Chauncey Billups and Denver still share love

Chauncey Billups and Denver still share love

He’s forever Denver’s.

“At guard, from Park Hill Colorado, No. 1, Chauncey Billups!”

And as in the glory days of 2009, the Pepsi Center crowd cheered with pride.

Chauncey was back home Thursday night, and PA announcer Kyle Speller gave the Clippers guard a special shout-out during pregame introductions.

Billups plays for Los Angeles, but he’s always this town’s guy, a former George Washington High School standout who starred at Colorado and had two stints with the Nuggets, the second featuring a trip to the 2009 conference finals.

“I just think Chauncey’s a winner — he’s a class human being, he cares about the game, he cares about the city of Denver,” Nuggets coach George Karl said. “He’s just one of those guys, whenever he retires, I’m sure the Nuggets will figure out how he can be part of the Nuggets organization if he wants to be part of the Nuggets.”

— Reported by Benjamin Hochman of the Denver Post

Nuggets love fast-break basketball

Nuggets love fast-break basketball

The Nuggets, led by the super speedy Ty Lawson, are really fast. Denver entered Thursday’s home game against the Clippers as the No. 1 team in the NBA with 19.7 fast-break points, 57.7 points in the paint and ranked second to the Clippers with 19.5 points off turnovers.

Asked about defending this type of offensive onslaught, Clippers coach Vinny Del Negro said, “You have to load up, and when our guys shoot 3s, we have to start getting back, especially if you are in the corner you have to start sprinting back and loading up and finding a man. It doesn’t particularly have to be your man, but you have to stop the ball and find where the threats are. It can’t be a once in a while thing; it has to be every time.”

I asked George if there’s a certain way to coach hustle, notably with his big men. Here’s how he put it:

“The best way to coach it is, they get rewarded if they stay on the court if they run and they don’t stay on the court if they don’t,” Karl said. “That’s the simple philosophy. Big guys have to run and rebound, and if they don’t, we play small.”

— Reported by Benjamin Hochman of the Denver Post

Mavs could be in for another busy summer

Just like last summer, this is shaping up to be a very busy summer for the Dallas Mavericks.

The Mavs are still in search of a top-flight talent who will make Dirk Nowitzki the team’s second-best player. But whether they can lure Dwight Howard, Chris Paul — or any superstar — to Dallas remains to be seen.

“The challenge is the same annual things since I got here,” said Donnie Nelson’ the Mavs’ president of basketball operations. “Whether it’s through the draft, trade or free agency, to get the most and right kind of talent and give the talent an opportunity to come together.

“And hopefully there’s not too much change. But that’s part of our industry, especially with the new CBA (collective bargaining agreement).”

— Reported by Dwain Price of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram (Blog)

Nuggets win 7th straight, rout Clippers 107-92

Ty Lawson

The Denver Nuggets routed the surging Los Angeles Clippers 107-92 on Thursday night, riding 21 points from Ty Lawson and 20 from Danilo Gallinari to their 12th straight home win.

Seven Nuggets scored in double figures as Denver won its seventh straight overall and improved to 27-3 at home, tied with the Miami Heat for best in the NBA.

Despite 19 points from Matt Barnes and 17 from Blake Griffin, the Clippers saw their five-game road winning streak come to an end.

More importantly, they lost the season series to the Nuggets 2-1, a tiebreaker that could come into play if Denver can catch them for the third seed in the Western Conference playoffs. Right now, the Nuggets are in fifth, behind Memphis…

Both teams had 11 turnovers, Denver outscored Los Angeles by a dozen points from long range and Paul was good, not great, scoring 16 points and dishing out 10 assists, one fewer than Lawson had…

Jamal Crawford, who had a game-high 22 points in the Clippers’ win over Denver on Christmas Day, sat out with a sore left ankle that he injured Wednesday night in L.A.’s 117-101 win over Milwaukee in which he scored 25 points…

Denver is 27-11 against Western Conference teams. … The Clippers have won six of the last nine games against the Nuggets.

— Reported by Arnie Stapleton of the Associated Press

Thunder hold off J.R. Smith, Knicks as Melo sits

kevin durant

Kevin Durant had 34 points, including the go-ahead free throws with 1:38 left, and the Oklahoma City Thunder pulled out a 95-94 victory over the New York Knicks on Thursday night.

Russell Westbrook struggled over the final three quarters but finished with 21 points, six rebounds and five assists in the Thunder’s first trip to New York since Dec. 22, 2010. Durant also had eight boards and six assists.

Oklahoma City posted its third straight win, fighting off a spirited effort by a Knicks team missing Carmelo Anthony. The All-Star forward missed his second straight game with what the Knicks said is a stiff and sore right knee.

J.R. Smith scored a season-high 36 points for New York, but missed a turnaround jumper that would have won it as time ran out.

Neither team led by more than two points over the final 10 1/2 minutes. Durant scored 12 in the final period while Westbrook was shut out, hitting a pair from the line with 1:38 to play that made it 95-94…

Anthony was hurt Monday in Cleveland, falling to the court without contact as he tried to catch a pass. Coach Mike Woodson said he is day to day and doesn’t believe the injury is serious, but the Knicks said the same about Jeremy Lin last season and others in recent years, so their fans won’t relax until they see Anthony back on the floor…

Raymond Felton and Amare Stoudemire each had 16 points for the Knicks, who were playing their fourth game in five nights against the rested and much more athletic Thunder…

Oklahoma City G Ronnie Brewer didn’t play. Brewer was a starter for the Knicks to begin the season, but eventually lost his place in the rotation entirely after a lengthy slump and was dealt to the Thunder for a second-round pick at the trade deadline.

— Reported by Brian Mahoney of the Associated Press

Anthony did not play for the second straight game because of fluid on his knee. “I’m not overly concerned,” Woodson said. “He’s day-to-day and eventually he’ll be back on the floor playing.” Woodson said he wanted to get Anthony back down to about 34-35 minutes per game instead of close to 40. Anthony sat out Wednesday’s 87-77 win in Detroit after falling to the floor during Monday’s win in Cleveland; he initially said he received treatment on the knee during halftime of Sunday’s loss to the Miami Heat. The Knicks are now 4-5 this year without Anthony, the NBA’s second-leading scorer (28.2)… Stoudemire remains on a 30-minute limit, but Woodson said that could change going forward. “Maybe his minutes will increase as we get closer to the playoffs or get in a playoff series,” said Woodson, adding that he wanted to protect Stoudemire until then.

— Reported by Adam Zagoria of NBA.com

Every game counts for playoff-hungry Warriors

Every game counts for playoff-hungry Warriors

Just over an hour before the Warriors tipped off against Sacramento on Wednesday, a backroom off the Warriors locker room erupted into cheers. Moments later, several players exited looking like they’d just won something.

In a way, they had.

Utah, part of a group of six teams contending for the final three playoff spots in the Western Conference, just put the finishing touches on a collapse at Cleveland, which allowed Golden State to extend its lead over the Jazz to 2.5 games later in the night.

Being in contention for the postseason has turned the Warriors into fans of teams they’d usually have no interest in monitoring.

“It’s a little bit of a different mindset,” All-Star forward David Lee said. “We’re watching Utah play and we’re watching Houston play before our games start and the Lakers play. We’re all excited about the outcomes of those games and we’re rooting for teams in the Eastern Conference.”

— Reported by Kyle Bonagura of CSN Bay Area

Kobe Bryant doing what he can to salvage season for Lakers

kobe bryant

It was Kobe Bryant’s 1,443rd game as a Los Angeles Laker. And there he was on Wednesday night, soaking his 34-year-old feet in ice water, feet that helped carry the Lakers to a 108-102 victory over the New Orleans Hornets at the New Orleans Arena, one that left the 31-31 Lakers 2½ games out the final playoff spot in the Western Conference.

Because the Lakers remain in danger of missing the playoffs for only the second time during Kobe’s 17th season in Los Angeles, Kobe’s drive to get them into the postseason has become one of the NBA’s most interesting sidebars.

To say the least, it has been a wild ride. The Lakers are playing for their second head coach this season. And their legendary owner Jerry Buss died of cancer at a time he felt he had put together a team, with the acquisition of guys like Dwight Howard and Steve Nash joining folks like Kobe and Pau Gasol, good enough to win a 17th NBA championship.

Let’s say this much. Bryant is doing his best in what seems to be a lost cause.

— Reported by Peter Finney of the New Orleans Times-Picayune

Campaign to keep Kings in Sacramento continues

The public relations campaign to keep the Kings in town continued today with a blast from the franchise’s past.

Former Kings star Mitch Richmond greeted a few dozen fans at midtown’s Firestone Public House, signing posters and hats. Richmond has pledged $1 million to be part of a local ownership contingent seeking to block the Kings’ move to Seattle.

“It would be a sad day if the Kings leave this community,” Richmond said. “I know Seattle is a good place, I think Seattle’s team (the Sonics) should have never left. But we want our team here.”

— Reported by Ryan Lillis of the Sacramento Bee

Bradley Beal inches closer to return for Wizards

Bradley Beal inches closer to return for Wizards

Bradley Beal waited for his teammates in the locker room after the Washington Wizards’ 87-82 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves on Wednesday night, listening to them discuss the turnover problems that led to their demise and offering humor to keep the spirits from staying down.

Beal missed his eighth game of the season and first with a sprained left ankle that he suffered on Sunday against Philadelphia. When asked how he was feeling after the Timberwolves game, Beal said, “Better.”

The Wizards (19-40) are now 2-6 without Beal this season but his absence has been felt lately on the road, where they have lost four consecutive games without the promising rookie shooting guard on the court.

Beal remains day-to-day, but Coach Randy Wittman said that he is making progress.

— Reported by Michael Lee of the Washington Post (Blog)

Danny Ainge discusses Celtics play without Rajon Rondo

Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge’s weekly appearance on Boston sports radio WEEI (93.7 FM), speaking on how the team has played differently without Rajon Rondo: “…Sometimes it’s the fact that the players defer to the other great players. Sometimes they don’t practice it because it’s just so easy to get the ball to Rondo to bring up all the time instead of Avery grabbing the defensive rebound and pushing the ball up the court himself, and Rondo running on the other wing and the ball being swung to Rondo and now he’s coming off the pick-and-roll. And so, I think that we’re all learning from this. We’re all learning that the respect of the other players is growing and they get the respect that they now deserve, as opposed to being the guys that aren’t living up to their potential.

“It’s just amazing that two months ago it was Jeff Green and Courtney Lee and Jason Terry that weren’t playing well enough. And now all of a sudden we’re 13-4 and those guys are playing great. And I think that Rondo was, like, voted a starter on the All-Star team and now it’s like we’re better without him. I mean, this stuff is crazy, how the trends go. I think there’s a tiny bit of truth in all of it, like Rondo can adjust his game to allow other players to play a little better, move better without the ball, play more, cut harder, and shoot more, shoot his mid-range jump shot more. I think all those things, and turn the ball over less. But I think that we have a much better chance of beating Miami in a playoff series with Rajon Rondo.”

— Reported by Greg Payne of ESPN Boston