Kings assign Donte Greene to D-League

The Sacramento Kings have assigned Donte Greene to the Reno Bighorns of the NBA Development League, Kings’ President of Basketball Operations Geoff Petrie announced tonight.

Greene, a 6-10, 226-pound forward, who currently is in his rookie season with Sacramento, is averaging 4.5 points (.388 FGs, .316 3FGs, .842 FTs) and 1.8 rebounds per game through 24 contests, of which he has started four.

Drafted by Memphis as an undergraduate out of Syracuse in the first-round (28th overall) of the 2008 NBA Draft, Greene was traded to Houston before being acquired by the Kings via trade along with guard Bobby Jackson, a 2009 first-round draft selection and cash considerations in exchange for forward Ron Artest, rookie guard Sean Singletary and rookie forward Patrick Ewing, Jr.

Kidd, Mavericks hold on late to beat Knicks 99-94

The AP reports: Dirk Nowitzki, the NBA’s fourth-leading scorer, was 3-of-13 from the floor and scored 10 points, just two more than his season low… One of Nowitzki’s seven assists gave Dallas the lead for good… Eddy Curry entered with 2:42 left in the first quarter and scored on a layup just more than a minute later. That’s was Curry’s only shot attempt in 2 1/2 minutes of action. He also grabbed two rebounds… Chris Duhon hit his first nine shots and scored 24 points, and Wilson Chandler added 20 for the Knicks, who have lost two in a row since beating defending champion Boston on Sunday. New York’s David Lee had 13 points and 15 rebounds—his seventh consecutive double-double. Duhon finished 10-of-14 from the field… Josh Howard led six Dallas players in double figures with 19 points. Antoine Wright had 13 points, Brandon Bass added 12 and Jason Terry 10.

Parker scores 19, Spurs beat Clippers 106-84

The AP reports: Tony Parker scored 19 points and San Antonio beat the skidding Los Angeles Clippers 106-84 on Thursday, giving the Spurs their ninth win in the past 10 games despite getting only eight points from Duncan… Roger Mason added 18 points for the Spurs. Michael Finley had 15 and Manu Ginobili 13 off the bench. Matt Bonner scored 11. Though Duncan fell short of double figures in points and rebounds (four), he led the Spurs with nine assists in 32 minutes. The Clippers (8-27) got 21 points each from Eric Gordon and Al Thornton. Mardy Collins added 16.

Latest All-Star votes

The NBA All-Star game voting is ongoing, and today the latest results were revealed.

This is the last update until the voting ends and the final results are released.

Here are the current starters if the voting ended today:

East: D.Wade, A.Iverson, L.James, K.Garnett, D.Howard
West: K.Bryant, T.McGrady, C.Anthony, T.Duncan, Yao Ming

Click the link above to see the exact voting totals and complete info.

Clippers sign Fred Jones to 10-day contract

The Los Angeles Clippers today signed free agent guard Fred Jones to a 10-day contract.

A six-year NBA veteran, Jones averaged 6.6 points, 1.6 rebounds, 1.4 assists and 19.6 minutes in five games with the Clippers this season after originally signing as a free agent on December 28th.  Jones was waived by Los Angeles on January 5th.

Jones played 70 games with the Knicks last season, averaging 7.6 points, 2.4 rebounds and 2.4 assists in 25.1 minutes. The Clippers are the fifth NBA team for Jones, who has appeared in 378 total games and is averaging 7.5 points, 2.2 rebounds and 2.1 assists in his NBA career.

A star at the University of Oregon, Jones helped lead the Ducks to the Elite Eight of the 2002 NCAA Tournament and was drafted by the Indiana Pacers with the 14th selection of the 2002 NBA Draft. Jones played four seasons with Indiana, winning the 2004 NBA Slam Dunk Contest as a Pacer before signing with the Raptors prior to the 2006-07 season.

Jones joined Portland midway through the 2006-07 season in a trade, teaming up with current Clipper Zach Randolph and then going to New York along with Randolph in a five-player deal on June 28, 2007.  Jones is expected to be in uniform tonight when the Clippers face the Spurs in San Antonio.

Coach says Knicks have bad habits

The New York Knicks are fun to watch this season. Win or lose, fans get their money’s worth. Madison Square Garden has energy. And on the road, the Knicks are enjoyable. It’s thanks to Mike D’Antoni’s high-paced offense. In my ideal basketball world, every team in the league would play this way.

Entertainment value aside, the Knicks still lose a lot. They’re better than they were last year, but with 13 wins and 20 losses they sit last in the Atlantic Divison, and if the season ended today would be just 12th in the East.

The season is still young, so NY is just 2 games behind the Milwaukee Bucks for the 8th playoff spot.

Yesterday, coach D’Antoni spoke about the team. The New York Post (Marc Berman) reports:

“There really is something to be said about people playing in a losing situation for a while and get in bad habits,” D’Antoni said. “Bad habits you have to break and it takes time.” The Knicks’ offense, once leading the league, has fallen to fourth at 103.9 points per game, with D’Antoni pointing out his “Seven Seconds or Less” attack has noticeably been creaking. He blamed it partly on Nate Robinson and Al Harrington playing too selfishly. The Knicks had just 13 assists Tuesday. “We’re going to get back to running more, that’s on me,” D’Antoni said. “We got too much 1-on-1 playing. . . . We’re just jacking shots up sometimes.”

The Knicks are in Dallas tonight to face the Mavericks.

Sixers set three-point goal

The Philadelphia 76ers are awful at hitting three-pointers. They’re currently tied with the Washington Wizards for the lowest three-point shooting percentage in the league at 30.3%. There are probably fans in the stands who have never touched a basketball that, on a good day, might be able to match that.

OK, not really.

Still, the Sixers brick from outside, and their coach is taking what little action he can.

The Philadelphia Inquirer (Kate Fagan) reports:

After Tuesday’s win over the Houston Rockets, 76ers interim coach Tony DiLeo said he set a three-point goal for each game. DiLeo would not share that goal, saying he wanted to keep it within the locker room. His team, though, was unaware of the information’s classified nature. Before last night’s game against the Milwaukee Bucks, players spoke. “Make at least five a game,” Lou Williams said. “That goal is out there; he gave it to us last night.” The Sixers guard continued: “We have guys that are comfortable with that shot, but we’re more comfortable making plays to the rim. It’s our Achilles’ heel.”

Chances are, little will change. Andre Miller, Andre Iguodala and Louis Williams are lousy from outside. And that’s partially why Elton Brand hasn’t fit in as well as hoped, because he draws attention inside, but defenders can sag off the outside shooters more than they can against other teams.

The Sixers will simply have to work around this, somehow. Or make roster changes.

Late Gasol surge leads Lakers past Warriors 114-106

The AP reports: Pau Gasol had 33 points and a career-high 18 rebounds, Kobe Bryant added 21 points and the Lakers rallied from a late deficit for their seventh victory in eight games, 114-106 over the Warriors on Wednesday night. Andrew Bynum had 18 points and 11 rebounds for the Lakers, whose home loss to New Orleans on Tuesday snapped a six-game winning streak for the Western Conference leaders. Los Angeles also lost key swingman Lamar Odom to a bone bruise, trimming their rotation and increasing their dependence on Gasol, who had just 10 points against the Hornets… Jamal Crawford had 25 points and a season-high nine assists for Golden State, and Corey Maggette added 19 points before fouling out of the Warriors’ fifth loss in six games… Trevor Ariza scored a season-high 17 points for the Lakers, playing 33 minutes in Odom’s absence.

Outlaw’s fadeaway lifts Blazers past Pistons 84-83

The AP reports: LaMarcus Aldridge led the Blazers with 26 points, while Steve Blake had 10 points and 10 assists. Travis Outlaw finished with 14 points. “Travis has made many, may big shots for us, and I’m sure he’ll make many more,” Aldridge said. Tayshaun Prince finished with 26 points for Detroit, and Iverson had 14. Rodney Stuckey added 13 points, but had a season-high six turnovers… The Blazers were without All-Star guard Brandon Roy for the fourth straight game. Roy, averaging 23 points, has a sprained right hamstring.

Millsap, Jazz beat tired Hornets 116-90

The AP reports: Paul Millsap extended his NBA-leading streak of double-doubles to 19 games with 27 points and 14 rebounds as the Jazz easily won the first of three meetings against the Hornets, who were exhausted from a win over the Lakers in Los Angeles the night before… Chris Paul had 26 points and seven assists for the Hornets, but got little help from his teammates as Utah controlled everything inside and outrebounded New Orleans 55-26… Mehmet Okur added 20 points for Utah, and Andrei Kirilenko had 13 points and eight rebounds. Kyle Korver had 15 points, Matt Harpring 10, and Deron Williams, who has been fighting a cold, added eight assists.