foul shots.

— Reported by Chris Duncan of the Associated Press

Grizzlies build early lead and defeat Nets 101-77

The Memphis Grizzlies are adding a better scoring offense to complement one of the league’s best defenses.

Marc Gasol had 20 points and nine rebounds as the Grizzlies built a 30-point lead in the second half en route to a 101-77 victory over the Brooklyn Nets on Friday night.

Gasol was 10 of 15 from the field, all of his points coming in the first half, as Memphis, which had seven players in double figures, won for the fourth time in the past five games.

It also marked the second straight game Memphis has topped the century mark after reaching 100 only twice in the 24 games before Wednesday’s 106-93 win over the Los Angeles Lakers.

”One thing that we have had all season is our defense,” said Rudy Gay, one of three Grizzlies who finished with 11 points…

Mike Conley made six of seven shots, including 2 of 3 outside the arc, for 14 points, while Zach Randolph had 12 points and matched Gasol’s nine rebounds…

Brook Lopez led the Nets with 18 points, while Deron Williams scored 12, adding six assists before leaving late in the third quarter with a quad contusion…

Joe Johnson and Reggie Evans scored 11 points each, with Evans grabbing 10 rebounds.

— Reported by Clay Bailey of the Associated Press

Nets guard C.J. Watson warned for flopping

Nets guard C.J. Watson was warned by the NBA for flopping Thursday for a play in the fourth quarter of Wednesday’s win at Minnesota.

The warning comes as no surprise after Watson all but admitted to flopping to draw an offensive foul on serial offender J.J. Barea with nine minutes to go in the fourth of what became a 91-83 Nets win.

”J.J. Barea’s a flopping guy, so I tried to give him a taste of his own medicine,” Watson told the YES Network in a postgame interview. “I hope I don’t get fined, though.”

— Reported by Tim Bontemps of the New York Post

CJ Watson gives flopper a taste of his own medicine

C.J. Watson isn’t known for talking, but the Nets backup point guard couldn’t help himself after getting the better of a testy back-and-forth with Timberwolves point guard J.J. Barea in the fourth quarter of the Nets’ 91-83 win last night.

After Watson appeared to have flopped to draw an offensive foul on Barea early in the fourth quarter, he seemed to admit as much when he was interviewed on the court after the game by the YES Network.

“J.J. Barea’s a flopping guy, so I tried to give him a taste of his own medicine,” Watson said. “I hope I don’t get fined, though.”

— Reported by Tim Bontemps of the New York Post

Brooklyn Nets re-assign Tornike Shengelia and Tyshawn Taylor to D-League

The Brooklyn Nets have assigned forward Tornike Shengelia and guard Tyshawn Taylor to the Springfield Armor of the NBA Development League, it was announced today by General Manager Billy King.

This will be the second time this season that both Shengelia and Taylor have been assigned to the Armor. The first came on December 21 where in one game with the Armor, Taylor scored a game-high 32 points and Shengelia recorded a triple-double with 22 points, 12 assists and 10 rebounds against the Erie Bayhawks.

Shengelia, acquired from the Philadelphia 76ers after being drafted 54th overall in the 2012 NBA Draft, has appeared in 13 games for the Nets this season, averaging 1.4 points, 0.8 steals and 0.7 rebounds per game.

Taylor, a rookie out of Kansas, has made 21 appearances for the Nets on the year, averaging 1.6 points, 0.2 rebounds and 0.2 assists per game.

Both players will be in uniform when the Armor take on the Main Red Claws on Thursday January 24 at the MassMutual Center in Springfield.

Nets beat Hawks 94-89 for home-and-home split

The Brooklyn Nets paid back the Hawks and now want to get even with the Knicks.

Deron Williams scored 24 points, making four free throws in the final 43.4 seconds, and Brooklyn beat Atlanta 94-89 on Friday night to earn a split of a home-and-home series.

Brook Lopez added 20 points for the Nets, who bounced back from a 109-95 loss in Atlanta on Wednesday that snapped their seven-game winning streak.

The Nets pulled within two games of the first-place Knicks ahead of Monday’s matchup at Madison Square Garden, their final meeting of the season. New York has won the last two after Brooklyn took the first game as city rivals.

”We’ve got to go in there with the mind-frame that we understand it’s going to be a hostile environment and some way, somehow we’ve got to come out of there on top,” Nets guard Joe Johnson said. ”They beat us the last two times and we owe them.”

Johnson, a perennial All-Star in Atlanta before the Hawks dealt him to the Nets last summer, finished with 18 points. Reggie Evans grabbed 20 rebounds as the Nets beat the Hawks for the first time in seven meetings…

Jeff Teague had 21 points and 10 assists for the Hawks, who played without Horford, their starting center, and lost key reserve Lou Williams to a serious-looking right knee injury. Former Nets guard Devin Harris scored 17 and Josh Smith had 12 points and nine rebounds in his return from a one-game team suspension, but shot just 5 of 15.

The Hawks were only 5 of 22 from the field in the fourth quarter and lost for the seventh time in nine games…

Drew said Horford had a sore hamstring and calf. He was in uniform but didn’t start for just the second time in Hawks’ 39 games, and Drew decided not to use him at all.

— Reported by Brian Mahoney of the Associated Press