EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — If Brook Lopez gets dealt for Dwight Howard before the March 15 trade deadline, he’ll report to Orlando in a walking boot. Lopez has been diagnosed with a sprained right ankle, Nets general manager Billy King announced today. Lopez, who was injured in the third quarter of the New Jersey-Charlotte game on Sunday, March 4, will have his foot placed in a walking boot as a precautionary measure. Lopez is expected to miss three weeks of action, and
Notes from around the NBA: March 5, 2012
A closer look at the top 3 leading scorers in the NBA: Lebron James, Kevin Durant, and Kobe Bryant. James is the more efficient scorer. He attempts fewer shots per game (18.6 compared to Bryant’s league-leading 23.7 and Durant’s 19.7, which rank second), yet shoots a higher percentage from the field (.549) and from beyond the arc (.397). James also boasts a superior Plus-Minus Score Differential. The Heat enjoys +9.0 ppg advantage with James on the court; the Thunder is +5.4
Game of the night: Dallas at Oklahoma City
Even if Dirk Nowitzki is feeling as good as he did against the Jazz on Saturday when he scored a season high 40 points in just under 29 minutes, defeating the best home team in the league will be a tall task for the Dallas Mavericks. Nowitzki and the Mavericks (22-16) visit Kevin Durant and the Oklahoma City Thunder (29-8) for their final meeting this season in Monday night’s best game. The Thunder has won two of the three meetings this season
Rose and Lawson named Eastern and Western Conference Players of the Week
The Chicago Bulls’ Derrick Rose and the Denver Nuggets’ Ty Lawson have been named the Eastern and Western Conference Players of the Week for games played Monday, Feb. 27, through Sunday, March 4. Rose led Chicago to a 4-0 week with averages of 28.8 points, 7.5 assists and 1.75 steals. Rose tallied 30-plus points twice, including a high of 35 to close the week on March 4 during a 96-91 win at Philadelphia. With three of their four wins coming away from
What a difference World Peace can make; Trade deadline lookahead
// csprtContainer(); // ]]> What can people take from the Lakers’ decisive victory over the Miami Heat on Sunday? How about the difference Metta WorldPeace made, both defending LeBron James and putting up one of his better stat lines of the season (17 points, seven rebounds, four steals). It also tells you the Lakers aren’t all that bad, but it also can’t mask the fact that they eventually need to get some younger pieces and some production off the bench — which is
Hubbard: Mavericks hoping Odom is all in
The world champion Dallas Mavericks lost a game Friday night to a team that included starters Gustavo Ayon, Al-Farouq Aminu and Marco Belinelli, who sound more like 16th century explorers than fine basketball players. Chris Kaman and Jarrett Jack rounded out the starting lineup. Suffice to say no one was comparing the New Orleans Hornets to the ’86 Boston Celtics. The Mavericks season of transition to the future while attempting to compete for a second consecutive title has been uneven, to be nice,
Rondo quiets the trade talk, Deron sends Dwight a message
The runaway NBA leader in 20-20 games is Dwight Howard. The runaway leader in triple-doubles is Rajon Rondo. And since the All-Star Game, they have been the runaway leaders in trade rumors. But while Howard’s name will remain at the head of the list, Rondo took a huge step Sunday toward taking his name out of sourced stories. Last week, Rondo reportedly was headed to Golden State for Stephen Curry before Celtics president Danny Ainge said it was highly unlikely his All-Star
Fantasy Spin: Monday March 5
As expected, Rajon Rondo was on a mission against Jeremy Lin, with a triple double (18 PTS, 20 AST and an amazing 17 REB) and Paul Pierce was superb with 34, as the Celtics needed overtime to beat the Knicks. Lin had 14 & 5, Carmelo Anthony (25) and Amare Stoudemire (16 & 13) were solid and the New York bench outscored Boston’s 45-15, only to fall short. It was a great tipoff to a Sunday of hoops on TV. Elsewhere NJN