Defending champion Raptors lose Lowry, Ibaka to injuries

NEW ORLEANS — The Toronto Raptors say starting point guard Kyle Lowry fractured his left thumb and sixth-man Serge Ibaka a severely sprained an ankle against the New Orleans Pelicans.

Lowry said he was hurt in the first quarter Friday night when he tried to swipe the ball away from Pelicans center Derrick Favors on an offensive rebound.


Lowry went to the bench after the initial injury, but returned a couple minutes later. He even made two 3-pointers in the second quarter before subbing out midway through the period and retreating to the locker room.

“Originally, we thought it was something in the nail bed because the nail bed turned black and blue,” Lowry said. “We got some X-rays and we sent the X-rays off to the doctors, and there was a small fracture in the thumb.”

Lowry said the injury is unrelated to the surgery he had in July to repair ligaments in the same thumb.

Ibaka was in a walking boot after the game. He suffered his ankle sprain when he contested a layup by Brandon Ingram with about a minute remaining in the second quarter. Ibaka lay on the floor, writhing in pain as play continued, before a Toroo foul allowed two teammates to help him limp off the floor.

source: sports.inquirer.net

Blake Griffin pours 37 as Pistons defeat Anthony David-less Pelicans

NEW ORLEANS— Blake Griffin got Detroit off to a hot start, but the Pistons still had to scratch out a victory in the final seconds over the Anthony Davis-less Pelicans.

It didn’t sit well with the All-Star forward.


“The way we finished the game was the reason we’ve lost so many close games,” said Griffin, referring to Detroit’s 95-87 lead with 1:32 left that nearly evaporated down the stretch. “This time we just happened to come out on top. We got a lucky miss, a lucky bounce and we were able to get a wide-open dunk, but this doesn’t feel like that good of a win. Obviously, we’ll take it, but stuff like this is why we’ve lost so many games.”

Griffin scored 20 of his game-high 37 points in the fourth quarter of Detroit’s 98-94 win over New Orleans, which was playing its second straight game without Davis.

Reggie Jackson added 17 points for the Pistons, who had lost seven of their previous 10.

Jrue Holiday scored 29 points and Jahlil Okafor added 17 for the Pelicans, who have lost four of six.

New Orleans cut the deficit to 95-92 on a drive by Holiday and a 3-poitner by Darius Miller with 52.5 seconds left.

The Pistons then had a sluggish possession, finally getting the ball in Griffin’s hands for a forced 3-point attempt. When he missed, the Pelicans had a chance to tie, but Frank Jackson’s open 3-pointer missed, and Holiday tapped the rebound out to the top of the key.

Reggie Bullock ran down the loose ball and dribbled 60 feet unguarded for a clinching dunk with 14.5 seconds left.

Griffin finished 14 of 28 from the field, including 4 of 9 on 3-pointers, and had nine rebounds and seven assists.

“He’s carrying us, handling the basketball, making good decisions, just doing everything we could ask a franchise player to do,” coach Dwane Casey said. “He’s been great. He sets the tone for us offensively. He’d probably have more assists if we knocked down more shots.”


Detroit went 7 of 23 from the field in the fourth quarter, scoring just 19 points in the frame.

“You want to finish perfect, and I’m striving for perfection and good habits,” Casey said.

Playing without Davis, the Pelicans shot just nine free throws and made only four.

“We just struggled the whole night,” New Orleans coach Alvin Gentry said. “At the end, we make a push back. You’ve got to be able to make the game-winning plays, as we call them. We didn’t do that. We have failed to find consistency throughout what we’re trying to do. That’s a lot on me. As a coach, you’ve got to figure out a way to have your team play consistently and you’ve got to find out who is willing to do that. We’re kind of still searching for that.”

Griffin scored 20 of Detroit’s 31 points in the first quarter and had 26 by halftime on 9-of-14 shooting, with the Pistons leading 57-47.

“We just kept feeding him,” said Jon Leuer, who had 11 points and six rebounds. “When he’s in a rhythm like that, he’s unstoppable.”

TIP-INS

Pistons: Casey said C Andre Drummond, who sustained a concussion in a Jan. 18 win over Miami, felt “spry and full of energy” in shootaround, but he still missed his third consecutive game.

Pelicans: Davis missed his second straight game with a fracture of his left index finger. He may miss another one to two weeks.

UP NEXT

Pistons: Will end a three-game trip at Dallas on Thursday night.

Pelicans: Visit Oklahoma City on Thursday night. The Pelicans have 10 games left in a monthlong stretch in which they have a flight between each of 16 games.

source: sports.inquirer.net

Rockets drain record 24 3s in win over Pelicans

James Harden delivered his second straight triple double as the Houston Rockets made an NBA record 24 three pointers in a 122-100 victory over the New Orleans Pelicans on Friday.

The Rockets continued their record-setting ways this season, setting the single game mark for threes made and attempted (64).

Eric Gordon scored a season-high 29 points as the Rockets improved to 20-7 and extended their winning streak to nine games.

“I think it’ll happen again for sure,” Gordon said. “A lot of teams like to load up trying to not let us get layups and it forces us to shoot threes. It’s like, ‘Why not?’ I think we’ll have that chance again.”

Houston finished one three pointer shy of matching the old record of 23, which they shared with the Golden State Warriors, on Wednesday night in their 34-point win over the Sacramento Kings.

Houston had held the mark for three-pointers attempted (50), which they set in Sacramento on November 25.

Harden finished with 29 points, 11 rebounds and 13 assists to set a franchise record with his 15th triple-double.

Gordon shot 10 for 17 in 27 minutes off the bench, while forward Trevor Ariza finished with 20 points on five-for-14 three-point shooting.

Forward Anthony Davis led the Pelicans with 19 points despite playing just 22 minutes. Davis left in the third quarter with a left lower-leg contusion.

Former Rockets forward Terrence Jones came off the bench to score 16 points and eight rebounds for New Orleans, which has lost six of seven games against Houston.

“He just got kicked, and the game wasn’t in a position where I thought that it was worth the risk to put him back out there,” Pelicans coach Alvin Gentry said of Davis. “And we just weren’t going to do it.”

source: sports.inquirer.net

NBA: Walton’s young Lakers school Pelicans

LOS ANGELES, United States — The Los Angeles Lakers powered past the struggling New Orleans Pelicans 126-99 on Saturday in a reunion for coaches Luke Walton and Alvin Gentry.

Walton and Gentry were both assistants on Steve Kerr’s staff at Golden State when the Warriors won the 2015 title.

And Gentry isn’t surprised that Walton has the young Lakers, demoralized after a franchise worst 17-65 season and learning to live without retired superstar Kobe Bryant, playing buoyant basketball.

“He can relate to anyone,” Gentry said of Walton, who took the Lakers helm this season. “If you’re around him for a whole season, you see how he deals with people, see how much basketball knowledge that he has.

“It doesn’t surprise me what they’re doing. He’ll get the most out of any player he has.

“I know that one of the young guys said ‘I’ll take a bullet for him,'” Gentry said.

“In our profession,” he added with a laugh, “if a player’s willing to take a bullet for you, you’ve accomplished a lot.”

The Lakers notched their fifth win in six games on Saturday, with 23 points from Jordan Clarkson, 22 from D’Angelo Russell and 21 from Lou Williams, who is the league’s leading scorer off the bench.

They took full advantage of an injury scare to Pelicans star Anthony Davis, who had scored 13 straight points as New Orleans trimmed the lead to 63-62 when he came down from a layup clutching his back in agony.

Davis went to the locker room and while he was gone the Lakers out-scored the Pelicans 16-4 to build a 79-64 lead.

Davis returned six minutes later, but even his game-high 34 points — to go with eight rebounds and two blocked shots — weren’t enough.

Davis’s became the ninth player in league history to score 300 points and grab 100 rebounds in his first 10 games of a season.

He joined David Robinson and Shaquille O’Neal as the only players to average 30 points, 10 rebounds and three blocks in the first 10 games — but the Pelicans fell to 1-9.

The Pelicans will try to regroup before hosting Boston on Monday, while the Lakers move straight on to face the Minnesota Timberwolves in Minneapolis on Sunday.

Walton said his players are gaining in confidence with every win but said they remain a work in progress.

“Learning to believe in yourselves and learning to close out ballgames is not easy,” he said. “This group of guys is starting to figure that out.” CBB

source: sports.inquirer.net

Clutch Davis leads Pelicans past Suns

NEW ORLEANS — Anthony Davis capped a 32-point, 19-rebound performance with a tiebreaking 3-pointer in the final minute, and the New Orleans Pelicans beat the Phoenix Suns 122-116 on Sunday night.

Davis, whose rebound total set a season high, also blocked four shots and had two steals. His last block came with 22 seconds left, when he tapped Mirza Teletovic’s 3-point attempt from the right corner offline. The ball fell to Pelicans guard Ish Smith, and New Orleans held on from there.

Ryan Anderson, who scored 30 in each of his previous two games, had 29 points for New Orleans. Eric Gordon added 20 points, while Smith had 17 points, nine rebounds and eight assists.

Eric Bledsoe scored 29 points for Phoenix, which lost despite hitting 17 3-pointers. Brandon Knight had 19 points, but missed 13 of 18 shots.

Knight, who had scored 30 or more in three of his previous five games, played with a sore ankle. He scored nine of his points from the free-throw line and also had seven assists.

Markief Morris scored 17 points and P.J. Tucker had 12 for the Suns, while Tyson Chandler grabbed 10 rebounds.

Davis came through in the clutch for New Orleans right after a questionable call angered him and coach Alvin Gentry with 2:39 to go. Davis had soared for a rebound and fell coming down when he appeared to be grabbed on the arm by Tucker. But Davis was whistled for a loose-ball foul, leading him and his coach to protest while pointing to replays on the videoboard as the crowd booed the call.

Tucker’s resulting free throws cut New Orleans’ lead to 107-106, but Davis responded with a 20-foot jumper on the next possession.

In the final minute, Davis delivered a late-shot-clock 3 in a tie game. The Suns could not answer on their next possession, and Smith hit a pair of free throws to make it 114-109 with 30 seconds to go.

There were 14 lead changes and six ties in the game. The Pelicans, who led by as many as 11 in the first quarter, briefly fell behind by as many as four points when Bledsoe’s 3 capped a 13-1 run in the second quarter. Anderson’s free throws put the Pelicans back in front, 56-55, at halftime.

New Orleans worked its lead back up to 11 in the third quarter with a 15-2 run that included a pair of 3s by Gordon. But the Suns once again rallied, tying the game at 92 when Bledsoe hit a 3 as he was fouled for a four-point play with 9:57 left.

TIP-INS

Suns: Morris was called for a technical foul in the fourth quarter for arguing with an official who had called a moving pick against him. The resulting free throw gave New Orleans a 95-92 lead with 9:26 left. … Phoenix turned the ball over 15 times, leading to 25 Pelicans points. … The Suns were 29 of 33 from the foul line, with Bledsoe hitting 11 of 12. … Phoenix shot 47.2 percent from 3-point range (17 of 36), but only 38.9 percent (35 of 90) overall.

Pelicans: Jrue Holiday fouled out with 1:13 to go on a foul under the basket on Bledsoe, who hit both free throws to tie it at 109. Holiday and Gentry protested as replays appeared to show a clean block. … Smith hit the back of his head no the scorer’s table when he leapt, off-balance, to grab a loose ball and release it before he landed to avoid a back-court violation. The play resulted in one of Davis’ dunks. … The Pelicans were 33 of 40 on free throws. … Smith has made 18 of his last 19 free throws. … Gordon was 5 of 12 from 3-point range.

UP NEXT

Suns: Visit San Antonio on Monday night.

Pelicans: Visit Phoenix on Wednesday night.

source: sports.inquirer.net

Curry guides Warriors to sweep of Pelicans

NEW ORLEANS — Stephen Curry had 39 points, eight rebounds and nine assists and Golden State cruised to 109-98 victory over New Orleans on Saturday night, completing a sweep of their first-round playoff series.

Klay Thompson added 25 points for the Warriors, the NBA’s top overall seed, who will wait to host Game 1 of their second-round series against the winner of the Portland-Memphis matchup.

Draymond Green added 22 points and 10 rebounds for Golden State, which led 67-54 at halftime and widened the gap to as many as 24 points in the second half before the Pelicans briefly cut the deficit to single digits in the final minutes.

Anthony Davis had 36 points and 11 rebounds for the Pelicans and Eric Gordon had 29 points.

Golden State shot 50.6 percent from the field, including 13 of 24 from 3-point range. Curry was 6 of 8 from deep, while Thompson was 4 of 7 and Green 3 of 6.

BUCKS 92, BULLS 90

Jerryd Bayless made a layup at the buzzer off an inbounds pass, lifting Milwaukee over Chicago, drawing the Bucks within 3-1 in their Eastern Conference playoff series.

With 1.3 seconds left, Jared Dudley threw a high-arcing pass toward the basket from side court. Bayless caught the ball and quickly threw up the layup for the game-winning basket.

Bulls guard Derrick Rose walked away in frustration after trying to guard Bayless. The Bucks won their first playoff game in five years.

Chicago had a chance to win with the game tied at 90. But Milwaukee’s Khris Middleton tipped a dribble away from Rose to force a steal. Bucks coach Jason Kidd called a timeout to set up the final play.

Game 5 is Monday in Chicago.

Jimmy Butler had a playoff career-high 33 points for the Bulls. Rose finished with 14 points, while Pau Gasol had 16 points and 10 rebounds.

O.J. Mayo finished with 18 points, including a 3-pointer with 1:42 left, while Dudley had 13 points and five assists while Bayless had 10 points.

NETS 91, HAWKS 83

NEW YORK — Brook Lopez had 22 points and 13 rebounds and Thaddeus Young added 18 points and 11 rebounds as Brooklyn cut Atlanta’s lead to 2-1 in the Eastern Conference series.

The Nets seized control with an 18-0 run spanning the third and fourth quarters after the Hawks grabbed their first lead since the opening basket, then went on to beat the No. 1 seed for the first time in seven meetings this season.

Bojan Bogdanovic added 19 points for the eighth-seeded Nets, who can tie the series with another victory here Monday night in Game 4.

DeMarre Carroll scored a playoff career-high 22 points for the Hawks, who were denied what would have been their second 3-0 lead since moving to Atlanta in 1968. Paul Millsap added 18 points and 17 rebounds.

source: sports.inquirer.net

Anthony Davis picked to replace Kobe Bryant in All-Star game

NEW YORK – New Orleans forward Anthony Davis was chosen Friday to replace the injured Kobe Bryant in the NBA All-Star game that will be played in his home city.

Davis was nearly chosen as a reserve, but missed by one spot in voting by Western Conference head coaches, a person with knowledge of the details told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because vote totals were not released.

The 2012 U.S. Olympian ended up getting into the Feb. 16 game at Smoothie King Center when NBA Commissioner Adam Silver chose him to replace Bryant, who was voted by fans to start but is still recovering from a broken knee.

Davis is averaging 20.5 points, 10.5 rebounds and a league-leading 3.3 blocks for the Pelicans. Davis, the No. 1 pick in the 2012 draft, is also scheduled to play in the Rising Stars Challenge for rookies and second-year players next Friday.

Western Conference coach Scott Brooks of Oklahoma City will decide who replaces Bryant in the starting lineup.

source: sports.inquirer.net

Ginobili scores 16, leads Spurs over Pelicans

SAN ANTONIO — Manu Ginobili had 16 points to lead seven players in double figures as the San Antonio Spurs beat the New Orleans Pelicans 112-93 on Monday for their 11th straight victory.

Tony Parker had 14 points and seven assists, Tiago Splitter added 11 points and Tim Duncan had 10 points for San Antonio (13-1). Reserves Marco Belinelli had 14 points, Boris Diaw added 13 points and Patty Mills 12 to keep the Spurs undefeated at home.

Ryan Anderson had 17 points, Tyreke Evans and Jrue Holiday each added 12 points and Anthony Davis had 10 for New Orleans (6-7).

Portland’s LaMarcus Aldridge had 18 points and 14 rebounds for his seventh double-double this season as the Trail Blazers beat the slumping New York Knicks 102-91 for their 11th straight victory.

Utah’s Trey Burke made a key 3-pointer to help the Jazz outlast Chicago 89-83 in overtime — the Bulls’ first game since learning Derrick Rose would again be lost for the season.

Burke, a rookie finally enjoying extensive playing time after spending most of the season recovering from finger surgery, had 14 points and six assists. He also had five turnovers and shot 5 for 17 but was on the court in clutch time directing the Jazz to their second win of the season.

Carlos Boozer had 26 points and 16 rebounds and Luol Deng added 24 points for the Bulls.

At Indianapolis, George Hill scored a season-high 26 points, and Paul George had 11 of his 26 points during the decisive run to lead the Indiana Pacers to a 98-84 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Indiana has won four straight since losing at Chicago, is 13-1 for the first time in club history and remained perfect in eight home games this season.

The Boston Celtics beat the Charlotte Bobcats 96-86 for their second straight victory after Jordan Crawford had 21 points and reserve Gerald Wallace added a season-high 17 points.

Brandon Bass scored 16 points and Phil Pressley had a career-high eight assists for Boston (6-10).

Kemba Walker had 28 points to lead the Bobcats (7-8.

LeBron James scored 35 points on only 14 shots from the field and Dwyane Wade added 21 points and 12 assists to lead the Miami Heat over the Phoenix Suns 107-92 for their seventh straight win.

In other games, the Houston Rockets downed the Memphis Grizzlies 93-86, the Denver Nuggets defeated the Dallas Mavericks 110-96 and the Detroit Pistons were 113-94 winners over the Milwaukee Bucks.

source: sports.inquirer.net