Heat assistant video coordinator dealing with health issues

Here’s the Palm Beach Post reporting on a member of the Heat who the entire squad is rooting for right now:

The Miami Heat are keeping a popular member of the family on their minds while on their longest road trip of season.

Dan Bisaccio, an assistant video coordinator, is in South Florida while dealing with health issues. The Heat have been wearing T-shirts this week that read ’10 Day,’ which is Bisaccio’s nickname.

Spoelstra gave a “shout out” to Bisaccio, 28, on Thursday while explaining the shirts.

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NBA notes, Nov. 2, 2017

Boston, which has won six consecutive games since an 0-2 start, leads the NBA in defensive efficiency, allowing 95.1 points per 100 possessions. During the winning streak, the Celtics are permitting 90.0 points per game.

Toronto visits Utah on Friday, Nov. 3 at 9 p.m. ET on NBA League Pass. The Raptors and Jazz had an NBA-high seven international players each on opening-night rosters for the 2017-18 season (active and inactive).

The LA Clippers’ Blake Griffin has made at least two three-pointers in all seven games this season. He did it nine times all of last season, appearing in 61 games.

In Indiana’s first four wins of the season, Domantas Sabonis shot 28-of-29 from the field (96.6 percent). The Pacers are now 5-3 and riding a three-game winning streak.

Utah’s Donovan Mitchell finished with 28 points off the bench in Wednesday’s overtime victory over Portland, the highest-scoring game by a Jazz rookie reserve in 37 years.

— Via NBA News newsletter

NBA milestone watch

LeBron James, Cavaliers: On Wednesday, the four-time MVP became the sixth player to record 400 regular-season games with at least 30 points, joining Michael Jordan (562), Wilt Chamberlain (515), Karl Malone (435), Kobe Bryant (431) and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (429). James needs eight points to reach 29,000 for his career.

Carmelo Anthony, Thunder: Anthony needs 53 points to pass Hall of Famer and former teammate Allen Iverson (24,368) for 24th place on the NBA’s all-time scoring list.

Gregg Popovich, Spurs: The San Antonio coach enters tonight’s game against Golden State (8 p.m. ET, TNT) needing one victory to tie Phil Jackson (1,155) for sixth place on the NBA’s all-time coaching wins list.

Kemba Walker, Hornets: The 2017 All-Star has passed Glen Rice for the most 25-point games in franchise history (110).

– Via NBA News newsletter

Dion Waiters adding to his game

Dion Waiters is a fun player to watch. To discuss. To listen to. He’s also better than a lot of people thought he was. Here’s the Palm Beach Post with more:

Dion Waiters adding to his game

Dion Waiters has always been able to get to the rim. That has never really been a question when it comes to Waiters’ game.

But will Waiters ever become an efficient finisher once he gets to the basket? That’s the question that has followed the 25-year-old guard throughout his NBA career.

Since joining the Heat in the summer of 2016, Waiters has made improving this aspect of his game a priority. And Heat coaches have stayed on top of him about it.

It’s clear that the extra work is paying off.

Among players averaging 12 or more drives per game this season entering Wednesday, Waiters is ranked sixth in the league with a field-goal percentage of 51.4 on drives ahead of players like Ben Simmons, Russell Westbrook and even teammate Goran Dragic. And Waiters is doing it on a troublesome left ankle that’s already caused him issues this season.

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Gordon Hayward speaks on injury

The Celtics began the season locked and loaded, then right away in Game 1 new small forward addition Gordon Hayward suffered a horrible injury. Here’s Boston.com with some of his written comments today about the entire ordeal:

On his thoughts immediately following the injury: “It was like once my brain figured out what had happened, I was hit with shots of pain. The training staff came running over to me super fast, but however long it was—three seconds, five seconds—I just remember sitting there, looking at my foot the wrong way, and it felt like an eternity. Dr. Rosneck, the Cavaliers doctor, braced me as he explained that they wanted to try and pop my ankle back into place. I held on, and the moment they did it, there was just a massive shot of pain, probably the most pain I’ve ever felt in my life.”

On the current state of the Celtics: “We have such a young, exciting team filled with incredible character guys. I owe it to all of them to find my way to contribute. Some of the younger players will have to grow up a little quicker than was planned. They’re going to be thrust into situations where they’ll have a lot more responsibility. But this will be terrific for their careers. There is nothing better than experience in the NBA, and they’re going to get a lot of it. I still believe that by the end of the season, we can be something truly special.”

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And here’s ESPN.com with more:

Hayward acknowledged that his surgery included both repairing the bone he fractured in his ankle and repairing torn ligaments. While some have wondered if he might be able to return this season, Hayward wrote that he does not expect to be back…

In detailing the moment of the injury in his blog, Hayward wrote, “Immediately, I knew something was off, but when I landed, it wasn’t a huge amount of pain. I rolled over and saw my foot, and it was pointed in completely the wrong direction. My first thought was, ‘Oh. This isn’t good. There’s something very wrong here.'”

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Jason Kidd compares Russell Westbrook to Mike Tyson

How do you describe Russell Westbrook? Which other athletes should he be compared to? For one fun answer, here’s the Norman Transcript reporting:

Jason Kidd compares Russell Westbrook to Mike Tyson

Milwaukee Bucks coach Jason Kidd had to go to another sport to find a comparison for Russell Westbrook.

“He is the [Mike] Tyson of basketball,” Kidd said before the Thunder’s Tuesday night game in Milsaukee. “From the jump ball, he is coming as Tyson did get off the stool. When the bell rings, he’s coming for you. And whenever he’s on the floor, he plays at one speed, and that’s fast and hard.”

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Grizzlies exercise option on Jarell Martin

Memphis Grizzlies General Manager Chris Wallace today announced the team has exercised the fourth-year contract option on forward Jarell Martin.

Martin (6-10, 239) has started six of his seven appearances this season and averaged 7.1 points, 4.6 rebounds and 1.29 blocks in 23.9 minutes, all career highs. Selected with the 25th overall pick of the 2015 NBA Draft following his sophomore season at Louisiana State University, the Baton Rouge native has competed in 76 career games (nine starts) with the Grizzlies and averaged 4.8 points and 3.7 rebounds in 14.5 minutes.

In addition, the 23-year-old has appeared in 32 games (25 starts) in two seasons with the NBA G League’s Iowa Energy (now Wolves) and averaged 15.6 points, 7.0 rebounds and 1.0 assists in 28.4 minutes.

Memphis Grizzlies General Manager Chris Wallace today announced the team has exercised the fourth-year contract option on forward Jarell Martin. Martin is now signed through the 2018-19 season.

Martin (6-10, 239) has started six of his seven appearances this season and averaged 7.1 points, 4.6 rebounds and 1.29 blocks in 23.9 minutes, all career highs. Selected with the 25th overall pick of the 2015 NBA Draft following his sophomore season at Louisiana State University, the Baton Rouge native has competed in 76 career games (nine starts) with the Grizzlies and averaged 4.8 points and 3.7 rebounds in 14.5 minutes.

In addition, the 23-year-old has appeared in 32 games (25 starts) in two seasons with the NBA G League’s Iowa Energy (now Wolves) and averaged 15.6 points, 7.0 rebounds and 1.0 assists in 28.4 minutes.

Sixers exercise options on Ben Simmons, Dario Saric, Justin Anderson and Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot

Philadelphia 76ers President of Basketball Operations Bryan Colangelo announced today that the team has exercised the third-year options on the contracts of guard-forward Ben Simmons, forward Dario Šarić and guard-forward Timothé Luwawu-Cabarrot, as well as the fourth-year option on the contract of guard-forward Justin Anderson.

By exercising their options, these players will be under contract with the Sixers for the 2018-19 season.

Simmons, the first overall pick in the 2016 NBA Draft, is in the midst of his first NBA season. He became just the third player ever to post a triple-double within the first four games of his career when he registered 21 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists against Detroit on Oct. 23. The Australia native began his career with double-doubles in his first four games as he was the first player to do so since Shaquille O’Neal notched double-doubles in his first 11 career contests in 1992-93.

Šarić, who was acquired by Philadelphia in a draft-night trade in 2014 after being selected 12th overall by the Orlando Magic, joined teammate Joel Embiid on the NBA’s All-Rookie First Team a season ago, after finishing second in Rookie of the Year voting. In his debut season, the Croatia native played in 81 games (36 starts) and averaged 12.8 points, 5.3 rebounds and 2.2 assists in 26.3 minutes per game. He was the 11th rookie in franchise history to score at least 1,000 points (1,068) and the first foreign-born member of the group.

Luwawu-Cabarrot was drafted by the Sixers with the 24th overall selection in the 2016 NBA Draft. He went on to appear in 69 games (19 starts), averaging 6.4 points, 2.2 rebounds and 1.1 assists per game as a rookie in 2016-17. The 6-6 swingman from France, started the last 18 games of the season while averaging 12.9 points in those contests. He produced a 23-point performance at Toronto on April 2 and a career-high 24-point outing vs. Indiana on April 10.

Anderson, who was acquired by the Sixers on Feb. 23, 2017 from the Dallas Mavericks, has appeared in 29 games for Philadelphia. His best outing as a Sixer came on April 12 at New York, when he tallied a career-high 26 points on 9-of-11 shooting. Against his former team on Mar. 17, Anderson scored 19 points on 7-of-11 shooting and grabbed eight rebounds in 26 minutes. As a member of the 76ers, he has increased his scoring, rebounding and assist averages as well as his field goal and three-point percentages. The third-year man out of Virginia was originally selected by Dallas with the 21st overall pick in the 2015 NBA Draft.

Celtics exercise options on Jaylen Brown and Terry Rozier III

The Boston Celtics have exercised both the third-year rookie scale option on Jaylen Brown and the fourth-year rookie scale option on Terry Rozier III.

Selected by the Celtics with the third overall pick of the 2016 NBA Draft, Brown, 21, has averaged 7.3 points (44.9% FG, 33.9% 3-PT, 67.5% FT), 3.1 rebounds and 18.5 minutes in 85 career games (27 starts). Named to the NBA’s All-Rookie Second Team in 2016-17, Brown is currently producing 15.4 points, 5.9 rebounds and 1.00 steal through the first seven games (all starts) of his second NBA season.

Now in his third NBA season after being selected by Boston with the 16th pick of the 2015 NBA Draft, Rozier III, 23, has averaged 4.6 points (35.1% FG, 31.1% 3-PT, 76.5% FT), 2.7 rebounds and 1.5 assists in 120 career games over two-plus NBA seasons. In seven games in 2017-18, Rozier III has recorded 9.4 points, 5.4 rebounds and 2.3 assists in 24.6 minutes.

Kings exercise contract options on five players

The Sacramento Kings have exercised its 2018-19 options on center Willie Cauley-Stein, guards Buddy Hield and Malachi Richardson, forward Skal Labissiere, and center Georgios Papagiannis, according to Kings General Manager Vlade Divac.

Cauley-Stein is entering his third season with the Kings after being selected with the sixth overall pick in the 2015 NBA Draft. An All-Rookie Second Team honoree as a rookie, Cauley-Stein has registered 7.7 points (.544 FG%, .656 FT%) and 5.0 rebounds in 20.3 minutes per contest over 145 career games played (started 64).

An 2016-17 NBA All-Rookie First Team honoree, Buddy Hield amassed 10.6 points (.422 FG%, .384 3pt%, .852 FT%), 3.3 rebounds, 1.5 assists in 23.2 minutes per game in 82 games with New Orleans and Sacramento after being selected sixth overall in the 2016 NBA Draft by the Pelicans.

Richardson enters his second season with the Kings after being with the 22nd overall pick in 2016 NBA Draft and registered 3.6 points (.412 FG%, .286 3pt%, .789 FT%) and 1.0 rebounds in 9.0 minutes per game in 22 games played.

Selected 28th overall in the 2016 NBA Draft, Labissiere enters his second season with the Kings. As a rookie during the 2016-17 season, Labissiere averaged 8.8 points (.537 FG%, .375 3pt%, .703 FT%), 4.9 rebounds in 18.5 minutes per game in 33 games played (started 12).

Papagiannis also enters his second season with the Kings after being selected with the 13th overall pick in the 2016 NBA Draft and averaged 5.6 points (.549 FG%, .857 FT%), 3.9 rebounds in 16.1 minutes in 22 games played.