The AP reports: Yao Ming, the Houston Rockets’ 7-foot-6 center, left Friday night’s game because of a sore right knee and did not play after halftime. The Pacers made 26 free throws in the second half of their 107-102 victory… Houston already was missing Tracy McGrady and Ron Artest because of injuries. Artest missed his 13th game of the season because a bone bruise in his right ankle. McGrady sat out his 16th game with a sore left knee. Luis Scola, who scored a career-high 25 points for the Rockets, said the injuries weren’t an excuse for failing to play better in the second half… Indiana led 50-40 at halftime before holding the Rockets at bay with the free throws. Danny Granger scored 12 of his 25 points from the line, and T.J. Ford scored 13 of his 21 points on free throws. Troy Murphy had 14 points and 16 rebounds for the Pacers, who snapped a two-game losing skid. Carl Landry and Rafer Alston each scored 17 points for the Rockets, who had won three straight.
Jazz owner has drastic leg surgery
Larry H. Miller had surgery early this morning to remove his lower legs to six inches below the knee. The operation went well and he is recovering in the hospital. The surgery is a result of complications due to type 2 diabetes.
“Larry is doing well and is expected to continue to recover in the coming weeks and months,” said Greg Miller, CEO of the Larry H. Miller Group of Companies.
Currently, Larry is not available for media interviews. The Miller family greatly appreciates the support they are receiving from the community, but have no further details to share at this time.
Lakers easily beat Wizards by 20
Thursday evening the Los Angeles Lakers hosted the Washington Wizards and easily won on their home court, 117-97. With 23 points and 14 rebounds from center Andrew Bynum, the Lakers took a 6 point lead after the first quarter, scored 41 in the second quarter for a 72-47 halftime lead, and never looked back.
Los Angeles also got 18 points from Pau Gasol.
Kobe Bryant had a quiet evening, shooting just 4-of-11 for 11 points, 4 rebounds and 5 assists.
Four Lakers reserves scored 10 or more points in the blowout win.
Antawn Jamison led the Wizards with 19 points. JaVale McGee came off the bench for 18 points, 9 rebounds, 2 steals and 2 blocks in 23 minutes. Caron Butler had just 12 points, plus six assists.
As a team, the Lakers dished an amazing 35 assists.
Celtics win 7th straight, top Magic 90-80
The AP reports: Paul Pierce had 27 points and 10 rebounds, Glen Davis added a season-high 16 points and Boston disrupted everything Orlando wanted offensively, holding the Magic to a season-low in points. Kevin Garnett scored 16 points to help the Celtics (36-9) extend their winning streak to seven games… Dwight Howard, who on Thursday became the first player in league history to receive 3 million votes in a season for the All-Star game, was held to a relatively ordinary 11 points and 11 rebounds. He fouled out with 2:30 left, and Orlando’s run of seven straight wins was snapped… Hedo Turkoglu scored 22 points, Rashard Lewis finished with 20 points and 10 rebounds, and Jameer Nelson had 17 points for Orlando, whose previous low scoring total this season was 82.
InsideHoops.com notes: The Celtics hit 46.7% of their shots, the Magic just 38.2%. The difference in three-pointers made and attempted was amazing: Celtics 0-of-6, Magic 7-of-22. Rebounds, assists and other stats were pretty close.
Report: Grizzlies fire head coach Iavaroni
NBA.com reports: A source tells TNT’s David Aldridge that the Memphis Grizzlies have fired head coach Marc Iavaroni. Assistant coach Johnny Davis will take over the team on an interim basis, the source said. The Grizzlies are currently on a seven-game losing streak with an 11-30 record. They have lost 15 of their last 17 games and in last place in the Southwest Division. Iavaroni’s overall record in Memphis was 33-90.
InsideHoops.com will update this page when more information is known.
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Monta Ellis to play Friday
Warriors.com reports: Warriors.com has just learned from our contacts with the Warriors PR staff that Monta Ellis’ long road back from his offseason ankle injury will soon be complete, as the fourth-year guard will make his 2008-09 season debut tomorrow night when the Warriors host the Cavaliers at ORACLE Arena. The decision to have Ellis return to the court was made after Thursday’s practice. Following practice, Ellis expressed his excitement about returning to the floor.
Official 2009 All-Star starters
Here are the official starters for the 2009 NBA All-Star game:
East: Dwyane Wade, Allen Iverson, LeBron James, Kevin Garnett, Dwight Howard
West: Chris Paul, Kobe Bryant, Amare Stoudemire, Tim Duncan, Yao Ming.
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Nets recall Sean Williams from D-League
The New Jersey Nets have recalled second year center Sean Williams from the team’s D-League affiliate, the Colorado 14ers, Nets President Rod Thorn announced today.
Williams was assigned to Colorado on Dec. 29, 2008. He appeared in eight games, including six starts, and posted averages of 9.8 points, 7.5 rebounds and 3.88 blocks in 25.9 minutes per game. He tallied 27 points on 12-of-14 shooting and 16 rebounds in 37 minutes at Rio Grande on 1/14 and recorded 16 points and 16 boards to go with six blocks in 38 minutes at Austin on 1/10.
Prior to his assignment, Williams had appeared in 16 games for the Nets this season, averaging 1.6 points and 2.1 rebounds per game.
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Girls hoops team apologizes for 100-0 rout
The AP reports: Covenant defeated The Dallas Academy 100-0 on Jan. 13. Covenant led 59-0 at halftime. The Dallas Academy has eight girls on its varsity team and just 20 girls in the school. The academy specializes in teaching students with what it calls “learning differences,” such as short attention spans or difficulty in concentrating.
Cavaliers defending well
NBA.com (John Schuhmann) reports: The Cavs currently rank as the second-best defensive team in the league, just behind the Celtics, allowing 101.5 points per 100 possessions. Last season, they didn’t crank up the “D” until the postseason, but this year has been different. “Everybody bought into the system and everybody is committed to playing defense,” Ben Wallace said Monday in Los Angeles. “That was one of the things we stressed in training camp. “Defense has to start with the individuals. You can’t be a good team defense if you got five poor individual defensive players out on the floor, so it has to start with an individual. Everybody has to take it personal that they’re going to go out there and do whatever they can do to go out there to try to get stops. Once one, two, three players start it, it gets contagious and everybody buys into it.”