Ridnour, Timberwolves end road skid, beat Cavs

luke ridnour

All the losses and injuries had been piling up for weeks on the Timberwolves. They were shaken, unsure, almost helpless to stop them.

They were desperate for a break. And finally, they got one.

Luke Ridnour scored 21 points, Ricky Rubio added 13 and 10 assists and Minnesota snapped an eight-game road losing streak, beating the Cleveland Cavaliers 100-92 on Monday night.

”We needed that bad, man,” Ridnour said.

He made a critical 3-pointer with 1:43 left and scored 13 points in the fourth quarter for the banged-up Timberwolves, who hadn’t won on the road since Jan. 3 – star center Kevin Love’s last game before he was lost indefinitely with a broken hand.

Nikola Pekovic added 16 points and 10 rebounds as Minnesota ended a four-game losing streak and improved to just 4-16 since losing Love…

Kyrie Irving scored 20 points and Tristan Thompson had 16 for the Cavs, who were within 82-81 in the fourth before Ridnour sparked a 10-2 run by the Timberwolves. Minnesota shot 75 percent (12 of 16) in the fourth quarter, leaving Cleveland swingman C.J. Miles to call out his teammates…

Derrick Williams had 13 points and Mickael Gelabale and Alexey Shved added 11 apiece for the Timberwolves…

Wolves G J.J. Barea played 15 minutes after missing Sunday’s game with a sprained left foot. Minnesota was also without Andrei Kirilenko (strained quad), F Chase Budinger (knee surgery), G Brandon Roy (knee) and G Malcolm Lee (knee, hip surgery).

— Reported by Tom Withers of the Associated Press

Byron Mullens, Bobcats end Celtics win streak 94-91

All in all, Monday proved to be a painful night for the Boston Celtics.

Not only did the Celtics have their seven-game losing streak snapped at the hands of the NBA’s worst team, but they might have suffered yet another costly injury in their 94-91 loss to the Charlotte Bobcats.

Backup guard Leandro Barbosa, who has seen increased playing time since the season-ending injury to Rajon Rondo, injured his left knee late in the third quarter and had to be carried to the locker room by a trainer and teammate.

Coach Doc Rivers said Barbosa will have an MRI on Tuesday.

”It doesn’t look great but we’ll see,” Rivers said…

This night belonged to Charlotte’s unheralded big man, Byron Mullens…

The 7-foot Mullens hit 10 of 16 shots from the field, including 4 of 5 from 3-point range. Ramon Sessions had 19 points for the Bobcats, including the go-ahead jumper from 18 feet with 25.7 seconds left. Kemba Walker had 18 points, six assists and six rebounds, and Gerald Henderson chipped in with 16 points…

Kevin Garnett had 16 points and 13 rebounds for the Celtics, but missed a key 18-footer that would have given Boston the lead late in the game. Paul Pierce and Avery Bradley had chances to send the game into overtime in the final seconds, but missed open 3-pointers.

Jeff Green had 18 points for the Celtics and Pierce finished with 13 points, eight assists and eight rebounds…

Bobcats center Bismack Biyombo was a force inside on the defensive end blocking four shots and grabbing seven defensive rebounds.

— Reported by Steve Reed of the Associated Press

Andrew Bynum continues to experience knee pain

Philadelphia 76ers center Andrew Bynum, who has yet to play this season because of bone bruises to both knees, might have his possible return pushed back.

However, in a bit of semantic obfuscation, he insisted it wasn’t a setback.

Before the 76ers lost 107-90 to the Los Angeles Clippers on Monday, Bynum said he experienced a lot of pain in his left knee after working out two consecutive days on the court. He said he is uncertain when he will be able to return, after saying last week that he hoped to be back by the end of the month.

— Reported by the Sports Xchange

Celtics guard Leandro Barbosa hurts knee

Already without Rajon Rondo and Jared Sullinger, the Boston Celtics suffered what could be another serious injury when guard Leandro Barbosa sustained a knee injury in Monday’s game against Charlotte.

The extent of the injury will not be known until an MRI is performed on Tuesday, but it did not look good.

Barbosa had to be helped off the floor by a teammate and a trainer.

— Reported by the Sports Xchange

Danny Granger returning soon for Pacers

Danny Granger’s impending return has the Indiana Pacers thinking hard about how to work him back into the rotation.

He could jump right into the starting lineup and play limited minutes or he could come off the bench for a few games to get back in rhythm. He could come back as soon as Wednesday or he could wait until after the All-Star break. Whatever the decision is, the Pacers believe teaming one All-Star forward with another during the second half of the season will make them a better team come playoff time.

”Our best lineup last year was when Paul (George) and Danny were wings together,” coach Frank Vogel said before Monday night’s game against Brooklyn. ”There’s merit to having either one of those guys coming off the bench, but putting their length and wing span together makes us better.”

Even without Granger, the Pacers have been pretty darn good.

— Reported by Michael Marot of the Associated Press

Dwight Howard thinks opponents are targeting his shoulder

Los Angeles Lakers center Dwight Howard told Yahoo! Sports that opposing teams are trying to injure his sore shoulder.

He made the comments after the Lakers’ 107-97 loss to the Miami Heat on Sunday.

Howard said Heat players grabbed at his injured right arm on his first trip down the court.

“They got me early,” he said. “They would yank it back.”

He also said the Charlotte Bobcats did the same thing during Friday night’s game.

“It’s like a jolt,” he said. “Then it hurts the rest of the night.”

— Reported by the Sports Xchange

Wizards continue to struggle on the road

The Wizards (14-35) are averaging a measly 86.2 points on the road, reaching triple digits just four times. They are also shooting just 40.6 percent and connecting on 33.7 percent from long distance. Opponents are outscoring them by an average of 9.1 points away from Verizon Center. Washington has suffered seven of its 10 double-digit losses on the road, including a 100-68 loss to the Pistons.

Even the return of John Wall hasn’t been a remedy for the Wizards’ road woes, with the team going 2-6 away from home.

“You’ve got to play better on the road. That’s the bottom line in this league,” [Coach] Wittman said. “We’ve got to figure out a way to play better on the road and do it consistently. And it starts defensively, getting it going. That’s our next step. Take it on the road. I feel good about going into these next two games because of what we’ve done [at home]. We went through a tough stretch of games here. A lot of good games.”

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

Gordon Hayward back soon for Utah Jazz

Gordon Hayward

Gordon Hayward was expected to practice Monday and could return to game action as early as Tuesday, coach Tyrone Corbin said.

The third-year reserve has missed eight games with a right shoulder sprain suffered at the end of the Jazz’s win over Indiana on Jan. 26.

“Hopefully he can have a good practice today,” Corbin said, “and be ready to go tomorrow in the game to get him back on the floor these last two games before the break and get him back acclimated to playing in the games.”

Hayward has played in 44 games, and averages 13.5 points, 2.9 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game. The Jazz are 4-4 without him.

— Reported by Bill Oram of the Salt Lake Tribune

After injury, Anthony Morrow not part of Hawks rotation

Anthony morrow

I asked coach Larry Drew about the status of Anthony Morrow. The guard, who missed 17 straight games with a right hip strain followed by a sore lower back, has been available for the past five games. However, he has seen action in just one – for a total of four minutes.

“Right now, I just can’t play everybody,” Drew said following Sunday’s practice. “I would like to get him in there but I just can’t play 11, 12, 13 people. You just can’t do it. He was out awhile and we got a rotation while he was out and right now I’m teetering on whether to disrupt that. Right now I have some guys that I definitely want to play and those guys aren’t getting the type of minutes I was hoping they would get. It’s just a situation that he has to stay ready.”

— Reported by Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal Constitution (Blog)

D-Wade cool with LeBron getting all the headlines

dwyane wade

Dwyane Wade is fine with all of this.

Really, he is.

Wade played in the spotlight for seven seasons, but things have changed. The attention has diminished now that he’s paired with a teammate who is playing like a superhero.

And apparently LeBron James’ super power is making his future Hall of Fame teammates look like mortals. Although Wade completed his best five-game stretch of the season, it was just a footnote to all the gushing of James’ recent play.

“I’m not looking for headlines, but I’ve been playing all right,” Wade said. “He (James) can have all the headlines. It’s cool.”

James is playing so well that Wade’s week went all but ignored. He averaged 24.8 points, six rebounds, 5.8 assists and three steals during the Heat’s five-game winning streak. While the media was constantly updating James’ field goals numbers on Twitter, Wade was quietly shooting 51 percent.

“He’s been making so much history, so I’m glad I can be in a little bit with him,” Wade said.

— Reported by Shandel Richardson of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel