NBA Teams – Page 922 – NBA Blog

Channing Frye elbow injury is not a fracture

Here’s the Orlando Sentinel reporting some relatively good news about a key member of the Magic:

$Channing Frye elbow injury is not a fracture$

In the midst of a three-game losing streak, the Orlando Magic needed some good news.

That welcome news arrived when X-rays of Channing Frye’s injured right elbow were examined.

The X-rays revealed no fractures, a team official said Sunday. Frye’s availability to practice and play in games will be determined on a day-to-day basis.

Frye, a 31-year-old power forward, sat out the entire second half of the Magic’s 98-90 loss to the Charlotte Hornets on Saturday night because of the injury, which was labeled as a strain.

Hawks, Jeff Teague enjoying great season

Here’s the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reporting on the Hawks and point guard Jeff Teague, with stats through Saturday’s games:

The Hawks boast the best record in the Eastern Conference and Teague directs the well-balanced offensive attack. Teague is the Hawks’ leading scorer through 33 games with an average of 17.3 points. The total is good for just 30th in the NBA. Teague has scored in double figures 22 times this season, including 16 20-point games. He is on pace to increase his scoring average in each of his six seasons.

The Hawks’ offense is all about pace and ball movement as they share the wealth better than nearly every team in the NBA. The Hawks are third in the league in assists at 25.3 per game. Their season totals include 30 games of at least 20 assists and 20 games of at least 25 assists. They have reached the 30-assist mark five times. Teague is the man directing that facet of the offense most of the time as well. He leads the team and his 10th in the league with 7.0 assists per game.

Teague has led the Hawks in scoring 10 times and in assists in 26 of his 30 games. He also adds 2.7 rebounds and 1.7 steals, 11th in the NBA, to his all-around totals.

Jazz cut Toure` Murry to clear roster space

Here’s the Salt Lake Tribune reporting Jazz news from Sunday:

Toure’ Murry finally got into the books Saturday night.

A day later, he’s off of the roster.

The Utah Jazz on Sunday waived the second-year combo guard, clearing a roster spot that sources say will be used to bring guard Elijah Millsap up from the D-League.

With injuries to Alec Burks, Rodney Hood and Patrick Christopher, the Jazz have been in search of help at the wing and Murry apparently was not in the team’s plans going forward.

Julius Randle will have foot surgery Tuesday

Los Angeles Lakers rookie forward Julius Randle will undergo surgery on Tuesday morning to replace the screw in the fifth metatarsal of his right foot. The surgery will be performed by Dr. David Thordarson of the Cedars-Sinai Orthopaedic Center.

It was previously declared that Randle would miss the remainder of the 2014-15 season after suffering a fractured tibia of his right leg in the season opener on October 28.

Wesley Johnson suffers strained right hip flexor

Los Angeles Lakers forward Wesley Johnson sustained a strained right hip flexor in tonight’s game against the Indiana Pacers and will not return. Additionally, Johnson will not accompany the team to Portland for tomorrow night’s game.

Johnson will have an MRI in Los Angeles tomorrow and an update on his status will be given at that time.

Eric Moreland out for season after shoulder surgery

Sacramento Kings rookie forward Eric Moreland underwent surgery Saturday to repair a torn labrum in his left shoulder. The surgery was performed by Dr. Arthur Ting in Fremont, California, after an initial consultation with Kaiser Permanente.

Moreland will begin rehabilitation immediately and should be ready for NBA Summer League play.

The 6-10 forward totaled two points (1-1 FG) and one rebound in two minutes off the bench in three games with the Kings this season. He averaged 13.7 points (.592 FG%), 12.7 rebounds and 1.4 assists per game in seven contests with the Reno Bighorns.

Cavs GM says coach David Blatt`s job is absolutely safe

Here’s the Northeast Ohio Media Group reporting on the Cavs:

Cavaliers General Manger David Griffin says head coach David Blatt isn’t going anywhere.

He met with members of the media prior to his team taking on the Dallas Mavericks on Sunday and discussed the rumors surrounding his head coach and gave an update on where they’re on the trading circuit.

Here is Griffin’s presser transcribed centered on Blatt and trades.

“This narrative of our coaching situation is truly ridiculous. It is a non-story. It’s a non-narrative. Coach Blatt is our coach. He’s going to remain our coach. Do not write that as a vote of confidence. He never needed one. It was never a question. So don’t write it that way. I heard the entire audio file of LeBron James’ comments. No more than three different times he said, ‘We’re growing together everyday, the team grows together everyday and I’m happy with who we have at the helm.’ But that wasn’t a sexy pool quote, so we kept looking for something else until we could pool something that sounded negative. That narrative is done. No change is being made, period.”

Utah Jazz waive Toure` Murry

The Utah Jazz have waived guard Toure’ Murry.

Murry (6-5, 195, Wichita State) was originally signed as a free agent on Aug. 28 and appeared in one regular season game for the Jazz. He also had two assignments with Jazz’s exclusive NBA Development League affiliate, the Idaho Stampede (Nov. 13-Dec. 2 and Dec. 31-Jan. 3), where he saw action in seven games (six starts) and averaged 13.6 points, 5.6 rebounds, 4.4 assists and 2.1 steals in 31.3 minutes of play.

Following the move, the Jazz roster now stands at 14 players.

The team is 12-22 so far this season. They’re being led by small forward Gordon Hayward (18.9 ppg), Derrick Favors (15.4 ppg), Enes Kanter and Alec Burks, who both average 13.9 ppg — though Burks is injured and will miss the rest of the season.

Lakers recall Tarik Black and Jordan Clarkson from D-League

Late Saturday night, the Los Angeles Lakers recalled center Tarik Black and guard Jordan Clarkson from the Los Angeles D-Fenders (D-League).

In his first appearance with the D-Fenders, Black recorded a double-double with 23 points and 12 rebounds in 33 minutes of action. Clarkson netted a game-high 35 points, handed out 11 assists and grabbed six rebounds in 44 minutes for Los Angeles. In five games with the D-Fenders this season, Clarkson is averaging 22.6 points, 7.8 assists and 5.0 rebounds per game.

Rajon Rondo says he had not played defense for several seasons

Here’s Boston.com reporting on former Celtics point guard Rajon Rondo, who now plays for the Dallas Mavericks:

Prior to his season-high 29-point performance Friday night against the Celtics, former team captain Rajon Rondo admitted to the media that his defense hadn’t been there during the last two years of rebuilding in Boston.

While addressing a question about the Mavericks’ improved defense since his arrival in a trade in mid-December, Rondo acknowledged what many Celtics fans had seen lately: his defensive effort was not his focus most nights in green.

“I haven’t played defense in a couple of years,” Rondo explained. “I’ve been able to hide it a lot with Avery Bradley on the ball. He’s helped me out, the young guy. But here [in Dallas] they expect me to play defense. And in the West, if you don’t play defense you’ll get embarrassed every night at the point guard position. I took it as a challenge [for] myself.”