NBA Blog: The NBA basketball news blog section of Inside Hoops
The NBA games scheduled for Friday, Jan. 15 between the Washington Wizards and Detroit Pistons at Little Caesars Arena and between the Golden State Warriors and Phoenix Suns at Phoenix Suns Arena have been postponed in accordance with the league’s Health and Safety Protocols.
Because of ongoing contact tracing within the Wizards and Suns, the teams will not have the league-required eight available players to proceed with Friday night’s games.
The head coach of the Atlanta Hawks is reportedly making sure to stay safe. Via the Atlanta Journal-Constitution:
Hawks coach Lloyd Pierce is self-isolating in his hotel room in Phoenix due to potentially close contact with a member of the Hawks traveling staff who has tested positive for COVID-19, according to a person familiar with the situation.
The person who tested positive is not a player.
The Bulls are worth paying attention to these days. They have an interesting young core of talent and are putting up some wins lately. Here’s the Chicago Sun-Times on the latest twist:
To say that Lauri Markkanen entered this season with a lot to prove is a major undersell, especially considering the Bulls organization and the forward’s camp couldn’t even agree on anything close to an extension price.
Markkanen’s response was to take an almost “bet on myself’’ approach, and through the first three games he seemed to do just that, averaging 20 points and 7.7 rebounds per game. In all losses, however.
Then the calf flares up in Washington, Markkanen is put on the shelf, and then stays on the shelf when the league’s coronavirus protocol red flags him through contract tracing.
What’s happened since?
The Bulls won three of their next four without the 7-footer, and then went toe-to-toe with both Los Angeles teams last weekend.
Along the way, coach Billy Donovan has developed a closing unit of Coby White, Zach LaVine, Garrett Temple, Thad Young and – when the back spasms aren’t acting up – Otto Porter Jr.
But now Markkanen has been cleared to practice, is getting his conditioning back, and is expected to return to the starting lineup on Friday when the team plays in Oklahoma City.
The National Basketball Association game scheduled for tomorrow between the Utah Jazz and Washington Wizards at Capital One Arena has been postponed in accordance with the league’s Health and Safety Protocols.
Because of ongoing contact tracing with the Wizards, the team does not have the league-required eight available players to proceed with tomorrow’s game against the Jazz.
Los Angeles Lakers forward Markieff Morris has been fined $35,000 and Houston Rockets center DeMarcus Cousins has been fined $10,000 for their roles in an on-court altercation, it was announced today by Kiki VanDeWeghe, Executive Vice President, Basketball Operations.
The incident, which occurred with 2:15 remaining in the first quarter of the Lakers’ 120-102 victory over the Rockets on Jan. 10 at Toyota Center, began when Morris committed a Flagrant Foul 1 by knocking Rockets forward Jae’Sean Tate to the ground.
Cousins continued the incident by shoving Morris to the floor, for which Cousins was assessed a technical foul. Morris further escalated the situation by charging after Cousins, shoving him and continuing to aggressively pursue him. Morris was assessed a technical foul and ejected.
The National Basketball Association game scheduled for tomorrow between the Orlando Magic and Boston Celtics at TD Garden has been postponed in accordance with the league’s Health and Safety Protocols.
Because of testing and contact tracing within the Celtics, the team does not have the league-required eight available players to proceed with tomorrow’s game against Orlando.
Pistons rookie Saddiq Bey is worth keeping an eye on. Via the Detroit News:
In the final minutes of Friday’s surprising win over the Phoenix Suns, the Pistons went with a different look to the lineup. Instead of one of their regular lineups, they used rookie Saddiq Bey as the shooting guard, to go along with the starting frontcourt.
Bey isn’t quite a typical shooting guard but when it came down to crunch time, coach Dwane Casey went with the players he trusted.
“I was just looking for hard-playing guys who have attention to detail in the zone and Saddiq was one of them,” Casey said…
In his last eight games, which includes three starts, Bey is posting 11.9 points, 5 rebounds and is shooting 46% on 3-pointers, with 6.3 attempts per game. More impressively, he’s scratching out significant playing time, with 25.5 minutes, playing primarily with the second group, but then getting a look to finish games.
The Pistons are just 2-8 so far this season, and being led in scoring by Jerami Grant at 25.1 points per game, Derrick Rose and Blake Griffin each at 13.9 PPG, Josh Jackson at 12.5 PPG, and Bey at 10.6 PPG.
The Cleveland Cavaliers have signed guard Yogi Ferrell to a 10-day contract.
The Cavs were able to make this move after being granted a hardship exception by the NBA in order to acquire Ferrell.
Ferrell (6-0, 180) played in 50 games for Sacramento last season, averaging 4.4 points in 10.6 minutes. In four NBA seasons, he owns career averages of 7.8 points, 2.1 rebounds and 2.3 assists in 20.4 minutes over 249 games (53 starts) with Brooklyn, Dallas and Sacramento. Ferrell went undrafted in the 2016 NBA Draft and was named to the NBA All-Rookie Second Team while a member of the Mavericks in 2017. The Greenfield, Indiana native played four years collegiately at Indiana University from 2012-16.
Ferrell will wear jersey #5 for the Cavaliers.
The NBA games scheduled for tonight between the New Orleans Pelicans and Dallas Mavericks at American Airlines Arena and tomorrow between the Boston Celtics and Chicago Bulls at United Center have been postponed in accordance with the league’s Health and Safety Protocols.
The NBA and NBPA will be meeting today about modifying the league’s Health and Safety Protocols.
To nobody’s surprise, a Tom Thibodeau-coached NBA team features some players who are racking up some extremely high minutes. Via the New York Post:
RJ Barrett and Julius Randle lead the NBA as a 1-2 punch in one category.
It’s not in scoring but minutes per game. RJ Barrett, after playing 44 in the Knicks’ loss to Oklahoma City on Friday, entered Sunday’s 114-89 loss to Denver averaging 38.8 minutes. Randle was close behind at 37.7…
At age 19, Barrett played 31 minutes per game as a rookie . Former coach David Fizdale was asked early in Barrett’s rookie season if he were worried about giving a 19-year-old too many minutes. But Barrett remained sturdy and mostly injury free — save one ankle sprain.
The Knicks are off to a solid 5-5 start this season. They’re being led in scoring by Randle at 23.2 points per game, Alec Burks at 20.7 PPG (but in just three games played) off the bench, Barrett at 16.5 PPG, Elfrid Payton at 14.5 PPG, and Austin Rivers at 11.8 PPG off the bench.