NBA Teams – Page 546 – NBA Blog

Pistons off to great start this season

The Pistons are off to a great start. Will it last? Too soon to tell. Their offense has been pretty good; their defense average. At the very least, Detroit looks like they should compete to make the playoffs. That’s a huge step in the right direction. They’re a team to watch these next few weeks as we determine just how real they are. For more, here’s Michigan Live reporting:

Playing on back-to-back nights against a reeling team on Saturday, the Detroit Pistons made too many mistakes defensively, went cold from the floor in the first half and let the Sacramento Kings hang around too long.

It was a game last season’s Pistons might have lost.

But this year’s Pistons have a kind of swagger about them, a renewed confidence and much resolve. It wasn’t their best game, but they did what they were supposed to do, grinding out a 108-99 victory at Little Caesars Arena.

At 7-3, this is the Pistons’ best 10-game start since 2008-09. They are 3-0 on the second night of back-to-backs (they were 3-14 last season) and have won the first two games of a five-game homestand.

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Hawks sign Tyler Cavanaugh to two-way contract

The Atlanta Hawks have signed Tyler Cavanaugh to a two-way contract.

Cavanaugh has played in one game this season for the Erie BayHawks, Atlanta’s G League affiliate, compiling 19 points, 11 rebounds, one block and one steal in 35 minutes (8-13 FGs, 3-5 3FGs). He was also a member of the Hawks’ Summer League team, competing in Las Vegas this past July. He originally signed with the Hawks on September 6, 2017, appeared in four preseason contests, and was waived on October 13, 2017.

He spent his first two college seasons at Wake Forest before transferring to George Washington. As a graduate student at GW last season, he appeared in 35 games (all starts), leading the team in points (18.3), rebounds (8.4), free throws made (173) and attempted (204) in 32.2 minutes (.448 FG%, .409 3FG%, .848 FT%). He was named to the A-10 All-Conference Second Team and the All-Academic Team. The 6’9 Cavanaugh started 38 games in 2015-16 and put in 16.8 points, 7.6 rebounds and 1.2 assists in 30.4 minutes (.505 FG%, .417 3FG%, .827 FT%), leading the Colonials to the National Invitational Tournament (NIT) title, earning Most Outstanding Player honors. He averaged 8.8 points and 3.8 rebounds in 21.2 minutes in 33 games as a sophomore at Wake Forest, and tallied 5.0 points and 2.5 rebounds in 16.7 minutes as a freshman in 31 contests. The Syracuse, NY native will wear No. 34.

The 2017-18 season marks the first year of two-way contracts in the NBA. Only players with four-or-fewer years of NBA experience are permitted to sign two-way contracts. Per league rules, teams are allowed to have up to two two-way players on their roster at any given time, in addition to their 15-man regular season roster. A two-way player for the Hawks will primarily play for the BayHawks but can spend up to 45 days with Atlanta, not including any time prior to the start of Erie’s training camp and at the conclusion of their season.

John Wall reportedly has minor shoulder strain

Here’s the Washington Post with what’s hopefully a minor update about Wizards guard John Wall, whose shoulder sounds like it could use a bit of rest:

John Wall could miss his first game of the season while dealing with a left shoulder injury.

Wall, who has started all eight games while averaging 20.5 points and 10.4 assists per game, received treatment Saturday on his sore and sprained shoulder but is considered “questionable” to play ahead of the Washington Wizards’ Sunday night matchup against the Toronto Raptors, according to a person with knowledge of the situation.

The previous night as the Wizards hosted the Cleveland Cavaliers, Wall made shoulder-to-shoulder contact with 6-foot-11 forward Channing Frye and dropped to the hardwood where he remained longer than usual. Following the Wizards’ 130-122 loss, Wall underwent X-rays, which came back negative, and exited the arena with his left arm in a sling.

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Larry Nance Jr out with hand injury

Larry Nance Jr., who fractured the second metacarpal on his left hand in last night’s game against the Portland Trail Blazers, had successful surgery today to repair the fracture. The surgery was performed by Dr. Steven S. Shin.

Nance Jr. is expected to miss 4-6 weeks.

The third-year pro started all eight games this season, with averages of 10.6 points, 7.5 rebounds and 1.4 steals per game.

Nate McMillan discusses Ben Simmons

Sixers rookie Ben Simmons doesn’t just look like a talented first-year player. He appears to be a talented star by any measure, new player in the league or otherwise. Here’s the Philadelphia Inquirer reporting:

Ben Simmons is making life difficult for opposing coaches to create a game plan. The rookie point guard’s size alone makes defensive matchups a tricky area to navigate.

“It’s unique in the sense that Simmons is a 6-10 point guard. We haven’t seen that in a long time,” Pacers coach Nate McMillan said Friday morning, hours before his team’s game against the Sixers. “LeBron [James] is about as close as a big guard that’s handling the ball as much as he does. Magic [Johnson] was that other guy. The league really hasn’t seen the big point guards in a long time.”

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Marcus Morris set to make Celtics season debut

Despite their loss of Gordon Hayward at the start of the season, the Celtics are off to an excellent start. And they’re about to get better as new addition Marcus Morris is ready to make his season debut. Here’s ESPN Boston reporting:

Boston Celtics forward Marcus Morris will make his 2017-18 season debut during Friday night’s visit to the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Morris, acquired this summer in a swap that sent Avery Bradley to the Detroit Pistons, missed the start of Boston’s training camp while on trial for aggravated assault in Arizona. He played in only one exhibition game after being acquitted and the team held him out of game action at the start of the regular season while Morris both got himself in better shape and battled knee soreness.

“Very excited, man,” Morris said at Boston’s shootaround Friday morning. “This will be a good game for me to come back, anyway. I’m excited to come back.”

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John Crotty to do Heat TV next season

Here’s the Palm Beach Post reporting Heat broadcast news that will take effect next season:

John Crotty is moving over from radio to television.

Crotty will become the Miami Heat’s next analyst for all TV broadcasts beginning next season, the team announced today. Crotty, 48, will work alongside play-by-play broadcaster Eric Reid, replacing longtime analyst Tony Fiorentino.

Crotty, who played 48 games for the Heat in 1996-97, has been a member of the broadcast team since January 2005 when he became the Heat’s radio analyst. He will become the seventh person to serve as the TV analyst for the franchise and the second former player.

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Heat assistant video coordinator dealing with health issues

Here’s the Palm Beach Post reporting on a member of the Heat who the entire squad is rooting for right now:

The Miami Heat are keeping a popular member of the family on their minds while on their longest road trip of season.

Dan Bisaccio, an assistant video coordinator, is in South Florida while dealing with health issues. The Heat have been wearing T-shirts this week that read ’10 Day,’ which is Bisaccio’s nickname.

Spoelstra gave a “shout out” to Bisaccio, 28, on Thursday while explaining the shirts.

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Dion Waiters adding to his game

Dion Waiters is a fun player to watch. To discuss. To listen to. He’s also better than a lot of people thought he was. Here’s the Palm Beach Post with more:

Dion Waiters has always been able to get to the rim. That has never really been a question when it comes to Waiters’ game.

But will Waiters ever become an efficient finisher once he gets to the basket? That’s the question that has followed the 25-year-old guard throughout his NBA career.

Since joining the Heat in the summer of 2016, Waiters has made improving this aspect of his game a priority. And Heat coaches have stayed on top of him about it.

It’s clear that the extra work is paying off.

Among players averaging 12 or more drives per game this season entering Wednesday, Waiters is ranked sixth in the league with a field-goal percentage of 51.4 on drives ahead of players like Ben Simmons, Russell Westbrook and even teammate Goran Dragic. And Waiters is doing it on a troublesome left ankle that’s already caused him issues this season.

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Gordon Hayward speaks on injury

The Celtics began the season locked and loaded, then right away in Game 1 new small forward addition Gordon Hayward suffered a horrible injury. Here’s Boston.com with some of his written comments today about the entire ordeal:

On his thoughts immediately following the injury: “It was like once my brain figured out what had happened, I was hit with shots of pain. The training staff came running over to me super fast, but however long it was—three seconds, five seconds—I just remember sitting there, looking at my foot the wrong way, and it felt like an eternity. Dr. Rosneck, the Cavaliers doctor, braced me as he explained that they wanted to try and pop my ankle back into place. I held on, and the moment they did it, there was just a massive shot of pain, probably the most pain I’ve ever felt in my life.”

On the current state of the Celtics: “We have such a young, exciting team filled with incredible character guys. I owe it to all of them to find my way to contribute. Some of the younger players will have to grow up a little quicker than was planned. They’re going to be thrust into situations where they’ll have a lot more responsibility. But this will be terrific for their careers. There is nothing better than experience in the NBA, and they’re going to get a lot of it. I still believe that by the end of the season, we can be something truly special.”

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And here’s ESPN.com with more:

Hayward acknowledged that his surgery included both repairing the bone he fractured in his ankle and repairing torn ligaments. While some have wondered if he might be able to return this season, Hayward wrote that he does not expect to be back…

In detailing the moment of the injury in his blog, Hayward wrote, “Immediately, I knew something was off, but when I landed, it wasn’t a huge amount of pain. I rolled over and saw my foot, and it was pointed in completely the wrong direction. My first thought was, ‘Oh. This isn’t good. There’s something very wrong here.'”

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