The AP reports: Chris Paul recorded his sixth career triple-double, getting 17 assists, 14 points and 10 rebounds for the New Orleans Hornets, in a 99-87 victory on Monday night. West scored 27 points, including a pair of jumpers that diffused a rally by the Clippers midway through the fourth quarter… Peja Stojakovic had 13 points and nine rebounds for the Hornets, who won their third straight following a home-and-home sweep of Oklahoma City. Forward Morris Peterson did not play because of pain in his right knee, but backup point guard Devin Brown was back in the lineup, scoring 11 points after spraining his right ankle in Saturday’s 109-97 win. Eric Gordon scored 25 points to lead the Clippers despite spraining his ankle early in the first quarter. Baron Davis had 19 points against his former team and Chris Kaman added 14 points for the Clippers, who have lost seven straight to the Hornets and four in a row against them at Staples Center.
Nov 24: Blazers 91, Kings 90
The AP reports: Greg Oden returned to the starting lineup for the first time since Portland’s season opener, against an opponent the Blazers had beaten on the road by 21 points four days ago. An easy night’s work? Not even close. Brandon Roy scored a season-high 28 points and the Portland Trail Blazers rallied during the final six minutes to beat the Sacramento Kings 91-90 on Monday night. Joel Przybilla added 10 points and 12 rebounds, while Steve Blake had 12 points for the Blazers… Oden, the first pick of the 2007 NBA draft, had three points, six rebounds, and four turnovers in 19 ineffective minutes. Sacramento had some of its best stretches on offense when Oden was on the floor in the second half… John Salmons led Sacramento with 20 points and had a chance to win the game, but his drive to the basket with two seconds remaining came up short of the rim… Brad Miller added 18 points and Beno Udrih had 17 for Sacramento.
Nov 24: Bulls 101, Jazz 100
The AP reports: Even when he missed, Derrick Rose was on target. The Chicago rookie tied his career high with nine assists and accidentally set up Larry Hughes’ game-winning shot as the Bulls beat the Jazz 101-100 on Monday night, giving Utah its first home loss of the season. With Chicago trailing 100-99, Rose took an 18-foot jumper that bounced high off the rim and right to Hughes, who beat the buzzer and the Jazz from 22 feet away. “We needed that win and we didn’t care how we got it,” said Rose, who scored 10 of his 25 points in the fourth quarter… Mehmet Okur had 26 points and nine rebounds for the Jazz, who outscored the Bulls 30-19 in the third quarter, but didn’t have enough to hold off Chicago down the stretch… Drew Gooden had 18 points and Ben Gordon scored 15 for the Bulls, who improved to 2-3 on a seven-game road trip… Paul Millsap had 21 points and 10 rebounds in his second start for Boozer before fouling out with 1:18 left in the game.
Nov 24: Spurs 94, Grizzlies 81
The AP reports: Manu Ginobili returned from his offseason left ankle surgery, and the San Antonio Spurs celebrated with a victory. Ginobili, who missed San Antonio’s first 12 games, scored 12 points to help the Spurs beat the Memphis Grizzlies 94-81 on Monday night… Rookie George Hill scored 20 points and Roger Mason added 18 to lead the Spurs. Tim Duncan added 14 points, 11 rebounds and four blocks for San Antonio, which has won five of its last six games. O.J. Mayo scored 23 of his 26 points in the second half to lead Memphis, which has dropped seven of its last eight. Rudy Gay scored 13 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, while Darko Milicic had 11 points and 11 rebounds.
Nov 24: Rockets 107, Heat 98
The AP reports: Ron Artest is difficult to please. After seeing Yao Ming shake off waves of defenders in a 28-point, 12-rebound effort that helped the Houston Rockets beat the Miami Heat 107-98 on Monday night, someone asked Artest to assess his center’s performance. “I thought he could have played better,” Artest said… Artest scored 20 and Rafer Alston added 14 points for Houston, which finished with six players in double figures and outrebounded Miami 51-35. Luis Scola had 11 points and 13 rebounds, while Carl Landry and Aaron Brooks each scored 11 for the Rockets, who finished off a 3-0 road trip against East teams. Dwyane Wade scored 23 points for Miami, doing so on 7-for-23 shooting, which prompted another quick line from Artest. “He played really bad tonight,” Artest said. “He didn’t play like I’m used to seeing him play.” Mario Chalmers added a career-best 23 points, including five 3-pointers, for the Heat, who also got 17 points from Shawn Marion, 14 from Beasley and a season-high 12 from Yakhouba Diawara.
Nov 24: Magic 108, Bucks 101
The AP reports: Dwight Howard was still standing, and that’s all that mattered for the Orlando Magic. Howard had 24 points and 13 rebounds as the Orlando Magic outlasted the Milwaukee Bucks 108-101 Monday night in a matchup of injury-depleted teams. Richard Jefferson scored 25 points to lead Milwaukee, which lost Andrew Bogut to a knee bruise in the third quarter. The Bucks were already missing Michael Redd and Luke Ridnour, their starting backcourt, to injuries. Hedo Turkoglu, forced to play some point guard when Jameer Nelson went out with a groin pull, and Rashard Lewis each added 22 points for the Magic. Howard picked up his fourth foul halfway through the third quarter but played eight minutes in the final quarter, scoring 7 points but making only 5 of 11 free throws.
Nov 24: Bobcats 93, Sixers 84
The AP reports: It didn’t take long for rookie D.J. Augustin to unseat Raymond Felton as Charlotte’s point guard. Only Felton didn’t lose his starting job, leaving a tiny backcourt that—at least for a night—got the Bobcats out of their offensive funk. Augustin and Felton, each about six-feet tall, combined for 48 points, 16 assists and 12 rebounds in their third game starting together, and the Bobcats beat the Philadelphia 76ers 93-84 Monday night to snap a four-game losing streak… Augustin scored 25 points and added a career-high 11 assists. Felton had 23 points and seven rebounds. They combined to shoot 16 for 22 with only six turnovers… Elton Brand had 18 points, but made only 6 of 13 shots and fouled out with under a minute left. He was nowhere near as dominant as he was a night earlier in a win over Golden State that got the Sixers to .500 for the first time. Thaddeus Young was held to six points on 2-of-10 shooting. Andre Iguodala added 17 points for the Sixers, who shot 40 percent and had their two-game winning streak snapped.
Players in Clippers-Knicks trade not active yet
Zach Randolph and Mardy Collins will not be in uniform for Monday night’s game between the Clippers and New Orleans Hornets.
None of the four players in Friday’s trade between the Clippers and New York Knicks are eligible to play for their new teams until the results of all physicals are known.
There’s no word that anything is wrong.
Bobcats sign Dwayne Jones
Charlotte Bobcats General Manager Rod Higgins announced today that the team has signed forward Dwayne Jones. The Bobcats roster now stands at 14 players. Jones will wear jersey #27.
“This will help the Bobcats frontcourt depth, but Jones is a bench-level player who can generally just provide backup support,” says InsideHoops.com editor Jeff Lenchiner. “The Bobcats really need a legit center to play alongside power forward Emeka Okafor.”
Jones (6-10, 251 pounds) was signed by the Orlando Magic to attend training camp but was released prior to the start of the 2008-09 regular season. He immediately signed with Efes Pilsen Istanbul of the Turkish League and appeared in their first two games.
Over his three-year NBA career, Jones has appeared in 74 games with averages of 1.3 points and 2.4 rebounds in 8.4 minutes with Cleveland and Boston. Jones was an early entry candidate for the 2005 NBA Draft after three seasons at St. Joseph’s University. He was signed by the Minnesota Timberwolves on August 26, 2005 as an undrafted rookie free agent. Jones was later assigned by the team to the NBA Development League (Florida Flame).
After 26 games in the D-League, where he averaged 8.9 points, 11.7 rebounds and 2.0 blocks, Jones was traded to Boston along with Timberwolves teammates Michael Olowokandi, Wally Szczerbiak and a future first-round pick on Jan. 27, 2006. He appeared in 14 games for the Celtics, posting a career-high 13 rebounds on April 17, 2006 against Cleveland.
Jones was traded the following season to the Cavaliers on Oct. 13, 2006 in exchange for Luke Jackson and appeared in just four regular-season games during the 2006-07 season. He had another stint in the D-League (Albuquerque) as assigned by the Cavaliers and appeared in two games with averages of 11.5 points and 11.5 rebounds, 6.0 blocks and 2.0 steals.
In his first full season as an NBA player in 2007-08, Jones appeared in 56 games with averages of 1.4 points and 2.5 rebounds in 8.1 minutes. He set career-high totals in nearly every statistical category including scoring (78), rebounds (140), blocked shots (25) and minutes played (473). He scored a career-high nine points against New Jersey on Dec. 4 and recorded games of 10-or-more rebounds five times.
As a collegian, Jones was named Atlantic 10 Defensive Player of the Year and two-time All-Defensive Team member two consecutive seasons. He also ranked fifth in the nation in rebounding (11.6) and blocks (3.0) and led the conference in both categories. He was also part of the 2004 Hawks team that went undefeated during the regular season, earning a top seed in the NCAA Tournament.
Players of Week: Wade, Nowitzki
The Miami Heat’s Dwyane Wade and the Dallas Mavericks’ Dirk Nowitzki today were named the Eastern and Western Conference Players of the Week, respectively, for games played Monday, Nov.17, through Sunday, Nov. 23.
Wade led Miami to a 2-1 week, averaging a league-best 32.3 points and added 9.7 assists, 4.3 rebounds and 3.3 blocks. On Nov. 19, Wade joined Alvan Adams as the only players in NBA history to tally at least 40 points, 10 assists and five blocks in a game, when he tallied 40 points, 11 assists and five blocks against the Raptors. Wade’s 38 points on Nov. 22 marked the 100th 30-point game of his career, while his 14 fourth-quarter points helped the Heat overcome a 15-point deficit to defeat Indiana, 109-100.
Nowitzki averaged 27.0 points, 10.3 rebounds and 2.7 assists as Dallas went 3-0 on the week. Ranked fourth in the league in scoring (24.7 ppg), Nowitzki posted two double-doubles, including a 25-point, 10-rebound game against Memphis to give the Mavericks their first home-win this season, on Nov. 21. Nowitzki leads the Mavericks in scoring, rebounding and minutes, and has recorded 30 or more points five times this season.
Other nominees for the Eastern and Western Conference Players of the Week were Boston’s Rajon Rondo, Cleveland’s LeBron James, Dallas’ Jason Terry, Denver’s Chauncey Billups, New Jersey’s Vince Carter, Philadelphia’s Elton Brand and Phoenix’s Amare Stoudemire.