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The Atlanta Hawks have suspended center/forward Zaza Pachulia for tomorrow night’s game at Denver for conduct detrimental to the team, according to Executive Vice President and General Manager Billy Knight.
Pachulia’s absence from the team will only pertain to Wednesday’s game against the Nuggets, and he will be available to play at Seattle on Friday, January 25.
The Detroit Free Press (Jamie Samuelsen) reports: The Pistons are in a mini-slump, losers of three of their last four. What’s different about them recently that wasn’t showing up when they won 11 in a row? The bench is the first thing that really jumps out at me. They only accounted for five points in the overtime loss to the Kings on Friday night. When you feature a starting five that only has two consistent scoring threats in Hamilton and Billups, you do need the bench to be consistent and it hasn’t been lately.
Lakers forward Trevor Ariza suffered a fracture of the fourth metatarsal in his right foot yesterday at practice, it was announced by the team.
After an examination this morning by Dr. Ken Jung, a foot specialist with the Kerlan- Jobe Orthopaedic Group, it is estimated that Ariza will be out approximately eight weeks.
Ariza, acquired by the Lakers on November 20 in a trade with the Orlando Magic, is averaging 5.5 points, 3.1 rebounds and 1.3 assists in 15.6 minutes.
The Los Angeles Lakers have signed free agent center Didier “DJ” Ilunga-Mbenga to a 10-day contract, it was announced today by General Manager Mitch Kupchak.
Mbenga, a 7-foot, 220 pound native of the Congo, signed with the Golden State Warriors November 17 after spending three seasons with the Dallas Mavericks prior to their request for waivers on him October 30. In 16 games with the Warriors prior to his release January 6, Mbenga averaged 1.2 points, 1.9 rebounds and 0.63 blocked shots in 8.1 minutes.
After signing with Dallas as a rookie free agent in 2004, Mbenga, 27, played 79 games over three seasons with the Mavericks, totaling 106 points, 75 rebounds and 35 blocked shots in 374 minutes. In his rookie year of 2004-05, he averaged 4.10 blocks per 48 minutes played while improving to 5.00 blocks per 48 minutes in 2005-06. In 2006-07 he was limited to just 21 games after missing the first 16 games of the year with a left foot tendon strain and suffering a torn right ACL 2/7/07 vs. Memphis.
In 95 career games including two starts, Mbenga is averaging 1.3 points, 1.1 rebounds and 0.47 blocked shots in 5.3 minutes.
The Lakers roster now stands at 15.
The Los Angeles Times (Mike Bresnahan) reports: Forward Trevor Ariza was diagnosed with a fractured bone in his right foot after hurting it today at practice. Ariza will see foot specialist Kenneth Jung on Monday, at which point a timetable for his return will be determined. It was unclear exactly how Ariza injured the fourth metatarsal in his foot, but he apparently came down on someone’s foot.
The San Antonio Spurs announced today that they have re-signed guard/forward Jeremy Richardson. Per team policy, terms of the deals were not disclosed.
Richardson has appeared in three games for the Spurs where he averaged 1.7 points in 3:23 minutes. He was originally signed on 1/10.
The 6-7, 195-pound Richardson was signed by the Memphis Grizzlies on 12/20. He did not register a point in three games with Grizzlies and was waived on 1/7.
Prior to joining the Grizzlies, Richardson was with the Fort Wayne Mad Antz in the NBA Development League. He was averaging a league-high 28.5 points, 6.6 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 1.63 steals in 41.5 minutes in eight games. The 23-year-old spent the 2007 preseason with the Miami Heat before being cut on 10/29.
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The Memphis Grizzlies signed forward Bobby Jones to a second 10-day contract, Grizzlies General Manager and Vice President of Basketball Operations Chris Wallace announced today.
Jones, who signed his first 10-day contract on January 10, has appeared in five games (two starts) with Memphis, averaging 7.2 points, 4.6 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 1.00 steals in 19.2 minutes.
In only his fourth game with the club, Jones made his first start this season vs. Seattle on Jan. 18 and posted career highs in points (20), rebounds (13), assists (7), steals (3) and minutes played (40) in a 124-100 victory over the SuperSonics at FedExForum.
The 6-7, 215-pound sophomore forward began the season with the Denver Nuggets, where he averaged 3.3 points and 1.4 rebounds in 23 games (no starts) before he was waived on Jan. 7.
The Compton, California native appeared in 44 games in his rookie season with Philadelphia in 2006-07, and started five of the final six games, where the 24-year-old averaged 9.6 points, 3.6 rebounds, 1.2 assists and 1.20 steals on 53.8 percent shooting in 27.2 minutes per game.
Milwaukee Bucks General Manager Larry Harris announced today that the team has assigned forward/guard David Noel (6-6, 230) to the Tulsa 66ers (Okla.) of the NBA Development League. Tulsa is led by Head Coach Joey Meyer and has served as the Bucks D-League affiliate since the 2005-06 season. He’ll join Bucks rookie guard Ramon Sessions (6-3, 190), who is currently assigned to Tulsa.
“This is an opportunity for David to see regular minutes in game conditions that he wouldn’t necessarily receive in Milwaukee,” said Harris. “We are encouraged with how well Ramon has performed in Tulsa and are looking forward to seeing David’s continued progress in the D-League, too.”
Currently in his second NBA season, Noel has not appeared in a game for the Bucks this season, having missed 27 games with a right wrist injury and been inactive (11 games) or a coach’s decision (two games) for the other 13 contests this season for Milwaukee. As a rookie, Noel appeared in 68 games for the Bucks and averaged 2.7 points, 1.8 rebounds and 1.0 assist per contest.
Sessions, 21, was selected by the Bucks with the 56th overall pick in the second round of the 2007 NBA Draft and was assigned to Tulsa on November 8, 2007. In 21 games for the 66ers, Sessions has averaged 19.9 points (13th in NBDL), 6.3 rebounds (T-21th) and 7.0 assists (T-4th). He also earned D-League Performer of the Week over the first weekend of the D-League schedule by posting 30.5 points, 7.5 rebounds and 5.0 assists in two Tulsa victories. Sessions played three seasons at the University of Nevada as a point guard and earned Second Team All-WAC honors during his junior season, in addition to being a finalist for the Bob Cousy Point Guard of the Year Award. During the 2006-07 season, he was third on the team in scoring (12.3), second in rebounding (4.7) and first in assists (4.7, second in the WAC).
Atlanta Hawks guard Anthony Johnson has been suspended for one game without pay, it was announced today by Stu Jackson, NBA Executive Vice President, Basketball Operations. Johnson was assessed a Flagrant Foul, Penalty Two and ejected for flagrantly fouling Jose Calderon of the Toronto Raptors by striking him in the head with a forearm.
The incident occurred with 41.3 remaining in the second period of Atlanta’s 89-78 loss to the Toronto Raptors on Friday, Jan. 18 at Air Canada Centre. Johnson will serve the suspension when the Hawks host the Portland Trail Blazers at Phillips Arena on Jan. 21.
The East Valley Tribune reports: By the end of the day, Leandro Barbosa was laughing about a practical joke that had him scurrying around the team’s Beverly Hills hotel Thursday. But for a while, a phone hoax that had Barbosa believing he was traded to the New York Knicks was no laughing matter. Barbosa, who made the mistake of registering under his own name, was in his room when he received an anonymous phone call “informing him” of a trade, and telling him he needed to meet Suns general manager Steve Kerr in the hotel lobby.