This dunk from Los Angeles Clippers center DeAndre Jordan against the Detroit Pistons is definitely a top candidate for NBA dunk of the year.
Here’s video of DeAndre Jordan’s incredible dunk:
Category: NBA Teams
NBA teams blog
Heat win 18th straight, beat Pacers 105-91
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It’s not a LeBron James winning streak. It’s a Miami Heat winning streak.
If there was any confusion on that point, the reigning NBA champions might have cleared that up Sunday night.
Mario Chalmers scored 26 points, Chris Bosh added 24 and the Heat won their 18th straight game, easily topping the Indiana Pacers 105-91 – even with James scoring only a season-low 13, yet clearly helping control play with seven assists and six rebounds.
”That’s the thing about our team,” Chalmers said. ”We can click on all cylinders.”
The streak ties the seventh longest in NBA history, and is the league’s best since the Boston Celtics won 19 straight in November and December 2008.
”We just did what we’re supposed to do,” said Dwyane Wade, who added 23 points and six steals for Miami. ”Win at home.”
Ray Allen added 11 for Miami (47-14), which now has a victory over every NBA team this season. The Heat had been 0-2 against the Pacers…
David West scored 17 of his 24 points in the first half for the Pacers, who fell nine games behind Miami in the Eastern Conference standings. Roy Hibbert scored 15, D.J. Augustin had 14 and Paul George scored 10 for Indiana.
The Heat held a 27-15 edge in points off turnovers and finished the game shooting 56 percent compared with 41 percent by Indiana.
— Reported by Tim Reynolds of the Associated Press
Clippers hand Pistons 5th straight defeat, 129-97
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The Clippers had been talking in practice the last couple days about turning up their intensity.
DeAndre Jordan clearly got the message, slamming home a monster dunk in the second quarter of a 129-97 win over the Detroit Pistons on Sunday night that had jaws dropping.
”That was the best dunk of the year and the best I’ve seen in person,” said no less an expert than Blake Griffin, who led seven players in double figures with 22 points on 9-of-12 shooting in 21 minutes after early foul trouble.
The Clippers led by 26 points in the first half, building it with a 28-12 run that included two noteworthy dunks from the 6-foot-11 Jordan. The first one off Chris Paul’s alley-oop left Brandon Knight – who is 8 inches shorter – flat on his back with a foul…
Butler added 15 points before leaving in the third quarter with a left elbow contusion. Coach Vinny Del Negro said an X-ray was negative, and Butler will have a MRI on Monday. Matt Barnes added 16 points, Jordan finished with 13 points and seven rebounds, Willie Green had 11 points and Chauncey Billups 10 points.
The Clippers set season highs for points scored and shooting percentage (62) while leading the entire game. Their old high of 125 points came in a win over the Lakers last month…
Jose Calderon was one of five Pistons in double figures with 18 points as they lost their fifth in a row overall, fourth straight to the Clippers, and fell to 0-11 on the road against Western Conference opponents…
Clippers G Jamal Crawford missed his second straight game with a sore left ankle. He was shooting 60 percent and averaging 23.0 points in a four-game stretch before getting hurt. … The Clippers were without G Eric Bledsoe (sore left calf).
— Reported by Beth Harris of the Associated Press
Jameer Nelson scores 24, Magic beat Sixers 99-91
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Injuries left Orlando Magic point guard Jameer Nelson as a spectator in each of his team’s first two matchups this season with the Philadelphia 76ers.
In Round 3 the Pennsylvania native reminded the Sixers what his presence can bring to a game.
Nelson had 24 points and 10 assists, and Nik Vucevic added 14 points and 17 rebounds as the Magic held off the Sixers in the fourth quarter to secure a 99-91 victory on Sunday night.
The win ended the Magic’s seven-game home losing streak, their longest skid in Orlando since 2003-04. It also gives the Magic some momentum in advance of the Los Angeles Lakers’ visit Tuesday, which will be Dwight Howard’s first return to Orlando since he was traded this past summer…
Arron Afflalo and Tobias Harris added 17 and 15 points, respectively. The double-double was the 35th of the season for Vucevic, who was dealt to the Magic by Philadelphia as part of the multi-team Howard deal.
Thaddeus Young had 26 points and 12 rebounds for the Sixers, followed by Damien Wilkins with 16 points in his first start of the season…
The Magic improved to 13-10 when leading after three quarters. … Young recorded his 16th double-double of the season. … The unit that opened the game for Philadelphia was its 13th starting lineup of the season. … Collins said the biggest change that he’s seen in Vucevic’s game since the Sixers dealt him to the Magic is as simple as him getting more playing time.
— Reported by Kyle Hightower of the Associated Press
Hamstrings limiting Derrick Rose as he prepares to return
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A new development may help explain why Chicago Bulls point guard Derrick Rose is still hesitant to return to the court.
ESPN’s Doris Burke spoke with the former MVP before Sunday’s game against the Los Angeles Lakers and reported that although Rose has been taking full contact in practice for well over a month, his hamstrings are “on fire” after those workouts. Rose added that he won’t return to the court until he’s past those issues.
A team source told ESPNChicago.com on Friday that one reason why Rose has been hesitant to play despite being medically cleared is because he still is struggling to dunk the same way off his surgically repaired left knee.
— Reported by Nick Friedell of ESPN Chicago
Utah Jazz sign Travis Leslie to 10-day contract
The Utah Jazz today signed Santa Cruz guard Travis Leslie to a 10-day contract. It is the 24th Call-Up of the 2012-13 NBA Development League season. Leslie joins 121 players with NBA D-League experience currently on NBA rosters.
Leslie (6-4, 205, Georgia) has played in 28 games for Santa Cruz this season, averaging 16.1 points, 7.8 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 27.6 minutes. He has scored at least 20 points in nine outings, including two 30-plus point games. He was named to the Prospects All-Star squad for the 2013 NBA D-League All-Star Game and went on to win MVP honors with 19 points on 8-for-13 shooting to go along with seven rebounds in a 139-125 victory over the Futures Team.
Leslie was selected by the Los Angeles Clippers with the 47th overall pick in the 2011 NBA Draft. He appeared in 10 games for the Clippers during the 2011-12 season and averaged 1.4 points and 4.5 minutes. He was waived by the Clippers before the start of the season and subsequently selected by Santa Cruz in the 2012 NBA D-League Draft.
Leslie is expected to join the Jazz today and be available tomorrow when the team hosts the Pistons at 9 P.M. EST.
Dwight Howard grabs 21 rebounds, Lakers beat Bulls 90-81
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Dwight Howard scored 16 points and grabbed 21 rebounds, Kobe Bryant chipped in with 19 points, nine assists and seven rebounds, and the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Chicago Bulls 90-81 Sunday.
The Lakers improved to 33-31, the first time this season they have been two games over .500. They also moved one-half game of the Utah Jazz and into sole possession of the No. 8 and final playoff spot in the Western Conference.
The Lakers led almost throughout, only briefly falling behind by two points in the second quarter, and led by as many as 18 in the third period.
Steve Nash had 16 points for the Lakers.
Nate Robinson led the Bulls with 19 points, and Joakim Noah had 18 points and 17 rebounds…
After a sluggish first half by both teams, the Lakers came out hot to start the third quarter. Led by 10 points from Nash, Los Angeles went on a 21-7 run to begin the quarter, capped by a 3-pointer by Jodie Meeks that gave the Lakers a 65-47 lead. But the Bulls responded with an 8-0 spurt to narrow their deficit to 65-55…
Bryant took only three shots in the first quarter, going scoreless in the opening 12 minutes. Metta World Peace was cold as well, missing four open 3-pointers, but the Lakers held an early lead thanks to Howard’s efforts down low. Though he missed all three free throws he took in the quarter, Howard was 3 of 3 from the field for six points and grabbed seven rebounds.
— Reported by Joe Haakenson of the Associated Press
Thunder grind out 91-79 win over Celtics
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In a reunion with his former Boston teammates, Kendrick Perkins and the Oklahoma City Thunder got just the kind of victory he enjoys most.
Kevin Durant had 23 points and 10 rebounds, Russell Westbrook scored 15 points and Thunder beat the Celtics 91-79 on Sunday to stretch their winning streak to five games.
Boston was able to slow the Thunder from their best-in-the-NBA scoring pace of 107 points per game, but Oklahoma City’s lowest output since Jan. 13 was still enough to come out ahead in this one.
”I told the guys coming into this game that it’s going to be one of those low-scoring games, one of those nights that we have to grind out, so that’s what we did,” said Perkins, who won the 2008 NBA title with Boston. ”Every night, we can’t go out and expect to put up 100 points and the score to be 120-100. Some nights, it’s going to be like this.”
The Thunder limited Boston to 25 percent shooting in the second half after the Celtics shot 51 percent in the first. Boston dropped off to 33 percent in the third quarter and all the way down to 18 percent in the fourth, when the game got away…
Paul Pierce had 20 points to lead Boston, which had its own run of five straight wins broken. Kevin Garnett chipped in 10 points and 11 rebounds.
The Celtics finished at 38 percent shooting for the game with 19 turnovers, more than four above their average, while falling to 14-5 since All-Star Rajon Rondo’s season-ending knee injury…
Martin added 12 points off the bench for Oklahoma City, which moved to 28-4 at home.
— Reported by Jeff Latzke of the Associated Press
Amare Stoudemire needs right knee sugery, out 6 weeks
Knicks forward Amar’e Stoudemire continues to suffer knee injuries
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Amar’e Stoudemire needs surgery and will miss the next six weeks of the Knicks’ season. The killer blow was announced by the team just prior to Saturday’s game against the Jazz. Stoudemire will have a right knee debridement sometime this week.
Stoudemire had been having some soreness in the knee, and missed the team’s shootaround Saturday morning. He elected to have an MRI later in the day, which revealed that he needed surgery.
“I feel for Amar’e, because again he’s put a lot of work in this summer, to get back out on the court, with what he went through at the beginning of camp,” head coach Mike Woodson said. “And now he’s got to go back in again. I feel for the young man because he puts so much time and hard work in. But you know we got to go on.”
With the timetable suggested by the team, Stoudemire will presumably miss the rest of the regular season and into part of the playoffs.
— Reported by Seth Walder of the New York Daily News
InsideHoops.com editor Jeff Lenchiner says: I feel awful for Stoudemire, who keeps himself in great shape and has desperately tried to stay healthy.
Stan Van Gundy sticks up for Dwight Howard
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In the war of words between Dwight Howard and his former Orlando Magic teammates, one significant voice weighed in on the side of the Los Angeles Lakers center.
Howard said that his former Magic coach, Stan Van Gundy, reached out to him Thursday to offer support.
“He knows I would never disrespect my teammates,” said Howard after Lakers’ shootaround Friday in advance of their game against the Toronto Raptors. “He understood exactly what I was saying and that’s what he expressed.”
Howard expanded on the topic after the Lakers’ 118-116 overtime victory over the Raptors, saying, “Both of us, we know how great we were together. I’ve always told him, if we had a second run together, that would be great.
“I would always tell him what my goal was, I want to be one of the greatest to play and he would always push me to get there. So, I respect him.”
Van Gundy believes Howard wasn’t trying to bad-mouth any of his former teammates.
— Reported by Dave McMenamin of ESPN Los Angeles