Category: NBA Teams

NBA teams blog

Sixers losing streak reaches 22 games

Down and out or down to the wire, the 76ers are freefalling toward NBA history.

D.J Augustin scored 20 points and Taj Gibson had 19 points and 13 rebounds to lead the Chicago Bulls to a 102-94 win over Philadelphia on Wednesday night, handing the 76ers their 22nd straight loss.

The Sixers are four losses shy of matching the NBA record for the longest single-season losing streak. The Cleveland Cavaliers set the record of 26 consecutive losses in the 2010-11 season. The Vancouver Grizzlies (1995-96), Denver Nuggets (1997-98) and Charlotte Bobcats (2011-12) each lost 23 straight.

“Winnable game,” 76ers coach Brett Brown said. “I say that because a group that’s been losing … still stays together. They still compete. I’m proud of them.”

The Sixers also lost their 17th straight home game since beating Charlotte on Jan. 15. They were 8-11 at home at that point and had already defeated Miami, the Bulls, and Houston in Philadelphia.

— Associated Press

Report: DJ White to Bobcats soon

Here’s the Charlotte Observer Blog reporting:

DJ White to Bobcats soon

The Charlotte Bobcats will bring back a familiar face when they sign power forward DJ White later this week.

A source familiar with the situation told the Observer Wednesday that the Bobcats plan to sign White, a 6-foot-8 forward, as soon as FIBA clears him. The deal will be a 10-day contract.

White has been playing this winter in China for the Sichuan Blue Whales, and his obligation to that team is over.

A glance at Pelicans free agency

Here’s the New Orleans Times-Picayune with some free agency insight from Pelicans general manager Dell Demps:

Demps said in free agency this upcoming summer, they are not likely to pursue a maximum-money free agent like they did last year when they offered a four-year, $44 million contract to swingman Tyreke Evans before acquiring him in a sign-and-trade deal from the Sacramento Kings.

”Last year was our opportunity to go on the free-agent market,’’ Demps said. “We’re very far under the luxury tax and we’ll still have opportunities to use money to add players to our group. But we’re currently not going to be a cap team; we’re not going to be able to go get a max free agent.And so our plan is to continuously add pieces to our group to make our team the best possible team we can be.’’

NBA makes sure Lakers, Knicks will not have conflict of issues

Here’s ESPN.com reporting that the NBA wants to make sure that no funny-business happens between the Los Angeles Lakers and New York Knicks:

phil jackson

An NBA official has acknowledged that the league has put parameters in place to make sure that the high-profile relationship between Jeanie Buss and Phil Jackson doesn’t create any issues.

“The Knicks’ hiring of Phil Jackson is subject to the league’s conflict of interest rules,” NBA spokesman Mike Bass told ESPN.com. “To avoid even the appearance of a conflict, we have addressed the issue with the Knicks and Lakers to ensure that the relationship between Jeanie Buss and Phil Jackson will not affect how the teams operate.”

Buss, the Lakers’ president and representative at board of governors meetings, and Jackson, who was named the Knicks’ president on Tuesday, got engaged in December 2012. They’ve been dating since 1999.

Since the engagement, sources say the league has gotten more serious about the two being on the up and up.

Blazers claw out overtime win against Bucks

Here’s the Oregonian reporting on the Portland Trail Blazers:

Almost nothing seems to be coming easy for the Trail Blazers these days, not even a win over the worst team in the NBA.

A win did come over the Milwaukee Bucks on Tuesday, but it took a clutch shot by Damian Lillard just to get the game to overtime, where Wesley Matthews’ heroics helped the Blazers finally put the Bucks away for a 120-115 victory before 19,572 at the Moda Center.

“We understand that we were very fortunate to win the game tonight,” Blazers coach Terry Stotts said.

The Blazers (44-24) had struggled to close out tight games against elite teams recently, and that issue surfaced again against the Bucks (13-55), who have the worst record in the NBA and had only beaten two Western Conference teams all season.

Wizards sign Drew Gooden for rest of season

Wizards sign Drew Gooden for rest of season

Washington Wizards President Ernie Grunfeld announced today that the team has signed forward Drew Gooden for the remainder of the season.

Gooden, who signed consecutive 10-day contracts with the team on February 26 and March 8, has averaged 8.1 points and 4.6 rebounds in 14.6 minutes per game in eight games with the Wizards.

The Wizards have a 35-31 record, and are currently the 5th seed in the Eastern conference.

Some New York D-League team name possibilities emerge

Here’s the Wall Street Journal reporting on possibilities for the name of the upcoming new Knicks-owned team in the D-League:

The Knicks are letting fans help pick the name of their new Development League affiliate team in Westchester. But according to a handful of federal trademark filings, it appears the organization has already seriously considered a few names of its own.

According to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, the NBADL has filed for ownership of five potential team names: The New York Plainsmen, the New York Hutch, the New York 914s, the New York Empire, and the New York ‘Bockers.

It’s pretty clear that these name suggestions came directly from the Knicks rather than fans, as the filings were submitted on March 7, three days before the Knicks had announced they’d be allowing fans to have input on the name-selection process.

Mark Cuban demands the best of Dirk Nowitzki

Here’s the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reporting on the 41-27 Dallas Mavericks, Mark Cuban and Dirk Nowitzki:

It’s not often that Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban publicly criticizes his superstar forward, Dirk Nowitzki.

Monday, though, was one of those rare occasions.

Cuban took time before Monday’s game against the Boston Celtics to tell the media of a conversation he had with Nowitzki earlier in the day. It’s about as critical as Cuban as ever publicly been about Nowitzki.

“I think sometimes he loses concentration, and I think we’ve got to get past that,” Cuban said. “I mentioned it to him today. I asked him how his nap was during the game [Sunday at Oklahoma City]. He laughed. At least that’s while I was facing him. When I turned my back and walked away, I don’t know.”

Nowitzki had two first-quarter rebounds against the Thunder and finished the game with just four boards and 17 points on 6-of-12 shooting. Cuban also was none too pleased that Nowitzki had just 12 points and six rebounds during last Tuesday’s 108-85 loss on the road to the Golden State Warriors.