Joe Johnson beats Wolves at buzzer

The Timberwolves lost a heartbreaker last night in Atlanta, falling 90-89 on a Joe Johnson fadeaway at the final buzzer. After falling behind by as many as 19 points in the first half, the Timberwolves rallied after the intermission.

Down 13 to start the third, the Wolves opened the quarter on a 15-4 run and took a 63-61 lead, their first of the game, on Marko Jaric lay-up with 1:45 remaining in the period.

The final quarter featured four ties and five lead changes, including four lead changes in the final 30 seconds. After another Jaric lay-in gave the Wolves a one-point advantage with :20.9 to play, Atlanta reclaimed the lead on a Josh Smith bank shot with :07.9 remaining. Another Jaric basket put the Wolves back on top with :02.8 to play before Johnson hit the game-winner.

Jaric nearly posted a triple-double on the night, tallying 18 points, eight rebounds and nine assists. Craig Smith came off the bench to lead the Wolves with 20 points while Corey Brewer pulled down a career-high 18 rebounds in over 44 minutes of action.

The Hawks were led by Smith, who finished with 28 points, seven rebounds and seven blocks. With the win, Atlanta took the season series 2-0.

Jamison speaks about the Suns

Here’s Washington Wizards forward Antawn Jamison:

Antawn Jamison on the challenge Phoenix presents: “You know what they do offensively. This is a team that has led the league in scoring for the last couple of years, has had the MVP (Steve Nash) for the last two out of three years, and has a great supporting cast. You can’t afford to take a night off when you’re playing this team. This team really plays great basketball at home, and they also try and have one of the best road records in the league as well.”

Antawn Jamison on the Phoenix Suns style of play: “They really like to set the tone from start to finish, so we can’t afford to have the start that we had last year. I think it really all boils down to trying to contain and maintain the pick-and-roll. You’re not going to be able to stop it for 48 minutes at all – you just have to do a good job as far as containing it.”

Antawn Jamison on their awareness in terms of field goal percentage: “With Gilbert (Arenas) gone, offensively you have to take quality shots and better shots – no first side shots, no quick shots – and defensively, you really have to key in. We can’t afford to neglect on the defensive end because we’re missing so much offensively with Gil gone. We need for (Antonio Daniels) to continue to stay in front of his man and help us out in that way. We need guys like Brendan (Haywood) to continue to control the paint, block and alter shots. If we continue to do those things and improve on both ends of the floor, especially defensively, it would really put us in a great situation to really be able to win a lot of games and get some distance from the other teams who are around us.”

Celtics, Magic, Spurs and Suns in rare air

NBA News – Boston (15-2), Orlando (16-4), San Antonio (16-3) and Phoenix (15-4) each have a chance of winning at least 20 of their first 25 games. The last time four teams started the season with at least 20 wins in their first 25 games was 1996: Chicago (22-3), Houston (21-4), Detroit (20-5) and Utah (20-5). The last time three teams established the feat was 2004: San Antonio (20-5), Phoenix (22-3) and Seattle (20-5).

Camby has six 20+ rebound games

NBA News – Denver’s Marcus Camby leads the NBA with six 20-plus rebounding performances this season. His six have already surpassed the amount posted by last season’s league leader, New Orleans’ Tyson Chandler, who paced the NBA with five 20-board outings in 73 games. Camby has already bested his personal best for a single season (five in 56 appearances during 2005-06). He has 26 games of 20-plus boards in 616 career games during his first 11 seasons in the NBA, 21 coming with the Nuggets.

Jazz assign Morris Almond and Kyrylo Fesenko to D-League

The Utah Jazz has assigned rookies Morris Almond and Kyrylo Fesenko to their D-League affiliate, the Utah Flash, Jazz general manager Kevin O’Connor announced today.

Fesenko, a 7-1, 20-year-old center, was originally sent to the Flash on Nov. 10. There he played four games, averaging 13.8 points and seven rebounds before being recalled by the Jazz on Nov. 30. The native of Ukraine appeared in his lone Jazz game the night he was recalled, scoring six points and grabbing seven rebounds in a 120-96 win over the Los Angeles Lakers.

Almond, a 6-6, 225-pound guard from Rice, was selected in the first round of the 2007 NBA Draft (25th overall) and has appeared in four Jazz games this season.

The Utah Flash now has the maximum number of assigned players allowable on their roster. Almond and Fesenko join Gabe Pruitt and Brandon Wallace, who are on assignment from the Boston Celtics, the other parent club for the Utah Flash. The only other time a D-League team has had the maximum number of assigned players was from Jan. 3-10, 2006 when the Florida Flame had four players on assignment from the Minnesota Timberwolves and Miami Heat.

“As a coach for our organization I’m obviously excited to have four NBA guys on our roster,” Flash head coach Brad Jones said. “This is a good accolade and tribute to what Freddy (Flash GM David Fredman) and (owner) Brandt (Andersen) are doing that NBA teams feel comfortable enough to send players our way. The challenge for the coach is I have to get these guys to mesh together, play as a team and get better every day.”

The Flash is 3-3 and in third place in the D-League’s West Division.

Rockets assign Aaron Brooks to D-League

Houston Rockets General Manager Daryl Morey announced today that guard Aaron Brooks has been assigned to the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, which is Houston’s NBA D-League affiliate. He becomes the 14th NBA player to be assigned to the D-League this season. Brooks joins teammate Steve Novak, who was assigned to the Vipers on Nov. 11.

The Rockets now become the third NBA team this season to have multiple players partake in D-League assignments, joining the Boston Celtics and San Antonio Spurs.

Brooks (6-0, 161, Oregon), who was selected by Houston with the 26th overall pick in the 2007 NBA Draft, has averaged 2.5 points in his two appearances with the Rockets this season. He played in his first NBA game vs. Phoenix (11/17/07), notching five points (2-2 FG, 1-1 3FG). Brooks also averaged 21.4 points (.461, 35-76 FG) and 5.2 assists over five games with Houston in the 2007 NBA Summer League. He earned Rookie of the Month honors for Summer League and was named to the 2007 NBA Summer League All-Star Team.

In addition to his NBA Summer League honors, Brooks was one of the top-10 young NBA players named to a USA Basketball Men’s Select Team that was chosen to help prepare the 2007 USA Senior National Team for its gold-medal run at the FIBA Americas Championship 2007.

Joe Johnson, Marvin Williams get heated in practice

The Atlanta Journal Constitution reports: The Hawks were in feisty mode Wednesday, a heated practice session that came to a head during a half-court drill in which Joe Johnson and Marvin Williams got tangled up and went nose-to-nose briefly, before they slapped hands and moved on. It was an energy boost that Williams relished, though he would turn his ankle later and sit out the rest of the session. He even applauded Johnson’s fire, telling him repeatedly that he loved seeing Johnson’s competitiveness boil over. “If everybody brings that passion to the game, we’ll be fine,” Josh Smith said. “We can’t just go hard like this in practice and not in games.”

InsideHoops.com: Sounds like good, competitive spirit. Hawks fans should be happy to hear the team has some intense practices.

Cavs waive Demetris Nichols

The Cleveland Cavaliers have waived guard/forward Demetris Nichols.  He played in three games for Cleveland and scored two points and grabbed one rebound in 14 minutes.

The main reason the team did this is because they’re matching the Charlotte Bobcats offer sheet to Anderson Varejao, meaning they will retain the player. Varejao becomes a Cavs player again today.

Cavs match Bobcats offer, keep Anderson Varejao

The Cleveland Cavaliers have matched the Charlotte Bobcats’ contract offer sheet signed by Anderson Varejao, General Manager Danny Ferry announced this morning.  By matching the Bobcats’ contract offer sheet, Varejao will now be under contract with the Cavaliers. Per the NBA’s Collective Bargaining Agreement, terms of the contract were not disclosed.

During the 2006-07 season, Varejao, 25, played in 81 games (six starts) averaging 6.8 points per game, 6.7 rebounds per game and 23.9 minutes per game.  During the 2007 NBA Playoffs, he played in all 20 games and averaged 6.0 points and 6.0 rebounds in 22.4 minutes per game. Varejao has played in 183 career games (10 starts) and has averaged 5.6 points and 5.7 rebounds in 19.4 minutes per game.  He has played in 33 career playoff games and has averaged 6.3 points and 5.4 rebounds per game.

The Cavaliers roster now stands at 15 players.

Randy Wittman to have back surgery

The Minnesota Timberwolves announced today that head coach Randy Wittman will miss tonight’s game against the L.A. Lakers at Target Center as he prepares for back surgery. Wittman is scheduled to undergo back surgery tomorrow (Wednesday, Dec. 5). A timetable for his return to the sidelines will be set following the operation. In Wittman’s absence, Wolves assistant coach Jerry Sichting will assume the head coaching duties.

“This is a situation that has been progressively getting worse,” Wittman said. “The doctors said that in order to coach the remainder of the year, that it would be in my best interest to have the back surgery as soon as possible. I wish I could be out there tonight, but I know Jerry and the coaching staff will do a great job.”