Cavs make words up to describe Mo Williams snub

Cleveland Cavaliers point guard Mo Williams is having an excellent season for his 39-win, 9-loss team, but wasn’t picked by coaches as a reserve for the East All-Star team. Then, Jameer Nelson, who was selected, suffered an injury, though Mo Williams again wasn’t named, with the spot instead going to Boston Celtics shooting guard Ray Allen.

The AP reports:

The Cavs found the second rejection of Williams so absurd that they’re making up words to describe their feelings. “Ben Wallace was right when he called Mo originally being passed over for the all-star game a shamockery,” Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert said in a tongue-in-cheek e-mail to the Associated Press on Friday. “But not naming him as the natural and obvious replacement for the unfortunately injured Jameer Nelson is stupidiculous, idillogical and preposterageous.” Cleveland will be represented by James, who was selected in fan voting, and by coach Mike Brown and his assistants, who will coach the East squad.

If passing on Mo Williams instead of selecting him means the Cavs are going to continue making up fun words, then I’m all in favor of it.

Craig Smith out 2+ weeks

The St. Paul Pioneer Press reports: Minnesota Timberwolves forward Craig Smith is expected to miss at least the next two weeks after X-rays revealed a small break in his injured ribs, coach Kevin McHale said today. McHale also said in the strongest possible terms that the team is not looking to trade shooting guard Mike Miller before the Feb. 19 NBA deadline. “As I always say, if they offer Kobe (Bryant), we’ll definitely consider that,” McHale said after today’s practice. “But are we looking to trade him? No.”

No LeBron James triple-double in NY: NBA rescinds 10th rebound

The NBA announced today that a statistical error was made during the Cleveland Cavaliers-New York Knicks game on Feb. 4 at Madison Square Garden.

Cavaliers forward LeBron James was incorrectly credited with a rebound with 39.3 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter that should have been awarded to Cleveland forward Ben Wallace.  Due to the correction, James finished Wednesday’s game with nine rebounds – one rebound short of a triple-double – while Wallace ended with two rebounds.

All NBA games are reviewed to ensure the accuracy of the game statistics.

Read basketball fan reaction and discuss your own opinion here.

Luke Ridnour out four weeks with broken thumb

Milwaukee Bucks General Manager John Hammond announced today that guard Luke Ridnour (6-2, 175) will miss approximately four weeks of action with a fractured right thumb.  Ridnour sustained the injury during yesterday’s practice at the Bucks Training Center in St. Francis, WI.

Ridnour, 27, has appeared in 49 games this season (all starts) and averaged 10.7 points, 3.4 rebounds and team-highs of 5.7 assists (20th in the NBA) and 1.4 steals (18th in the NBA) per game.  His 2.84 assist-to-turnover ratio ranks him 15th in the league and his 89.4 free throw percentage is 10th best in the NBA.

Deron Williams scores 34, Jazz beat Mavs 115-87

The AP reports: “I love playing against them, but more than that, we really just needed a win right now, so I came out and gave it all I could,” said Deron Williams, who shook off a deep thigh bruise and scored 34 points and handed out 12 assists to lead the Jazz to a 115-87 rout Thursday night… Kyle Korver scored a season-high 20 points in his first start of the season, Ronnie Brewer scored 17 and Mehmet Okur added 16 points and 13 rebounds to power the Jazz to their third win in four games… Josh Howard led Dallas with 18 points and Dirk Nowitzki scored 14—needing 20 attempts to get there—but the Mavericks saw their four-game winning streak end. It was Dallas’ first loss since coach Rick Carlisle put Jason Kidd in charge of calling plays.

Lakers show pride, beat Celtics in OT 110-109

The AP reports: “I wish we would have come here last year with this kind of attitude,” said Pau Gasol, who scored 24 points with 14 rebounds Thursday night to lead the Lakers to a 110-109 overtime victory over Boston… Kobe Bryant scored 26 points with 10 rebounds to help the Lakers take a five-game winning streak into Sunday’s game against Cleveland. L.A. also snapped Boston’s 19-game winning streak on Christmas Day and sent the Celtics into a 2-7 skid that is the worst stretch of the New Big Three era… Paul Pierce scored 21, and Allen had 22, but they both missed off-balance shots in the final seconds. Allen was knocked to the court at the buzzer while Boston fans clamored for a foul call, but none came. Rajon Rondo scored 16 with 12 assists.

Dalembert rocks, Sixers beat Pacers 99-94

The AP reports: Samuel Dalembert had 18 points and 20 rebounds, and Miller and Iguodala also had double-doubles to lead the Philadelphia 76ers to a 99-94 win over the Indiana Pacers on Thursday night… “We have to rally around each other and go out there and pick up our play on both ends of the floor,” said guard Willie Green, who had 23 points… Miller had 13 points and 12 assists, while Iguodala had 20 points and 11 assists to help the Sixers snap a two-game losing streak… Dunleavy led the Pacers with 21 points, and Danny Granger and Jarret Jack each scored 18 as Indiana dropped its third straight. Murphy had 15 points and 14 assists.

Elton Brand to have season-ending shoulder surgery

Philadelphia 76ers President and General Manager Ed Stefanski announced today that forward Elton Brand will undergo surgery on his right shoulder, which he dislocated on December 17, 2008 against the Milwaukee Bucks.  As a result of the surgery, Brand will miss the remainder of the 2008-09 season.

The surgery is scheduled for Monday afternoon at the Wilmington Surgery Center.

Brand’s MRI results were reviewed by team orthopedist and medical director Dr. Jack McPhilemy of Main Line Health System and Dr. Craig Morgan of the Morgan-Kalman Clinic in Wilmington, DE, who concluded that the initial tear of the labrum in Brand’s right shoulder is responsible for a considerable decrease in the range of motion and instability, both of which would not allow him to be effective on the court.

Following six weeks of non-operative and conservative treatment, including two weeks of testing it on a daily basis in live action, a determination was made that in order to reduce the risk of any further damage to the shoulder, surgery would be required.

“Elton wanted to do whatever he could to get back on the court and initially elected to forgo surgery in order to help his teammates,” Stefanski said.  “He worked as hard as he could over the past six weeks to return, however the scope the injury would not allow it.”

Ray Allen replaces Jameer Nelson in All-Star game

Boston Celtics guard Ray Allen has been named by NBA Commissioner David Stern to replace injured East All-Star guard Jameer Nelson (torn labrum, right shoulder) of the Orlando Magic in the 2009 NBA All-Star Game in Phoenix.  Allen will be making his ninth All-Star appearance.

The NBA All-Star Game will air live on TNT, ESPN Radio and in 215 countries and territories, and in 44 languages worldwide at 8 p.m. ET on Sunday, Feb. 15.

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