Advertisement - scroll for more content
Ausar Thompson's game meshes with his role. He’s the Pistons' top perimeter defender, one of their best playmakers in transition and a great rebounder for his size. The team is 9-2 in January despite losing Jaden Ivey on New Year’s Day, largely thanks to Thompson. “(It’s) us just trying to monitor him and keep him as fresh as we best possibly can, and honestly on some days that’s different,” Bickerstaff said of the minute restriction. “Sometimes I can look at him and see, ok he’s doing good. Other times I may look at him and think he needs a break. Just depending on the pace of the game — how many breaks, how many stoppages, free throws — all of those things play a part in it. The timeout situation around it, obviously those things impact the length of his stretches. And it’s kinda a gut feel as you’re going into the game as well.”
Allen Iverson card gets six figure bid
A super rare Allen Iverson card just hit the auction block, but it could very well be out of most collectors' price range ... 'cause someone's already bid $150K!! TMZ Sports has learned the 1997 Skybox E-X 2001 Essential Credentials Now Iverson piece went up for auction at Heritage Auctions on New Year's Day ... and it's already received an aggressive six-figure bid. It's a huge number ... especially considering the previous record for an Iverson card sale, according to HA, was $79,200.
The New Orleans Pelicans and New Orleans Saints are deeply saddened by the tragic events that occurred on Bourbon Street early on New Year’s Day. Our hearts go out to all victims and their families during this difficult time, and express our deepest gratitude to the first responders who acted swiftly and bravely on the scene.
Brad Rowland: Hawks injury report for New Year's Day in Denver: Dyson Daniels (illness) is probable. Trae Young (right Achilles tendinitis) is probable. Bogdan Bogdanovic (left lower leg contusion) is doubtful. Larry Nance (hand) is out. Bufkin and Zeller remain out.
The NBA has regular-season games on Halloween, Christmas, New Year’s Day, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, Inauguration Day and President’s Day. As for today, Election Day, the NBA and the leader of its players prefer the focus be on the polls and not the court as the President of the United States and local government officials are elected. “It was important,” New Orleans Pelicans guard CJ McCollum, who is also the president of the NBA Players Association, told Andscape about being off on Election Day. “It was something that [the NBPA] talked about and I was vocal about. There is an importance of us being able to spread information to others. It’s important for us to take the time off to make sure everybody goes out and votes and point a spotlight to that.”
Advertisement
The Spurs’ 13-29 record since New Year’s Day is nothing to crow about. Nevertheless, it should be enough to prove to voters that they should ignore the wins differential that informed the way-too-early belief that the Thunder rookie was on his way to being the top rookie. Might Wembanyama be a unanimous selection? There have been only five in the history of the award. Ralph Sampson (1983-84), David Robinson (1989-90), Blake Griffin (2010-11), Damian Lillard (2012-13) and Karl-Anthony Towns (2015-16).
Jaime Jaquez Jr. answered a few questions in Spanish following the Miami Heat’s New Year’s Day game against host the LA Clippers. It’s not often that an NBA player takes questions in Spanish. The Heat’s rookie guard is on a short list of NBA players of Mexican heritage to play in the league. But now with a global platform, this budding star hopes he can have an impact on aspiring basketball players from Mexico and Mexican Americans dreaming about playing in the NBA and WNBA who want to grow in the game.
Bojan Bogdanović has made history as highest Croatian NBA scorer of all-time. After scoring 28 points for the Detroit Pistons in their 116-104 win against the Minnesota Timberwolves on New Years Day, the 33-year-old passed Toni Kukoč who ended his career with 9,810 points to be the number one Croatian scorer in history.
Since the 1980s, the NBA has become synonymous with Christmas Day, similar to the NFL with Thanksgiving or college football with New Year’s Day. The five-game celebration is a global media event, reaching more than 41 million people in more than 50 languages across 200 countries and territories last year. “I think our fans are conditioned and, quite frankly, look forward to the games on Christmas Day because they tend to be the biggest, most anticipated matchups of the season,” NBA Deputy Commissioner Mark Tatum told Front Office Sports.
Jordan scored 50 or more points an astonishing 30 times in his career. DeRozan isn’t Jordan. But his ability to lift up this season’s Bulls at some of their lowest points is the stuff of greatness. From his back-to-back, buzzer-beating 3-pointers on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day to this epic outing, DeRozan is authoring one of the greatest individual seasons in franchise history. “The win is more meaningful,” DeRozan said. “I just wanted to win this game badly. You see how tight the race is. Every single game is extremely important. We have no more room to be dropping any more games. That’s just my mentality.”
Advertisement
Just before New Year's Day, Memphis ripped off a pair of statement victories, going on the road to beat the Suns 114-113 and the Lakers 104-99, kickstarting an 11-game winning streak that also featured a home win over the Warriors. Around that point, the Grizzlies transformed from good story to West elite. It's certainly unusual for a team as youthful as Memphis -- the league's fourth-youngest team when weighted by minutes played this season -- to make a deep playoff run. Of the 59 teams in NBA history that have had an average weighted age of less than 25 at season's end, just six have advanced to the playoffs (a group that already includes last season's Memphis team).
David Baumann: The @Orlando Magic top the @Denver Nuggets 114-110 in final scrimmage. Jonathan Isaac, despite not playing in the 2H, is the bright spot for ORL. After an knee injury on New Years Day that threatened his season, he made a strong comeback. 13p/7r/2s/1a/+18 in 7 min. #MagicAboveAll
Magic forwards Jonathan Isaac and Al-Farouq Aminu are unlikely to return this season despite the extended layoff, according to Roy Parry of the Orlando Sentinel. Isaac suffered a knee injury on New Year’s Day and hasn’t played since that game in Washington. Isaac was establishing himself as a defensive force before the severe left knee sprain.
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement