Tag: San Antonio Spurs

Celtics veteran O’Neal returning to lineup

For Spurs starters Tony Parker, Antonio McDyess and Manu Ginobili, the prospect of returning to the lineup for tonight’s game against the Boston Celtics could be as simple as lacing up their sneakers.

For Boston’s Jermaine O’Neal, just finding the bus to the arena could be a problem.

“I can’t remember the last time I was on the team bus,” the Celtics center said after surviving a two-hour practice at the ATT Center on Tuesday afternoon, his first full workout in nearly three months.

O’Neal last played on Jan. 10, when he logged 21 minutes in a game in Boston against the Houston Rockets. A free-agent signee of the Celtics last summer, O’Neal has appeared in only 17 games this season because of problems with his left knee.

He tried to play through the pain through the first two months of the season but agreed to arthroscopic surgery in January.

The Celtics’ plan to have O’Neal close to game shape and rhythm by the time the playoffs begin, and that process will begin with tonight’s game.

“He had a good practice,” said Celtics coach Doc Rivers. “He missed shots and all that stuff, but overall, I thought he was terrific. I’m going to start him and play him 40 minutes.”

The part about starting and playing 40 minutes was a joke, and O’Neal laughed at it himself.

“Today I felt pretty good, but tomorrow I know I’m going to be gassed,” he said.

DUNCAN PRACTICES: Wednesday marked Tim Duncan’s first time on the practice court since spraining his left ankle March 21 against Golden State. Duncan received positive reviews, though coach Gregg Popovich pronounced the 13-time All-Star a game-time decision.

Parker reported his longest-tenured teammate was beginning to look like his old self.

“We have to see how he’s going to react tomorrow and if there’s no swelling,” Parker said. “Hopefully, he can go.”

BUMP, SET, SPIKE: Popovich has agreed to allow Parker to return to the lineup after missing the Portland game with a left patella contusion. He made just one request of his fashion-conscious point guard, which was ultimately rebuffed.

“I wanted to give him some of those volleyball knee pads,” Popovich said. “It was uncool, he said.”

MR. ROGERS RETURNS: Celtics assistant coach Roy Rogers looked forward to renewing his ties with his former University of Alabama teammate, McDyess.

“I can’t pass up an off night in San Antonio without making ‘Dyess buy dinner for me, and I’m not talking Applebee’s,” Rogers said. “He’s going to have to reach pretty deep into that wallet.”

Rogers got his coaching start with the Spurs’ NBA D-League team, the Austin Toros, before landing a job on Lawrence Franks’ New Jersey Nets staff in 2008. After Franks was hired to replace Tom Thibodeau on Rivers’ staff, he recommended Rogers be hired to work with Boston’s big men.

Staff writer Jeff McDonald contributed to this report.

Green shoes help spark Douglas’ 29-point S&D effort

The Knicks’ special green shoes for St. Patrick’s Day obviously agreed with Toney Douglas.

Something had to explain his unusual confidence as he blistered Memphis for nine 3-pointers en route to a game-high 29 points sparking New York’s 120-99 triumph over the Grizzlies.

“I love that color. I had two days of practice in them and everybody was like, ‘Wow, those are really loud shoes,”’ Douglas told the Associated Press. “They’re special shoes now.”

Douglas tied a team record with nine 3-pointers, joining former Knicks John Starks and Latrell Sprewell who share the achievement. 

“Once I started hitting, I felt like there was no defense out there,” Douglas said. “No matter if a man was on me, anything I threw up was going in.”

His hot night was the standout performance for Thursday’s Studs and Duds on a limited night of play across the association.

STUDS

New York G Toney Douglas: Blistered Memphis for 29 points, including 9-for-12 from 3-point range, and was plus-18 in the Knicks’ 120-99 victory over the Grizzlies.

New York F Carmelo Anthony: Scored  28 points and was plus-18 in the Knicks’ victory over Memphis.  

Chicago G Derrick Rose: Scored 21 points, was a team-leading plus-14 and turned in a suffocating defensive effort on Deron Williams in the Bulls’ 84-73 victory over  New Jersey — their eighth straight triumph and longest winning streak in six years.

Portland C LaMarcus Aldridge: Scored 20 points and grabbed 11 rebounds in only 28 minutes and was plus-37 in the Trail Blazers’ 111-70 beatdown over Cleveland.

New York’s perimeter game: The Knicks’ outside shooting erupted for a team-record 20 3-pointers and shot 55.6 percent from behind the arc in their victory over Memphis.

Portland F Gerald Wallace: Notched 17 points, six rebounds and six assists and was plus-42 in the Trail Blazers’ big victory over the Cavaliers.

Chicago F Omer Asik: Contributed 11 points and 16 rebounds off  the bench and was plus-9 in the Bulls’ victory at New Jersey.

New Jersey C Brook Lopez: Tallied 22 points, eight rebounds and two assists in the Nets’ loss to Chicago.

New Jersey F Kris Humphries: Notched 13 points, 16 rebounds and five blocked shots in the Nets’ loss  to the Bulls.

DUDS

New Jersey G Deron Williams: Went 1-for-12 from the field with four turnovers and was minus-12 in the Nets’ loss to Chicago.

Memphis G O.J. Mayo: Clanked through a 1-for-7 shooting night and was a team-worst minus-19 in the Grizzlies’ loss at New York.

Cleveland F Alonzo Gee: Missed all five shots from the field, had two turnovers and was a team-worst minus-33 in the Cavaliers’ loss at Portland.

Magic won’t shave until their playoff run ends

Taking a cue from their counterparts in the NHL, members of the Orlando Magic are opting to stop shaving until the end of the NBA playoffs as a show of team unity.

It was Orlando forward Quentin Richardson’s idea to put away the razors for the next few weeks.

“It’s one of those team things,” Richardson told the Orlando Sentinel. “Togetherness. It’s something fun at the same time. It’s going to definitely look funny, I know.”

The team considered different options before deciding on the facial adornments, All-Star center Dwight Howard told the Sentinel.

“We thought about the bald heads, but some of us — myself — don’t look right with a bald head,” Howard said. “Then we thought about letting our hair grow out; then [we realized] we’ve got a lot of guys who are going bald, so [it would] look funny with just patches in their head.

“So the beard is the only way to go. It’ll be tough for me and the young guys to really get it going, but we’re all in this together.”

Hedo Turkoglu already has a head start on the rest of the team. How much more unkempt can he really become?

I’ll be curious about how Howard looks and handles the facial growth. Considering his well-known self-interest – or vanity — in himself, it will be interesting to see if he really will join his teammates  in this endeavor.

And I’ll wonder if Coach Stan Van Gundy joins them in this as well. Van Gundy with a beard could look like one of those beatnik poets back from th early 1960s.