News, Notes, and Rumors from around the NBA: April 17, 2012.

Leave a comment

NEWS

  • Minnesota All-Star forward Kevin Love is out for the fourth straight game because of concussion symptoms
  • Ray Allen’s injured right ankle kept him out of the Boston Celtics’ lineup Tuesday against the New York Knicks.
  • Hornets center Chris Kaman will miss New Orleans’ final five games because of a bruised left tibia.
  • Utah Jazz swingman Gordon Hayward said he initially felt like ripping Delonte West’s finger off and fighting him after he jabbed it into Hayward’s right ear during the second quarter of Monday night’s triple-overtime win against Dallas.
  • Warriors GM Larry Riley said PG Stephen Curry is likely done for the year after being re-evaluated Monday night. Riley said Curry is improving but not 100%. ” It doesn’t appear he will get there before this (coming road) trip so it’s doubtful he”ll return this season.” If Curry reaches 100% by the end of the road trip, Riley said he still wouldn’t play Curry. ” i see no point in throwing him out there for one game or two games” Sulia

NOTES

RUMORS

  • Portland Trail Blazers guard Jamal Crawford will be courted intensely by the Phoenix Suns, a source within the organization tells CSNNW.com. “Aside from Steve (Nash), he’s (Crawford) high if not the top free agent priority on their list,” the source said. “He would fill a need at the two-guard position and he knows they want him.” CSNNW.com
Filed Under: News Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

News, Notes, and Rumors from around the NBA: April 16, 2012.

1 Comment

NEWS

  • Minnesota forward Kevin Love was not with the team for Monday’s game against the Indiana Pacers because of a concussion and a neck strain.
  • The Washington Wizards have signed guard Morris Almond and waived Roger Mason Jr., who is out for the season after surgery on his broken left index finger.
  • Orlando Magic coach Stan Van Gundy says he’s preparing to play the rest of the regular season and playoffs without injured star Dwight Howard.

NOTES

Filed Under: News Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

News, Notes, and Rumors from around the NBA: April 12, 2012.

1 Comment

NOTES

Paraphrasing Yogi Berra, it’s getting dark early for the Miami Heat (40-16) as it tries to secure the top seed in the Eastern Conference, with the Chicago Bulls (44-14) owning a three-game cushion. The Heat, however, still has some time to turn back the clock, beginning tonight when it visits the front-running Bulls (8 p.m. ET, TNT). The teams will play once more, in Miami, April 19. They have split the first two games of their regular-season series. The Heat won the first matchup on Jan. 29, in Miami, 97-93, with LeBron James scoring a game-high 35 points for Miami, while Derrick Rose led the Bulls with 34. In their second head-to-head, the Bulls defeated the Heat at home, 106-102, as John Lucas posted 24 points off the bench for Chicago, while Dwyane Wade (36 points) led the way for the Heat.

Miami has posted a 24-4 (.857) home record at the AmericanAirlines Arena this season. The 24 wins are tied for the most home wins in the NBA this season and their .857 home winning percentage is the best in the league. Additionally, their .857 home winning percentage would rank as the best in team history. Overall this season, the Heat is averaging 100.3 points, fourth in the NBA, while holding opponents to 93.6 ppg. Miami’s +6.7 point differential is the second highest in the NBA. Among league leaders, The Heat ranks second in field goal percentage (.474) and seventh in three-point field goal percentage (.369). Defensively, Miami ranks third in steals (9.13 spa) forced turnovers per game (16.9), and seventh in opponent field goal percentage (.432). Miami, however, has had a tough time scoring post All-Star Game and is 13-9 (.591) since the break. Over this stretch, according to NBA.com/Stats, the Bulls have the fourth stingiest defense, allowing only 91.6 ppg, but rank 23rd in scoring (95.1 ppg).

Surprisingly, considering reigning MVP Derrick Rose has missed 13 games since the break (23 overall) due to injury — including 12 straight (March 14 through April 5) — the Bulls have not experienced much of a drop off from their first half performance. In fact, during the stretch of 12 straight games without Rose, the Bulls maintained the 2 1/2-game lead they had built over Miami. According to NBA.com/Stats, Chicago owns the league’s best winning percentage in the second half (17-6, .739) and ranks third in point-differential (+5.6). Defensively, the Bulls rank second in points allowed, giving up 89.6 ppg — only slightly more than the 88.6 ppg they are allowing overall, which also ranks second — and third in opponent field goal percentage (.429). Their three-point defense is among the best in the league, allowing the fewest threes per game (14.3) and ranking fifth in opponent three-point field goal percentage (.329). The Bulls’ perimeter defense is forcing teams to shoot .347 from 20-24 feet and .398 from 15-19 feet.

Stats & Stuff:

  • Boston’s Rajon Rondo has recorded double-digit assists in 19 straight games, the longest such streak since John Stockton had 29 straight games of at least 10 assists (Jan. 25-March 30, 1992) Rondo is the fourth player in NBA history to have a single-season assist streak of at least 16 games, joining Stockton, Magic Johnson and Kevin Porter. Stockton’s streak in 1992 is the longest during a single season … Rondo recorded his 13th career regular-season triple-double in last night’s 88-86 win over Atlanta, tying Antoine Walker for the second most in Celtics history. Only Larry Bird has more (59).
  • Charlotte’s Gerald Henderson has scored in double figures in 13 of his last 16 games and is averaging 14.9 points on .472 shooting during the 16-game stretch. Henderson has scored in double figures 33 times this season, including 10 games of 20 points or more.
  • Dallas is averaging 40.6 points off the bench this season, which ranks third in the NBA behind Denver’s 42.0 ppg and Philadelphia’s 40.8 ppg. Jason Terry has led the Mavericks in scoring 11 times as a reserve this season (including ties). Dallas led the NBA in bench scoring in 2010-11 with 40.4 ppg.
  • Over the last 15 games, Detroit’s Rodney Stuckey is averaging 19.0 points, 4.0 assists and shooting .470 from the field.
  • Miami’s Dwyane Wade has played in 592 games for the Heat, one shy of the franchise’s all-time leader Alonzo Mourning (593 games). Udonis Haslem ranks in third place with 585 games played.
  • Phoenix’s Steve Nash needs 37 assists to pass Oscar Robertson (9,887) for fifth on the all-time list.

 Today’s Quote

DOC RIVERS, on Rajon Rondo’s streak of 19 straight double-digit-assist efforts, including 20 last night, to go along with 10 points and 10 rebounds:
“He’s playing extremely well, he’s just been spectacular. And that’s why we?re winning. It’s not just him, it’s everybody. But we need a locked-in effort from him every night and he?s doing that.”
Boston Globe April 12, 201
2


Filed Under: News Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

News, Notes, and Rumors from around the NBA: April 11, 2012.

Leave a comment

NEWS

  • Al Harrington of the Denver Nuggets does not want to sit out with a torn right meniscus as his team is in the middle of a playoff chase.
  • Darren Collison of the Indiana Pacers will miss his second straight game with a groin injury.
  • Ricky Rubio of the Minnesota Timberwolves is not sure if his surgically repaired left knee will be ready in time for training camp.

NOTES

RUMORS
Filed Under: News Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

News, Notes, and Rumors from around the NBA: April 9, 2012.

3 Comments

NEWS

With two weeks to go in the regular season, races are tightening up and down the standings in both conferences. There are bubble teams trying to leapfrog lower-seeded clubs for a coveted spot in the postseason; and middle-of-the-playoff-pack clubs vying for the most promising seedings. Perhaps the most intriguing races, however, are atop the respective conferences. San Antonio’s torrid second half has the Spurs (40-14. .741) percentage points ahead of the Oklahoma City Thunder (41-15, .732) in the Western Conference, while the Chicago Bulls (43-14, .754) have a tenuous two-game lead over the Miami Heat (40-15, .727) in the Eastern Conference. Click here for the complete playoff picture.

San Antonio has won 11 straight and owns a league-best 16-4 (.800) mark in the second half. The Spurs’ scorched-basketball-court policy — they are, according to NBA.com/Stats, leading the league in scoring (107.5 ppg) and plus-minus score differential (+9.6) post All-Star — has wiped out the Thunder’s three-game lead it enjoyed entering the break. The Thunder, which had a .744 winning percentage (27-7) in the first half, is playing .636 ball (14-8) in the second half. Oklahoma City’s lead has disappeared despite only a negligible fall-off in production. The Thunder is averaging the same amount of points — 102.7 ppg — in the second half as it did in the first, while its +6.0 plus-minus score differential post All-Star is only slightly less than the +6.4 score differential it enjoyed in the first half. The Spurs and Thunder completed their season series, with San Antonio taking two-of-three games, thereby giving it the tiebreaker. The Spurs have 12 games remaining, including seven against teams that are .500 or better. The Spurs are a league-best 22-9 against such teams. The Thunder’s remaining 10 games include six against teams playing at least .500 ball. Oklahoma City is 19-11 against such teams.

Miami entered the break with a one-half-game lead over the Bulls in the East and tied with the Thunder for the league’s best record (27-7, .794). Since then, however, Miami is 13-8 (.619) while Chicago, despite being without reigning MVP Derrick Rose for 12 games due to injury, is a conference-best 16-6 (.727). Rose has missed a total of 22 games this season due to injury, with the Bulls going 15-7 (.682) in his absence; they are 8-4 without Rose in the second half. The Bulls and Heat have split two games so far and face each other twice more: April 12 in Chicago and April 19 in Miami. Five of Chicago’s remaining nine games are against teams playing at least .500 ball. The Bulls are 15-10 against such teams. Miami has 11 games left on its schedule with six against .500-or-better clubs. The Heat is a conference-best 22-11 against such competition. If the teams split their season series and finish with identical records, the next tiebreaker used to determine seeding would th better winning percentage against teams in own conference. Through games played Sunday, the Bulls are 32-8 against the East, while the Heat is 30-8.

James, Dragic earn weekly honors
The Miami Heat’s LeBron James and the Houston Rockets’ Goran Dragic today were named the Eastern and Western Conference Players of the Week, respectively, for games played April 2-8. James led the Heat to a 3-1 week with averages of 30.5 points, 5.8 rebounds, 5.5 assists and 2.3 steals. Dragic helped the Rockets to a 3-0 week with averages of 20.7 points, 8.3 assists, 3.0 rebounds and 2.7 steals.

Stats & Stuff:

  • Denver’s bench is averaging a league-high 41.8 points. The Nuggets’ reserves find themselves at the top of the league when it comes to assists (9.6 apg), rebounds (19.0 rpg). The Nuggets’ bench has posted at least 50 points 10 times this season and outscored opponents 34 times.
  • Indiana has guaranteed itself a winning home record for a 23rd consecutive season, the longest active streak in the NBA.
  • The Los Angeles Clippers’ Chris Paul is the only player in NBA averaging at least 19.0 points, 9.0 assists and 2.0 steals. Paul ranks first in steals (2.5 spg) third in assists (9.1 apg), and 16th in scoring (19.3 ppg).
  • Entering tonight’s game against New Orleans, the Los Angeles Lakers’ Kobe Bryant (1,721) stands three steals shy of Magic Johnson’s franchise record 1,724 steals. Johnson, who twice led the league, ranks 15th on the NBA’s career steals list.
  • According to NBA.com/Stats, Minnesota’s Kevin Love in the second half of the season ranks first in scoring (29.0 ppg) and second in rebounds (12.8 rpg).
  • Phoenix’s Steve Nash is 52 assists shy of passing Oscar Robertson for fifth on the NBA’s all-time list. Nash leads the league in assists (11.2 apg) and is on pace to lead the league in assist for the sixth time in his career, something only John Stockton has done in NBA history (nine).
Filed Under: News Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,