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Houston Rockets to try a smaller lineup

Here’s the Houston Chronicle on the Rockets shaking up their lineup:

The Rockets’ great two-centers experiment could be over.

If not over, it will likely be put on hiatus. With matchups against the smaller lineups of the 76ers tonight and Knicks on Thursday ahead, Rockets coach Kevin McHale apparently decided it is too big to succeed, at least for now.

McHale would not specify the lineup change he had in mind, but said there would be a change to go smaller than the combination of Dwight Howard and Omer Asik that has started every game this season. Second-year forward Terrence Jones started the second half on Monday and played 32 minutes, 15 more than he had played in the season’s first seven games combined. Omri Casspi has received the bulk of the minutes at power forward off the bench.

“We’re going to try something different here these next couple games with the big lineup,” McHale said. “I looked at that. Mixed results on the whole thing. With matchups, guys are a little smaller, so we’re going to go a little smaller.”

Lakers home sellout streak ends at 270 games

The struggle is real. At least, that’s what the cool kids like to say these days. Anyway, here’s the Los Angeles Times Blog:

The Lakers suddenly have some catching up to do with the Clippers, and not just in the Pacific Division standings.

The Lakers’ home sellout streak ended at 270 games Tuesday night when the team drew 18,426, just short of the capacity of 18,997, during a 116-95 victory over the New Orleans Pelicans at Staples Center. The Lakers had sold out 320 straight games including the playoffs.

The last non-sellout for the Lakers at Staples Center came Dec. 6, 2006, against New Orleans/Oklahoma City, when they drew 18,535.

Michael Carter-Williams gets a day off

Even young NBA rookies need the occasional day off. Here’s the Philadelphia Inquirer:

Michael Carter-Williams has been arguably the NBA’s best rookie over the first two weeks of the season. But after Monday’s 109-85 loss to the Spurs, the 76ers point guard is looking to bounce back from the worst night of his eight-game career.

To accomplish that, Carter-Williams is trying to get back into top shape, which is why he was given Tuesday’s practice off.

Carter-Williams went through the film work but didn’t do anything on the court. Coach Brett Brown said it was a precautionary day off.

“He has soreness in his left foot and we’re trying to be smart,” Brown said after Tuesday’s practice at the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine. “We have a bunch of games in a short period of time.”

Warriors guard Toney Douglas out at least two weeks

Golden State Warriors guard Toney Douglas was examined by team doctors today, who diagnosed him with a stress reaction in his left tibia.

Douglas is expected to miss a minimum of two weeks to rest the injury, after which he will be re-evaluated.

In seven games this season, Douglas is averaging 6.4 points, 1.6 rebounds and 1.6 assists in 16.0 minutes per contest. He is a backup, and comes off the bench.

DeJuan Blair playing well for Mavericks

Here’s the Fort Worth Star-Telegram blog on the fine addition rugged frontcourt man DeJuan Blair has been to Dallas:

DeJuan Blair calls this his new lease on life.

Saddled at the end of the San Antonio Spurs’ bench last season, Blair has been a key contributor for Dallas after signing a one-year, $884,293 free agent contract with the Mavericks in August. The five-year veteran backup center is averaging 8.7 points and 7.4 rebounds, and is fifth in the NBA in steals with 2.43 per game.

In describing his displeasure at being mired in Spurs coach Gregg Popovich’s doghouse to where he is now, Blair said it’s like going from the outhouse to the penthouse.

“Another man’s trash is another man’s treasure,” Blair said after Tuesday’s shoot around at American Airlines Center.

Utah Jazz waive Jamaal Tinsley

The Utah Jazz announced today that the team has waived guard Jamaal Tinsley. Following the move, Utah’s roster now stands at 14 players.

Tinsley (6-3, 188, Iowa State) appeared in eight games this season for Utah, averaging 1.1 points, 1.4 rebounds and 2.9 assists in 13.8 minutes per game.

Tinsley was signed as a free agent on October 26.

This could be one of Tinsley’s final stops in the NBA. We won’t be surprised if another team picks him up, though. But this certainly feels close to the end of the road for the crafty point guard.

Kings have no more excuses, says DeMarcus Cousins

Here’s the Sacramento Bee on the Kings transitioning away from their recent losing culture:

More than once last season, the Kings were booed at home for lackluster efforts.

And it hasn’t taken long for fans to become fed up with the same kind of Kings they’ve seen too much of in recent seasons, and the boo-birds have returned to Sleep Train Arena.

Changing ownership, the front office and coaches hasn’t immediately translated to a change in the losing culture. The team is on a five-game losing streak, thanks largely to old habits haunting them.

“We’ve been a team full of excuses,” said center DeMarcus Cousins. “And in the past, we really had an excuse. Now we don’t – it’s on us. Everything is set up for us now. It’s nothing we can complain about from the top to the coaches. Everything is set for us now. We just have to go out there and play. There’s no more excuses.”

Pelicans sign Lou Amundson and Josh Childress, waive Lance Thomas and Arinze Onuaku

The New Orleans Pelicans announced today that the team has signed Lou Amundson and Josh Childress, and has waived Lance Thomas and Arinze Onuaku.

Amundson, a University of Nevada-Las Vegas product, appeared in 18 games with New Orleans last season and averaged 2.4 points and 3.2 rebounds in 11.7 minutes of action. The 6’9” forward also spent time with the Minnesota Timberwolves and the Chicago Bulls last year. The veteran big holds career averages of 3.8 points, 3.6 rebounds and 0.7 blocks in 12.9 minutes in over 308 games.

Childress, a Stanford product, has appeared in 387 career games including 70 starts. The 6’8” seventh year player holds career averages of 9.2 points per game, 4.8 rebounds and 1.6 assists in 26.9 minutes per game. Childress last appeared for the Brooklyn Nets in the 2012-13 season playing 14 games.

Thomas, a 6’8” forward, appeared in 106 games (19 starts) with New Orleans, averaging 3.0 points and 2.3 rebounds in 12.4 minutes per game. Thomas appeared in five games for the Pelicans this year and averaged 1.2 points and 1.4 rebounds per game in 8.4 minutes.

Onuaku, a 6’9” forward, appeared in three games with New Orleans this season and averaged 1.0 points and 2.3 rebounds. The Syracuse product has appeared in 43 games over two seasons in the NBA Development League, including 38 games (32 starts) in the 2012-13 season for the Canton Charge of the NBA D-League, averaging 12.6 points and 9.5 rebounds in 23.7 minutes per game.

Danny Granger should be back at practice soon for Pacers

The 8-0 Indiana Pacers are off to a great start, and their depth should only increase soon. Here’s the Indianapolis Star:

After Indiana Pacers forward Danny Granger shot down reports about a setback with his surgically repaired left knee, coach Frank Vogel repeated Monday that the veteran will return to the practice court this week.

“I still think it’s going to be a new beginning of a process to get his game legs back under him and his game timing,” Vogel said before the Pacers hosted the Memphis Grizzlies at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. “So I’m not sure when his return date will be, but he’ll start practicing.”

The Pacers will not have a full practice today, so Granger, who is entering the final week of what was expected to be approximately a three-week absence with a calf strain, will participate in individual work and possibly 2-on-2 or 3-on-3 games. By Wednesday, Granger and the Pacers should be back to full practicing.

Timberwolves lose close game to Clippers

The Los Angeles Clippers are considered one of the best teams in the Western conference, and the Minnesota Timberwolves probably deserve to be in that conversation as well. So this was an early-season matchup worth watching. Here’s how it went down, as per the Minneapolis Star Tribune:

In January 2012, the Timberwolves danced off the Staples Center floor while star Kevin Love raised his arms out in defiance after his long three-point shot beat the Los Angeles Clippers at the final buzzer before a national ESPN audience.

On Monday, he held his head with both hands in anguish after his tying putback layup at the rim came up short and bounced back to him to end a 109-107 loss to the Clippers at another final buzzer.

The night before inside the very same arena, the Wolves celebrated a rout of the once-mighty Lakers that ended a six-year, 22-game losing streak to the 16-time NBA champions.

This time, the Wolves rallied twice in the final five minutes against the new glamour NBA team in town only to watch their chance to force overtime disappear not once, but twice in the final two seconds when putback attempts by both Love and Nikola Pekovic wouldn’t go.