Category: NBA Teams

NBA teams blog

Nets stay hot, beat Nuggets 105-102

We’ll be writing about this ourselves later tonight, but for right now, here’s the Denver Post reporting:

Brooklyn guard Spencer Dinwiddie bullied his way to the rack twice in the final minute as the Nets hung on to beat the Nuggets 105-102. The loss dropped Denver to 14-7 and 1-2 on this road trip with a matchup at Philadelphia on Tuesday.

“They dominated the paint 66-22,” said Nuggets coach Michael Malone. “That third quarter was a joke. … Seemed like it was layup lines out there. We took away the 3-point line, but there was no resistance at the rim.”

The loss spoiled a strong 3-point shooting night from Jerami Grant, who poured in five of Denver’s 18 makes. Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray combined for 45 points, but Brooklyn’s relentless inside attack undermined their productivity.

The Nets have looked like a blatantly better team with Spencer Dinwiddie running the show lately. Kyrie Irving isn’t set to return just yet, but once he does, Nets head coach Kenny Atkinson will have some interesting decisions to make.

Rough stretch lately for the Jazz

The Jazz are a modest 13-10 this season. They’re only outscoring opponents by 0.5 points per game. Will they turn things up a notch anytime soon?

Here’s the Salt Lake Tribune:

After losing three in a row and five of six against some of the league’s top teams — such as the Bucks, Pacers, Raptors, Sixers, and Lakers — the Utah Jazz got back on the winning track Saturday against the struggling Grizzlies.

Thing is, Utah’s upcoming schedule is fairly loaded with struggling teams, providing the Jazz a chance to continue to sort out some of their lingering issues while simultaneously putting some notches in the win column.

Of their 10 remaining games in December, only two — in Miami against the Heat on Dec. 23, and in Los Angeles vs. the Clippers on Dec. 28 — are against teams with winning records at the moment.

New point guard Mike Conley hasn’t had the effect the Jazz hoped for so far. He’s averaging 13.9 points and 4.6 assists, shooting just 36.9% from the field.

As a team, they’ve been above average in defense, but disappointing on offense. The coming weeks will tell more about just how seriously they should be taken as a playoff contender. There is much work to be done.

Gordon Hayward returning soon for Celtics

 

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Gordon Hayward’s return date for the Boston Celtics is soon. Very soon. Possibly even tomorrow.

Here’s Boston.com reporting:

Celtics forward Gordon Hayward says he could return from his left fractured hand as early as Monday’s game against the Cleveland Cavaliers.

“Tomorrow is a possibility,” a smiling Hayward said Sunday at the Auerbach Center. “We’ll see how I feel when I wake up and go through shootaround.”

Hayward returned to practice Sunday for the first time since suffering the injury in the second quarter of a game against the San Antonio Spurs on Nov. 9.

And here’s the Boston Herald:

And once he takes the court again, Hayward can do it with the knowledge that unless the screws in his hand start to bother him, he won’t have to have them removed. Instead, the greatest challenge now, beyond tolerance to pain whenever someone whacks him on the hand, is getting back into basketball shape.

The Celtics are 16-5 this season, which through Saturday’s games places them third best in the entire league.

Bucks winning streak reaches 14 games

 

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The Milwaukee Bucks are on a 14-game winning streak. They’ve won 18 of their last 19 games, with the only loss in that stretch coming on the road in Utah against the Jazz.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports the following: “On Friday night at Fiserv Forum, those philosophies met head-to-head as the Bucks and Clippers squared off. Yes, they played a month prior in Los Angeles, but Leonard and George sat out that night. This matchup, then, was understandably hyped as a clash between two teams in the upper echelon of the NBA at full strength for the first time. By the time the final buzzer sounded, a clear and emphatic statement had been made that will be heard league-wide. The Bucks, with contributions from up and down their roster, had orchestrated a devastating masterpiece, trouncing the Clippers, 119-91, for their league-leading 14th win in a row.”

Through Friday’s games, the Bucks have the NBA’s second best offensive rating and the best defensive rating. This is serious.

If the regular season ended today, I’d have to give the league MVP award to Giannis Antetokounmpo, who is averaging 30.8 points, 13.1 rebounds, 5.4 assists, 1.3 steals and 1.3 blocks per game.

This squad is must-watch right now.

Next up, a home game on Monday against the Orlando Magic who are a respectable 11-11 so far this season but like everyone else in the league faces an uphill battle slowing this Milwaukee squad down.

After NBA career, Enes Kanter could become WWE wrestler

Very few athletes are tough enough to become WWE wrestlers. But NBA players aren’t like most athletes.

TMZ.com reports the following:

Enes Kanter already has a sick retirement plan in place when his NBA career comes to an end … telling TMZ Sports he’s already in talks to join WWE full time!!!

Of course, the Boston Celtics star is no stranger to the squared circle — he VERY briefly held the 24/7 Championship at Monday Night Raw back in September, but then lost it moments later to R-Truth.

Kanter is listed at 6-foot-10 and 250 pounds, which by wrestler standards places him on the lighter side when taking his height into account. But it’s still easy to visualize him as a future wrestler. And almost as importantly, it seems like he’d have a lot of fun and would put his heart into it. So here’s hoping it happens.

But for now, the Celtics center, still just 27 years old, has many NBA years left to play.

Trail Blazers to keep Carmelo Anthony for remainder of 2019-20 NBA season

The Portland Trail Blazers have amended the contract of forward Carmelo Anthony to be fully guaranteed for the 2019-20 season.

In eight games (all starts) since signing with the Trail Blazers on Nov. 19, Anthony, 35, has averaged 16.9 points (44.8% FG, 38.7% 3-PT, 86.4% FT), 5.9 rebounds and 1.8 assists.

Anthony (6-8, 240) was named the NBA Western Conference Player of the Week for the week ending Dec. 1 after averaging 22.3 points (57.4% FG, 45.5% 3-PT, 88.9% FT), 7.7 rebounds and 2.7 assists while helping Portland to a 3-0 record.

Bulls forward Otto Porter out at least two more weeks

 

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Chicago Bulls small forward Otto Porter Jr. has only played nine games this season and hasn’t played since November 6, and today it was confirmed by the team that he will miss at least a few more weeks.

An MRI on Porter’s left foot this Wednesday revealed continued bone edema.

Following a brief period of immobilization, Porter will engage in a program of non-impact activities and targeted therapy.

In two weeks, he will be examined again, and his status updated.

This season for the 8-14 Bulls, Porter in nine games, all as a starter, is averaging just 11.2 points, 3.4 rebounds and 1.6 assists in 25.1 minutes per outing.

The team is being led in scoring by Zach LaVine at 22.5 points per game, but no other Bull is scoring as much as 14 PPG.

Chicago’s defense has been above average this NBA season, but their offense has been one of the least efficient in the league.

Marvin Bagley should return soon for Kings

Following his six-week evaluation by the team’s medical staff today, Sacramento Kings forward Marvin Bagley III (right thumb fracture) has been cleared to resume full-contact basketball activities.

Bagley will be listed as day-to-day moving forward.

This is great news for the Kings, who are still awaiting the return of point guard De’Aaron Fox.

Good game by Richaun Holmes in Kings loss to Blazers

 

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The Kings fell to the Trail Blazers 127-116 in Portland yesterday, but a bright spot for Sacramento was the play of big-man Richaun Holmes.

Here’s the Sacramento Bee:

The Kings (8-12) were playing without guard Bogdan Bogdanovic, who joined point guard De’Aaron Fox and forward Marvin Bagley III on the injured list. Bogdanovic was held out with a right knee contusion, but his left hamstring injury was improving, the team said. He is listed as day-to-day.

C.J. McCollum scored 33 points, Hassan Whiteside turned in a monster performance and Carmelo Anthony had another big game for the Blazers (9-13). Damian Lillard had 24 points and 10 assists. Whiteside put up 22 points, 16 rebounds, seven assists and three blocked shots. Anthony finished with 20 points.

Richaun Holmes had a career-high 28 points and 10 rebounds for the Kings, who have lost 12 in a row in Portland since posting their last win there on Dec. 8, 2012. Buddy Hield scored 23 points. Nemanja Bjelica had 17 points, seven rebounds and four assists.

Holmes shot 11 of 14 as the starting center in this game.

The Kings are now 8-12 for the season. They’ve only had Marvin Bagley in action for one game, and De’Aaron Fox for nine. Neither player is ready to return just yet.

In battle of East contenders, Celtics beat Heat 112-93

In a must-watch game of upper Eastern conference teams Wednesday, the Boston Celtics handed the Miami Heat a loss.

The Boston Herald had this to say:

Miami came in with a homewrecking reputation. The Heat was the first road team to win in Milwaukee and Toronto this year — the latter on Tuesday night.

And when the Celtics fell behind by 11 points in the second quarter last night, the locals appeared headed down a familiar path. Ultimately, they remain undefeated at home.

By the time Jaylen Brown had hit his sixth 3-pointer with just under six minutes left last night, though, the threat was cleared away. The Celtics beat Miami, 112-93, with the wing forward scoring a season-high 31 points — one shy of tying his career high. Brown also spent most of his night chasing and being chased by Miami’s Jimmy Butler.

The latter, who has led the Heat’s hot start, led both sides with 37 points and six 3-pointers.

The best East teams early this season have been the Bucks, followed in no particular order by the Raptors, Celtics, Sixers and Heat. Anytime any of these teams play each other is must-watch. And once the Pacers have Victor Oladipo back in action, they’ll be in that mix as well. They’re almost there right now.