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Clippers assign Bledsoe to D-League for 2 games

Posted Jan 26 2012 10:48PM


LOS ANGELES (AP) -- The Los Angeles Clippers have assigned guard Eric Bledsoe to the Bakersfield Jam of the NBA Development League for a two-game rehabilitation assignment. He has been sidelined since having right knee surgery in October.

Clippers general manager Neil Olshey says if Bledsoe performs as expected, the team anticipates him rejoining them for the Clippers' trip to Denver on Saturday.
Bledsoe averaged 6.7 points, 3.6 assists and 2.8 rebounds in 81 games as a rookie last season

[OnePiece]

Bobcats' Henderson out after re-aggravating back

Posted Jan 28 2012 6:19PM


CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) -- Charlotte Bobcats guard Gerald Henderson will sit out Saturday night against the Washington Wizards after re-aggravating his back in Friday night's loss to Philadelphia.

Henderson missed Wednesday night's game against the Wizards, but returned to play against the 76ers.
However, coach Paul Silas says he believes Henderson might have injured his back during a fall Friday night.
Matt Carroll gets the start in place of Henderson.
Silas said guard D.J. Augustin and forwards D.J. White and Corey Maggette likely won't play in the team's upcoming four-game road trip due to injuries, but there's a chance guard Reggie Williams will return to practice Monday

[OnePiece]

Bucks' Jackson suspended 1 game for verbal abuse

Posted Jan 28 2012 6:00PM


MILWAUKEE (AP) -- The NBA has suspended Milwaukee Bucks guard/forward Stephen Jackson one game for verbal abuse of an official and failure to leave the court in a timely manner in Friday night's loss at Chicago.

The league announced the suspension Saturday afternoon, a few hours before the Bucks were set to play the Los Angeles Lakers in Milwaukee. Jackson will serve his suspension against the Lakers, another setback for a team that already is facing an extended absence by injured center Andrew Bogut, who fractured his ankle earlier this week.
Jackson's incident occurred at the end of the Bucks' 107-100 road loss to the Bulls.

[OnePiece]

Bulls waive recently signed veteran guard James

Posted Jan 28 2012 1:28PM


CHICAGO (AP) -- The Chicago Bulls have released veteran guard Mike James, who'd been signed Jan. 11.

James appeared in three games for Chicago and averaged four points. He also played this season for Erie in the NBA Development League.
A well-traveled eight-year NBA veteran, James has also played for the Wizards, Heat, Pistons, Celtics, Rockets, Bucks, Raptors, Timberwolves and Hornets.

[OnePiece]

Clippers waive guard Fortson

Posted Jan 28 2012 1:35AM


LOS ANGELES (AP) -- The Los Angeles Clippers waived guard Courtney Fortson on Friday.

He signed with the team on Jan. 16 and appeared in four games, averaging 4.3 points, 2.0 rebounds and 1.3 assists in 11.2 minutes. Fortson scored a career-high 13 points on Jan. 17 vs. Utah.

[OnePiece]

Demps: Hornets looking to trade C Kaman

Posted Jan 27 2012 10:38PM


NEW ORLEANS (AP) -- The Hornets have decided to trade Chris Kaman, who won't be playing while the club looks for teams interested in making a deal for the veteran 7-foot center, general manager Dell Demps said.
Kaman was excused from New Orleans' home game against the Orlando Magic on Friday night, and Demps, who was traveling, said in a written statement during the game that the team and Kaman "mutually decided for a number of reasons that we are not going to play Chris" while trade talks get under way.
Kaman was acquired in a multiplayer trade that sent Chris Paul to the Los Angeles Clippers shortly before the regular season began, and the 29-year-old big man has struggled to find a consistent role in New Orleans.
Kaman has started six games and played in 17, averaging 9.2 points and 6.6 rebounds. He is also in the final year of a contract that pays him about $14 million this season, making him an attractive trade target for teams looking for both an experienced center and a large expiring contract that will help clear salary cap space at the end of the season.
"We had a conversation with Chris and expressed that the Hornets are going to go in a different direction," Demps said. "Chris has been the ultimate professional during this process and we thank him for the way he has handled the situation."
Kaman was part of a trade that also brought the Hornets shooting guard Eric Gordon, second-year forward Al-Farouq Aminu and a 2012 first-round draft choice that originally belonged to Minnesota.

[OnePiece]

Celtics add new member to ownership group

Posted Jan 27 2012 9:02PM


BOSTON (AP) -- The Boston Celtics have a new member of the ownership group.
Telecommunications entrepreneur Rob Hale has purchased an undisclosed share of the team, the Celtics announced on Friday.
Hale is a resident of Hingham, Mass., and the president of Granite Communications, which is based in nearby Quincy.
Granite Communications serves 86 of the Fortune 100 companies, and it has revenues of more than $650 million. Hale also owns FoxRock Properties, a Boston-based commercial real estate firm with over 1 million square feet of space.
A group led by venture capitalists Wyc Grousbeck and Steve Pagliuca purchased the team in 2002 for $360 million - then a record for an NBA franchise. A recent report in Forbes magazine put the value of the franchise at $482 million.

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Bucks' Bogut to miss 8-12 weeks with fractured ankle
Posted Jan 27 2012 4:13PM


MILWAUKEE (AP) -- Milwaukee Bucks center Andrew Bogut is expected to miss 8-12 weeks with a fractured left ankle.

The team disclosed the update after more tests on Friday, one day after saying Bogut would be out indefinitely.
Bogut was hurt Wednesday night against Houston when his foot landed awkwardly on a Rockets player's foot.
In 12 games this season, Bogut averaged 11.3 points, a team-high 8.3 rebounds, 2.6 assists, one steal and a team-high 2.0 blocked shots (T-7th in NBA) in 30 minutes per game.
The No. 1 overall pick in the 2005 draft missed the end of the 2009-2010 season when he dislocated his right elbow and broke his right hand in a fall. He also missed 43 games with an injured lower back in the 2008-09 season.

[OnePiece]

Knicks shut down 'Melo; Wade returns for Heat

Posted Jan 27 2012 11:57AM - Updated Jan 27 2012 9:01PM


MIAMI (AP) -- Carmelo Anthony is hurting. Dwyane Wade no longer is.

Anthony sat out the New York Knicks' game at Miami on Friday night, a contest where Wade made his return to the starting lineup after a six-game absence to recover from a sprained right ankle.
Anthony is dealing with an array of thumb, wrist and ankle problems.
"I've just got to be smart," Anthony said Friday morning.
"I think I was trying to be a superhero and trying to prove to my teammates that I can play hurt, trying to hide it. But at the end of the day me doing that, it wasn't really doing nothing but hurting the team. ... Me being limited out there on the court, it wasn't doing anything for me, for my psyche, for my body. It was just making it worse."
In other words, perhaps Anthony is taking his cue from how Wade dealt with his most recent injury.
Wade was injured in Denver two weeks ago and was listed day to day throughout his absence. He returned to on-court conditioning several days ago, went through a hard pregame workout in Detroit on Wednesday night, then did more work in Miami on Thursday and participated in the team's shootaround practice Friday morning.
"He's healthy," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said of Wade. "He's ready to go. ... We were very, very patient with this."
The Heat are 8-1 without Wade this season. After seeing Wade work Friday morning, Heat teammate LeBron James seemed impressed.
"He looks good," James said. "He looks like he's about ready to play."
Anthony hasn't looked his best for a while.
He had a career-low one point in New York's win at Charlotte on Tuesday, and in New York's six games from Jan. 16 through Wednesday the perennial All-Star is shooting just under 32 percent from the floor, along with a dismal 5 for 28 from 3-point range.
Anthony missed New York's game on Jan. 14 against Oklahoma City because of a sprained right ankle and sprained left wrist, and neither problem has gotten much - if any - better since.
"He can't make a shot and he's playing through a lot of pain and it's not going away and it just kept getting worse," Knicks coach Mike D'Antoni said. "We've got to have him 100 percent or we don't have a chance. If not, it's crazy to keep going."
Anthony said he and the team made the decision after a series of conversations following a loss at Cleveland on Wednesday and during New York's off day on Thursday.
D'Antoni said Anthony underwent therapy Friday morning, adding that he wouldn't expect to see him back on the floor before the Knicks' home game against Detroit on Tuesday.
"He's just struggling through some ankle and wrist and hand injuries and he just can't perform the way he needs to or the way he wants to," D'Antoni said. "We decided, the medical staff thought it would be best to take the weekend off. Maybe Tuesday."
The Knicks are still missing point guard Baron Davis, who has not played this season because of a herniated disc in his back. Davis was on the floor with the Knicks for their shootaround practice Friday morning, but D'Antoni said the team is "going to wait until he can be NBA ready and he's not quite there yet."
Even with his struggles, Anthony entered Friday fifth in the NBA in scoring at 23.6 points per game. His 39-percent success rate from the field so far would be the lowest of his career, and the Knicks have opened the season with 11 losses in the first 18 games.
Playing through one injury is something Anthony has done countless times. Playing through several injuries now simply took a toll, he said.
"It's a combination, the ankle, the wrist, the thumb," Anthony said. "It's just messing up me mentally, not being able to go out there and do what I can do, be there for my teammates, perform out there at the highest level. That was kind of bothering me a little bit."
If Anthony and Wade played, it would have been a matchup where four of the top five draft picks from 2003 - James, Anthony, Chris Bosh and Wade - all would have been on the court together.
"It's still the Knicks and the Heat," Bosh said. "It's still a big game."

[OnePiece]

Singler still comfortable with decision to stay in Spain

Posted Jan 27 2012 12:34PM


MADRID (AP) -- NBA prospect Kyle Singler has no regrets over his decision to spurn the Detroit Pistons to play basketball in Europe.

The Real Madrid forward, selected by Detroit with the 33rd pick in the second round of the draft, is one of the few players who didn't return after the NBA lockout ended.

The former Duke forward felt pressured from the Pistons to come back, but he preferred to stay in Spain and hone his skills.
"I knew they were upset, a little disappointed. The bottom line was that I was a little selfish, I wanted the best for myself, I wanted to be happy,'' Singler told The Associated Press from Madrid's training facilities on the outskirts of the Spanish capital.
"It was difficult but, at the end of the day, if I never play in the NBA, would I be disappointed? Sure, but I'm happy I made the decision I made.''
The 23-year-old from Oregon said the opportunity to play abroad and experience a foreign culture was too good to pass up.
"The opportunity to play a lot more was here, but the bottom line was I was happy and felt no pressure to leave and go back to the NBA,'' said Singler, who was chosen the most valuable player after leading Duke to the 2010 NCAA championship. "Deep down, I knew it was the best decision for me to stay. I'll have another chance to play in the NBA, there was no real rush.''
Singler first joined Spanish club Lucentum Alicante for the duration of the lockout, and moved to Madrid on a one-year deal rather than go to Detroit after the new CBA was signed. Singler averages 14.4 points for the Spanish league leaders.
"This whole experience opens your eyes a little bit, especially being out of the States and over here, it's a breath of fresh air,'' said the the 6-feet-8 Singler. "It's a different culture, new experiences. I like to mix things up, that's probably the easiest way to explain it.''
Singler is enjoying Spanish culture, taking in Real Madrid's soccer matches and the city's cultural sites. His favorite dish is chicken paella. He finds time to go-cart with Madrid teammate and fellow American Jaycee Carroll, a former Utah State player.
While his ability to speak Spanish is rudimentary, it hasn't been an issue on the court.
With Detroit last in the Eastern Conference's Central division, Singler is happy to wait until the offseason to make a decision if the Pistons offer him a deal.
"If I do go back, I'm sure it will be Detroit because they are very interested in me,'' Singler said. "I'm not saying that I don't want to go to their team, but if it's a good situation, I'll definitely make that choice.''