Anthony Morrow benched

Golden State Warriors guard Anthony Morrow came out of nowhere and put himself on the map with some big performances recently. Coach Don Nelson, who sometimes appear to flip a coin to decide if he likes a certain player or not anymore, praised him pretty loudly. So what’s up now? The San Francisco Examiner (Matt Steinmetz) reports:

I don’t want to start calling Nelson the “SI Jinx,” but he’s been all over the board with his player assessments during his second stint with the Warriors. And at the very least, words of praise from Nelson don’t seem to carry much weight. Or go very far. In the four games since his sparkling debut against the Clippers, a 15-for-20 shooting night, and impressive follow-up performance against Portland, Morrow has scored 20 total points on 6-for-22 shooting. Morrow’s playing time also has dwindled during that time, going from 34 minutes to 24 minutes to 15 minutes to a DNP-CD vs. the Celtics on Wednesday.

Will Morrow play 37 minutes next game? Or two? Even Don Nelson may not know.

An Andris Biedrins weakness

The Contra Costa Times reports: It has become apparent of late that Andris Biedrins has a weakness in his game other than free throws and post-ups. He struggles against athletic big men. When he is not longer, faster and playing with more energy, he is hardly as effective. It takes a lot of energy out of him to keep up with those types, and he isn’t the type of big man who goes down on the other end and make them pay on offense. Samuel Dalembert, JaVale McGee and Kevin Garnett exposed Biedrins. You don’t realize how much Biedrins got off people overlooking him and not paying attention to him. Wednesday, when a shot went up, Garnett went for Biedrins to block him out. Both Garnett and Dalembert defended Biedrins as if they’d studied his moves, even blocking his little flip shots.

Nov 27: Hornets 105, Nuggets 101

The AP reports: Chris Paul led the Hornets with 22 points and 10 assists but came up six rebounds short of his third straight triple-double. Still, he took the game over late, scoring seven straight points for his team, including a 3-pointer from well behind the arc, with the shot clock running down, to tie it at 92 with 2:07 left… J.R. Smith led the Nuggets with a season-high 32 points. Denver tied it at 98 on Carmelo Anthony’s dunk with 37 seconds left, but the Hornets worked the ball to Posey, who made the 3 from the top right corner to give them the lead for good… Carmelo Anthony had 24 points on 8-for-13 shooting for Denver, showing more signs of coming out of a slump that had him making only 39 percent of his shots so far this season… Rasual Butler made his first seven shots for New Orleans and finished with 19 points. Peja Stojakovic had 17 and David West had 15, including a stick back of Paul’s near air ball that gave the Hornets a 98-94 lead with 52 seconds left.

Nov 27: Magic 105, Wizards 90

The AP reports: The Washington Wizards were helpless against Dwight Howard. The NBA’s leading rebounder, Howard had 26 points, 14 rebounds and three blocks to help the Orlando Magic beat the Wizards 105-90 on Thursday night. Orlando has won eight of its last nine games and six in a row on the road. Howard toyed with four Washington defenders—scoring 14 points and grabbing nine rebounds in the first 8:45 as the Magic took a 25-11 lead… Caron Butler scored 19 of his 25 points in the first half for Washington, and Antawn Jamison had 17 points and 12 rebounds… Hedo Turkoglu added 20 points and had a season-high 10 rebounds… Rashard Lewis, who gave Orlando a victory Wednesday night in Philadelphia with a late 3-pointer, added 17 points, and Mickael Peitrus also had 17. Anthony Johnson had a season-high 12 assists.

Knicks suspend Stephon Marbury

New York Knickerbockers President of Basketball Operations Donnie Walsh announced today that guard Stephon Marbury has been suspended one game without pay and his salary will be reduced an additional 1/110th for refusing to play when called upon on Wednesday, Nov. 26 at Detroit. Marbury will serve his suspension tomorrow when the Knicks host the Golden State Warriors at Madison Square Garden.

“A player’s central obligation is to provide his professional services when called upon,” Walsh said. “Because he refused the Coach’s request to play in the team’s last game, we had no choice but to impose disciplinary action.”

Allen Iverson skips practice

The AP reports: Allen Iverson apparently chose family and food over practice — and he’ll be fined for it. Iverson was the only player who didn’t show up when the Detroit Pistons worked out on Thanksgiving.

InsideHoops.com editor says: I think practice should be optional on the select few major family-oriented holidays each season. But, naturally that’s the decision of the team/coach, not an individual player.

Jarron Collins out 6+ weeks

The following is a medical update on Utah Jazz center Jarron Collins, who has appeared in only two games this season due to right elbow inflammation and triceps tendinitis:

After meeting with Jazz team physician Dr. Lyle Mason, Collins has opted to take a non-surgical approach to the injury.  He will allow the elbow to heal for the next six weeks through triceps strengthening, shooting and cardiovascular work.

Collins will be re-evaluated on January 3, at which point a further update will be provided.

Now in his eighth season with the Jazz, Collins has appeared in two games this season (one start), totaling one rebound and one block in 16 scoreless minutes.  He was originally selected by the Jazz in the second round (53rd overall pick) of the 2001 NBA Draft and owns career averages of 4.4 points and 3.2 rebounds in 456 games (204 starts).

Kendrick Perkins leading league in techs

The Boston Globe (Julian Benbow) reports: The first thing you should know about technical fouls is that they’re not cheap. They’re $1,000 a pop, and that’s just the first five. The next five go for $1,500. Five more and you’re looking at $2,000 plus a warning letter from the league after No. 12. The 16th is the suspension ceiling, where every other technical costs you a one-game suspension. They also cost you $2,500 each. Kendrick Perkins has eight techs in about a month… “This is what I’m trying to explain to y’all,” he said. “I’m not trying to be out there getting techs. It’s just something, you get caught up in the heat of the moment. It’s something I can’t control, but I’m not trying to get techs. I’m not trying to let them take a thousand dollars out my pockets every time.”

Nov 25: Lakers 120, Nets 93

The AP reports: When Pau Gasol made his Lakers debut back in February following his trade from the Memphis Grizzlies, he led Los Angeles to a 15-point victory at New Jersey on a night when Kobe Bryant had the lowest-scoring game of his MVP campaign. Things looked eerily similar against the Nets on Tuesday night in the rematch at Staples Center. Gasol had 26 points and eight rebounds before sitting out the fourth quarter, and the defending Western Conference champions overcame Bryant’s shooting woes in a 120-93 rout that improved the NBA’s best record to 12-1… Bryant had difficulty with Vince Carter’s defense, going 5-for-17 from the field in 28 minutes and finishing with 12 points in the Lakers’ fifth straight victory… Devin Harris had 21 points and six assists for the Nets, who again played without Stromile Swift (back), Josh Boone (bruised left ankle) and Chris Douglas-Roberts (right knee strain). Eduardo Najera, who has an injured back, did not make the trip. Yi Jianlian had 13 points and nine rebounds for the Nets, who shot only 34.5 percent and went 3-for-19 in the fourth quarter while getting outscored 30-17.

Nov 25: Mavs 109, Pacers 106

The AP reports: The Dallas Mavericks were missing No. 2 scorer Josh Howard, and Dirk Nowitzki was getting extra attention from Indiana’s defense. So Jason Terry and Jason Kidd came to the rescue. Terry scored 16 of his 29 points in the fourth quarter and Kidd hit a pair of key 3-pointers to help the Mavericks rally from a 13-point second-half deficit for a 109-106 victory over the Pacers on Tuesday night… Nowitzki added 24 points and 12 rebounds and Antoine Wright scored a career-high 24 for the Mavericks, who played without Howard for a third straight game because of a left ankle injury… Kidd finished with 11 points and 13 assists as Dallas won its second consecutive home game after dropping the first four… Danny Granger’s 22 points and Troy Murphy’s 21 points and 14 rebounds led the Pacers. Brandon Rush added 18 points off the bench and ex-Maverick Marquis Daniels contributed 14 points and 11 rebounds for Indiana, which has lost three in a row and five of six.