The AP reports: Pau Gasol scored 13 points and the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Charlotte Bobcats 88-77 on Thursday night without the ailing Kobe Bryant… Adam Morrison scored 13 points for the Bobcats, who finished the preseason 0-7. The fifth-year team will open the regular season Oct. 30 at Cleveland under Larry Brown, who is coaching his ninth NBA team following the firing of Sam Vincent in April… Despite Jason Richardson’s 1-for-8 shooting in the first half and Charlotte’s 27.0 field goal percentage, the Lakers led only 36-30 at intermission.
Category: NBA Teams
NBA teams blog
Oct 23: Suns 102, Thunder 93
The AP reports: Amare Stoudemire scored 17 points before dislocating his left pinky and the Phoenix Suns, with their regulars together for the first time, beat the short-handed Oklahoma City Thunder 102-93 on Thursday night … Steve Nash, returning after missing three games because of a sprained right ankle, scored 15 points for the Suns. Leandro Barbosa also had 15 points, Shaquille O’Neal added 13, and Matt Barnes had 12. Rookie Russell Westbrook led the Thunder with 22 points. Kevin Durant, last season’s Rookie of the Year, added 19, Johan Petro had 17 and Jeff Green 12.
Oct 23: Rockets 110, Kings 97
The AP reports: Ron Artest scored 19 points against his former Sacramento teammates to help the Rockets beat the Kings 110-97 on Thursday night in the final preseason game for both teams. Yao Ming left the game early in the fourth quarter and finished with 17 points, seven rebounds and two blocks for Houston (5-2). Tracy McGrady, playing only his second exhibition game, added 14 points in 33 minutes… Aaron Brooks added 15 points for the Rockets and Luther Head had 13. In his best game as a professional, second-year center Spencer Hawes had 25 points and 16 rebounds for the Kings (1-7), who lost their sixth straight. Kevin Martin added 22 points, John Salmons had 16 and rookie Jason Thompson 10.
Oct 23: Jazz 100, Blazers 89
The AP reports: Kyle Korver hit three 3-pointers in the fourth quarter and finished with 15 points to help the Utah Jazz beat the Portland Trail Blazers 100-89 on Thursday night in the exhibition finale for both teams. Ronnie Brewer led Utah (4-3) with 22 points, and Carlos Boozer added 16. Channing Frye led Portland (4-3) with 17 points, and Rudy Fernandez had 16… Steve Blake added 14 points for Portland, rookie Jerryd Bayless and Travis Outlaw each scored 13 points and Shavlik Randolph had 10.
Oct 23: Pacers 114, Mavs 91
The AP reports: Danny Granger scored 24 points, T.J. Ford had 19 points, nine assists and seven rebounds, and the Indiana Pacers beat the Dallas Mavericks 114-91 on Thursday night in the final preseason game for both teams. Marquis Daniels added 22 points and nine rebounds, and Rasho Nesterovic had 14 points and nine rebounds for the Pacers (4-4). Josh Howard scored 19 points and Dirk Nowitzki had 16 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Mavericks (4-4).
Oct 23: Hornets 100, Heat 80
The AP reports: David West scored 22 points, Peja Stojakovic added 14 and the New Orleans Hornets were 9-of-16 from 3-point range in their 100-80 exhibition victory over the Miami Heat on Thursday at the University of South Alabama… New Orleans point guard Chris Paul had 13 assists and six points, Morris Peterson and Devin Brown each scored 12 points, and Rasual Butler added 11. Rookie Michael Beasley led the Heat with 14 points, Shawn Marion added 12, and Dwyane Wade had 11.
Oct 23: Wolves 95, Bucks 76
The AP reports: Kevin Love had 14 points and 10 rebounds, and Al Jefferson added 19 points to lead Minnesota to a 95-76 exhibition victory over the Milwaukee Bucks on Thursday night… Rashad McCants had 15 points, including a stretch of 10 straight late in the fourth quarter, for Minnesota. Randy Foye scored eight third-quarter points after going scoreless and missing all four of his shots in the first half. Center Dan Gadzuric led the Bucks with 13 points, and Luke Ridnour added 12 points and seven assists.
Oct 23: Hawks 88, Pistons 87
The AP reports: Zaza Pachulia scored 18 points, including the deciding layup in the final minute, to help the Atlanta Hawks beat the Detroit Pistons 88-87 in the exhibition finale for both teams Thursday night. Both coaches rested key players. Richard Hamilton and Rasheed Wallace didn’t play for Detroit, while Joe Johnson sat out for Atlanta. Former Pistons guard Flip Murray led the Hawks (5-3) with 19 points, and Maurice Evans and Marvin Williams had 14 each. Arron Afflalo had 15 points for the Pistons (6-2), rookie Walter Sharpe added 13 and Jason Maxiell had 11.
Pacers waive Croshere and J.Davis
The Indiana Pacers announced Thursday they have waived forwards Austin Croshere and Josh Davis. The Pacers roster now stands at 15.
“This was an extremely difficult decision to waive Austin,” said Pacers General Manager David Morway. “Austin’s a terrific professional and has represented this franchise extremely well and we appreciate his passion, dedication and commitment to the Pacers over the years.”
Croshere played for the Pacers from 1997-2006. In those nine seasons he averaged 7.5 points and 4.3 rebounds per game. He was traded to Dallas in 2006 for Marquis Daniels and played for Golden State in 2007-08. Davis is a three-year veteran of the NBA, having played for Atlanta, Philadelphia, Milwaukee, Houston and Phoenix. He has career averages of 2.5 ppg and 1.7 rpg. Morway added, “both Austin and Josh had very good camps and we think both players will find a place in the NBA this season.”
Suns exercise option on Alando Tucker
The Phoenix Suns today exercised the team’s option on swingman Alando Tucker for the 2009-10 season.
The 6-6, 205-pound Tucker enters his second season with the Suns after originally being selected by Phoenix with the 29th overall pick in the first round of the 2007 NBA Draft. In his rookie campaign last season, Tucker split time between the Suns and the club’s then-NBA Development League affiliate in Albuquerque. In 21 games (19 starts) in the D-League, Tucker averaged 27.7 points, 6.0 rebounds and 1.6 assists and was named the D-League.com Performer of the Week for the week of Dec. 10. Tucker averaged 3.7 points and 1.3 rebounds in six games with the Suns in 2007-08.
Despite missing three games, Tucker is the Suns’ third-leading scorer this preseason, posting averages of 12.5 points, 3.5 rebounds and 1.3 assists while shooting 45.2 percent from the field.
A native of Lockport, Ill., Tucker played five seasons at the University of Wisconsin after receiving a medical redshirt, where he averaged 16.5 points, 5.7 rebounds and 1.6 assists in 134 collegiate games from 2002-07. Tucker finished as the Badgers’ all-time leading scorer and was named a consensus All-American and the Big 10 Player of the Year in his senior season. Tucker was also one of four finalists for the Naismith Trophy given to the national player of the year in 2007.