NBA Blog: The NBA basketball news blog section of Inside Hoops
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The Boston Celtics announced today that guard J.R. Giddens has been assigned to the Maine Red Claws. Giddens is the team’s third assignment to the NBA Development League this season.
Giddens, a 6’5” guard, has appeared in 21 games for the Celtics this season and registered season-highs of six points and seven rebounds against New Jersey on January 13.
His average for the season is 1.1 points in 4.7 minutes per game.
The 27-13 Celtics are currently the no.2 seed in the Eastern conference.
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Oklahoma City Thunder forward D.J. White underwent successful surgery today to repair an avulsion fracture in his right thumb. White suffered the injury during the Thunder’s practice on Tuesday, January 19th in Minnesota.
This season White is averaging 4.8 points and 1.9 rebound in eight games for the Thunder. The 6-9 forward has also appeared in six games for the Tulsa 66ers of the NBA Development League. In those contests White averaged 18.3 points, 11.2 rebounds and 1.5 blocks per game in 38.9 minutes per contest.
White is expected to miss 6-8 weeks recovering from the surgery.
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Boston Celtics forward Glen Davis has been fined $25,000 for directing inappropriate language toward a fan, it was announced today by Stu Jackson, Executive Vice President, Basketball Operations.
The incident occurred with 8:44 remaining in the second quarter of Boston’s 92-86 loss to the Detroit Pistons on Wednesday, Jan. 20 at The Palace of Auburn Hills.
According to the Boston Globe reports, “During an injury timeout for Detroit’s Chucky Atkins, the fan, Scott Zack, yelled “fat boy’’ at Davis, who was leaning against the scorer’s table. Davis stared back at Zack, who was sitting in the first row of the lower bowl, and yelled an obscene statement that could be heard in the entire section behind the Celtics bench. Because of the infamous Brawl at the Place in November 2004, security at the site is especially sensitive to interaction between players and fans. Zack was approached by NBA security and filed a complaint at halftime. He continued with his heckling, calling Davis “chubs,’’ but Davis did not respond further and also did not talk with reporters after the game.”
Wednesday night, the Detroit Pistons hosted the Boston Celtics. Now wearing Celtic green, former Piston Rasheed Wallace enjoyed his return.
Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press reports:
As expected, he received the familiar chants of “Sheeeeeed!!!!!” as well as a smattering of boos, perhaps by some who remembered his penchant for controversy and technical fouls.
“It was cool and definitely wonderful,” Wallace said after the Pistons’ 92-86 victory. “It let me know that the fans here still love me as a player.
“It was pretty cool.”
Wallace was playful with former teammates and the Pistons’ coaching staff during the game.
“Just messing with guys,” Wallace said. “My ex-teammates and coaches … just letting them know that we still cool.”
Rasheed is having a decent season in a support role on the Celtics. He fits in and plays well with the team, but misses too many shots. Playing 23.5 minutes per game, the forward/center averages 10.2 points and 4.5 rebounds, but is shooting just 40.8% from the field and 29.7% from three-point range.
The AP reports:
Sidelined by a foot injury, Houston Rockets star Yao Ming says he’s finding a new kind of satisfaction as owner of his former Chinese team, the Shanghai Sharks.
Yao bought out the financially troubled team’s former owners in July for an undisclosed sum in a bid to revive its fortunes.
The club is in fourth in the 17-team Chinese league, two points out of first place.
”I bought the Sharks to give them a boost and do something on behalf of Chinese basketball,” Yao said in an interview with the official Xinhua News Agency appearing in newspapers Thursday.
The Golden State Warriors have signed guard/forward Cartier Martin to a second 10-day contract, the team announced today.
Martin, 25, has appeared in four games with Golden State since being called-up from the NBA Development League’s Iowa Energy on January 10, averaging 7.0 points, 5.8 rebounds and 1.00 steal in 30.8 minutes during those four contests.
The Warriors roster remains at 17 players. Due to injuries, they have permission to exceed the league maximum of 15.
Los Angeles Clippers forward Blake Griffin underwent successful surgery on his left knee Wednesday morning at the Kerlan-Jobe Orthopaedic Center in Los Angeles.
The two-part procedure, specifically termed a left patellar fragment excision and a patellar tendon repair “couldn’t have gone better” according to Dr. Neal ElAttrache who performed the surgery. Dr. ElAttrache was assisted by Dr. Steven Shimoyama, the Clippers’ Team Physician. Dr. ElAttrache went on to say “the expectation is that Blake will undergo a sequential rehabilitation program that should have him back in action in four to six months.”
Authorized medical personnel will be available to address the news media at STAPLES Center prior to this evening’s Clippers-Bulls game, at 5:30 PM in the Avengers locker room.
Griffin, the first overall selection in the 2009 NBA Draft, suffered a non-displaced stress fracture of his left patella during the Clippers’ last preseason game vs. the New Orleans Hornets on Friday, October 23rd.
Boston Celtics forward Rasheed Wallace has been fined $35,000 for publicly criticizing game officials, it was announced today by Stu Jackson, NBA Executive Vice President, Basketball Operations.
Wallace was fined for his comments made following the Celtics’ 99-90 loss to the Dallas Mavericks on Monday, Jan. 18.
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The Milwaukee Bucks have assigned second-year forward Joe Alexander to the Fort Wayne Mad Ants (Indiana) of the NBA Development League (D-League), General Manager John Hammond announced today. Fort Wayne is led by Head Coach Joey Meyer, who previously coached the Bucks D-League affiliate in Tulsa. Alexander will meet with the team tomorrow and his first game with the Mad Ants will be Friday at Iowa.
“This is a good opportunity for Joe to receive regular minutes in real game action and continue his development as he returns from injury,” Hammond said. “We’re looking forward to seeing his progress as he works with Coach Meyer and his Fort Wayne teammates.”
Alexander, 23, was drafted by the Bucks with the eighth overall selection in the 2008 NBA Draft. He appeared in 59 games as a rookie in 2008-09 and averaged 4.7 points and 1.9 rebounds in 12.1 minutes per game. Alexander has not appeared in a game this season after suffering a strained right hamstring in training camp. He played three seasons at West Virginia prior to entering the NBA. In 82 games (70 starts) at West Virginia, he averaged 12.1 points, 4.8 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.2 blocks. He was a First Team All-Big East selection as a junior.
In previous seasons the Bucks have sent Ersan Ilyasova (2005-06), Damir Markota (2007), David Noel (2007-08) and Ramon Sessions (2007-08) to the D-League. The NBA Development League also includes the Albuquerque T-Birds (New Mexico), Austin Toros (Texas), Bakersfield Jam (California), Dakota Wizards (Bismarck, North Dakota), Erie Bayhawks (Pennsylvania), Frisco (Texas), Idaho Stampede (Boise), Iowa Energy (Des Moines), Los Angeles D-Fenders (California), Maine Red Claws (Portland), Reno Bighorns (Nevada), Rio Grande Valley Vipers (Texas), Sioux Falls Skyforce (South Dakota), Springfield Armor (Massachusetts), Tulsa 66ers (Oklahoma), Utah Flash (Provo).
The National Basketball Association announced today that Commissioner David Stern has denied the Atlanta Hawks’ protest of their 106-101 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers on Dec. 30, 2009.
In the protest, the Hawks argued that the failure of the shot clock operator to reset the shot clock following a defensive rebound by Atlanta with 1:57 remaining in the game warranted a replay of the game from that point forward.
Commissioner Stern determined that the shot clock error did not have a clear impact on the game’s outcome and therefore did not justify the extraordinary remedy of granting the protest and overturning the game’s result.
