Tyler Hansbrough on rise for Pacers

Bob Kravitz of the Indianapolis Star reports:

Tyler Hansbrough on rise for Pacers

A star is being born in Indiana, Hansbrough going for a career-high 30 points in Tuesday night’s manic 119-117 victory over the New York Knicks. He got on this roll five games ago, and has now scored 26, 21, 20, 29 and 30 points, the most consecutive 20-plus point games by a Pacers player all season.

Two things have happened:

For one, he’s getting playing time. You wonder, if Jim O’Brien had stuck around, would Hansbrough have ever found the floor? Quick answer: No.

Two, he has gotten into NBA shape. Remember, he went more than eight months without working out, without playing basketball or jogging or doing much of anything besides waiting for the dizziness to subside. It wasn’t until roughly three weeks ago that Hansbrough started to feel like he did at North Carolina.

“You go all that time doing nothing, and now you’re playing against the best players in the world, you’re not going to be at your best,” Hansbrough said. “. . . To be honest, I didn’t even know if I was going to be ready for training camp. The doctors gave me the OK, I went from doing nothing to six-hour practices. It was miserable for a while. Then there were stretches when coach O’Brien wasn’t playing me, so I wasn’t getting any experience.”

Andrew Bynum is a big man

Elliot Teaford of the Los Angeles Daily News reports:

Andrew Bynum is a big man

Others are taller and some weigh more, but is there a bigger big man than Andrew Bynum in the NBA? Bynum, officially listed at 7-foot and 285 pounds, certainly measured up against the Orlando Magic’s Dwight Howard, who’s 6-11, 275.

“He’s a big guy, man,” Orlando point guard Jameer Nelson said of Bynum after the Lakers rallied to defeat the Magic 97-84 on Monday night at Staples Center for their 10th victory in 11 games since the All-Star break.

“He’s a handful,” Nelson continued. “It’s like he’s out there and you think you’ve got the ball, and he has it in his hands. You’re jumping for the ball, but he’s just standing there tipping it to himself to get those extra shots.”

Bynum scored 10 points and matched his career high with 18 rebounds Monday, his fourth consecutive game with 10 or more points and his sixth straight with 12 or more rebounds. He’s had a big impact on the Lakers’ winning ways since the All-Star break.

After rounding into form slowly following offseason right knee surgery that sidelined him for the first 24 games of 2010-11, Bynum has become a force in the paint for the Lakers. His season averages have risen to 11.6 points and 8.8 rebounds.

Wizards center JaVale McGee gets 12-block triple-double in loss

The AP reports:

JaVale McGee gets 12-block triple-double in loss

Even a shortage of big men couldn’t slow the Bulls’ march to the top of the Eastern Conference.

Derrick Rose scored 23 points in Chicago’s seventh straight win, a 98-79 victory over the Washington Wizards on Tuesday night that moved the Bulls into sole possession of first place in the East.

Luol Deng added 20 points and Keith Bogans scored 17, his highest total since joining the Bulls. Bogans took all of his 10 shots from behind the 3-point arc, hitting a season-high five…

Washington center JaVale McGee had a rare triple-double with 11 points, 12 rebounds and 12 blocks, the most by an NBA player since Toronto’s Keon Clark had 12 on March 23, 2001.

“I had three (blocks) the first quarter and I was trying to match that in the second quarter and I had seven, so I was like I’m going to try and get 14,” McGee said. “It was working for me tonight. I was blocking so good in the first half people were starting to hesitate and were more afraid to go up and it was easier to block shots.”

Nets assign Ben Uzoh to D-League

The New Jersey Nets have assigned rookie point guard Ben Uzoh to the team’s D-League affiliate, the Springfield Armor, Nets General Manager Billy King announced today.

Uzoh, who signed with the Nets as a free agent after going undrafted out of Tulsa, has appeared in 32 games with New Jersey, averaging 3.4 points and 1.4 assists in 9.1 minutes.  He tallied a career-high 18 points in 22 minutes at Houston on 2/26.

Kings guard Marcus Thornton drops 42 on Warriors

The AP reports:

Marcus Thornton and Samuel Dalembert had career scoring nights with 42 and 27 points and the Kings beat the Golden State Warriors 129-119 Monday night in what might have been the final meeting ever in Sacramento between the Northern California rivals.

Al Thornton scored 23 points and Stephen Curry added 19 to lead the Warriors, who were never in this game a night after beating Minnesota 100-77 in their most lopsided win of the season.

Nets top Celtics for 5th straight win

The AP reports:

Brook Lopez scored 20 points, Deron Williams added 16 and made the clinching 3-pointer, and the Nets extended their longest winning streak in three years to five games with an 88-79 victory Monday night.

Kris Humphries had 16 points and 15 rebounds, following his strong performance against Blake Griffin by turning in one against Kevin Garnett to help the Nets snap a nine-game home losing streak against the Celtics…

Ray Allen scored 19 points and Garnett had 18 for the Celtics, who couldn’t overcome horrible shooting nights from All-Stars Paul Pierce and Rajon Rondo and fell back into a tie with Chicago for the best record in the Eastern Conference.

Heat destroy NBA-best Spurs by 30

The AP reports:

For the Miami Heat, there was symmetry in the turnabout.

Lose by 30 in San Antonio, win by 30 in Miami.

Chris Bosh scored 30 points and grabbed 12 rebounds, Dwyane Wade scored 29 and the Miami Heat avenged their worst loss of the season by rolling past the NBA-leading Spurs 110-80 on Monday night…

LeBron James finished with 21 points, eight assists and six rebounds for the Heat, who have won three straight and moved within two games of Eastern Conference front-runners Boston and Chicago.

Tony Parker scored 18 points and Tim Duncan added 14 for the Spurs, who had won 15 of their last 18 against Miami. Before Monday, San Antonio’s worst loss of the season had been a 96-72 defeat in New Orleans.

Coach Byron Scott thinks Cavs have regressed

Mary Schmitt Boyer of the Cleveland Plain Dealer reports:

Since a 4-4 stretch following their league-record 26-game losing streak, the Cavs have lost four straight by an average of about 16 points. They were barely competitive in the last three.

Coach Byron Scott admits his young team has regressed.

“I think the last two games, yeah, think so,” he said. “We discussed that this morning as coaches. That’s one of the most frustrating things for us is that we’ve regressed instead of progressed — especially when you see progression coming and all of a sudden the last two games you take a couple of steps back.

“That’s very frustrating for me and for all our coaches — and, hopefully, for the players as well. We’ve got to figure out a way to get back to where we’re taking small steps forward instead of taking big steps backward. It just can’t happen.”

This young team has confounded its coaches and fans all season, and Scott admitted almost anything could be behind this latest swoon. With eight players age 24 or younger — four are 22 or younger — the Cavs have a roster full of guys who have never played this many games before. This far out of the playoffs, it’s possible the players are just counting down the 17 games to the end of the season.

Grizzlies forward Rudy Gay remains out with shoulder injury

Memphis Grizzlies forward Rudy Gay underwent a follow-up magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) today on his left shoulder, which revealed that while the shoulder is healing from a subluxation, it needs more time to fully recover.  There is no timetable for his return.

The 6-8, 240-pound forward has missed the last 10 games after suffering the injury on Feb. 15 vs. Philadelphia.

Currently in his fifth NBA season, Gay is averaging 19.8 points and 6.2 rebounds while posting career highs in assists (2.8), steals (1.69), blocks (1.07), field goal percentage (.471), three-point field goal percentage (.396), free throw percentage (.805) and minutes (39.9, 3rd in the NBA).

The 24-year-old holds career averages of 17.8 points, 5.6 rebounds and 1.9 assists on .457 shooting in 36.0 minutes in 372 games, all with the Grizzlies.

Trail Blazers sign Chris Johnson

The Portland Trail Blazers have signed center Chris Johnson of the NBA Development League’s Dakota Wizards for the remainder of the season, it was announced today by General Manager Rich Cho.

Johnson, 25, previously signed a 10-day contract with the Trail Blazers on Jan. 22 and appeared in two games, Feb. 1 vs. San Antonio and Feb. 2 at Denver, totaling four points and four rebounds in 16 minutes.

In his first NBA season, Johnson (6-11, 249) also appeared in four games for Boston from Feb. 24-March 4, where he totaled six points, five rebounds and three blocked shots in 32 minutes.

The 15th call-up of the 2010-11 NBA D-League season, Johnson has played in 35 games (34 starts) this season for Dakota, averaging 16.2 points (51.7% FG), 9.2 rebounds, 1.3 assists and 2.77 blocked shots in 31.8 minutes.

The LSU product was named to the 2011 NBA Development League All-Star Game and tallied 10 points (5-9 FG), two rebounds, two assists and two blocks in 20 minutes of action.

The Trail Blazers roster now stands at 15 players. Johnson will wear jersey No. 17.