George has sprained ligament, will miss Thursday
Wed, Feb 14, 2007
By Associated Press
DALLAS -- Dallas Mavericks forward Devean George has a sprained right knee and will miss Thursday night's game at Houston.
George was hurt in the fourth quarter Tuesday night in Milwaukee when he went sprawling for a loose ball. He had to be helped off the court.
The team said Wednesday that George has a sprained MCL.
After Thursday night, there is the All-Star break and the Mavericks don't play again until the following Thursday at home against the Miami Heat.
George spent his first seven NBA seasons with the Los Angeles Lakers before signing as a free agent with Dallas last summer. In 44 games for the Mavericks, George is averaging 6.5 points and 3.4 rebounds while playing about 21 minutes a game.
NBA Today - Feb. 15
Thu, Feb 15, 2007
By Associated Press
Dallas at Houston (8 p.m. EST). The Mavericks, with the NBA's best record at 43-9, have won eight straight.
STARS
Wednesday
- Deron Williams, Jazz, had a career-high 33 points and 12 assists to lead Utah to a 99-98 win over Cleveland.
- Stephen Jackson, Warriors, had 36 points with eight assists in a 120-101 win over New York.
- Gerald Wallace, Bobcats, scored 32 points in a 100-85 win over Chicago.
- Nick Collison, Sonics, had 22 points and 15 rebounds to lead Seattle to a 114-90 victory over Phoenix.
- Joe Johnson, Hawks, scored six of his 27 points in the final 19 seconds and Atlanta rallied to beat the Los Angeles Clippers 96-93.
WHEW
The Boston Celtics ended their franchise-record losing streak at 18 games on Wednesday night, getting 32 points from Paul Pierce and 21 from Gerald Green to beat the Milwaukee Bucks 117-97. The crowd gave the Celtics a standing ovation for the final minute as they picked up their first victory since Jan. 5, winning just two of 24 games when Pierce was out with foot and elbow injuries. The NBA's most decorated franchise long ago broke the team record of 13 straight losses and seemed destined for the league record of 24 (23 in one season).
FILL-IN
Joe Johnson of the Atlanta Hawks was chosen by commissioner David Stern for the NBA's East All-Star team on Wednesday as a replacement for injured New Jersey guard Jason Kidd. Kidd will miss Sunday's game with a back injury. Johnson, who will be the fifth replacement player chosen for the game, is Atlanta's first All-Star since Shareef Abdur-Rahim in 2002.
STREAKS
Deron Williams had a career-high 33 points and 12 assists to lead Utah to a 99-98 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday night, stretching the Jazz's winning streak to six games entering the All-Star break.
SNAPPED
Tim Duncan scored 23 points and Francisco Elson added 12 points and a career-high 18 rebounds as the San Antonio Spurs beat Detroit 90-81 Wednesday night, snapping the Pistons' seven-game winning streak. ... The Bobcats snapped a four-game losing streak with a 100-85 win over the Bulls.
GOOD COMPANY
Dwight Howard capped the last game before his first All-Star appearance with 20 points and 16 rebounds on 8-of-12 shooting in Orlando's 103-91 win Wednesday over the Portland Trail Blazers. It gave him an 81 percent field goal mark over the last five games, 10th best in NBA history behind nine Wilt Chamberlain performances and one stretch from Bob Hanson.
STRONG IN DEFEAT
Larry Hughes scored 33 points in Cleveland's 99-98 loss to Utah on Wednesday night. ... Milwaukee's Mo Williams scored 31 points in a 117-97 loss to Boston. ... Steve Blake had a career-high 18 assists for Denver in a 99-94 loss to Minnesota. ... Andre Iguodala had 14 points and 13 assists in a Philadelphia's 92-85 loss to Washington. ... Cuttino Mobley had a season-high 31 points for the Clippers in a 96-93 loss to the Hawks.
ON THE GLASS
Emeka Okafor had 21 rebounds with 15 points in Charlotte's 100-85 win over Chicago on Wednesday night.
SPEAKING
''We've got nothing to celebrate. We should feel good about it. But don't run off the court like we won the championship.'' - Al Jefferson, after Boston ended its franchise-record losing streak at 18 games by beating the Milwaukee Bucks 117-97 on Wednesday night.
Collison, Mata expected to return
Wed, Feb 14, 2007
By Associated Press
LOS ANGELES -- Injuries to point guard Darren Collison and center Lorenzo Mata proved costly in UCLA's weekend loss at West Virginia. Now, the fifth-ranked Bruins are waiting to see if their starters will be in the lineup for this week's road trip to Arizona.
The Bruins (21-3, 10-2) head to the desert with a half-game lead over Washington State (10-3) in the Pac-10 race. They play Thursday at Arizona State, winless in 13 conference games, and Saturday at No. 24 Arizona (8-5).
"We're in crunch time now," UCLA coach Ben Howland said.
Collison said his left shoulder was feeling better Tuesday, when he spent 20 minutes shooting but had no contact in practice.
"I can't really extend my left arm all the way, but they said I shot the ball pretty well," he said. "I'm not going to be 100 percent Thursday, but if I'm near 100 percent, then I'm going to feel comfortable playing."
Howland said Collison's status would be decided before tip-off Thursday.
Collison injured his shoulder in the second half of last Wednesday's 70-65 victory over Southern California. He believes it happened when he ran into the basket support after getting fouled.
"It's a lot better than it was last week," he said, explaining the pain was so bad after the USC game that he couldn't use his left hand.
Collison didn't play in UCLA's 70-65 loss at West Virginia last Saturday, giving freshman Russell Westbrook his first start. It was a rocky one, with a rattled Westbrook turning the ball over and missing shots in front of the loud road crowd.
"Without Darren, we are in a little bit of chaos," leading scorer Arron Afflalo said.
If Collison can't go Thursday, Westbrook likely would replace him again.
"I have faith in Russell if he does get that opportunity, he's going to be successful," Collison said. "I told him to keep his head up. It was a team thing. We all played bad."
Mata sat out the second half Saturday because of a sore left hip.
"I feel much better," he said. "I feel confident I'll be ready."
Arizona State would seem to be an easy game for the Bruins, who won 60-50 at Pauley Pavilion last month. But they fell behind by 11 points to start the game against the Sun Devils' zone.
The Sun Devils (6-18) had a pair of four-point losses to Oregon and Oregon State last week. Before that, they lost to Washington State by one and by five to Washington.
"They have nothing to lose," Collison said. "ASU is still a good team. They brought everyone down to the wire."
The game will reunite Collison and his high school teammate Jeff Pendergraph, the Pac-10's second-leading rebounder who is shooting 55 percent from the floor.
"I spoke with Jeff and he was asking how I was feeling," Collison said. "You look forward to the game a lot more than other games."
It also pairs brothers Josh Shipp of UCLA and Jerren Shipp of ASU. In their other meeting, Josh finished with 12 points and Jerren eight.
"This game has me very nervous," Howland said.