The AP reports: Deron Williams played for the first time this season to lead the Utah Jazz past the Philadelphia 76ers 93-80 on Tuesday night. He had seven points and nine assists after missing the first six games because of a sprained left ankle he suffered in a preseason game Oct. 18 against Chicago… Carlos Boozer led Utah with 19 points and 16 rebounds. Andrei Kirilenko and Ronnie Brewer added 16 points apiece for the Jazz, who improved to 6-1 and lead the Northwest Division. Brewer scored all of his point in the fourth quarter after missing his first nine shots… Andre Miller scored 25 points, Andre Iguodala had 15 points and 10 rebounds and Elton Brand added 13 for the reeling Sixers, who lost their third in a row and fell to 2-5… Samuel Dalembert and Thaddeus Young each added 11 rebounds for the 76ers, who shot just 38 percent from the field.
Category: NBA Teams
NBA teams blog
Nov 11: Cavs 99, Bucks 93
The AP reports: LeBron James supplied the Cleveland Cavaliers with a double dose of 40. James matched a season-high with 41 points in a season-best 43 minutes and Mo Willams scored 16 against his former team, leading the Cavaliers to their fifth straight win, 99-93 over the Milwaukee Bucks on Tuesday night… Zydrunas Ilgauskas added 15 points and Anderson Varejao had 13—8 on 4-of-4 shooting in the fourth quarter—with 10 rebounds for Cleveland, which didn’t put Milwaukee away until the final four minutes… Richard Jefferson scored 19 and Luke Ridnour 17—14 in the third—to pace the Bucks, who were again without leading scorer Michael Redd. He missed his fourth straight game with a sprained right ankle.
Warriors hire Larry Harris
The Golden State Warriors have hired Larry Harris as an assistant coach, the team announced today. Per team policy, terms of the agreement were not announced.
Harris, 45, joins Head Coach Don Nelson’s staff after spending the last 19 seasons in the Milwaukee Bucks organization. After originally joining the Bucks staff as a scout/video coordinator under his father, then-Milwaukee Head Coach Del Harris, in 1990, he also served stints as the team’s director of player personnel, director of scouting, assistant general manager and general manager.
Deron Williams back tonight
The Deseret News (Tim Buckley) reports: Point guard Deron Williams informed the Jazz this morning that he will try to make his 2008-09 NBA season debut tonight, when Utah visits Philadelphia in its second outing of a five-game road trip. “He told me he’s gonna play,” Jazz coach Jerry Sloan said after the team’s morning shootaround at Wachovia Center here. “We’ll probably play him sparingly. “You know how he is,” Sloan added. “He might want to get out there five minutes and say he feels great. But we’re gonna try to watch him pretty close.”
InsideHoops.com editor says: Obvious guess is, if D-Will does play he’ll probably play limited minutes. He might as well ease into the season over the next few games. Great that he’s finally back.
Tayshaun Prince to be point forward
The Detroit News (Chris McCosky) reports: As the Pistons try to reinvent themselves with Allen Iverson and without a true point guard, the guy they might turn to for stability, once again, is Tayshaun Prince. Among the modifications coach Michael Curry is making to his offense is using Prince in the role of a point forward, initiating the offense, while Iverson and Richard Hamilton work on the wings. “Tay is going to facilitate some of our offense,” Curry said after the Pistons’ two-hour practice at Arco Arena Monday. “He will get into it with Allen handing it off to Tay. And there are other sets that Tay will start himself.” Curry worries, though, about tampering at all with Prince’s role. He has averaged 23 points the last three games.
Sixers still adjusting to Elton Brand
The Philadelphia Inquirer (Kate Fagan) reports: The Sixers are going back to basics: working on their spacing around power forward Elton Brand. Yesterday was the last of three days of practice at the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine before tonight’s 7 o’clock game against the Utah Jazz (5-1). The Sixers (2-4) haven’t played since a Thursday night loss at the Orlando Magic. “With Elton, we need to read and react,” coach Maurice Cheeks said. “Certainly, the last few days we’ve been practicing that.” “It’s different playing with a post player who commands attention,” said swingman Andre Iguodala, whose scoring average has dipped to 11.0 points per game, down from last season’s 19.9 average. “It’s everyone who is adjusting, not just me.”
Perkins and JO have beef
The Boston Herald (Steve Buckley) reports: According to Kendrick Perkins, these confrontations with Jermaine O’Neal are getting serious. “There’s always words exchanged,” he said. “We do have something personal. That’s how we’ve been since we’ve been matching up. But you know, it is what it is.” Don’t worry, though, Perkins and O’Neal won’t be meeting out on Causeway Street to settle whatever differences they may have. “He’s out there competing,” Perkins said. “It’s nothing personal off the court, but it’s personal when we get on the court.
Kevin Love hit with rookie hazing
The St. Paul Pioneer Press (Don Seeholzer) reports: As the Wolves’ only rookie, Kevin Love was forced to sing happy birthday to forward Craig Smith in front of the entire team after practice Monday. Let’s just say his voice never will be confused with that of his famous uncle Mike of the Beach Boys. “He has no singing voice, no rhythm at all,” Wittman cracked. “It’s hard to believe that he’s got a relative that seemed to have that.” Love, in his defense, said happy birthday isn’t his song and that he would have nailed the Star-Spangled Banner. Asked if that was his first and last singing gig, he said: “No, I’m going to have to do it again. They’re going to make me dance, too, so I’ve got to figure out what new flavor I’m going to bring next time.”
Words from Mom help Travis Outlaw
The Oregonian (Jason Quick) reports: Today, Travis Outlaw feels like he is on top of the world after his 20 points and five rebounds were the catalysts in the Blazers’ first road win of the season — 106-99 over Orlando. What changed? Turns out, a phone conversation with Mom got Outlaw on track. Last Thursday, Outlaw was driving to the Rose Garden for the Blazers’ game against Houston when he remembered that his mother, Markeeta Outlaw, had wanted him to call. Back home in Starkville, Miss., Markeeta hadn’t liked what she had seen from her middle child during the Blazers’ opening stretch of the season. So when Travis called, she told him so. “She said, ‘You don’t seem like yourself out there. You don’t seem like you are having fun,'” Outlaw recalled… “She asked why I wasn’t doing more out there?” Outlaw said. “She told me, ‘Don’t just sit there in the corner — cut to the basket, go get rebounds. You need to have fun.'”
Nov 10: Suns 107, Grizzlies 102
The AP reports: Rookie O.J. Mayo did all he could to rally Memphis in the fourth quarter against the Phoenix Suns. Unfortunately, the Grizzlies had no answer for Leandro Barbosa. Mayo had 19 of his game-high 33 points in the final period, but the victory went to the fifth-year veteran known as the Brazilian Blur and Phoenix as the Suns won 107-102 on Monday night. Barbosa almost went shot-for-shot with the rookie in the fourth, scoring 16 of his team-high 27 points in the period, including the go-ahead 3-pointer with 43.8 seconds left… Amare Stoudemire scored 18 points, Boris Diaw added 13 and Nash had 12 points and six assists for the Suns, who have won five of their past six games overall… Rudy Gay scored 20 and Marc Gasol finished with 15 for the Grizzlies, who were 1-3 on their four-game Western road trip.
InsideHoops.com Notes: Grizzlies point guard Mike Conley shot 0-of-6 for no points, 3 steals and almost nothing else in almost 25 minutes. Kyle Lowry struggled off the bench behind Conley, however, shooting 1-of-6 for 2 points.