The AP reports: A 15-point second-half lead had turned into a tie game before the end of the third quarter, and the six-game losing streak was starting to weigh on the mind of at least one Indiana Pacer. But forward Danny Granger put any doubt out of his mind after coach Jim O’Brien issued a simple directive, which led to the Pacers pulling away for a 118-98 win against the Washington Wizards on Monday night… Granger scored 27 points and added nine rebounds to pace Indiana as it snapped that six-game skid. Marquis Daniels had 20 points and point guards T.J. Ford and Jarrett Jack each scored 16 points for the Pacers (8-16), who had dropped eight of nine entering the game… Antawn Jamison had 26 points and a season-high 15 rebounds—his 14th double-double this season—and Caron Butler scored 26 for Washington. Andray Blatche, inserted into the starting lineup in place of rookie JaVale McGee, had 19 points.
Spurs waive Blake Ahearn
The San Antonio Spurs announced today that they have waived guard Blake Ahearn.
The 6-2, 190-pound Ahearn was originally signed by San Antonio on 11/16. He appeared in three games for the Silver and Black where he averaged 2.7 points in 6.3 minutes. Ahearn was assigned to the Austin Toros on 11/30. In six games with the Toros, he averaged 18.8 points, 6.2 assists and 2.3 rebounds in 34.3 minutes.
The Spurs roster stands at 14.
Sacramento Kings fire coach Reggie Theus
The amount of head coaches being fired in the NBA this season is ridiculous. The Wizards fired Eddie Jordan, the 76ers fired Mo Cheeks, the Raptors fired Sam Mitchell, and now the Sacramento Kings have fired coach Reggie Theus.
Although the Kings are lousy this season, I don’t see how they were supposed to accomplish much with their current roster. Really, it comes down to Kings management simply not feeling that Theus is good or experienced enough to help the team grow any more than they have already.
The best player on the team is shooting guard Kevin Martin, but injuries have limited him to just nine games this season. He’s a scorer, and on 42.6% shooting is averaging 20.8 points per game, but just 2.7 rebounds, 2.6 assists and a decent 1.22 steals.
John Salmons has been second on the team in scoring with 19.4 ppg on impressive 49.1% shooting. He also contributes 3.7 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 1.22 steals per game.
Point guard Beno Udrih is shooting an excellent 48.0% for 12.9 points, 3.3 rebounds, 5.3 assists and 1.29 steals.
Rookie big-man Spencer Hawes, center Brad Miller, guard Francisco Garcia and rookie forward Jason Thompson are also all having decent seasons.
The Kings as a team? Not so great, but that was expected given the limited roster.
They’re average at scoring, but awful at defense, giving up 106.08 points per game, third most (worst) in the league. Their opponents are also nailing a very high 47.9% of their shots, also third worst in the league.
The Kings are the league’s worst three-point shooting team, connecting on just 29.3% of their attempts. And they’re the league’s worst team at defending three-pointers; opponents are nailing 43.1% of their threes when facing Sacramento.
The team also needs to rebound better.
But the firing of Theus isn’t about exact statistics, it’s about development, making the young players better and giving them big minutes, and getting along with upper management, and team brass no longer thinks the future is bright with Theus guiding the way.
Check the InsideHoops.com NBA rumors page for more stories on this.
Read fan reaction and discuss your own opinion in this message board thread.
Dec 14: Lakers 98, Wolves 86
The AP reports: Kobe Bryant had 26 points and five assists, Pau Gasol added 18 points, 11 rebounds, six assists and three blocked shots, and the Lakers pulled away in the fourth quarter to beat the struggling Minnesota Timberwolves 98-86 on Sunday night. Andrew Bynum added 14 points and nine rebounds, and Trevor Ariza scored 14 points for the Lakers, who have played seven of their last eight games against teams with losing records and lost to two of them—Indiana and Sacramento. And they haven’t been all that impressive in several recent victories… Al Jefferson had 20 points and 13 rebounds to lead Minnesota, but he shot 8-of-24, missing 15 of his last 19 shots. Craig Smith added 18 points and eight rebounds, and Ryan Gomes scored 13 for the Timberwolves (4-19), who lost their ninth straight game and fourth in a row since Kevin McHale took over as coach last Monday.
Dec 14: Spurs 109, Thunder 104
The AP reports: Tony Parker knows a 26-point first-half lead is no sure thing — even against the team with the worst record in the NBA. Parker scored 22 points, and Tim Duncan had 20 points and 12 rebounds to help San Antonio win its sixth straight game, 109-104 over Oklahoma City on Sunday night. The Spurs led by 26 points in the first half before the Thunder cut it to two points in the final minute… Matt Bonner added 17 points, and Roger Mason had 14 for the Spurs. They combined to make five 3-pointers in the first quarter when the Spurs took a 21-point lead that they pushed to 26 in the second quarter. Jeff Green led the Thunder, 2-23 after their seventh straight loss, with 33 points, and Kevin Durant had 28. The pair of second-year players combined to go 26-of-47 from the floor and scored 61 of the Thunder starters’ 70 points… Ginobili had 14 points on 5-of-10 shooting and added six assists.
Dec 14: Grizzlies 102, Heat 86
The AP reports: The Grizzlies’ youth movement is starting to show results. Memphis won its fourth straight game Sunday, beating the Miami Heat 102-86. Rookie O.J. Mayo had 28 points, and Rudy Gay added 18… Memphis’ winning streak is its longest since the five games of the 2005-06 season. Darko Milicic matched his season high with 13 points, and reserve Mike Conley had 12 for the Grizzlies, who at times have started three rookies—Mayo, Marc Gasol and Darrell Arthur. Eight of Memphis’ 14 players are 23 or younger… Memphis has scored at least 100 points in all four wins during the run and has turned up the defensive pressure. On Sunday, the Miami star Dwyane Wade was 5-of-16 from the field and the Heat shot 36 percent… Michael Beasley led Miami with 20 points, and Joel Anthony had 12 points and 13 rebounds for his first double-double of the season.
Dec 14: Hornets 99, Raptors 91
The AP reports: The Toronto Raptors were determined to keep Chris Paul out of the paint. They limited Paul’s penetration, but couldn’t stop the New Orleans Hornets point guard from finding open shooters on the perimeter. David West scored 29 points, James Posey added a season-high 20 points, including six 3-pointers, and 10 rebounds for the Hornets, who beat the Raptors 99-91 Sunday for their eighth win in 10 games. Rasual Butler scored 16 points and Paul added 12 points and 12 assists for the Hornets… Chris Bosh had 25 points, and Jose Calderon scored 22 for Toronto on 8-for-8 shooting. Calderon also made his only free throw and has hit 59 straight dating to last season… Jermaine O’Neal added 19 points for the Raptors, who were shooting for their first three-game winning streak since a 3-0 start. Toronto is 5-6 at home.
Toronto Raptors sign Jake Voskuhl
The Toronto Raptors announced Sunday they have signed free-agent centre Jake Voskuhl. Per team policy, financial details were not disclosed.
Voskuhl, 31, is an eight-year NBA veteran. He has played for Chicago, Phoenix, Charlotte and Milwaukee, averaging 4.3 points, 3.6 rebounds and 15.1 minutes in 412 regular season games. He has also made 92 career starts. He has recorded career bests of 20 points (April 6, 2002 at Minnesota) and 16 rebounds (January 20, 2004 versus San Antonio).
The 6-foot-11, 255 pounder was selected 33rd overall in the 2000 NBA Draft by the Chicago Bulls. He was acquired by Phoenix in October 2001 and spent four seasons with the Suns. He posted career highs of 6.6 points, 5.2 rebounds, 24.3 minutes and 43 starts in the 2003-04 campaign.
Voskuhl participated in his lone postseason action in 2002-03 as a member of the Suns, where he averaged 6.0 points, 3.7 rebounds and 16.3 minutes in six games. He shot .706 (12-17) from the field and .923 (12-13) from the free throw line.
The native of Katy, Texas averaged 6.3 points, 6.4 rebounds and 1.4 blocks in 138 career games at the University of Connecticut. He helped the Huskies capture the 1999 NCAA Championship.
The Raptors play host to the New Jersey Nets on Monday at Air Canada Centre. Game time is 7 p.m.
Nets-Raptors observations
InsideHoops.com editor Jeff Lenchiner shares his unedited thoughts on the New Jersey Nets and Toronto Raptors from Friday night. The Raptors visited the Nets and won in convincing fashion, 101-79.
Quick summary: The Raptors led 24-18 after the first quarter. Both teams scored just 16 each in a quiet second quarter. The Raptors tore away in the third quarter (31-19), and kept things going in the fourth for a convincing win. New Jersey shot just 31.3%. They had 20 offensive rebounds, compared to just 5 for the Raptors, but barely converted anything.
It’s pointless to say anything about Vince Carter today. He had a miserable game, shooting 0-of-13 and hitting 3-of-4 free throws for just three points, four rebounds and three assists (but three turnovers). The Raptors played very good defense, but Vince being off like this obviously isn’t normal.
Toronto also defended Devin Harris very well, holding him to 4-of-10 shooting for 14 points, five rebounds and five assists (but four turnovers). Are teams starting to figure Harris out? Hopefully not, for the Nets sake.
What I didn’t like about the Nets today is that as Harris struggled, very few other Nets seemed to try to help him out. As Harris had the ball in three-point range up top, Brook Lopez was the only Net to consistently set a real screen for him in an effort to free Devin up. Other Nets stood around watching. Now, usually Harris uses his super-quickness to create out of nowhere, but when it isn’t happening, guys should move and help a bit.
I’m extremely impressed by Brook Lopez. He’s the real deal and is very strong, agile and basketball-smart on both ends of the floor. The young center is a stud and will have an impressive NBA career.
I still don’t know what to make of Yi Jianlian, other than that he’s agile and has a sweet-looking jumper.
The arena’s sound system sounded especially muffled today.
As for the Raptors, Jermaine O’Neal is moving slowly and not the player he was before, but he has a high basketball IQ and uses his size more effectively than shows on the stat-sheet. Only a little, though.
Chris Bosh didn’t do anything special today, but he didn’t really have to.
Jason Kapono took 15 shots, more than any other Raptor, hitting just six, four of which were three-pointers, finishing with 16 points and five rebounds.
Joey Graham is having a great stretch and has played good basketball for the last few weeks. He looks confident. Graham came off the bench to play almost 30 minutes, shooting 5-of-8 for 16 points.
Andrea Bargnani was a starter this season, but now comes off the bench, and showed very little today, shooting just 2-of-10. That’s obviously worse than usual, but I’m still not sure how good he’s going to get. He’s shown in the past that he has the ability to become a starter-quality player on a winning team, but he isn’t that, yet.
Keep an eye on the Raptors as they learn to play under new head coach Jay triano.
Dec 13: Clippers 95, Rockets 82
The AP reports: The Los Angeles Clippers needed back-to-back 30-point efforts from newly acquired Zach Randolph to win consecutive games for the first time this season. Randolph had 30 points and 13 rebounds Saturday night in a 95-82 victory over the Houston Rockets. Friday night at Portland, he had 38 points and 11 boards in a double-overtime win… Yao Ming had 24 points and 13 rebounds for the Rockets, who had beaten the Clippers in seven consecutive meetings and 19 of the previous 22. Tracy McGrady scored 19 points on 5-for-17 shooting in his second game back after missing the previous seven because of a sore left knee… Al Thornton scored 26 points and Camby added 12 points and 13 rebounds for the Clippers, who got double-digit scoring from all of their starters. Baron Davis, who had 23 points and eight assists against the Rockets in the previous meeting at Houston despite a case of food poisoning, had 13 points and nine assists in the rematch.