NBA Teams – Page 2470 – NBA Blog

Magic off to their best start ever

The Magic has started the 2007-08 season with an 9-2 record through its first 11 games. It ties for the best start through 11 games in team history. The last time the Magic started 9-2 was back in 1998-99. Orlando has started the season 9-2 after 11 games three other times (1994-95, 1995-96, 1998-99). – NBA News

For the season, Dwight Howard is averaging 22.0 points, 14.2 rebounds and 2.45 blocks per game. Rashard Lewis is putting up 21.4 points, 4.5 rebounds and 2.6 assists. Hedo Turkoglu has stepped up to average 17.6 points, 5.9 rebounds and 3.5 assists, though he needs to improve his 43.1% shooting. Jameer Nelson is producing 13.6 points, 4.3 rebounds and 6.6 assists, though his three-point shooting percentage is just 31.0%.

Orlando is playing smart, total team basketball. Stan Van Gundy is doing a terrific coaching job.

Rudy Gay scoring big this season

Averaging a team-high 19.2 points per contest, Grizzlies second-year forward Rudy Gay is second among all 2006 draftees in scoring, nearly doubling his output from his rookie season (10.8 in 2006-07). He has recorded double-figures in eight of nine games this season and has surpassed the 20-point mark four times. He finished with 20-plus in eight games total in his rookie year.

– NBA News

Raptors PG duo leads league in assists per game

Toronto’s point guard duo of T.J. Ford and Jose Calderon have combined to average 14.2 assists through 10 games this season, more than any other point guard combination in the NBA. Ford currently ranks sixth in the NBA with 8.1 assists, while Calderon is 16th with 6.1 assists. No other team in the NBA has two point guards among the league’s top-20 assist leaders. – NBA News

The Raptors are trading wins with losses, however, and are just 5-5 for the season. Chris Bosh has had a quiet start, averaging 16.2 points, 6.9 rebounds and 1.7 assists per game on just 40.2% shooting.

Dwight Howard and Allen Iverson win Players of Week

The Orlando Magic’s Dwight Howard and the Denver Nuggets’ Allen Iverson today were named the Eastern and Western Conference Players of the Week, respectively, for games played Monday, Nov. 12 through Sunday, Nov. 18. Howard’s 23.3 points, 13.3 rebounds and 2.8 blocks helped lead Orlando to a 4-0 week. His 35 points and 16 rebounds paced Orlando to a 117-116 overtime victory over defending Eastern Conference champ Cleveland. He rounded out the week with 24 points, six rebounds and three blocks in the Magic’s 104-102 over previously undefeated Boston. Iverson paced the Nuggets with 26.7 ppg on 56 percent shooting, to go with 6.3 assists as the Nuggets went 3-0. He hit for a season-high 37 points on 14-for-20 shooting, to go with eight assists in a 122-100 win over Cleveland. He also shot 19-for-21 (.905) from the free throw line for the week.

Magic hand Celtics first loss of season

The Boston Celtics had been a perfect 8-0 and the league’s only remaining undefeated team but Sunday evening they lost 102-104 in Orlando to the Magic. Hedo Turkoglu stepped up in the 4th quarter, especially from three-point range.

Orlando got 44 free throw attempts in the game, while Boston had just 26. Both teams struggled from the charity stripe, however. Dwight Howard alone had 20 free throws, making just 10.

Boston dominated the glass, winning the rebounding battle 41-28. Aside from Kevin Garnett’s 11 rebounds it was a total team effort on the boards.

For Orlando, Dwight Howard shot 7-of-9 for 24 points and 3 blocks. He had just 6 rebounds. Rashard Lewis shot 6-of-11 for 22 points and 3 assists, but just 2 rebounds. Jameer Nelson took 15 shots to get 18 points, 5 rebounds and 6 assists. Hedo Turkoglu took 13 shots for 16 points and 6 rebounds. And Keith Bogans needed 10 shots to get 10 points.

For Boston, Paul Pierce shot 10-of-17 for 28 points, 5 rebounds, 6 assists and 2 steals. Ray Allen needed 17 shots to get 19 points, plus 5 rebounds. Rajon Rondo, a bright spot for the Celtics today, shot 8-of-9 for 18 points and 5 rebounds, though he dished just 3 assists. Kevin Garnett was quiet offensively, shooting 7-of-13 and not getting a single free throw attempt for 14 points, 11 rebounds and 1 assist. He fouled out.

Discuss this game and all things basketball on the InsideHoops.com basketball forum.

Warriors assign Kosta Perovic to D-League

The Golden State Warriors have assigned center Kosta Perovic (COAST-a PEAR-a-vich) to the Bakersfield Jam of the NBA Development League, Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations Chris Mullin announced today.

Perovic, 22, has not appeared in any of Golden State’s first seven games during the 2007-08 regular season, spending the first five games on the inactive list. The 7-2 center, who was originally drafted by Golden State with the 38th overall selection in the 2006 NBA Draft out of Serbia, is a rookie this season after staying overseas to play the 2006-07 campaign in Serbia.

Perovic is the sixth player assigned to the D-League from the NBA following Ramon Sessions (Milwaukee Bucks), Kyrylo Fesenko (Utah Jazz), Steve Novak (Houston Rockets), Brandon Wallace (Boston Celtics) and JamesOn Curry (Chicago Bulls).

The D-League is way ahead of last years pace in terms of NBA player assignments. During the 2006-07 season there hadn’t been one NBA player assigned at this point. The first player sent to the NBA Development League occurred on November 22, 2006 when Ryan Hollins of the Charlotte Bobcats was assigned to the Fort Worth Flyers from the Charlotte Bobcats.

Perovic joins a Bakersfield club led by head coach Jim Harrick who won the 1995 NCAA Championship with UCLA. The team tips off their second season in the NBA Development League on November 24 when they visit the Austin Toros, the affiliate of the defending NBA Champion San Antonio Spurs.

Rasho Nesterovic out 1-2 weeks with ankle sprain

The Toronto Raptors announced Sunday that following further evaluation and testing by team medical personnel, centre Rasho Nestervoic is expected to be sidelined for one to two weeks with a Grade 2 sprain of his right ankle.

Nesterovic sustained the injury at the six minute mark of the third quarter of Wednesday’s game versus Utah. He will not join the team on its upcoming road trip to Dallas (Tuesday) and Memphis (Wednesday).

Warriors sign DJ Mbenga

The Golden State Warriors, who with a 1-6 record have been one of the league’s worst teams in the still-young season, have signed free agent center DJ Mbenga to a contract, it was announced today by Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations, Chris Mullin. Per team policy, terms of the agreement were not announced.

Mbenga (Ben-ga), 27, was not drafted by an NBA team, but was signed as a free agent by the Dallas Mavericks prior to the 2004-05 season. He played three seasons with the Mavericks (2004-05, 2005-06, 2006-07) prior to being waived before the start of this season (October 30). A native of the Congo, Mbenga has averaged 1.3 points and 0.9 rebounds in 79 career regular season games. He appeared in a career-high 43 games with the Mavericks during the 2005-06 campaign and logged a career-best 237 minutes overall.

Mbenga will join the Warriors in New York on Monday and will wear uniform #28.

Warriors waive Stephane Lasme

The Golden State Warriors have waived forward Stephane Lasme, it was announced today by Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations, Chris Mullin.

Lasme, 24, was selected by the Warriors in the second round of the 2007 NBA Draft (46th overall). He appeared in one regular season game (11/8 vs. Dallas) and did not register a stat line. The 6’8″ native of Gabon, Africa appeared in four preseason games with Golden State, averaging 5.0 points, 2.3 rebounds and 2.25 blocked shots in 16.3 minutes.

Lakers need to be on national TV more

The Los Angeles Lakers only have 328,238,101,204,104,111,428 games on national television this season. It isn’t enough.

I propose that every single Lakers game be televised not just on both ESPN and TNT but also on CBS, NBC, Fox, ABC and whatever the WB is called these days, as well as on HBO, Cartoon Network, Lifetime, MTV, VH1 and every other main station. All at the same time.

/end sarcasm