Category: NBA Teams

NBA teams blog

Oct 24: Lakers 105, Thunder 94

The AP reports: Kobe Bryant, coming back from a knee injury, made a brief appearance at the start of Los Angeles’ final preseason game Friday night and appeared to be moving fine in the Lakers’ 105-94 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder… Los Angeles’ Andrew Bynum had 23 points, eight rebounds and three blocks while playing 29 minutes in the final tuneup for both the Lakers (5-2) and the Thunder (1-6). Bynum was 10-of-15 from the floor. Jordan Farmar had 14 points on 7-of-9 shooting for Los Angeles… Rookie Russell Westbrook scored 23 for Oklahoma City, and Kevin Durant added 15.

Oct 24: Nuggets 106, Clippers 92

The AP reports: J.R. Smith scored 19 points and Linas Kleiza had five of his 18 points in the final 68 seconds, leading the Denver Nuggets to a 106-92 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers on Friday night in the preseason finale for both teams. Kenyon Martin had 10 points on 3-for-8 shooting after the Nuggets’ victory in Toronto on Tuesday night because of a sprained left (non-shooting) wrist. Allen Iverson played 32 minutes and finished with seven points… Cuttino Mobley scored 21 points for the Clippers, who finished their exhibition schedule 3-4—not counting a 114-109 victory over FC Barcelona.

Oct 24: Heat 96, Spurs 93

The AP reports: Mario Chalmers made a 3-pointer at the buzzer to give the Miami Heat a 96-93 victory over the San Antonio Spurs on Friday night in the final preseason game for both teams… Michael Beasley scored 19 points for Miami (2-5). Udonis Haslem added 18 on 8-of-10 shooting, and Daequan Cook had 17 points. Chalmers, 4-for-4 overall and 3-for-3 from 3-point range, had 11 points. Tony Parker led San Antonio (3-4) with 16 points.

Oct 24: Cavs 107, Wizards 80

The AP reports: LeBron James had a preseason-high 26 points, Mo Williams added 15 and the Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Washington Wizards 107-80 on Friday night in the exhibition finale for both teams. The Cavaliers (3-5) had their highest scoring total of the preseason and committed only nine turnovers in the game at Ohio State’s Value City Arena. The Wizards were 2-5 in exhibition play… Delonte West earned the start at shooting guard in place of Sasha Pavlovic and had two points before spraining his left ankle with 1:40 remaining in the second quarter… The fourth quarter was delayed for 11 minutes after a member of the Cavaliers’ Scream Team dance squad was injured while performing during a timeout. After being attended to by more than a half-dozen medical workers, he was taken off the court on a stretcher and had movement in all his extremities.

Oct 24: Nets 111, Knicks 110

The AP reports: Vince Carter scored 20 points for the Nets, who avenged a loss in New Jersey earlier this week. Devin Harris and Bobby Simmons each added 16… Jamal Crawford had his best game of a poor preseason with 30 points for the Knicks, who may have been distracted after having to answer questions about Thomas from an unusually large media contingent for a preseason game… Down by 18 points with 10 1/2 minutes left, the Knicks cut it to 111-110 on Crawford’s layup with 28 seconds left. New York got the ball back with 4 seconds left, but Crawford’s jumper from the corner was short.

Larry Hughes out 2-4 weeks

The Chicago Sun-Times (Brian Hanley) reports: Bulls guard Larry Hughes is expected to miss up two to four weeks with a dislocated right shoulder. Hughes, who initially was expected to be out from six to eight weeks, underwent a second MRI Friday, in which dye was injected into the injured joint, to give a more detailed picture of the damage.

Mo Williams must fit with LeBron

The Sporting News (Sean Deveney) reports:  Is Maurice Williams the guy LeBron’s been looking for? The plan in Cleveland seems to center on lining up as many perimeter scorers as possible around LeBron James. They’ve got Daniel Gibson, Delonte West, Wally Szczerbiak and, now, Williams, acquired from Milwaukee as part of a three-team trade this summer. Williams is owed $43 million over the next five years, so acquiring him from the Bucks was a risky move. But the Cavs see Williams as much more than a perimeter scorer. He is not a great playmaker (which caused some tensions with Michael Redd in Milwaukee), but he has the ability to run a fast break, something the Cavaliers have simply not done well at all in recent years. And, unlike the Cavs’ other outside options, he has the ability to create his own shot, which will naturally take pressure off James in halfcourt sets. Williams has been terrific for the Cavs thus far in the preseason.

Bulls need leader and post game

SI (Marty Burns) reports on potential problems for the Bulls: No team leader. Even before last season’s disaster, the Bulls lacked a clear go-to guy and team leader who could take charge on and off the court. Hinrich, Deng, Gordon, Nocioni, Drew Gooden and Larry Hughes are solid NBA players, but none is a true superstar who can carry a team. Chicago, in fact, has not sent a representative to the All-Star Game since Michael Jordan made his final appearance as a member of the Bulls in 1998.

More from SI: Low post is still lacking. After being unable or unwilling to lure Kevin Garnett and Pau Gasol in recent years, the Bulls once more enter the season without a reliable low-post scoring threat. Gooden, 27, is a decent option on the block, but the 6-foot-10 power forward is known more for cashing in on the offensive glass and hitting the mid-range jumper. Without a big guy to draw double teams and run the pick-and-roll with Rose, the Bulls have to work too hard all the time to get open shots.

Rudy Gay is a budding star

SI (Arash Markazi) reports on Rudy Gay of the Memphis Grizzlies: The 21-year-old swingman nearly won the Most Improved Player award after boosting his scoring average from 10.8 points as a rookie to 20.1 points last season, an NBA-high 9.3-point increase. Gay became the first second-year player to average more than 20 points in three years and set a franchise record for most points in a season (1,632). This year, Iavaroni will give Gay more freedom on the court and allow him to lead the team after he was thrust into that role in the middle of last season. “If he is the best player on our team, he has to understand with that comes a lot of responsibility,” Iavaroni said. “He will ultimately be judged by how well we play because he must bring it every night for us to have success. He needs to understand that. That’s going to be his challenge this year.”