The Knicks are dominating the headlines like few 14th-place teams could.
SH Blog: Inside the Knicks’ clubhouse turmoil; Kidd re-assigns top assistant Frank
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Stotts and Vogel named Coaches of the Month for November; LeBron and KD Players of the Week
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The Indiana Pacers’ Frank Vogel and the Portland Trail Blazers’ Terry Stotts today were named the NBA Eastern and Western Conference Coaches of the Month, respectively, for games played in October and November.
Vogel led Indiana to a 15-1 (.938) mark as the Pacers started the season 9-0 — the best start in franchise history and tied for the team’s longest NBA winning streak. The Pacers also went undefeated at home with a 9-0 record — the best home mark to start the season in franchise history. Indiana ranked first in the NBA in points allowed (85.6 ppg) and opponent field goal percentage (38.7). The Pacers also led the league in blocked shots (121) and outscored their opponents by an NBA-best 11.4 ppg.
Stotts guided the Trail Blazers to a 13-3 (.813) record that included an 11-game winning streak, tying for the fourth longest in team history. The Trail Blazers also won seven straight road games, including sweeping a four-game road trip for the first time since January of 2003. On Nov. 1, the Trail Blazers posted their first win at Denver since December 2007 defeating the Nuggets 113-98; and on Nov. 15, Portland recorded its first win at Boston since March 2004, beating the Celtics 109-96.
Other nominees for Coach of the Month were Houston’s Kevin McHale, the Los Angeles Clippers’ Doc Rivers, Miami’s Erik Spoelstra, Oklahoma City’s Scott Brooks and San Antonio’s Gregg Popovich.
The Miami Heat’s LeBron James and the Oklahoma City Thunder’s Kevin Durant today were named NBA Eastern and Western Conference Players of the Week, respectively, for games played Monday, Nov. 25, through Sunday, Dec. 1.
James helped the Heat to a 4-0 week on the strength of a league-best 29.0 ppg, as he shot over 60 percent from the field and 46.7 percent from distance. He scored at least 25 points in all four contests, tying his longest streak of consecutive 25-point games this season. James also contributed averages of 6.0 rebounds, 4.8 assists and 1.5 steals.
Durant guided the Thunder to three victories in as many games. He ranked second in the conference in scoring (27.0 ppg), fifth in rebounding (12.0 rpg) and 11th in assists (7.0 apg). Durant’s week included two double-doubles and a 32-point, 12-assist, 10-rebound triple-double in the Thunder’s 113-103 win over Minnesota Sunday.
Here is a recap of the week for James and Durant:
LeBron James, Miami Heat
Nov. 25 vs. Phoenix: Tallied 35 points, five rebounds and four assists in a 107-92 win over the Suns.
Nov. 27 @ Cleveland: Posted 28 points, eight rebounds, eight assists and three steals during a 95-84 win over the Cavs.
Nov. 29 @ Toronto: Recorded 27 points and six rebounds in a 90-83 win over the Raptors.
Dec. 1 vs. Charlotte: Contributed 26 points and five boards in a 99-98 win over the Bobcats.
Kevin Durant, Oklahoma City Thunder
Nov. 27 vs. San Antonio: Posted a 24-point, 13-rebound, four-assist effort in a 94-88 victory over the Spurs.
Nov. 29 vs. Golden State: Recorded 25 points, 13 rebounds, five assists and two blocks in a 113-112 overtime victory against the Warriors.
Dec. 2 vs. Minnesota: In addition to recording a triple-double of 32 points, 12 assists and 10 rebounds, contributed four blocks and four steals in a 113-103 victory over the Timberwolves.
Other nominees for the Eastern and Western Conference Players of the Week were Denver’s Ty Lawson, Detroit’s Andre Drummond, Golden State’s Stephen Curry, Houston’s Chandler Parsons, Indiana’s Paul George and Washington’s John Wall.
Anthony Davis has a fractured hand
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Via Matt Moore at CBSSports.com:
Anthony Davis suffered a non-displaced fracture of his left hand Sunday night vs. the Knicks, the Pelicans announced. The Pelicans power forward had been having an All-Star-worthy season, averaging 20 points, 11 rebounds and four blocks per game for New Orleans.
He suffered the injury in the first quarter vs. the New York Knicks. After going to the locker room, X-rays confirmed the fracture and he returned to the bench with a heavy cast on his hand.
“Non-displaced” is a bit of a silver lining, but hand injuries are serious and he could still miss some significant time.
Obviously that’ll be a blow for the Pelicans, as Davis had improved on his very good rookie season this year and is quickly developing into the franchise anchor center New Orleans envisioned him as.
With backup center Greg Stiemsma also sidelined, the Pelicans may need to make a move to shore up the frontcourt. They have rookie Jeff Withey, but he’s a project and certainly no replacement for Davis.
Without getting into too much speculation, this could have ramifications on the Omer Asik market, though it still seems unlikely an Asik-for-Ryan Anderson deal will happen, or that Houston will deal their disgruntled center to a division rival at all. Still, there’s one more potential contender in the market for help at center, so you never know.
SH Blog: Redick out six to eight weeks; Cavs to move Bennett to SF?
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Earlier tonight, I managed to catch a good deal of the Warriors-Kings game. It was a tough one to pick a rooting interest in: the Warriors have been “my team” since my family left Toronto in 1999 (for Baltimore, and I’m not going to root for a team from DC), but Greivis Vasquez is my favorite basketball player by a pretty wide distance, and I’ve grown accustomed to always rooting for Greivis’ team. Also, their new coach has a great last name.
I settled on “Greivis has a great game, but the Warriors win,” which turned out to be half right. Greivis got just 14 minutes and scored six points with three assists on 2-8 shooting, but the Warriors picked up a win behind 36 from Steph Curry.
SH Blog: Melo misses J-Kidd; Kobe to return Friday vs. Kings?
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When I lived in the US, I took both Thanksgiving and Black Friday off from just about everything except eating, sleeping, and watching TV. Even fun things like the internet and video games.
Now I live in Canada, so I don’t get to take either day off, but if you’re like me, only American, you could be forgiven for missing yesterday’s Sixth Man rankings.
