NEW YORK – Before Tuesday night, the Cleveland Cavaliers were among the two or three Lottery teams most likely to make the playoffs next year. They have a budding superstar, other young players who will only get better, and a new (and old) coach who will get them to improve on the end of the floor where they’ve been particularly dreadful that last few years.
2013 Lottery results
Pick
Team
1.
Cleveland
2.
Orlando
3.
Washington
4.
Charlotte
5.
Phoenix
6.
New Orleans
7.
Sacramento
8.
Detroit
9.
Minnesota
10.
Portland
11.
Philadelphia
12.
Toronto (to OKC)
13.
Dallas
14.
Utah
After Tuesday night, if you didn’t already have them there (some of us did), you’d have to move the Cavs to the top of the list. Thanks to the results of Tuesday’s Draft lottery, Cleveland will add the No. 1 pick of the 2013 Draft to and young and talented core of Kyrie Irving, Dion Waiters and Tristan Thompson.
A month ago, Mike Brown was rehired to fix that defense. The Cavs are the only team to rank in the bottom five in defensive efficiency each of the last three years, but ranked in the top five on that end a couple of times under Brown (and with the best player in the world).
A month from now, Cleveland will add another piece to the puzzle. Two No. 1 picks in three years is a good way to ensure both short and long-term success.
“It’s going to mean a lot,” Cavs owner Dan Gilbert said Tuesday, “because if we can pick the right guy to fit into the young core that we have now, we can be a great team for many, many years.”
Before the lottery, there was no clear No. 1 pick. No LeBron James or Anthony Davis. And there was no Big Two on the level of Greg Oden and Kevin Durant. Among the top four or five talents, there’s a guy at each position, and none is a can’t miss prospect.
But with Cleveland drawing the top selection and already having Irving and Waiters in their backcourt, Kentucky’s Nerlens Noel, a 6-foot-11 power forward, jumps to the top of the list. The Cavs have Thompson, Tyler Zeller (taken with the No. 17 pick last year) and the oft-injured Anderson Varejao up front, but every good team needs at least three quality big men.
The issue, of course, is that Noel won’t be available until at least Christmas, still recovering from ACL surgery in his left knee in March. And as we’ve seen in the past, training camp is a critical part of a rookie’s orientation to the league.
The Orlando Magic, who finished with a league-worst 20-62 record, will draft second, and they can use help at every position and on both ends of the floor. They have a handful of young players, but none is really a franchise anchor. Their best pieces are on the frontline, however, so they should be happy with any number of options in the backcourt, including Michigan point guard Trey Burke and Kansas shooting guard Ben McLemore.
In discussing the possibilities, Magic coach Jacque Vaughn talked about building a culture as much as acquiring talent.
“I trust our general manager and our scouts and their ability to find the right person who’s going into fit in our locker room,” Vaughn said.
Magic general manager Rob Hennigan, another descendant from the San Antonio Spurs’ management tree, had a similar outlook, saying that he wants to continue “to build the momentum with what we want to be about, what our identity is, what our values are, and really staying true to that.”
Like the Cavs, the Washington Wizards have a young and talented backcourt. So they will probably look to go big with the third pick, though general manager Ernie Grunfeld indicated Tuesday that he’ll look for the best player available.
“In this league, players win, regardless of what position they’re at,” Grunfeld said. “We’ll take the best player that we feel will help us, in the short term and the long term.”
BREAKING: Stan Van Gundy just told us he WILL NOT be a head coach in the NBA next season. It's a family decision.— David Baumann (@DavidBaumann33) May 21, 2013
Van Gundy said he has not interviewed with any teams, though he had been contacted by several about their vacancies.
His announcement takes one of the prime coaching candidates off of the market before things get really cranked up during NBA free agency in July.
Missed a game last night? Wondering what the latest news around the NBA is this morning? The Morning Shootaround is here to try to meet those needs and keep you up on what’s happened around the league since the day turned.
The one recap to watch: Is there any other choice this morning but that OT thriller between the Mavs and Clippers from Dallas? The Mavs have now won seven of their last 10 games to pull within a game of the L.A. Lakers for No. 8 in the West while the Clippers are struggling a little and lost their long-held No. 3 seed in the West to the Denver Nuggets with this defeat. The Clips might not have been in this position had Blake Griffin‘s amazing shot with :00.4 left counted, but he was called for an offensive foul in the must-see play of the game. Still, credit to the Mavs, who are truly not giving up on this dream of making the playoffs this season and have a healthy Dirk Nowitzki ready to lead them to their goal.
Magic’s Vucevic done for season? — In case you missed it, Nikola Vucevic is fourth in the league in rebounds per game (11.5) and is third overall in total rebounds (780), trailing only Omer Asik and Dwight Howard. Pretty impressive stuff for a player thought of as a throw-in/afterthought in the Howard mega-deal that sent the ex-Magic big man to the L.A. Lakers last summer. While Vucevic has enjoyed a breakout season, he won’t play in tonight’s game against Charlotte and hasn’t played since March 19. Vucevic is recovering after getting hit in the mouth vs. Indiana and has been dealing with concussion symptoms since then. Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel has more on Vucevic, whom the Magic may just keep out of the lineup for a while:
Nik Vucevic, who is recovering from a mild concussion he sustained on March 19, won’t play when the Orlando Magic play the Charlotte Bobcats on Wednesday night.
Vucevic said Tuesday he wasn’t scheduled to accompany the team to North Carolina, but he said he expects to play again this season.
“I’m getting better,” the 22-year-old center said. “I’m better day-by-day. I’ll leave it up to the trainer and the doctor.”
Vucevic suffered his injury when he absorbed an elbow to his mouth against the Indiana Pacers. The shot left him a bit dazed and left him wondering whether he had lost any teeth.
In the days that followed, he said he had a headache and some sensitivity to light.
After some tests, a doctor determined he had sustained a concussion.
In Dec. 2011, the league instituted a concussion protocol.
Physician Jeffrey Kutcher, an associate professor of neurology at the University of Michigan and the director of the NBA’s concussion program, consults with all teams on the return-to-play schedules of players who have suffered concussions.
Coach Jacque Vaughn might decide to not to play Vucevic even after Vucevic receives a medical OK to play again. Vaughn has been cautious in putting players back on the court after injuries.
Vucevic wouldn’t speculate on how close he is to playing again.
“I don’t know,” he said. “All that is up to the trainer. I just follow what he says.”
Del Negro not fretting future — A cursory search of this very blog for the term “Del Negro” brings up a smorgasbord of posts about L.A. Clippers coach Vinny Del Negro and his seemingly always-tenuous future with the team. Del Negro has, throughout his nearly three full seasons on the job in L.A., become a popular whipping boy whenever things go a little bit south in Clipperland. Such is the case again for the Clippers coach. He is operating on the last year of his contract and hasn’t been offered an extension by the team, but Del Negro tells the Los Angeles Times’ Broderick Turnerthe future is the last thing on his mind:
Del Negro was asked by a member of the media in front of the group about his coaching future with the Clippers.
The Clippers picked up Del Negro’s contract last year, but he wasn’t given an extension. His deal expires when the season is over.
“I enjoy the pressure,” Del Negro said. “That’s what it’s about. I love the competition. Could things be a little bit better in certain areas? Of course. But all those things get answered at the end of the year.
“Our focus is on tonight’s game and on this season and all those things get answered at the end of the season, one way or the other,” he said.
The Clippers are playoff-bound for the second consecutive season under Del Negro. It will be only the third time in franchise history the Clippers have had consecutive playoff appearances.
Del Negro was asked if his future was tied to how far the Clipper go in the playoffs this season.
“No, my future is great,” Del Negro responded. “I’ve got a great future, no matter what. I’ve been pretty fortunate, so I don’t really worry about that stuff so much. Like I said, all those things take care of themselves when we finish.”
Celtics falling fast in East race — With no Kevin Garnett and no Courtney Lee last night against the Knicks, the Celtics were at a decided disadvantage before the game ever began. Throw in a four-game losing streak heading into last night’s contest and mix in the overall sloppy play of Boston throughout its 100-85 beating and the Celtics now sport a five-game losing streak and have fallen to No. 7 in the East. Worse yet for the Celtics is that Milwaukee is just 1 1/2 games behind them and owns the tie-breaker, too. Baxter Holmesof The Boston Globe has more on the late-season stumbles of the Celtics:
For the first time since Rajon Rondo went down with a season-ending knee injury in January, it seemed as though the Celtics had finally – if not reluctantly — succumbed to the reality of their limited roster. A 15-point home loss to a shorthanded team will do that.
“It’s been like that for us all season long, it just seems like it gets worse and worse,” captain Paul Pierce said of the injuries. “We can’t feel sorry for ourselves.”
The Celtics have lost five consecutive games, and as Garnett is expected to miss up to two weeks with inflammation in his left ankle, a rather gloomy question looms:
Is this what the Celtics can expect while their defensive anchor is out?
“No,” a defiant coach Doc Rivers said. “Guys, I think you’ve been around me long enough. Kevin’s not playing. I don’t worry about it. I really don’t.
“Somebody else has to play better. A lot of guys. It’s not going to be one guy. But overall, we were pretty bad [Tuesday]. Kevin had nothing to do with that.”
…
After a tight start, the Knicks, who won their fifth straight, utilized a back-breaking 14-0 run in the second quarter to separate themselves. A J.R. Smith 3-pointer at the third-quarter buzzer gave New York a 15-point lead entering the fourth.
The fans began to file out midway through the final quarter, having seen enough.
“We just didn’t have it,” Rivers said. “I wish I knew why.”
The Celtics had talked in weeks past that they weren’t concerned with trying to move up in the standings to try to earn home-court advantage.
Now, such a possibility is gone.
…
If the Celtics end up tied with the Bucks in the final playoff spot, Milwaukee will own the tiebreaker as they’ve beaten Boston in three of their four matchups this season.
Which means the Celtics would be the East’s eighth-seeded team and would face powerhouse Miami in the first round of the playoffs.
“Listen, the decision we’re making with Kevin is the right one,” Rivers said. “But we still want to win games.
“We’re not going to let one game say that we’re not going to win any more games. It’s silly to me to even think that way. We have to get ready for tomorrow and go from there.”
World Peace suffers torn meniscus — Things can’t seem to ever turn around for the Lakers. After a fairly successful start to March, L.A. has lost three in a row and holds a one-game lead over both Utah and Dallas for the No. 8 seed in the West. Now comes word that small forward Metta World Peace, who has started 64 of the 70 games he’s played in this season, has a torn meniscus in his left knee. The injury deals a big blow to L.A.’s hopes of holding on to that last playoff spot and, worse yet, the Lakers have yet to find out precisely how long World Peace will be out. Sean Highkin of USA Today has more:
The Los Angeles Lakers took a serious setback Tuesday, when the team announced forward Metta World Peace has a torn lateral meniscus in his left knee. World Peace was injured during the Lakers’ loss Monday to the Golden State Warriors, and the team announced in a news release that an MRI showed a meniscus tear. He will be flown to Los Angeles — the Lakers are on the road to face the Minnesota Timberwolves on Wednesday — for further evaluation before a timetable for his return is determined
The loss of World Peace comes at an inopportune time. The Lakers are clinging to a one-game lead on the Utah Jazz for the eighth seed in the Western Conference playoffs, and with Pau Gasol finally healthy, coach Mike D’Antoni hoped to use the final weeks of the regular season to get his starting five reacquainted.
The loss of their starting small forward will likely force the Lakers to start Antawn Jamison alongside Earl Clark and Dwight Howard in the frontcourt. Not only will Jamison be playing out of position, but has the potential to take away one of the team’s most consistent scoring options off the bench.
ICYMI of the night: J.R. Smith went wherever he want and did whatever he wanted in last night’s win against the Celtics, as this play shows … :
Maybe you can do what hasn’t been done for a staggering 27 straight games, and stop the freight train that is the Miami Heat. The Detroit Pistons, Charlotte Bobcats and Orlando Magic — all members of the Eastern Conference lottery mafia — tried their best to derail the Heat’s plans to surpass the 1971-72 Los Angeles Lakers’ record 33-game win streak.
Maybe another playoff team, catching the Heat on the second game of a four-game road trip after two straight games missed by All-Star shooting guard Dwyane Wade (sore knee), can finally solve the Heat riddle?
Or not?
That Wednesday night showdown with the Chicago Bulls at the United Center doesn’t look so daunting after all, not when LeBron James is a part of the festivities. He started slow but wound up one rebound shy of a triple double (24 points and 11 assists) in the 108-94 win over the Magic on Monday. The Heat always have a chance to walk out of an arena a winner with King James on the court.
Even on a team without Wade, James serves as the perfect catalyst for a veteran team filled with specialists who are comfortable with their roles. In addition to the shine of their stars, the Heat have shown off that depth during the streak.
“That is what this team is built around,” James said, being generous, of course, since this team is built around him and Wade and fellow All-Star Chris Bosh. “A lot of depth and veterans, guys that know that when someone is out then guys are going to be able to step in. That feeling that D-Wade was out was like, ‘okay, now it’s time for someone to step up,’ which we know we are capable of doing so.”
As much as this streak is about the Heat and their record chase, this is about the other teams (10 who don’t have as many wins on the season as the Heat have in the streak) deciding who among them will step forward and end this thing.
The Heat can’t suffer through their usual first half swoon and climb out of a double-digit hole against a lunch pail crew like the Bulls, who will no doubt be amped-up for a chance to punch a hole in the Heat’s cosmic ride.
Motivation is great, a fine tool to work with for any ambitious team. But, again, is it going to be enough to beat the Heat?
Those who have tried and failed know better.
“They move the ball so effortlessly,” Pistons coach Lawrence Frank said. “They have great trust in each other. The way that ball moves from one player to the next is very, very impressive. And, defensively, they’ve always been top-shelf. They combine great athleticism, effort, technique and commitment. You know what they’re going to do and it doesn’t matter because they put great effort and intensity into it. The next step that they’ve taken is they’ve got great trust in each other.” (more…)
HANG TIME SOUTHWEST – How far can the Miami Heat take their streak? After Wednesday’s Comeback on the Cuyahoga, and looking at the rest of their schedule, it’s anybody’s guess.
Next up: The down-and-out Detroit Pistons visit AmericanAirlines Arena in Miami (Friday on NBA TV, pregame at 7 p.m.). The Pistons have won only eight road games all season.
Easy pickings, right?
Heat upcoming schedule
Day
Date
Loc.
Opponent
Time (ET)
TV
Fri.
3/22
vs.
Detroit
7 p.m.
NBA TV
Sun.
3/24
vs.
Charlotte
6 p.m.
League Pass
Mon.
3/25
@
Orlando
7 p.m.
League Pass
Wed.
3/27
@
Chicago
8 p.m.
ESPN
Fri.
3/29
@
New Orleans
8 p.m.
League Pass
Sun.
3/31
@
San Antonio
7 p.m.
NBA TV
Well, ask the Denver Nuggets, winners of 31 out of 34 home games, just how easy it was to file away a Philly club Thursday night with a half-dozen road wins. No disrespect, Mr. Flacco, but that’s your Mile High Miracle.
To avoid handing over the mantle of longest active win streak to the Nuggets after they somehow made it 14 in a row Thursday, Miami will need to take care of business in a more focused fashion than a couple of nights ago in LeBron James‘ old gym.
The Heat (53-14) seek consecutive victory No. 25 Friday night, in their quest for the NBA record of 33 straight, against the malfunctioning Pistons, a squad that hasn’t won a game since late last month — nine consecutive losses.
Miami’s upcoming schedule is favorable enough that the 1971-72 Los Angeles Lakers record-holders should watch with bated breath. To finish out March, Miami plays just two teams with winning records. Still, both of them are on the road and neither Wednesday’s game at Chicago nor a March 31 date at San Antonio will be a walk in the park.
If Miami makes it to April unscathed, the streak will have reached 30 with only New York, Charlotte, Philadelphia and Milwaukee blocking the Heat from destiny.
But before chalking up their next three — vs. Detroit, vs. Charlotte, at Orlando — as automatic W’s, remember that it’s often the dog with the softest bark that bites the hardest.
The Heat’s 24-game win streak, the second-longest in NBA history, is split evenly among current playoff teams and non-playoff teams, and it’s the lottery-bound teams that have been the biggest pains. The Heat’s average margin of victory against playoff teams is 11.5 points compared to 10.3 on the other side. Only one playoff team has battled them to a finish of five points or less — Boston on Monday night, falling 105-103 after losing a 13-point lead in the fourth quarter.
Five non-playoff teams have lost by five, four, one, four and three points. The Magic, Monday’s opponent in Orlando, lost by a point at Miami for Heat win No. 16 on the streak. Not included in the above group is double-overtime loser Sacramento, which wound up down 12 at the final buzzer, 141-129, for Heat win No. 12.
*The NBA fined the Spurs $250,000 for coach Gregg Popovich’s decision to send Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili and Danny Green back to San Antonio prior to this game.
Missed a game last night? Wondering what the latest news around the NBA is this morning? The Morning Shootaround is here to try to meet those needs and keep you up on what’s happened around the league since the day turned.
The one recap to watch: Props to the Kings, who with their win last night over the Timberwolves have won three of their last four and are .500 in March. As nice as it is to see them playing better basketball, we’ve got to obviously go with the Sixers-Nuggets game this morning. Seemly only fitting that with the NCAA Tournament underway that a one-time NCAA hero, Corey Brewer, would be the man stepping up to keep Denver’s win streak in tact. His clutch 3-point shooting down the stretch and his uber-clutch three free throws that won the game for the Nuggets gave a semi-routine NBA game the feel of March Madness. And Brewer’s celebration after the Nuggets salted away the game was more than NCAA-worthy, too.
Iggy increases trust factor for Nuggets — In rolling up 14 straight wins to set a franchise record for consecutive NBA wins, the Nuggets have turned up their defense whether they are at home or on the road. That defensive acumen wasn’t apparent during the majority of last night’s game against Philly, but as the Nuggets pulled off a miraculous comeback, the defense (and some fortunate breaks) came through to keep Denver rolling. Benjaman Hochman of The Denver Post has more on that defensive focus and the play of Andre Iguodala, who has spearheaded the charge:
Why do the Nuggets win games they should lose? I can give you a lot of fancy stats about fast-break scoring and improvements in all facets of defense, but the incalculable intangible is that they’re among the league leaders in trust.
“We talk a lot about the word trust,” Nuggets coach George Karl said, “trusting each other, trusting the concepts, trusting the intensity. The word trust has been in our game plans a lot. And I have to trust them, they’ve earned that trust.”
Trust is most important on the defensive end. And for however fun it was watching Allen Iverson and Melo pour in 25-plus a night, there was little trust on defense. Heck, there was little defense. Iverson was so insignificant on defense that occasionally he literally wasn’t even looking at the play (as such, many around the Pepsi Center believe that Denver somehow winning 50 games in 2007-08 was one of the greatest accomplishments in franchise history).
Now, Denver has the opposite of A.I. in, well, A.I.
“I think there’s a confidence that comes with having an Andre (Iguodala) on your defensive end of the court,” Karl said. “And when you can take a major opposing player and kind of control him with one individual, then you don’t need a lot of concepts, you don’t need a lot of tricks and cover-ups and rotations. And for a young team, that’s good, because if we had to gimmick up the game, I don’t know if our young players have done that enough to feel comfortable with it.
“There are a lot of concepts that your partner is supporting you in. you must go and trust that he’s going to be ready for you. And you also have to trust that the weakside defense will support you, so your defensive assignments probably involve more trust.”
Millsap not thrilled over benching in Houston — The Jazz find themselves 1 1/2 games behind the Lakers for the No. 8 spot in the West, but of late, Utah has struggled. It is 3-7 in March and has lost six of its last eight games, with a mix of blowouts and heartbreakers sprinkled among the defeats. The latest knock came on Wednesday in Houston, where the Rockets won 100-93, but had a double-digit lead most of the night and had their way with the Jazz’s defense. Once the game started spiraling out of control, coach Ty Corbin pulled starters Paul Millsap and Mo Williams for a younger crew that staged a semi-comeback in the fourth quarter. Millsap, as one would expect, wasn’t too thrilled and talked to The Salt Lake Tribune’s Bill Oramabout riding the bench against the Rockets:
When Paul Millsap was benched for the entire fourth quarter of a game in late December, he was asked whether the coaching decision upset him.
“What you think?” he responded. “I’ll let you answer that.”
But after being benched for the final 14:47 of the Utah Jazz’s 100-93 loss at Houston on Wednesday, Millsap found himself faced with the same question at Thursday morning’s practice.
“It’s tough for me not to play at all, period,” he said. “I want to be on the court at all times.”
Starting point guard Mo Williams, who also did not play in the fourth quarter, said he was “absolutely” fine with the move.
Millsap, in the final season of a four-year contract with the Jazz, was left on the bench as Derrick Favors closed the game. Favors’ numbers — five points, three rebounds and three blocks in 22 minutes — paled when compared with Millsap’s 16 points, four rebounds and two steals in 25 minutes. However, the burgeoning backup was part of a resurgent unit that cut a 26-point deficit to five against the Rockets. Favors was part of a group that included Al Jefferson, Gordon Hayward, Alec Burks and Marvin Williams that coach Tyrone Corbin praised for a defense that, while it made mistakes, “it wasn’t as many times as the group before.”
Millsap described himself as “positive by nature” but was clearly troubled by the reduced role. He is third on the team in minutes per game at 30.2, and has spent more time on the floor this season than every player with the exception of Jefferson.
But the second-round pick turned franchise cornerstone seemed Thursday resigned to a change.
“Obviously,” he said, “it’s going to be that way. So I got to live with it.”
Detroit’s Frank mindful of future — The Pistons sport the fourth-worst record in the league and have just 13 games left in what has been a disappointing season. Four players on the roster — Jose Calderon, Jason Maxiell, Will Bynum and Corey Maggette — can become free agents this summer. Pistons coach Lawrence Frank said he’s well aware of the tenuous relationship some of the players have with the team heading into next season and, as he tells MLive.com’s David Mayo, nothing is guaranteed for next season:
“Eyes are always on you,” head coach Lawrence Frank said. ”No one’s going to write it off. No, no, this is how you evaluate. We’re evaluating our guys every single day. That’s how the league is.
Frank hasn’t been back on the job long. He returned this week from a six-game absence to attend to his wife Susan during and after a major surgery in New Jersey.
But his warnings of careers on the line extended beyond the eight players whose contracts will expire or can be terminated or bought out after this season.
“I look at it as a coach, the job, how we’re playing, that’s reflective of my performance. As a player, same thing,” Frank said.
The Pistons have plenty to spend in the summer trade and free-agency periods and cleaning up the roster usually is a an accompanying chore.
“To me, there are no guarantees,” Frank said. ”When you’ve won the amount of games that we’ve won, I don’t care who you are, no one should feel safe. Me as coach, player. … There shouldn’t be a player on the roster with a record like we are who thinks, ‘Oh, I’m here next year.’ Well, we only one ‘X’ amount of games.”
Magic unlikely to have Harrington this season — Veteran big man Al Harrington will always be a part of Orlando Magic lore as one of the players the team acquired in the Dwight Howard mega-deal of last summer. Since joining the Magic, Harrington has appeared in 10 games with Orlando but hasn’t played since March 15. Although Harrington is healthy, Magic coach Jacque Vaughn plans to run with his younger players down the stretch and Harrington, who still has three years left on his contract, will sit more. Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel has more:
Magic coach Jacque Vaughn intends to play his young big men — 20-year-old Tobias Harris, 22-year-old Kyle O’Quinn, 22-year-old Nik Vucevic and 23-year-old Andrew Nicholson — as much as possible in the Magic’s final 13 games.
And that won’t leave much, if any, time for Harrington, a 33-year-old veteran.
Harrington hasn’t played in Orlando’s last three games, including Wednesday night’s 106-94 loss to the New York Knicks.
“It’s really nothing to do with his knees,” Vaughn said.
“It’s a coach’s decision. I’ve talked to Al just about the remaining games that we have. He’s helped us in the wins at Philly and New Orleans. He’s proven that he can still play this game at a high level, and I’m going to give the opportunity to play to some of our young guys and give them some experience. I think he has experience at this game a little bit already.”
…
He probably doesn’t fit into the rebuilding franchise’s long-term plans.
Next season, he’s due to earn about $7.1 million, but only $3.55 million of that is guaranteed. In 2013-14, he’s due to earn $7.6 million, but only $3.8 million of that is guaranteed.
If the Magic were to waive him outright this summer, the team would be required to pay him the guaranteed portions of both seasons.
ICYMI of the night: The Bulls were never really in the game against the Blazers, but at least Nate Robinson provided this Dunk Contest-worthy jam last night …:
HANG TIME NEW JERSEY – For NBA fans like us, there’s nothing better than League Pass. Having the ability to watch every game every night (and then again the next day) is heaven.
Of course, with local broadcasts, you get local broadcasters, which can be good and bad. It can be good, because these guys know their teams better than most national broadcasters. It can be bad, because these guys love their teams more than most national broadcasters. And they’re usually not afraid to show that love.
The national guys aren’t perfect either. And if they’re not careful, they may be featured here, where we highlight the best and worst of NBA broadcasts.
Here are a few more moments that made us laugh, made us smarter, or made us shake our heads.
Game: Philadelphia @ Orlando, March 10 Broadcast: Orlando
The Magic have one of the best (and smartest) broadcasting crews in the league, and it’s tough to pick on Richie Adubato here, because he’s just filling in for the excellent Matt Guokas. But calling this foul, where Thaddeus Young gets shoved out of bounds by Al Harrington, a “ticky-tack” call is kind of hilarious. In fact, Adubato actually suggests that the call “should have been our way.”
2. Timing is everything
Game: Memphis @ L.A. Clippers, March 13 Broadcast: Clippers
Sometimes, it all falls into place.
First referencing the Grizzlies’ lack of shooting, Michael Smith explains how Quincy Pondexter gives them one guy who can knock down threes, and how Pondexter likes to spot up in the corner. Pondexter immediately proceeds to spot up in the corner and knock down a three.
As Ralph Lawler said, “Good call, Michael.”
3. But he didn’t MEAN to do it!
Game: Minnesota @ Memphis, March 18 Broadcast: Memphis
Brevin Knight is a Jersey guy and I’ve been a fan since I saw him put the clamps on a scorer named Mark Bass (who went on to star at St. Joseph’s) as a sophomore in the 1991 state tournament. So it’s hard for me to call him out. But there’s no analyst around the league that uses the word “we” when talking about his team more than Knight, unless it’s back-up, Sean Tuohy.
Here, Knight somehow feels that Tayshaun Prince shouldn’t be called for a foul because he didn’t intend to make contact with Andrei Kirilenko. Play-by-play guy Pete Pranica says he didn’t see the contact at all.
A foul is a foul, intentional or not. It’s clear that both Prince and Kirilenko felt the contact, and Prince didn’t have any beef with the call.
4. Professor Petersen strikes again
Game: New Orleans @ Minnesota, March 17 Broadcast: Minnesota
Three weeks ago, we praised Wolves broadcasters Dave Benz and Jim Petersen for their acknowledgement of advanced statistics. But the best part of a Minnesota broadcast is when Petersen has the time to delve into the Xs and Os behind a particular play.
Here, he explains how the Wolves’ initial actions on the preceding play were designed to get the defense moving and set up a Ricky Rubio - Nikola Pekovic pick-and-roll.
That’s great use of a timeout. Petersen may be the best teacher among NBA analysts, unafraid to bring coaching jargon to the broadcast in an effort to make his audience a little smarter.
Bynum’s fate was sealed months ago, during training camp, when we all learned that the knee issues that have plagued him throughout his career were flaring up again after that blockbuster summer trade that sent the Los Angeles Lakers’ big man problem to Philadelphia for the Sixers to deal with.
The jaw-dropping part of this whole mess is anyone being shocked that it’s come to this: Bynum’s tenure with the Sixers consisting of not one single second of actual game action in Philly.
“After many months of rehabilitation and consulting with numerous doctors, Andrew and the doctors treating him determined that this is the best course of action at this point,” Sixers General Manager Tony DiLeo said in a statement. “We will continue to monitor and evaluate his status moving forward.”
Moving forward?
Bynum is an unrestricted free agent this summer. That’s a Bynum-filled headache the Sixers don’t need after paying him $16.9 million this season to model his wardrobe and throwback hair styles on the bench while his teammates suffered through a brutal season that was supposed to be filled with so much more.
DiLeo and the Sixers would be wise to let someone else take the next multi-million dollar risk on Bynum’s shaky knees. They’ve already poured more than enough money down that drain.
That offseason trade, a blockbuster 12-player deal involving four teams that had Sixers fans dreaming about being contenders, wound up being productive for everyone but the Sixers. Dwight Howard‘s season with the Lakers has been rough, but they are in playoff position right now and at least have hope for the future. Andre Iguodala has adjusted well in Denver, playing a similar role to the one he played for the Sixers, helping the Nuggets to a playoff spot and a 12-game win streak. And Orlando has made good use of Nikola Vucevic, Maurice Harkless and Arron Afflalo.
The Sixers got a wanna-be dominant big man with bilateral knee bone bruises that have bothered him all season, a one-time All-Star with knees that might never support a bid for a second, third, fourth or fifth All-Star nod. A September trip to Germany for the Orthokine therapy injections that worked wonders for Kobe Bryant, and more recently Brooklyn Nets point guard Deron Williams, did absolutely nothing for Bynum.
A Sixers team that was supposed to be primed for a climb up the ladder in the Eastern Conference playoff chase after a surprise run to the conference semifinals last season has suddenly turned into the poster child for thinking and long and hard before you act on the next so-called “blockbuster” deal.
“The team that we tried to put together we’ve never seen,” Collins said after that Orlando loss. “And so I think, when you take a huge piece away from it, your warts show.”
Direct shots at Bynum and the summer deal gone wrong were included in his 10-minute rant.
“We made a huge deal. And we have nobody playing as part of that deal,” Collins continued. “How many teams can give up Andre Iguodala, Moe Harkless and Nik Vucevic, and have nothing in return playing? That’s tough to overcome, right? That’s just the facts. I’m not looking for any out. But that’s the facts. Nik Vucevic had 19 rebounds tonight. Spencer [Hawes] had one. I think Lavoy [Allen] had two.”
Promising young point guard Jrue Holiday has done his part. He became an All-Star this season and kept the Sixers afloat for a while, when everyone still believed that Bynum would actually hit the floor at some point.
But like everyone else in Philly, Holiday got burned by the Bynum deal.
And the ashes will blow through the franchise for a while, kicking up every time someone mentions Bynum’s name or the blockbuster that went up in smoke on the Sixers.
Missed a game last night? Wondering what the latest news around the NBA is this morning? The Morning Shootaround is here to try to meet those needs and keep you up on what’s happened around the league since the day turned.
The one recap to watch: Is it 2005 all over again? The Mavs and Spurs locked up in a classic battle that reminded us of their showdowns of the mid-2000s and, much like those classic matchups, Tim Duncan stepped in the wayback machine and went bonkers on Dallas. Duncan flirted with a 20-20 game (he ended up with 28 points and 19 rebounds) and the Spurs had to sweat out a Vince Carter miss at the buzzer, but San Antonio got the win and clinched a playoff berth, too.
Duncan slowly finding his rhythm– Although Tim Duncan had averaged 15.8 ppg and 9.9 rpg heading into last night’s game against the Mavs, he didn’t quite feel like his game was back where it could be. Slowed by a knee contusion suffered on Feb. 2, Duncan has been working his way back into form the last few games. Last night, he really hit his stride, going for 28 points and 19 rebounds to pace the Spurs’ to a close win and said after the game he can tell he’s starting to turn the corner on the court, writes Mike Monroe of the San Antonio Express-News:
After missing seven of his first 10 shots Thursday, Duncan made nine of his final 10 and finished with 28 points. He was one rebound shy of his second 20-20 game of the season, finishing with 19.
It was his most productive game since returning Feb.13 from a left knee contusion suffered on Feb. 2.
“It’s finally starting to come back,” Duncan said. “My shot’s not there like I want it to be. Other than that, I feel great. I feel healthy. The pain is gone. I’m starting to feel like I can actually play the game.”
Felton hears it from Blazers fans — After one month in last season’s lockout-shortened, 66-game campaign, the Blazers were 12-8 and in the thick of the Western Conference playoff race. Their new point guard at the time, Raymond Felton, was averaging a solid 13.3 ppg, 6.7 apg and shooting 42 percent from the field. But after that solid start, both he and the Blazers went in the tank, finishing the season 28-38 and, by season’s end, Felton was the scapegoat (rightly or wrongly) for all that ailed Portland. With Felton returning to Portland last night as a member of the Knicks, he had some strong words for the Blazers before the game and was primed to show his skills, but that isn’t quite how it all worked out, writes Joe Freeman of The Oregonian:
After he arrived into Portland in the wee hours Thursday morning, Raymond Felton checked into a Portland hotel with his New York Knicks teammates and promptly exchanged text messages with Trail Blazers reserve Nolan Smith.
“I’m ready to go,” Felton texted Smith. “Enjoy the show.”
Actually, it was more like a circus.
With a chorus of boos echoing around the Rose Garden every time Felton touched the ball and the Blazers cruising to a convincing 105-90 victory over the Knicks’ junior varsity team, basketball turned into a secondary form of entertainment Thursday night.
An electric sellout crowd of 20,636 flashed gigantic posters with enlarged pictures of donuts and hamburgers and R-rated messages aimed at a player who last year challenged his detractors to visit his Pearl District apartment building if they had a problem with him. Felton was heavily booed during pregame introductions and every time he touched the ball, from the moment the Knicks won the opening tip to the final horn.
Over the summer, as he promoted his youth basketball camp in South Carolina, Felton pledged to score 50 points on the Blazers during his next visit to Portland. But his Rip City return didn’t exactly go as he planned.
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And every turnover and errant shot was celebrated by Blazermaniacs, who seemed to relish Felton’s miscues as much they did the Blazers’ successes. The never-had-a-chance air-ball three-point attempt in the first quarter. The pull-up jumper that missed everything but the backboard in the second quarter. The grotesque pass into the lane picked off by the Blazers that led to a Damian Lillard fast-break layup just before halftime. The driving layup that was emphatically blocked by LaMarcus Aldridge in the third quarter.
“It was what I expected,” Felton said. “Some boos — some boos the whole time, actually. It was what I expected. It was funny. It made me laugh. But basically we were trying to get a win tonight.”
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While Felton drew much of the pregame hype of headlines, Lillard upstaged his counterpart in every aspect but boos. In a performance that summed up his runaway NBA Rookie of the Year candidacy, Lillard was a blur of swished three-pointers, driving layups and pretty passes. He made 11 of 18 shots and finished with 26 points and 10 assists in yet another historic performance.
Mavs react to ex-teammate Jones’ defense — The topic du jour yesterday around the NBA was the late-game defense the Hawks’ Dahntay Jones played on Kobe Bryant in Atlanta’s win Wednesday night. Jones appeared to slide his foot under Bryant as he took a potential game-tying shot and Bryant appeared to land on Jones’ foot as he came down. Bryant ended up with a sprained ankle and, by Thursday evening, the NBA ruled that Jones did, in fact, not give Bryant adequate space to get his shot off. Jones spent the early part of the season on the Dallas Mavericks, and some of his ex-teammates chimed in on the play to Eddie Sefko of the Dallas Morning News:
“It was a 50-50 play,” said Brandan Wright.
Added Darren Collison: “Tough play. That’s all I can say about it.”
There also were a few jokes that it was Jones’ best play for the Mavericks all season. But coach Rick Carlisle didn’t want to hear about the possibility of Bryant being out for an extended period and the Mavericks having a chance to overtake the Lakers in the playoff race.
“I didn’t see the play,” Carlisle said. “And I’m not going to get involved with anything having to do about saying anything happening with Kobe Bryant. I think our owner showed what can happen with that 10 days ago.”
That comment ellicited laughter from the coach and the media assembled before Thursday’s game against the Spurs. When Mark Cuban suggested the hypothetical scenario where the Lakers could amnesty Bryant, he came back with 38 points against the Mavericks.
“We really have to focus on our own thing,” Carlisle said. “Whatever happens externally is going to happen. We control our situation by putting the force and the attitude and the effort into it at as much of a high level as we can. And we got to try to take care of our own games. At the end, if we’ve done our job, we’ll give ourselves a chance.”
As Wright said: “I doubt he’ll miss much time.”
Thibodeau again clarifies Rose’s status — It almost sounded like Derrick Rose would play in the Bulls game against the Warriors tonight. But then Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau clarified his stance after Thursday’s practice at Oracle Arena in Oakland and said that Rose’s playing remains a day-to-day situation, writes K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune:
Thibodeau said it’s “unlikely” Taj Gibson and Derrick Rose would play. Thibodeau said Rose “went pretty hard” during the entire practice.
Thibodeau understands as well as anyone how every update he offers on Rose is parsed and analyzed, contributing to the media frenzy. So when he didn’t immediately rule Rose out, he fielded several follow-up questions before adding “nothing has changed” and the “unlikely” status.
Rose has made clear he could miss the entire season after knee surgery.
“It could be in a couple days. It could be in a week. I don’t know when it is. He doesn’t know when it is,” Thibodeau said of Rose’s return. “He has to feel real comfortable and feel the explosion is there. He’s made great progress. We don’t know when that time is. We’ll have a better idea the more we see him go.
“We just have to keep being patient and let him work through it. Each day he feels a little better. He has to have a few days where he feels really good about where he is. It’s not that he’s not feeling good. He’s just not quite there. We’ll know when he gets there.”
One thing Thibodeau stressed is that game outcomes are not affecting Rose’s decision. In other words, the 42-point loss isn’t influencing him to return to help or to turn away from the debacle.
“Nope, nope, nope, nope,” Thibodeau said. “This guy is well-prepared for this. He’s handled his part great. He’s not going to be influenced by anything but when he’s ready. That part is clear.”
Deep bond unites Magic’s Hennigan, Thunder’s Presti — First-year Magic GM Rob Hennigan had his work cut out for him when he took the job in Orlando: a Dwight Howard trade situation to navigate and, once that was over, a rebuilding effort that would take several seasons to complete. Luckily, Hennigan had a good mentor in OKC GM Sam Presti, whom Hennigan had worked for and known since their days with the Spurs’ front office in 2004. Hennigan followed Presti to OKC in 2007 and had been there until last summer, when Orlando hired him to direct the team’s new direction. Josh Robbinsof the Orlando Sentinel has a great feature on the deep relationship that Hennigan and Presti share:
Rob Hennigan made one of the most important decisions of his life here, just a short walk from where the Orlando Magic will play the Oklahoma City Thunder on Tuesday night.
He made that decision with Sam Presti, a friend and mentor, by his side.
It was 2008, and Presti, the Thunder’s general manager, offered Hennigan a job in the Thunder front office. They walked through downtown, discussing the type of team Presti wanted to build, talking about the meaningful connection Presti wanted to create between the franchise and the city. They eventually reached the Oklahoma City National Memorial, the site where, 13 years earlier, Timothy McVeigh detonated explosives in front the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building.
“At the end of the day,” Hennigan remembers now, “I had so much trust and faith in Sam that I wanted to join him and join the organization to try and build something special.”
That belief and confidence in Presti helped lead Hennigan to where he is today, the general manager of the Magic. Presti gave Hennigan two of his big breaks: a coveted internship with the San Antonio Spurs in 2004 and a position as director of college/international player personnel with the Thunder four years later.
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Hennigan marveled at Presti’s work ethic, his exacting attention to detail and his systematic, disciplined approach to decision-making.
In 2007, the Seattle SuperSonics hired Presti to be their general manager.
A year later, the franchise moved to Oklahoma City, and that’s when Presti chose to hire Hennigan.
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In 2010, Presti promoted Hennigan to assistant general manager for player personnel.
Then, late last May or in early June, Hennigan and his wife, Marissa, were sitting in a restaurant when his phone rang. It was Presti on the other line, telling Hennigan that Magic CEO Alex Martins had just called. Martins wanted to interview Hennigan for the Magic’s GM job.
Hennigan couldn’t believe it.
But it was true.
In the days that followed, Presti helped Hennigan organize his thoughts for the job interviews.
In June, the Magic hired Hennigan.
Hennigan, 30, and Presti, 36, still talk and text all the time, more about life in general than their jobs.
After seven years working together, Hennigan already has learned lessons from him.
“I think the most important thing I learned from Sam is to always put the best interests of the organization above everything else,” Hennigan says. “It takes great discipline, conviction and patience to do that, but Sam has showcased an ability to do that as well as anyone.”
ICYMI of the night: They don’t call Tim Duncan the “Big Fundamental” for nothing, kids:
Missed a game last night? Wondering what the latest news around the NBA is this morning? The Morning Shootaround is here to try to meet those needs and keep you up on what’s happened around the league since the day turned.
The one recap to watch: The return of Dwight Howard to his old stomping grounds in Orlando had plenty of vitrol, but the Lakers-Magic game itself was lacking in any real on-court spice thanks mostly to Howard’s dominating play. The Heat kept on rolling with an easy victory over the Hawks, sending Miami’s win streak to 19 games. Out West, the Grizz and Mavs are working on their respective playoff pushes (Memphis is now No. 3 in the West; Dallas is only three games behind the No. 8-seeded Lakers). Our pick of the day, though, was the Spurs-Wolves game from Target Center. Yes, this one was a bit of a blowout, but there was a lot worth seeing in the game … particularly the play of Ricky Rubio. The point guard nabbed his first NBA triple-double and gave Wolves fans — who have seen injuries ruin a once-promising season — plenty of the trademark dimes and dribbles we all love Rubio for.
Howard thrives in first return to Orlando — The game much of Orlando had circled on their calendar all season turned out to be a blast from the past. Dwight Howard’s return to Florida as a member of the Lakers was one chock full of boos and ill will from Magic fans still seething over Howard’s trade to L.A. after a season-long “Dwightmare” during the 2011-12 campaign. But by the end of the game last night, despite all the heckling Howard took, it was the Magic’s former star who had the last laugh. He finished with 39 points and 16 rebounds as the Lakers won easily, getting a victory that may spur them on to greater things, writes Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports:
The Magic tried to prey on all his insecurities, all his fears, and yet, finally, there was no stopping the self-proclaimed Superman. Over and over, the Magic grabbed Howard, slapped him, wrapped arms around those massive shoulders and dared him to immerse himself in the moment, concentrate and make free throws. The Magic played a Hack-a-Dwight, dared him to stand alone in downtown Orlando and make free throw upon free throw.
Thirty-nine times Howard shot them, 25 times they dropped into the net and ultimately 39 points, 16 rebounds and three blocks punctuated the Lakers’ 106-97 victory over the Magic.
“I needed that to learn how to block a lot of things out, despite the boos and all that stuff,” Howard said.
That’s always the issue with Howard: Where’s his mind? Where’s his focus? What’s his mood? Since the All-Star break, those within the Lakers have declared him transformed. After such a reluctance to embrace the burden that comes with this franchise, Howard has “come with an intensity, a ferocity,” Kobe Bryant told Yahoo! Sports. “He understands that with the Lakers, it’s a championship or nothing.”
From the coaching staff to the players, they think Howard has become a better teammate, more willing to do things big and small necessary to propel the Lakers into contention. Within the Lakers, they believe that Howard is progressing physically because he’s pushing himself harder.
Slowly, surely, his back has provided him with more mobility, explosion. Most mornings, Howard goes for acupuncture on his back, diligently trying to bring it all the way back. Howard has streamlined his personal life, too. He’s leaned on a nutritionist, reshuffled his inner circle with the elimination of a long-time business manager. His circle is tighter, and some think that’s productively narrowed his world.
Before the game, Bryant’s message to Howard was unmistakable: “Kill them,” Kobe told him. What Bryant didn’t want was a conciliatory Howard, the nice guy trying to undo the ill will manufactured upon forcing his departure after eight seasons.
And make no mistake: Bryant tells Howard this, too. That innate desire Howard has to win the popularity contest never works, because ultimately victory will give him all the adulation and affirmation that he wants. These Lakers are a half-game out of the seventh seed in the Western Conference – two games out of sixth – and they’re coming hard now. The Lakers are still imperfect, but they’re coming together because Howard has pulled himself together.
“He wasn’t distracted or down about coming back,” Bryant said. “I think the [free-throw successes] will do wonders for him. For him to be able to make those here, he can make those anywhere.”
Who was the winner in the ‘Melo deal? — It has been more than two years since Carmelo Anthony was sent to the New York Knicks as part of a mega-deal that brought Danilo Gallinari (among others) to Denver. Since then, neither the Knicks nor the Nuggets have gotten out of the first round of the playoffs and neither has even gone as far as to win a division title. The Knicks have star power with Anthony in the fold and the Nuggets boast an exciting, up-and-down style out West. All great points, but the folks at ESPN’s Stats and Information dig deeper to see how each team has fared since the deal:
Including the playoffs, the Nuggets have won 14 more games than the Knicks since Anthony’s departure. However, neither team has advanced past the first round in their conference.
Both teams have improved overall since making the trade. Each have been playoff teams and are playing their best basketball this season since the trade.
Diving deeper into the advanced stats, on a per possession basis, both teams have played similarly efficient defense since the trade, each ranking in the middle third of the league.
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Despite having one his best scoring seasons in years, Anthony has essentially been the same player in New York as he was in Denver in terms of efficiency and usage percentage overall.
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The glaring difference between the two franchises is age. The Knicks are the oldest team in the NBA with an average age of 32.4 while the Nuggets are the fourth youngest team in the NBA at 25.3 years.
The two teams have been going in opposite directions since the New Year. The Nuggets have the second best record in the NBA at 26-7 while the Knicks have gone 17-14. The Nuggets are 19-2 at home and the Knicks are 7-6 on the road.
Williams finding his groove again — When he hit an NBA-record nine 3-pointers in the first half against the Wizards last week, something seemed to be brewing in Deron Williams’ game. The Nets point guard, who has hardly looked like the game-changing player he was in Utah many seasons ago, seemed to be slowly getting back on track. The stats prove the case as Williams, in his last five games, is averaging 25.4 ppg, 9.0 apg and 3.6 rpg, well above his season marks of 18.0 ppg, 7.6 apg and 3.2 rpg. Stefan Bondy of the New York Post dives into how a mended ankle and some solid performances of late have Williams looking like an All-Star again:
Deron Williams has reached that comfort zone, the same one he enjoyed during the height of his days in Utah.
It’s not just his rejuvenated body and rediscovered explosiveness. It’s also his approach. It’s his awareness. He has become the unquestioned leader of the Nets since the All-Star break, the point man calling out plays and taking control of a flowing offense.
“I think he’s got pretty close to free reign,” interim coach P.J. Carlesimo said.
The prevailing notion is the Nets will go as far as their point guard will take them. And this version of Williams is going places.
For all of the 40 minutes he played Tuesday night at Barclays Center, he was the best player on the court in a 108-98 victory. He had 21 points and 13 assists, picking up the slack while Joe Johnson was inactive because of his sore left heel.
It has been a similar story since the break for Williams, who has regained his All-Star form since dropping weight and undergoing another round of cortisone injections into his inflamed ankles. His leadership had been called into question the last two years, mostly because he sulked his way through losing seasons and was blamed for two coaches getting canned.
But the last three weeks have undoubtedly represented Williams’ best stretch as a Net.
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Williams called his own plays in Utah under Jerry Sloan, and he has developed into that same steady, calming force lately in Brooklyn. The benefits showed all over Tuesday’s box score.
Five players, including Williams, scored at least 13 points. The Nets, winners of four of their last five, moved within two games of the first-place Knicks in the Atlantic Division.
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Williams was the maestro on offense as his team shot 51%.
“I try to tell P.J., at times he starts calling a lot of plays and we have to all turn and look, and it slows down the game, it slows down our rhythm and we don’t flow as well,” Williams said. “Guys get out of rhythm. I have no problems when (Carlesimo’s) calling plays. But at times, when we get it, just let us push it. And then I know how to spread the floor and get everyone involved.”
Budinger cleared for contract drills — Injuries have effectively derailed what was supposed to be a breakthrough season for the Timberwolves as Minnesota has played significant chunks of the season without Ricky Rubio, Kevin Love and Chase Budinger — all three of whom are starters. While Rubio is back (and had a triple-double last night in an upset of the Spurs), the Wolves have been waiting to get Budinger and Love on the court again, and it appears Budinger may be close to that feat. Ray Richardson of the Pioneer Press reports that Budinger has been cleared for contract drills and that the team is also awaiting word on what’s next for Love, too:
The Timberwolves are hoping for a favorable medical report when forward Kevin Love meets Wednesday, March 13, in New York with Dr. Michelle Carson, the physician who performed surgery on Love’s right hand on Jan. 15.
Carson will examine Love’s hand to determine if he’s ready to resume full-contact workouts. Love has been out since refracturing the third and fourth metacarpals in his hand Jan. 3 at Denver. He originally broke the same bones in October while doing knuckle push-ups.
After consulting with Carson, Love is expected to join the Wolves for Friday’s game in Houston.
The Wolves learned Tuesday morning that forward Chase Budinger has been cleared for full-contact work.
Budinger, out since Nov. 10 with a knee injury, received clearance from Dr. James Andrews, who operated on Budinger’s left knee Nov. 13 to repair a torn lateral meniscus ligament.
“I told the doctor what I’ve been doing,” Budinger said. “The knee is progressing well, and I’ve had no swelling or anything like that. He was pleased with that.”
Budinger remained uncertain when he might able to play. He was projected to be out until late March.
ICYMI of the night: You know Brook and Robin Lopez probably did this to each other more than a few times on the NERF hoop as kids …:
