Bargnani leads 9-man Raptors past Wizards 99-93

The AP reports: Down to nine players, the Raptors still easily beat worst-in-the-East Washington 99-93 on Wednesday night by making 54 percent of their field-goal attempts. Andrea Bargnani had 25 points on 8-for-9 shooting… Bargnani went 4-for-5 on 3s, and 4-for-4 on other field-goal attempts. Chris Bosh scored half his 18 points in the fourth quarter and added eight rebounds and six assists… Antawn Jamison scored a season-high 32 points for Washington, which hasn’t had Gilbert Arenas (left knee) or Brendan Haywood (right wrist) all season, and is without starting shooting guard DeShawn Stevenson, who has missed a week and is expected to be out at least another 1 1/2 weeks with a bad back.

Orlando builds big lead, holds on to beat Hawks 106-102

The AP reports: Putting on a show for the home folks, Dwight Howard had 23 points and 19 rebounds as Orlando preserved a 106-102 victory Wednesday night in a matchup of the top two teams in the Southeast Division. Orlando nearly squandered a 21-point advantage, catching a huge break when Mike Bibby missed a breakaway layup that should have made it a two-point game with just under 1 1/2 minutes remaining… Josh Smith led Atlanta with 21 points, but he missed all four of his free-throw attempts—the worst culprit in a 14-of-25 performance at the line that came back to haunt the Hawks at the end… Mike Bibby scored 17 points but was only 6-of-17 from the field. Joe Johnson, the Hawks’ leading scorer, was just 5-of-17 for 13 points—matching his second-lowest output of the season.

LeBron has easy night, Cavaliers rout Bobcats 111-81

The AP reports: LeBron James scored 21 points before grabbing an early seat on the bench, Mo Williams added 15 and Cleveland warmed up for its highly anticipated matchup with Boston by blowing out the Charlotte Bobcats 111-81 on Wednesday night, raising the Cavaliers’ record at home to 18-0… Daniel “Boobie” Gibson and Wally Szczerbiak scored 15 apiece and Anderson Varejao 14 as Cleveland shot 60 percent from the floor and improved to 28-6. Raymond Felton led Charlotte with 15 points and Gerald Wallace had 14 for the Bobcats, who went 0-3 against the Cavs this season losing by an average of 22 points per game.

Nuggets trade Chucky Atkins to Thunder for Johan Petro

Oklahoma City Thunder Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations and General Manager Sam Presti announced today that the team has acquired guard Chucky Atkins, a 2009 first round draft pick and cash considerations from the Denver Nuggets in exchange for center Johan Petro and the Thunder’s 2009 second round draft pick.

“We are excited to add Chucky to our team,” said Presti. “He brings a wealth of experience and a great work ethic to our program. We feel that he is someone who can bring an additional level of veteran leadership to the Thunder.”

Atkins (5-11/160), a nine-year NBA veteran, has played in 637 NBA games with seven teams averaging 10.4 points, 3.6 assists and 1.8 rebounds per contest. He has appeared in 14 games for the Denver Nuggets this season averaging 1.9 points and 2.0 rebounds in 8.2 minutes per game.

The Orlando, Florida native went undrafted in the 1996 NBA draft despite averaging 14.6 points, 4.7 assists and 3.0 rebounds per game in four seasons at the University of South Florida. Atkins spent one season with the La Crosse Bobcats of the Continental Basketball Association and two seasons with Cibona Zagreb of the Croatian Basketball League before entering the NBA

Atkins, who appeared in all 82 games for the Orlando Magic as an NBA rookie during the 1999-2000 season, averaged 9.5 points and 3.7 assists on his way to being named to the NBA All-Rookie Second Team. He had his best statistical year in 2004-05 as a member of the Los Angeles Lakers when he averaged 13.6 points, 4.4 assists and 2.4 rebounds in 35 minutes per contest.

Petro, 7-0, 247, has averaged 4.6 ppg and 4.3 rpg in 15.5 mpg in 22 contests (12 starts) with Oklahoma City this season.

A native of Paris, France, Petro was the 25th overall selection in the 2005 NBA Draft by the Seattle SuperSonics and has posted career averages of 5.7 ppg and 4.5 rpg in 243 games over his three-plus seasons with the Oklahoma City franchise.

Read fan reaction and discuss your own opinion in this forum thread.

Clippers waive Hassan Adams

The Los Angeles Clippers today waived guard/forward Hassan Adams it was announced by Clippers General Manager and Head Coach Mike Dunleavy.

The Clippers acquired Adams Jan. 7 in a trade from the Toronto Raptors along with cash considerations in exchange for a future conditional second round draft pick.

Adams has appeared in 12 games with the Raptors this season, averaging 0.9 points, 0.6 rebounds and 0.1 assists in 4.3 minutes per game.

Grizzlies waive Shaun Livingston

The Memphis Grizzlies have waived guard Shaun Livingston, Grizzlies General Manager and Vice President of Basketball Operations Chris Wallace announced today.

The 6-7, 185-pound guard was acquired today with cash considerations from the Miami Heat in exchange for a 2012 conditional second round draft pick.  Livingston averaged 2.3 points and 1.0 assists in 10.3 minutes in four games with Miami.  He signed with the Heat as a free agent on Oct. 3, 2008.

Read fan reaction and discuss your own opinion in this forum thread.

–InsideHoops.com editor Jeff Lenchiner

Heat trade Shaun Livingston to Grizzlies

The Miami Heat announced today that they have traded guard Shaun Livingston and cash considerations to the Memphis Grizzles for a 2012 conditional second round draft pick.

UPDATE: Mere minutes after making this trade, the Grizzlies waived Livingston.

In four games this season, Livingston averaged 2.3 points and 1.0 assists in 10.3 minutes. The 6’7” guard signed with the HEAT as a free agent on October 3, 2008. He was originally drafted by the Los Angeles Clippers with the fourth overall pick in the 2004 NBA Draft.

Over the last few days there were several local Miami reports suggesting the team was set to waive/release Livingston, rather than trade him.

With Mike Conley, Kyle Lowry and oversized point guard Marko Jaric the Grizzlies are overloaded at the position. It’ll be interesting to see how long the team holds on to Livingston. So far he’s been unable to show full recovery from injury.

Read fan reaction and discuss your own opinion in this forum thread.

–InsideHoops.com editor Jeff Lenchiner

Celtics-Rockets connections

Houston General Manager Daryl Morey joined the Rockets after serving three years as SVP Operations for the Celtics.

Boston Associate Head Coach Tom Thibodeau and Assistant Basketball Coach/Advance Scout Coordinator Mike Longabardi each served in similar positions with the Rockets before joining the Celtics.

Celtics guard Sam Cassell played for the Rockets from 1993-96, averaging 10.1 points per game and helping Houston win back-to-back NBA Championships in 1993-94 and 1994-95.

Boston center Kendrick Perkins was a standout player at Beaumont’s Clifton J. Ozen High School.

Raptors trade Hassan Adams to Clippers

The Toronto Raptors announced Wednesday they have traded guard-forward Hassan Adams and cash considerations to the Los Angeles Clippers for a future conditional second-round draft pick.

UPDATE: The Clippers have now waived Adams.

Adams appeared in 12 games this season, totaling 11 points and seven rebounds in 52 minutes. He drew a DNP-CD in 14 games and was on the inactive list for eight contests.

Adams was signed by the Raptors as a free agent July 8. He was selected 54th overall in the 2006 NBA Draft by the New Jersey Nets and spent the 2006-07 season with the club.

He played with two teams in Italy last season.

The Raptors roster currently stands at 13 players. The Raptors face the Washington Wizards tonight at the Verizon Center at 7 p.m. The game will be broadcast on TSN2 and The FAN 590.

Read fan reaction and discuss your own opinion in this forum thread.

–InsideHoops.com editor Jeff Lenchiner