Tag: Andrea Bargnani

Bucks rein in high-octaine Heat

Milwaukee coach figured the most logical way to win in Miami would be to keep the Heat from running in their typical high-octane style.

Fortunately for the Bucks, the weary-legged Heat cooperated with that plan.

Brandon Jennings scored 23 points, Ersan Ilyasova added 16 off the bench and the Bucks — despite shooting 35 percent — snapped Miami’s three-game winning streak with a 91-82 victory on Sunday night. It was the second straight road win for Milwaukee, which started 0-8 away from home and held Miami to a season-low 37 percent from the floor.

“Huge,” said Milwaukee guard . “Especially for us being winless on the road and going 2-0 against two good teams, especially the quality team like the Heat, it’s huge for your confidence.”

Andrew Bogut scored 13 points for the Bucks, who got 10 apiece from Livingston and .

LeBron James finished with 28 points and 13 rebounds for Miami, which had won three straight. scored 23 for the Heat, who got 12 from . Milwaukee turned 22 Miami turnovers into 22 points and the Heat tied an season-low with nine assists, matching their second-lowest total in the franchise’s 1,870-game history.

Miami had wins over the Spurs, the and Philadelphia in a five-day span ending Saturday.

“We can make no excuses for ourselves,” James said. “But no one had energy from the start of the game to the end.”

It was the first time Miami lost this season in seven games without , out with a sprained right ankle.

Pacers 98, Lakers 96: Roy Hibbert scored eight of his 18 points in the fourth quarter playing with a broken nose, and six of his teammates also scored in double figures to help Indiana beat the Los Angeles Lakers on their home court.

Kobe Bryant scored 33 points for the Lakers, but missed what would have been a tying 3-pointer from 30 feet from the top of the key with 3.5 seconds to play and the Pacers clinched it at the free throw line.

The Lakers, coming off road losses to Miami and Orlando, failed to reach 100 points for the 11th straight game — their longest streak since a 12-game stretch in 2003-04.

Hibbert, the Pacers’ second-leading scorer, left the court with the broken nose after fouling Bryant with 6:46 left in the first quarter.

Clippers 103, Raptors 91: Mo Williams scored 19 of his 26 points in the fourth quarter, Blake Griffin had 18 points and nine rebounds, and the Los Angeles Clippers sent the visiting Toronto Raptors to their eighth straight loss.

DeAndre Jordan had 16 points and 16 rebounds and Chauncey Billups had 14 assists for the Clippers, playing their fifth straight game without point guard Chris Paul because of a left hamstring strain.

Caron Butler finished with 15 points for Los Angeles.

Williams scored Los Angeles’ first 17 points of the final quarter to give them a 93-73 lead with 7:22 remaining, after the Raptors trimmed a 22-point deficit to 13 on Leandro Barbosa’s 3-pointer with 8:25 to play.

Barbosa scored 19 points and Linas Kleiza added 16 for the Raptors, who began a five-game road trip by missing their first 15 shots and were 35.8 percent from the field overall.

Toronto’s DeMar DeRozan had 15 points and grabbed eight rebounds.

Raptors leading scorer Andrea Bargnani missed his sixth game in a row with a left calf strain. Guard Jerryd Bayless returned to the lineup after sitting out 13 games due to a sprained ankle. He scored seven points in 18 minutes.

Nets 97, Bobcats 87: In Newark, N.J., Deron Williams had 19 points, nine rebounds and 10 assists to lead the Nets over the Charlotte Bobcats.

Williams’ near triple-double would have been the first of the season for the Nets, who improved to 5-12 on the season.

MarShon Brooks added 20 points for the Nets, while Anthony Morrow added 19 points.

Rookie Kemba Walker led the Bobcats with 16 points, six rebounds and four assists. Gerald Henderson had 15 points while Bismack Biyombo and Derrick Brown had 11 each.

Without the injured Brook Lopez, New Jersey has relied on its perimeter shooting.

The Nets shot 38 of 86 from the field, including 7 of 27 from three.

Charlotte shot 46.8 percent from the field and 35.7 percent on 3-pointers.

Bobcats guard D.J. Augustin played the first quarter before leaving the game because of an inflamed big right toe.

The Bobcats’ youth coupled with the abbreviated season has Bobcats coach Paul Silas concerned about how his team will respond to the challenge.

“It’s tough because you don’t have the practice time,” Silas said. “Playing as many games as we do, you’re not used to it.”

Love’s miserable night tops the lows on Monday’s S&Ds

Kevin Love has struggled in his NBA career.

But the Minnesota forward has endured few nights like Monday night, when he hit only 3 of his 16 shots in a putrid performance in the Timberwolves’ 97-87 loss at Toronto.

Love missed on 13 of his 16 shots as the Timberwolves lost their 14th in their last  15 games against the Raptors. 

“It felt like there was a cap on the rim at some point,” Love told the Associated press after the game. “I remember (missing) a reverse layup and looking at it like `You’ve got to be kidding me.”’

His night was worsened by five foul shots in 10 attempts that caught the attention of Minnesota coach Rick Adelman.

“(Love) just didn’t look like he had the energy he needed tonight,” Adelman said. “He’s going to have games like that. He missed five free throws and that’s really uncharacteristic.”

Love’s night topped  those who struggled across the league Monday night and others who had better nights.  

STUDS:

Toronto F Andrea Bargnani: Went for 31 points and nine rebounds and was plus-9 in the Raptors’ victory over Minnesota.

Atlanta F Josh Smth: Notched 26 points, six rebounds, four rebounds, three steals and was plus-7 in the Hawks’ conquest at New Jersey.

New York F Amare Stoudemire: Tallied 25 points and 12 rebounds in the Knicks’ victory over Charlotte.   

Chicago F Carlos Boozer: Muscled for 23 points and eight rebounds and was plus-8 in their victory over Detroit.

New Orleans F Carl Landry: Notched  21 points and was plus-29 in the Hornets’ victory at Denver.

Philadelphia F Andre Iguodala: Produced  20 points, nine rebounds, five assists and was plus-10 in the 76ers’ victory over Indiana.  

Charlotte F Boris Diaw: Filled the stat sheet with 19 ponts, 10 rebounds, seven assists in the Bobcats’ loss to New York.  

 New Jersey G Deron Williams: Notched 15 points and 14 assists in the Nets’ loss to Atlanta.

DUDS:

Minnesota F Kevin Love: Went 3 for 16 from the floor and was minus-20 in the Timbewolves’ loss to Toronto.   

Indiana’s starting backcourt: Paul George and Darren Collison combined to clank through a 6-for-27 shooting effort with seven turnovers and were a minus-14 in the Pacers’ loss to Philadelphia.

Charlotte G D.J. Augustin: Struggled through a 4-for-13 shooting night with three turnovers in the Bobcats’ loss to New York.

Detroit G Jason Maxiell: Went 1-for-12 from the field and was minus-8 in the Pistons’ loss to Chicago.    

Denver G Andre  Miller: Clanked through an 0-for-5 shooting night and was minus-13 in the Nuggets’ loss to New Orleans.

Yao, Shaq leave a big void

By DOUGLAS PILS
dpils@express-news.net

When the NBA finally comes back, it will be missing two global icons.

Without Shaquille O’Neal — rapper, shoe mogul and the best center of his generation — and now Yao Ming — the man who brought the world to the NBA — the league is much smaller.

Both had the game, personality and swagger that sold tickets, merchandise and worldwide appeal. Neither played much in 2010-11, but now that they’re truly gone the league has big holes in the big-man department.

When healthy, Yao changed games and, for a big man, his 83.3 free throw percentage was tops. O’Neal could move mountains under the basket, and he leaves us with lifetime of one-liners.

Who comes close to what they gave the NBA on and off the court?

It’s a different league from when Patrick Ewing, Hakeem Olajuwon and David Robinson dominated. Now, we have 7-footers who win NBA titles with 3-pointers, flashy moves and 20-foot awkward looking fadeaway jumpers.

Dallas used to long for someone to compete with Olajuwon and Robinson. Now, all it needs inside to win a title is Tyson Chandler — a nice player and a difference maker this year, but he’s not going down as one of the all-time greats.

And he’s not selling products the way O’Neal and Yao could and can.

So, who are the most dynamic big men left?

Dwight Howard, Magic
The only center left who averages at least 20 points and 10 rebounds and the only one with star power for commercials — McDonalds, T-Mobile, adidas. And he mimics Shaq’s terrible free throws.

Brook Lopez, Nets
He upped his scoring to 20.4 per game this past season, but his rebounds dropped two per game to 6.0. The only commercial I’ve seen is on Disney with the Sprouse twins.

Nenê, Nuggets
Missed most of 2005-06 with a knee injury and 2007-08 with cancer, but he’s been dependable the past three seasons. I’m sure he’s popular in Brazil.

Andrew Bogut, Bucks
The 7-foot Aussie is the only other center besides Howard who averaged a double-double in 2010-11 at 12.8 points and 11.1 rebounds, and he led the NBA at 2.6 blocks a game. He does Time Warner spots in Milwaukee, but I couldn’t find any speaking roles.

Andrew Bynum, Lakers
He plays in Los Angeles, so you’d think he could rise into a leading man’s role. But it seems like we’re always waiting for him grow into his potential. After his last play of 2011 — knocking J.J. Barea to the floor — we’re still waiting.

IMPACT OF YAO

When the Rockets took China’s Yao Ming at No. 1 overall in 2002, he was the first foreigner to be No. 1.

The year before, Spain’s Pau Gasol became the highest at No. 4. In the 10 years before Yao’s selection, 20 foreign-born players who hadn’t played college ball in America were drafted.

In the next 10 drafts, including Yao’s, there have been 52, including six last month led by No. 3 overall pick Enes Kanter.

Toronto took Italy’s Andrea Bargnani at No. 1 in 2006, and Australia’s Andrew Bogut was No. 1 in 2005 after playing college for Utah.

Yao didn’t start the NBA’s international infusion, but he broadened the league’s reach into China and his play further dispelled the notion that basketball is solely an American game.

Here are seven of the best players drafted from overseas since Yao:

Bargnani, PF: Has career averages of 15.1 points — 21.4 in 2010-11 — and 4.9 rebounds for Toronto.

Nicolas Batum, SF, Trail Blazers: No. 25 in 2008, the Frenchman had his best season in his third year, averaging 12.4 ppg and 4.5 rpg.

Nenê, C, Nuggets: No. 7 in 2002, the Brazilian averages 12.3 ppg and 6.9 rpg — 14.3 and 7.6 the past three seasons.

Danilo Gallinari, SF, Nuggets: No. 6 by the Knicks in 2008, the Italian averaged 15.6 points and 4.9 rebounds in 2010-11.

Marc Gasol, C, Grizzlies: No. 48 overall in 2007, he’s blossomed in three seasons (12.6 ppg and 7.8 rpg).

Serge Ibaka, PF, Thunder: No. 24 in 2008 out of the Republic of Congo, he ended his second year atop the NBA with 198 blocks, with 9.9 ppg and 7.6 rpg.

Luis Scola, PF, Rockets: Spurs took him at No. 55 in 2002, traded him to Houston, and he’s averaged 14.3 ppg and 8 rpg in four years.