Category: NBA Teams

NBA teams blog

Mavericks waive Jonathan Gibson, sign Pierre Jackson

Mavericks waive Jonathan Gibson, sign Pierre Jackson

The Dallas Mavericks announced yesterday (Tuesday) that they have signed free agent guard Pierre Jackson.

In a related move, the Mavericks also requested waivers on guard Jonathan Gibson.

Jackson (5-11, 176) has appeared in 10 games (all starts) for the Mavericks’ D-League affiliate, the Texas Legends, this season. He averaged 29.1 points, 4.5 rebounds, 6.0 assists, 1.9 steals and 35.7 minutes per game in those 10 contests.

A native of Las Vegas, Jackson is no stranger to Texas after transferring from College of Southern Idaho to play the final two years of his collegiate career at Baylor University in Waco. While at Baylor, Jackson averaged 16.7 points, 6.5 assists and 3.3 rebounds in 74 games while earning Second Team All-Big 12 twice and Associated Press Honorable Mention All-America in 2012.

Jackson was drafted in the second round (No. 42 overall) by the Philadelphia 76ers in the 2013 NBA Draft and had his draft rights, along with Jrue Holiday, traded to the New Orleans Pelicans in exchange for Nerlens Noel. Jackson spent the 2013-14 campaign with ASVEL Basket in France. He returned from overseas to compete with the Pelicans Summer League squad in the summer of 2014, but suffered a ruptured right Achilles that cost him the season. Jackson played with the 76ers Summer League team in 2015, but was later waived after appearing in three preseason games for Philadelphia.

Jackson holds career D-League averages of 25.9 points, 3.6 rebounds, 5.6 assists, 1.7 steals and 36.9 minutes in 49 games (37 starts) with the Idaho Stampede and Texas Legends. On Feb. 4, 2014, he set the D-League single-game scoring record with 58 points against the Legends (Jordan McRae later broke it with a 61-point game in January 2016 and Russ Smith topped that with 65-point night in March 2016). Jackson was named to the Futures All-Star roster for the 2014 NBA D-League All-Star Game.

Jackson will wear No. 55 for the Mavericks.

Pistons beat Cavs as LeBron James sits

Pistons beat Cavs as LeBron James sits

A five-game losing streak that tormented the Pistons in recent weeks, prompting tension inside the locker room and a shuffling of the starting lineup, has finally ended.

The Pistons jumped out to an early lead Monday then held serve rest of the way, using a late-third quarter rally that stretched into the fourth to take down the defending NBA champion Cleveland Cavaliers, 106-90, at the Palace.

Cleveland was playing without LeBron James, instead opting to give the 12-time All-Star the night off after playing 40 minutes the night prior.

“We were very hungry,” Pistons point guard Reggie Jackson said. “We dropped I don’t know how many in a row. We dropped the last two that were very tough, against Memphis and Golden State, and I thought we played well but didn’t come out with a win.

“We knew they played yesterday, so we got a jump on them early.”

— Michigan Live

Gerald Henderson struggling with hip pain

Gerald Henderson struggling with hip pain

Gerald Henderson’s left-hip pain was too intolerable for him remain on the court.

The Philadelphia 76ers shooting guard was laboring on the Golden 1 Center with 8 minutes, 58 seconds remaining in Monday night’s 102-100 setback to the Sacramento Kings. Henderson spoke with Sixers coach Brett Brown, who basically came on the court to call a timeout as a way to get his veteran leader out of the game.

— Philadelphia Inquirer

Lakers beat injured Clippers on Xmas Day

Lakers beat injured Clippers on Xmas Day

A win offers breathing room for the Los Angeles Lakers, and on Christmas Day, they got some.

Fittingly, Laker Nick Young hit the game’s last field goal. He is the only Laker who was also on the team in 2013, the last time the Lakers beat the Clippers before an 11-game losing streak — the longest such streak they’ve had to any team since the franchise moved to Los Angeles.

Below are five takeaways from last night’s 111-102 victory.

1. The L.A. Clippers were shorthanded, missing starters Blake Griffin and Chris Paul. Raymond Felton, the point guard who started, was battling a fever, and J.J. Redick left the game in the second half with an injury. But the Lakers have also been hurting for most of December. That led Young to offer this: “ A win is a win. Nobody cared when we were hurt and injured. Why should we?”

2. In the second quarter, Lakers rookie Brandon Ingram picked up a technical foul. That call seemed to energize him, and he was suddenly more aggressive and assertive offensively.

— LA Times

Larry Nance Jr out four weeks with knee injury

Los Angeles Lakers forward Larry Nance Jr., who suffered an injury to his left knee December 20 at Charlotte, was examined prior to Sunday’s game by team physician Dr. David McAllister of UCLA Health. The diagnosis is a bone bruise.

Nance Jr. is expected to be out approximately four weeks.

The Lakers are 12-22 this season, which is the 11th best record in the Western conference.

The team’s leading scorer this season has been guard Louis Williams, averaging 18.7 ppg. Williams has come off the bench for all 34 of his games this year.

The 2017 Sixers draft situation

In possession of their own pick and the Los Angeles Lakers’ top-three protected pick, the 76ers will probably be picking twice in the lottery. The good news for the Sixers is that this draft is shaping up to be a pretty deep one. Even better news is that it’s deep with what they need: guards and wings.

Markelle Fultz is the front-runner to be the No. 1 overall pick. He’d be an excellent fit as a point guard who is more of a scorer/shooter (49 percent from three) than a facilitator to play with Simmons (not to say Fultz is a poor passer). Malik Monk of Kentucky is an undersized combo guard who, like Fultz, can light up the scoreboard. Lonzo Ball of UCLA is another combo guard with the ability to shoot (43 percent from three) and dish (8.3 assists).

Then there’s athletic wings like high-flying Kansas freshman Josh Jackson who can do a little bit of everything. The ACC has two long, athletic wings that can wreak havoc on both ends in Florida State’s Isaac Austin and Duke’s Jayson Tatum. Landing one of these guys would give the Sixers scary length and a potentially disruptive defense.

— CSN Philly

Quick Take: At some point, two things have to happen for the Sixers: 1) Full health. 2) A clear indication that their season will be one of serious competition, and not riding the bottom of the standings anymore. Perhaps that’ll happen in 2017-18.

Will Barton hopes to stay with Nuggets

Will Barton hopes to stay with Nuggets

Denver Nuggets guard Will Barton doesn’t have to seek it out to know what’s going on. The information comes to him.

In the past calendar year he’s been one of the most coveted players on the Nuggets roster. The Nuggets were offered a first-round pick for him last year, but they declined.

Barton hopes he stays with Denver.

“It’s tough but you hear a lot of stuff going around,” Barton told The Denver Post. “I don’t pay any attention to it, I try not to let it enter my mind and enter things that I’ve got going on. I’m here, I like it here. I just try to work hard every day, perform, and just get wins for my teammates. That’s all I care about, just focusing on the Denver Nuggets.”

— Denver Post

Quick Take: Averaging 14.3 ppg, Barton is the third leading scorer on the 12-17 Nuggets this season, behind Wilson Chandler (16.8 ppg) and Danilo Gallinari (16.4 ppg). He’s having a solid season.

J.R. Smith out 12-14 weeks after thumb surgery

jr smith

Cavalier guard J.R. Smith’s surgery to repair a complex fracture of his right thumb was completed this morning at the Crystal Clinic Orthopaedic Center in Montrose, Ohio. The surgery was performed by renowned hand surgeon Dr. Thomas Graham of Northwell Health of New York. Dr. TJ Reilly of the Crystal Clinic assisted. Also present was Dr. Richard D. Parker of Cleveland Clinic Sports Health. Smith will now undergo a period of recovery and rehabilitation for his thumb and his return to play timeline is currently projected at 12-14 weeks. His status will be updated as appropriate.

George Karl takes shots at Carmelo Anthony in new book

George Karl takes shots at Carmelo Anthony in new book

It has been more than five years since Carmelo Anthony played for George Karl, but that hasn’t stopped his old coach from taking shots at him.

Karl has a new book coming out in January, Furious George, which might make his former Nuggets players angrier than anyone. Karl’s book features a number of blindsided attacks on Anthony, who he coached in Denver from Anthony’s second season until he was traded in 2011.

““Carmelo was a true conundrum for me in the six years I had him,” Karl wrote. “He was the best offensive player I ever coached. He was also a user of people, addicted to the spotlight, and very unhappy when he had to share it.

“He really lit my fuse with his low demand for himself on defense. He had no commitment to the hard, dirty work of stopping the other guy. My ideal – probably every coach’s ideal – is when your best player also is your leader. But since Carmelo only played hard on one side of the ball, he made it plain and simple he couldn’t lead the Nuggets, even though he said he wanted to. Coaching him meant working around his defense and compensating for his attitude.”

Anthony knew the questions were coming and he took the high road after the Knicks beat the Magic, 106-95, mostly laughing off the comments.

“Nothing disappoints me anymore,” Anthony said. “I’m past being disappointed. I just hope that he finds happiness in what he’s doing. His book, hopefully will bring him happiness.

— Bergen Record

Quick Take: This is great publicity for the book. We’ll be reading it.