The AP reports: Allen Iverson grinned as he looked at the boxscore after the Detroit Pistons’ 88-82 victory over the Orlando Magic on Monday night. “I’m not used to seeing myself with 15 points and knowing that I had a good game,” he said. “Before, even if I only had 20 points, I didn’t think I was doing my job.” Iverson was Detroit’s fourth-leading scorer on a night when no Pistons player reached 20… Detroit has now won four in a row, the last two without Richard Hamilton (groin)… Rodney Stuckey led Detroit with 19 points, while Tayshaun Prince and Rasheed Wallace each added 16. Antonio McDyess came off the bench with 11 points and eight rebounds despite a fourth-quarter rib injury… Rashard Lewis led the Magic with 23 points while Dwight Howard added 18 points and 18 rebounds.
Category: NBA Teams
NBA teams blog
Rose, Bulls drop Nets to 5-12 in New Jersey
The AP reports: Derrick Rose doesn’t remember what he was doing on April 17, 2001. “I was in grammar school, probably in the sixth grade,” Rose said after leading the Chicago Bulls to their first victory in New Jersey since that date, 100-87 over the Nets on Monday night. The No. 1 overall pick in the 2008 draft had 21 points and a season-high 13 assists, while Ben Gordon scored 24 points… The Nets continued their poor play at home, falling to 5-12, the second-worst mark in the Eastern Conference. The Nets (15-16) are 10-4 on the road… Andres Nocioni and Larry Hughes each added 17 points for the Bulls (14-17), who won for only the fourth time in 18 road games this season. It was Chicago’s first win in New Jersey since 2001, snapping a 13-game losing streak. Carter scored 31 points and Devin Harris added 26, 18 in the second half.
Johnson’s 25 points lift Hawks past Denver, 109-91
The AP reports: Joe Johnson scored 25 points and the Hawks beat the Denver Nuggets 109-91 on Monday night to close out the homestand with a long-awaited milestone. The Hawks (20-10) reached 20 wins before New Year’s Day for the first time since the 1987-88 season, when second-year center Al Horford was 1… The Hawks, bolstered by their strong start, are shooting for their first 50-win season since 1997-98… The Hawks made 12 of 23 3-point attempts, including 5-of-6 by Mike Bibby, who had 20 points and nine assists… Carmelo Anthony, who scored 32 points in the Nuggets’ 117-110 victory at the New York Knicks on Sunday, had only half that total with 16 points on 4-for-17 shooting from the field.
Steve Nash has back spasms
The AP reports: Former MVP Steve Nash left the Phoenix Suns’ game against Oklahoma City in the first quarter Monday night with back spasms and was not expected to return.
InsideHoops.com editor says: I’m still annoyed I didn’t go earlier to Nash’s soccer game in an NYC park last year. I saw some of it, but from a lousy angle. Now, what does that have to do with Nash having back spasms? Absolutely nothing. Hope those clear up.
Players of Week: LeBron, Kobe
The Cleveland Cavaliers’ LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers’ Kobe Bryant today were named the Eastern and Western Conference Players of the Week, respectively, for games played Monday, Dec. 22, through Sunday, Dec. 28.
James guided the Cavaliers to a 3-0 mark, with home wins over the Rockets, Wizards and Heat, improving Cleveland’s mark at Quicken Loans Arena to 16-0, tops in the NBA. He averaged 26.0 points on 53 percent shooting, while adding 6.7 rebounds and 6.7 assists, as Cleveland improved to 26-4, the best start in franchise history. He finished with 27 points, including 19 in the second half, as Cleveland rallied to defeat Houston. He tallied 11 fourth-quarter points and finished with 33 points and nine assists in a comeback win over Miami.
Bryant led the Lakers to a 4-0 week, averaging 30.0 points on 54 percent shooting, to go with 5.5 rebounds and 4.0 assists. He tallied a game-high 27 points, nine rebounds and five assists, as the Lakers defeated Boston on Christmas Day, 92-83, snapping the Celtics’ 19-game winning streak. He capped off the week going 10-for-10 from the free throw line en route to scoring 31 points in a 130-113 victory over Golden State.
Other nominees for the Eastern and Western Conference Players of the Week were Miami’s Dwyane Wade, Orlando’s Rashard Lewis, Cleveland’s Mo Williams, Charlotte’s Gerald Wallace, Atlanta’s Joe Johnson, Detroit’s Rodney Stuckey, Houston’s Yao Ming, Oklahoma City’s Kevin Durant, San Antonio’s Tony Parker and Toronto’s Jermaine O’Neal.
Hornets struggling
The New Orleans Times-Picayune (John DeShazier) reports (via blog) on the current state of the Hornets: Getting steamrolled by the better teams isn’t earning the team any brownie points on the national scene. It’s not doing much for their image locally, either, because the folks in New Orleans are the ones who bought the season tickets with the expectation that their team would be among the elite and would challenge the Lakers for Western Conference supremacy. Their record says they are. Only the Lakers, at 25-5, have fewer losses in the West and for that, the Hornets are to be commended. The schedule is about to get particularly difficult, with consecutive road games against Portland, Denver, the Lakers and Utah following Tuesday’s game against Washington in New Orleans Arena. Those four games will be two back to backs, with the Portland-Denver and Lakers-Utah games separated by a two-day break. But the Hornets, with a 2-2 split on the trip, still could walk out of that blender in relatively decent shape.
Nets assign Sean Williams to D-League
New Jersey Nets forward Sean Williams was assigned to the Colorado 14ers, the Nets’ NBA Development League affiliate, it was announced today. Williams is the 15th NBA player to be assigned to his NBA D-League affiliate this season and joins Sonny Weems and Cheikh Samb, both currently on assignment from the Denver Nuggets, on the 14ers roster.
Drafted by the Nets with the 17th overall selection in the 2007 NBA Draft, Williams has appeared in 16 games for New Jersey this season, averaging 1.6 points and 2.1 rebounds in 11.1 minutes. Williams appeared in 73 games for the Nets last season, 29 as a starter, and averaged 5.6 points and 4.4 rebounds.
Williams, 6-10, was a three-year contributor at Boston College where he averaged 5.5 points, 4.2 rebounds and 2.7 blocks in 69 career games. During his senior season, Williams averaged 12.1 points, 6.9 rebounds and 5.0 blocks in 15 games.
Williams is expected to join the 14ers tomorrow and be available when the team hosts the Fort Wayne Mad Ants at the Broomfield Event Center. Tip off is set for 9 p.m. ET.
Ricky Davis suspended 5 games
The NBA announced today that Los Angeles Clippers guard/forward Ricky Davis has been suspended without pay for five games for violating the terms of the NBA/NBPA Anti-Drug Program. Davis’ suspension will begin with tomorrow night’s game between the Los Angeles Clippers and the Sacramento Kings.
Davis is playing 21.3 minutes per game this season, but doing very little: shooting 27.2% from the field for 4.3 points, 1.8 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game.
Bryant leads Lakers past Warriors, 130-113
The AP reports: Kobe Bryant explained why the Celtics had a letdown and the Lakers didn’t following the rivals’ intense game several days earlier. “They had won 19 straight games, so they were due for a couple of bad ones,” Bryant said Sunday night after scoring 31 points in Los Angeles’ 130-113 romp over the Golden State Warriors… Derek Fisher added 19 points in the win and Sasha Vujacic had 17. Pau Gasol had 13 points, nine rebounds and seven assists, and Andrew Bynum chipped in with 13 points and 10 rebounds. Jamal Crawford returned to the Warriors’ lineup after missing two games with a groin strain and scored 22 points. Marco Belinelli and Brandan Wright had 14 points apiece, and Andris Biedrins had eight points and 17 rebounds.
Celts return to winning ways, 108-63 over Kings
The AP reports: The Celtics bounced back from back-to-back losses in emphatic fashion, beating the Sacramento Kings 108-63 Sunday night in one of the most one-sided wins in franchise history… The 45-point margin of victory matched the sixth biggest by the Celtics, who also beat the New York Knicks by that amount last season. The last time Boston had a bigger win was a 153-107 victory over the Baltimore Bullets on Nov. 27, 1970… John Salmons’ 11 points led the Kings. Francisco Garcia shot 1-for-7 before leaving in the first half with stiffness in his right calf. Kevin Garnett made 10 of 11 shots to lead the Celtics with 21 points and 11 rebounds despite playing just under 23 minutes. He now has 20,894 career points, moving past Bob Pettitt into 27th place all-time. Ray Allen added 19 on 7-for-8 shooting and Eddie House had 15 off the bench.