The AP reports: “I’m not going to turn them down. It’s going to be one of two things. It’s going to go in or it’s not. As long as it’s a good look and one of my teammates finds me, I’m definitely willing to take the shot,” Larry Hughes said Tuesday night after his late 3-pointer sent the Chicago Bulls to a 105-100 victory over the New York Knicks… Drew Gooden led the Bulls with a season-high 22 points and 16 rebounds. Gordon, who tied the game at 97 with a 3-pointer, added 17 points and Hughes had 16. Hughes, who missed the first eight games this season with a dislocated shoulder, sank a game-winner at the buzzer last month against Utah. Al Harrington shot 13-for-21 from the field and finished with 28 points to lead the Knicks, who used only seven players in the fast-paced game. Quentin Richardson added 22 points, while Chris Duhon scored 15, had 14 assists and grabbed nine rebounds in his return to the United Center, while playing 45 minutes and 14 seconds… David Lee had 11 points and 15 boards for New York.
Category: NBA Teams
NBA teams blog
Dec 9: Spurs 133, Mavs 126 2OT
The AP reports: A defensive specialist who recently lost his starting job, Bowen still knows how to nail an open 3-pointer, and he did exactly that with 1:47 left in a second overtime, putting the Spurs ahead for good in a 133-126 victory over the Mavericks on Tuesday night… Duncan scored eight of his 32 points in the decisive extra period, and Tony Parker added 29 points and 10 assists as the Spurs for the seventh time in nine games. This one evened the season series between these Interstate-35 rivals, and added to their collection of thrilling performances… Dirk Nowitzki scored 35 points and Jason Kidd added a season-high 24 points, 12 assists and eight rebounds, but the Mavericks lost for only the second time in their last 11 games. They also had a five-game home winning streak snapped; they were 3-0 in a seven-game homestand and were eyeing a sweep.
Dec 9: Rockets 92, Hawks 84
The AP reports: The Houston Rockets blew a big lead, then relied on Yao Ming to lead the winning rally on Tuesday night. Yao scored 24 points and grabbed a season-high 19 rebounds, and the Rockets came back from eight points down in the fourth quarter to beat the Atlanta Hawks 92-84. Luis Scola added 12 points and 10 rebounds, Ron Artest scored 19 and the Rockets outrebounded Atlanta 57-40 to hand the Hawks their 10th consecutive loss in Houston… Joe Johnson scored 22 points and Josh Smith added 13 points and 11 rebounds for the Hawks… Alston had six assists and scored 12 for Houston, but went 4-for-15 from the field. Mike Bibby added 15 points for Atlanta.
Dec 9: Jazz 99, Wolves 96
The AP reports: For one game, at least, McHale seemed to inject some energy and heart into a team that has lacked both since a six-game losing streak started nine days ago… Mehmet Okur hit the go-ahead shot with 1.7 seconds to play and the Jazz capitalized on 16 missed free throws by Minnesota to rally for the victory. Al Jefferson led Minnesota with 21 points. The Timberwolves led by seven with 2:45 to play, but Love’s misses in the final three minutes allowed the Jazz to hang around… Ronnie Brewer scored 25 points for the Jazz on the 20th anniversary of Jerry Sloan’s promotion to the team’s head coach… Love finished with eight points and 15 rebounds, but went 2-for-9 from the free throw line.
Dec 9: Cavs 114, Raptors 94
The AP reports: LeBron James scored 31 points and became Cleveland’s career steals leader and Zydrunas Ilgauskas moved atop the Cavaliers’ rebounding chart as Cleveland improved to 12-0 at home with its latest rout. In winning their ninth straight by at least 12 points, the Cavaliers, now 17-1 since Nov. 3, are the first team in league history to win nine consecutive games in a single season so handily. Cleveland came in tied with Portland (1990-91), Chicago (1996-97), Detroit (2003-04) and Houston (2007-08)… Joey Graham scored 17 points, Jose Calderon 14 and Chris Bosh tied a season low with nine—16 below his average—for the Raptors, who have lost five in a row and three straight since coach Sam Mitchell was fired last week.
Dec 9: Wizards 107, Pistons 94
The AP reports: Caron Butler’s 33 points were supplemented by a season-high 16 from Juan Dixon and 15 from Darius Songaila as the Wizards rallied for a 107-94 victory Tuesday night over the redesigned lineup of the Detroit Pistons. Songaila, Dixon (seven assists), Dominic McGuire (3-for-3, six points), Andray Blatche (eight points, five rebounds), and Nick Young (nine points) all provided inspired play off the bench, a necessity given that the Washington starters not named Butler combined to score only 15 points… Richard Hamilton scored a season-high 29 points, Rasheed Wallace added 19, and new starting point guard Rodney Stuckey had 10 points and 11 assists for the Pistons. Hamilton and Wallace each were called for technicals for fussing at the refs.
Martell Webster out 4 weeks
Trail Blazers guard/forward Martell Webster will be sidelined for approximately four weeks after experiencing acute pain in his left foot Sunday at Toronto.
Webster experienced pain Dec. 7 against the Raptors, his first game back after undergoing surgery to repair a stress fracture in his left foot on Oct. 9. An X-ray taken Monday revealed that the fracture has regressed from an X-ray taken late last month.
“The good news is that Martell is not experiencing pain at the fracture site,” said Kevin Pritchard, Trail Blazers General Manager. “He is, however, experiencing pain in his little toe joint (head of the fifth metatarsal bone). While it’s an unfortunate setback for Martell, we feel putting additional stress on the foot at this time is not conducive for complete healing.”
Webster will be placed in a walking boot for two weeks at which time he’ll be reevaluated and an updated treatment plan will be implemented.
A fourth-year Trail Blazer, Webster initially incurred the injury in an Oct. 7 preseason game vs. Sacramento.
Webster, 22, has career averages of 8.1 points, 3.0 rebounds and 0.8 assists while averaging 37.2% (279-for-750) from 3-point range in 219 games (115 starts) with the Trail Blazers.
Report: Patrick Ewing Jr to train with Knicks
The Knicks have two players who may not be with the team in the near future. Point guard Stephon Marbury is the ongoing subject of buyout talks. Shooting guard Cuttino Mobley, who has yet to play for the team, is undergoing heart tests and could retire.
Before being traded, Renaldo Balkman was a useful, energic garbageman off the Knicks bench. Hoping to fill that role has been Patrick Ewing Jr. He appears to literally be waiting around to get signed by New York, and there’s reason for him to believe it’ll happen, eventually. The New York Daily News (Frank Isola) reports:
Patrick Ewing Jr. is expected to begin training with the Knicks’ D-League affiliate in Reno this week, the Daily News has learned, and could eventually re-join the NBA club once the futures of Cuttino Mobley and/or Stephon Marbury are resolved. Ewing, who was released by the Knicks prior to the start of the season, has attended several Knicks games and has been a frequent visitor to the team’s training center in Greenburgh, N.Y.
Ewing seems like a fringe NBA player. He’s gotten a lot of attention considering it’s not clear that he’s actually good enough to stay in the league. Assuming he does eventually join the team, we’ll see if he justifies all this ink.
Knicks-Nets rivalry is gone
The New Jersey Nets were a very good team for a few years.
The New York Knicks haven’t been a very good team in quite a while.
Although the two teams are in different states, the drive separating the two teams is just 15 minutes. Maybe 30 or even 40 minutes if it’s rush-hour.
But the two squads have gone through such big roster changes lately, the players on the two sides have barely battled on the court against each other while wearing their current uniforms. The Bergen Record (Al Iannazzone) reports (via blog):
There is no animosity anymore. Vince Carter doesn’t dislike anyone. Tim Thomas might be the only Knick who doesn’t like the Nets and that’s because they traded him on draft day and hurt him in the 2004 playoffs. But both are eon’s ago. This could be the start of a rivalry – maybe. Both have young teams and both have cap money in 2010 when both will be competing for the same players. But the more things change, the more they stay the same. The Nets still have the best player in the rivalry (Carter), and as well as Knicks point Chris Duhon is playing, he’s not the best point guard in the area. He’s not even the best one on his team, Marbury is. The best in the area still belongs to the Nets. Harris is playing like an All-Star and has helped the Nets to nine wins in their last 12 games.
It’s hard to predict that the team teams will develop anything resembling a real rivalry anytime soon, because there’s no telling who will be on either team’s roster in the next season or so.
It is nice that, win or lose, both teams are much better to watch now than they were just a season ago.
Pistons sign Antonio McDyess
Pistons President of Basketball Operations Joe Dumars announced today that the club has signed free agent forward/center Antonio McDyess. Per team policy, terms of the contract were not disclosed.
McDyess played in the team’s first two regular-season games this season before being sent to Denver along with Chauncey Billups and Cheikh Samb as part of a trade for Allen Iverson. He was bought out of his contract in Denver and placed on waivers on November 6, 2008. In his two games this season, the former NBA All-Star averaged 7.0 points and 4.0 rebounds in 19.0 minutes off the bench.
The Quitman, Mississippi native has led the Pistons’ bench in scoring in each of his four seasons with the club and finished fourth in the NBA Sixth Man of the Year voting in 2005-06. McDyess was an NBA All-Star in 2001, earned All-NBA Third Team in 1999 and NBA All-Rookie First Team honors in 1996.