NBA Blog: The NBA basketball news blog section of Inside Hoops
Chicago Bulls guard/forward Jimmy Butler sustained an injury to his right great toe against Charlotte on Monday night.
Subsequent examinations and an MRI confirmed a sprain (turf toe) to his right great toe.
Butler will not accompany the team on its current road trip and he is listed as week-to-week.
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The following is a medical update on Utah Jazz forward Marvin Williams, who suffered a fractured nose during the first half of the Jazz’s November 15 game vs. San Antonio and has played in each of the two subsequent Jazz games:
Williams did not accompany the team Tuesday to New Orleans, remaining in Salt Lake City to be fitted for a customized protective face mask. Following a medical consultation, it was determined that Williams will undergo a procedure to reduce the nasal fracture on Thursday in Salt Lake City. The outpatient procedure will be performed by Dr. Demetrios Skedros.
Williams will miss the Jazz’s game Wednesday at New Orleans, but is expected to re-join the team and be available for Friday’s game at Dallas.
Williams (6-9, 237, North Carolina) has played in seven games for the Jazz in 2013-14, averaging 7.6 points and 4.6 rebounds in 21.3 minutes per game. The 27-year-old Jazzman was originally selected by the Atlanta Hawks in the first round (second overall selection) of the 2005 NBA Draft, and has appeared in 567 career games (430 starts) and owns averages of 10.9 points, 5.1 rebounds and 1.3 assist in 29.5 minutes. He was acquired by the Jazz in a trade with the Hawks in exchange for guard Devin Harris on July 11, 2012.
Here’s the New York Post on early-season Brooklyn Nets struggles:
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After an underachieving start, the Nets used all kinds of adjectives to describe the mood around the team, and none of them were good. Paul Pierce went with angry, Kevin Garnett said dismal and even the normally taciturn Brook Lopez admitted they were disappointed in themselves.
The Nets (3-7) arguably are the biggest disappointment in the NBA, having dropped five of six, including a Monday loss to Portland that had rookie coach Jason Kidd trying to shoulder the blame. It’s misguided and overly simple; there is far too much blame to go around, and far too much misery as well.
“Dismal. No one’s happy about how we’re playing. No one likes the current state. But everybody’s willing and committed towards changing it. The way you change it is through work, and that’s what we’re doing,’’ Garnett said. “The blame’s on all of us. It’s not just on Jason. You can’t put the [blame] all on him. We’re players who obviously have to be professional, come out here and do our jobs.’’
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Memphis Grizzlies guard Tony Allen has been suspended one game without pay for kicking Chris Paul of the Los Angeles Clippers in the face, it was announced today by Rod Thorn, President, Basketball Operations.
That’s right, folks. Just in case you were wondering, kicking a player in the face is not considered a valid defensive basketball play. And now you know!
But seriously: Allen jumped high in the air and while it’s not like he wound up and unleashed a blatant, premeditated roundhouse kick, it was still a wild, out-of-control move, and the end result was what amounted to a boot to CP3’s head.
The incident, for which Allen was assessed a Flagrant Foul 2 and ejected, occurred with 1:51 remaining in the first quarter of the Grizzlies’ 106-102 win over the Clippers on Monday, Nov. 18, at Staples Center.
Allen will serve his suspension on Wednesday, Nov. 20 when the Grizzlies play the Golden State Warriors at Oracle Arena.
To view the play, click on this link.
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Warriors guard Stephen Curry has been diagnosed with a mild concussion after hitting his head on the court during the fourth quarter of last night’s 98-87 victory at Utah. The only symptom at this time is a headache, which has dissipated since last night.
Curry will not play in tomorrow night’s game against the Memphis Grizzlies and his status moving forward is day-to-day. In 10 games this season, he is averaging 19.9 points, 8.7 assists, 3.7 rebounds and 1.70 steals in 32.7 minutes per contest.
Read NBA fan reaction or share your opinion in this basketball forum topic.
Here’s the Atlanta Journal-Constitution blog on the parting of ways between the Hawks and forward Josh Smith this past offseason:
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At least they said hello.
Hawks general manager Danny Ferry has previously said the team did not make Josh Smith a contract offer once he became an unrestricted free agent this summer. Smith gave some more detail into the Hawks’ lack of interest this summer in a radio interview with 92.9 FM Monday.
“No, there wasn’t,” Smith said when asked if there was a contract offer. “During free agency, during that period, there were a lot of guys out in L.A. that were meeting with various teams. I was one of those guys. That’s where I work out in the summertime as well. The only time I saw the Hawks during free agency was when they came to one of my workouts just to say hello. I think they were meeting with Dwight Howard that day. They never came in or sat down with me during the free agency period to offer me anything.”
Here’s the Minneapolis Star Tribune blog on Chase Budinger, who is still out injured:
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Chase Budinger was back on the Target Center court Monday, taking shots.
But, at this point, that’s about all he’s doing, at least as far as basketball is concerned. Budinger, the Timberwolves forward, is still working his way back from Sept. 30 surgery on the same right knee he had work done on a season ago.
The good news is that this second procedure was not as extensive, and he should be back more quickly than he was last year. Budinger originally injured the meniscus in the knee on Nov. 10, 2012 in Chicago, and didn’t return to action until March 21, 2013. He hopes to be back more quickly this time, but no timetable has been set for his return.
The Golden State Warriors have signed free agent center Dewayne Dedmon as a Call-Up from the Warriors’ D-League affiliate in Santa Cruz, the team announced today.
Dedmon, 24, appeared in two preseason games with the Santa Cruz Warriors, averaging 13.5 points, 12.0 rebounds, 4.00 blocks and 1.50 steals in 27.5 minutes, securing double-doubles in both contests and converting on 11-of-17 shots from the field (64.7 percent). He is the second player this season to be called up to the NBA from the D-League (joining Utah’s Diante Garrett) and is the 18th D-League Call-Up in Golden State Warriors history.
The 7’0’’ center was originally signed by Golden State as a free agent on September 23 and appeared in five preseason games with the club, tallying 3.4 points, 4.0 rebounds and 1.00 blocks in 10.3 minutes. He was waived on October 25.
Dedmon was not selected in the 2013 NBA Draft following a two-year career at USC, where he averaged 7.1 points, 6.7 rebounds and 1.67 blocks over 51 games (49 starts). In 31 games (29 starts) as a redshirt junior this past season, he averaged 6.7 points, 7.0 rebounds, 2.13 blocks and 1.10 steals in 22.3 minutes per contest. Dedmon did not play organized basketball until his senior year of high school due to religious reasons and played one season at Antelope Valley College in his hometown of Lancaster, CA, before transferring to USC.
He will wear uniform #21.
The new NBA season is still young, but here’s the Fort Worth Star-Telegram blog with a positive note on the 2013-14 Dallas Mavericks:
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A mere 10 games into the season and the Dallas Mavericks are surprisingly leading the NBA in steals with 10.2 per game.
That’s a monumental accomplishment for a team that’s never finished higher than fourth in steals in its entire 34-year history.
Asked what he attributes his team’s steals’ total to, coach Rick Carlisle said: “A lot of gambling, probably. Steals can be a great thing and it also can at times mess you up if you swing and miss a lot.
“But we’ve got some guys with pretty good anticipation and quickness in (Monta) Ellis, and (DeJuan) Blair’s gotten quite a few steals. As long as we’re within our system when we”re going to for them, I’m OK — as long as we’re in a position of strength — and generally we’ve been OK with that.”
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The Miami Heat’s LeBron James and the Los Angeles Clippers’ Blake Griffin today were named NBA Eastern and Western Conference Players of the Week, respectively, for games played Monday, Nov. 11, through Sunday, Nov. 17.
James averaged a league-best 34.0 points in leading the Heat to a 3-0 week. He led Miami in scoring in all three games and shot .702 from the field (fifth in the league), .625 from three-point range, and .810 from the foul line. On Nov. 15, James tallied 39 points on 14-of-18 shooting and added six rebounds and four assists as the Heat topped the Dallas Mavericks 110-104.
Griffin helped the Clippers to a 3-0 week behind averages of 25.7 points (tied for third in the Western Conference), 11.3 rebounds (ninth in the conference), 4.7 assists and 1.0 steals. He posted a point-rebound double-double in all three games. On Nov. 13, Griffin scored 22 points and added 12 rebounds, seven assists and three steals as the Clippers beat the Oklahoma City Thunder 111-103.
Other nominees for the Eastern and Western Conference Players of the Week were Atlanta’s Jeff Teague, Chicago’s Luol Deng, Denver’s Ty Lawson, Golden State’s Klay Thompson, Houston’s Jeremy Lin, Minnesota’s Kevin Love, Oklahoma City’s Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook, Orlando’s Arron Afflalo and Portland’s LaMarcus Aldridge.