Dillon Brooks suspended, Donovan Mitchell fined

Memphis Grizzlies guard-forward Dillon Brooks has been suspended one game without pay and Cleveland Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell has been fined $20,000 for their roles in an on-court altercation, it was announced today by Joe Dumars, Executive Vice President, Head of Basketball Operations.

After missing a layup and falling to the floor, Brooks initiated the altercation by striking Mitchell in the groin area in an unsportsmanlike manner. Mitchell then escalated the situation by throwing the game ball at and pushing Brooks, after which both players continued to physically engage with one another.

Brooks was assessed a Flagrant Foul 2 and ejected, and Mitchell was given a technical foul and ejected.

The incident occurred with 5:48 remaining in the third quarter of the Cavaliers’ 128-113 victory over the Grizzlies on Feb. 2 at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.

Brooks will serve his suspension Sunday, Feb. 5 when the Grizzlies play host to the Toronto Raptors.

NBA national TV schedule change for Tue, Feb. 7, 2023

An NBA on TNT update for Tuesday, February 7, 2023:

The Phoenix at Brooklyn game will now be televised by TNT.

The Oklahoma City at L.A. Lakers game will now be televised by TNT, with game time changed to 10:00 PM ET / 7:00 PM local.

The Atlanta at New Orleans game will no longer be televised by TNT.

The Minnesota at Denver game will no longer be televised by TNT, with game time changed to 9:00 PM ET / 7:00 PM local.

Nuggets coach Michael Malone will coach Team LeBron in 2023 NBA All-Star Game

Denver Nuggets Head Coach Michael Malone has been named the Western Conference Coach of the Month for games played in January.

Additionally, Malone and his coaching staff have secured the top seed in the Western Conference through games played on February 5th, earning them the right to coach Team LeBron in the 2023 NBA All-Star Game.

Coach Malone led the Nuggets to a 12-4 record (.750) in January, the best record in the entire NBA during that span. The Nuggets won a season-high nine straight games from Jan. 5 to Jan. 20 and they also won nine consecutive home games as part of their season-long 16 game streak during the month as well. Denver ranked 1st in the NBA in Net Rating (+8.0), 4th in offensive rating (119.4) and 4th in defensive rating (111.4) while maintaining the number one seed in the West. On the season the Nuggets currently sit at the top of the Western Conference with a record of 35-16 while ranking 1st in the NBA offensive rating (117.4), field goal percentage (.508) and three-point percentage (.397), 2nd in Assists (28.6) and 3rd in net rating (4.1).

Michael Malone earns this honor for the second time in his coaching career (April ’21) and is just the third Nuggets coach to win the award multiple times (George Karl, Doug Moe). Coach Malone is in his eighth season as Head Coach for the Nuggets, compiling 349 total regular season wins with Denver (third in franchise history) and 21 playoff wins (tied for second in franchise history). Since Malone took over prior to the 2015-16 season, the Nuggets have seen the postseason on three occasions including a Western Conference Finals appearance in 2020, the first for the franchise since 2009. Denver has won four playoff series over the last four seasons, after winning a total of four in the previous 32 years.

Mavericks sign Chris Silva to 10-day contract

The Dallas Mavericks have signed forward Chris Silva to a 10-day contract.

Silva (6-8, 234) joins Dallas after beginning the year with the G League’s College Park Skyhawks, where he averaged 14.2 points (.586 FG%, .781 FT%), 7.6 rebounds, 2.3 assists, 0.9 blocks and 22.4 minutes in 11 regular-season games (10 starts) with the club.

Silva went undrafted in the 2019 NBA Draft and began his career with the Miami Heat on a Two-Way contract in 2019-20. Silva appeared in 69 NBA games with Miami, Sacramento and Minnesota from 2019-20 to 2021-22, averaging 2.8 points (.606 FG%) and 2.7 rebounds in 7.6 minutes per game.

The Libreville, Gabon native was a four-year player at South Carolina, where he increased his scoring average across all four seasons, from 5.4 ppg as a freshman in 2015-16 to 15.2 ppg as a senior in 2018-19. He started all 37 games for the Gamecocks’ Final Four team in 2017 and was selected as a member of the First Team All-SEC team in 2018, in addition to earning SEC Co-Defensive Player of the Year honors that same year.

While at South Carolina, Silva shared the floor with current Mavericks Two-Way player AJ Lawson in the 2018-19 season, when Silva was a senior and Lawson was a freshman for the Gamecocks. The duo also shared the floor with College Park in the G League earlier this season.

Silva is only the second player from Gabon to play in the NBA, joining Stephane Lasme who suited up in 16 career NBA games for Miami and Golden State. Silva’s father was a 6-11 center on the Gabonese national team and his mother was a track star. Silva attended Roselle Catholic High School in New Jersey, where he helped the Lions to a state championship as a senior.

Silva will wear No. 30 for the Mavericks.

Celtics interim coach Joe Mazzulla will coach Team Giannis in 2023 NBA All-Star Game

Boston Celtics interim head coach Joe Mazzulla and his staff will coach Team Giannis in the 2023 NBA All-Star Game, which will be played on Sunday, Feb. 19 at Vivint Arena in Salt Lake City.

The Celtics clinched the best record in the Eastern Conference on Jan. 30 with a 36-15 overall record and own the highest win percentage in the NBA (.706). Boston ranks third in the NBA in points per game (117.8) and owns the highest plus/minus of any team while holding opponents to an average 112.3 points per game.

Mazzulla becomes the eighth coach in Celtics history to be given the honor of coaching an NBA All-Star Game, joining: Brad Stevens (2017), Doc Rivers (2008, 2011), Chris Ford (1991), K.C. Jones (1984-1987), Bill Fitch (1982), Tom Heinsohn (1972-1974, 1976) and Red Auerbach (1957-1967).

This is only the third time in the last 24 seasons that an All-Star team will be guided by a first-year NBA head coach.

Pacers sign Myles Turner to contract extension

The Indiana Pacers have signed center Myles Turner to a multi-year contract extension.

Per the Indianapolis Star, “Turner received approximately $58 million in new money through the 2025-26 season. According to news reports, Turner renegotiated his contract to add $17.1 million this year in addition to approximately $41 million over the next two seasons.”

Turner, who was originally selected by the Pacers with the 11th overall pick in the 2015 NBA Draft has appeared in 473 career regular-season games, posting averages of 13.2 points, 6.8 rebounds, and 2.3 blocks in 28.8 minutes per game. Additionally, he was named to the NBA All-Rookie Second Team and was selected to participate in the 2017 NBA Rising Stars Challenge during All-Star weekend. Turner led the league in blocked shots per game (2.7) and total blocked shots (199) during the 2018-19 season, and then again led the league in blocked shots per game (3.4) in the 2020-21 season. He is currently fourth all-time in Pacers history in blocked shots (1,086) and is second all-time in blocked shots per game (2.3).

In 2015, Turner introduced the W.A.R.M. (“Work As Role Models”) initiative, which was created to provided assistance and resources to those less fortunate, particularly those experiencing homelessness. His support of the W.A.R.M. program will continue this season when he hosts an event with his “Turner’s Block” fan section to create and assemble wellness kits for distribution following the Pacers game vs. Cleveland on Sunday, February 5, 2023.

Weekly Houston Rockets notes: Jan. 30, 2023

Weekly positive-minded Houston Rockets team notes:

Jabari Smith Jr. had 12 rebounds, 3 blocks and 2 steals in the win at Detroit on 1/28. He is the only rookie to have posted those numbers in a single game this season and is the first Rockets rookie to have done so since Hakeem Olajuwon.

Alperen Sengun averaged 18.3 points, 9.5 rebounds and 6.2 assists in January while shooting 62.4% from the floor. He had the first two triple-doubles of his career this month and became the youngest center in NBA history to record one.

Houston has outrebounded its opponent in each of the past seven games, tying for its longest streak since an eight-game span from 11/1-11/16/17. The Rockets lead the NBA in rebounding differential this season (+5.1 per) after finishing last in each of the previous two seasons.

Beginning with Wednesday’s game vs. Oklahoma City, the Rockets will play four of their first five games in February at Toyota Center before having five straight road games from 2/10-2/26 broken up by All-Star weekend.

Kings sign Deonte Burton to 10-day contract

The Sacramento Kings have signed Deonte Burton to a 10-day contract.

Burton joins the Sacramento Kings from the Stockton Kings (11-3), the Kings G-League affiliate, where he’s averaged 12.2 points, 5.3 rebounds and 3.0 assists while shooting 54.5 percent from the field through the regular season.

The 28-year-old has seen action in 71 regular season NBA games. Burton, a Milwaukee, Wisconsin, native played for the Oklahoma City Thunder from 2018-2020.