Nick Borges 9y

First Cup: Tuesday

  • Jason Lloyd of the Akron Beacon-Journal: This his must be what LeBron James meant when I asked him before the Raptors game what was ailing the defense. His answer, essentially, was “nothing.” James said he felt more comfortable with the defense than he did a few weeks earlier. Sure enough, in the last two or three games, there have been plenty of positive signs. “It was consistent,” coach David Blatt said of his defense. “We maintained.” Blatt’s goal is to limit opponents to 22 points or less in every quarter. The Cavs accomplished that Monday for the first time this season. James either scored or assisted on the Cavs’ first 17 points, which is ridiculously good. James has taken some flack the last couple days for his play and lack of leadership, but he responded tonight. “I’m always my biggest critic,” James said. “I wasn’t happy with my play over the last week, but I can always figure it out.”

  • John Gonzalez of CSN Philly: The Sixers have agreed in principle to a deal that will bring Turkish forward/center Furkan Aldemir to the NBA this season, league sources confirmed to CSNPhilly.com on Monday. Aldemir’s intention to leave his Turkish team, Galatasaray, was first reported by Sportando. ... FIBA and the NBA have rules in place that prevent one league from poaching players under contract from the other league. Aldemir declared his desire to play in the NBA on his Facebook page after the Sportando story indicated that Galatasary had failed to pay him for the last five months. It was on those grounds that Aldemir believed he was allowed to terminate his contract and negotiate with the Sixers. One league source said it’s “highly likely” that FIBA and the NBA will reach the same conclusion and that Aldemir will officially sign with the Sixers. The deal is expected to be finalized within the next few days, though it could take as long as a week. The Sixers secured Aldemir’s rights in a 2013 deal with the Rockets that briefly brought Royce White to the organization.

  • Candace Buckner of The Indianapolis Star: A positive sign strolled through the Indiana Pacers' locker room Saturday night. More than just a sign, it was David West – his shirt soaked in sweat, fresh from a pregame workout, and his right ankle free from visible medical tape. Though West has missed all 13 games this season while recovering from an ankle sprain that has not completely healed, he declared "it's getting close." However, after this encouraging moment, it only took about six minutes into the matchup against the Phoenix Suns for things to turn ominous once again. Another ankle sprain, another starter on the court cringing then gingerly walking straight to the locker room, another threat of a man down to this already battered Pacers rotation. In the 106-83 loss to the Suns, starting center Roy Hibbert left the game after twisting his left ankle. Though the initial prognosis stated that he would later return to the game, Hibbert only remained on the bench in his warm-ups, watching as the Suns blew away his teammates. Hibbert will miss Monday night's game against Dallas, while Rodney Stuckey, who hurt his wrist in the game, is probable to face the Mavericks. In addition, C.J. Miles, who has missed time this season, is questionable with a sore right calf. If Hibbert's sprain turns out to be anywhere near the extent to his teammate's ankle injury – West has been out 36 days and counting – then the team defense could be in a world of pain.

  • Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times: Tom Thibodeau is tired of an asterisk in his pregame starting lineup. The Bulls coach seemed fed up with talk of hamstring strains and ankle sprains, discussions on burst and anything else medical-related these days. He still has high hopes that star guard Derrick Rose will “take off’’ at some point and that it will happen sooner than later. A 97-95 victory against the Utah Jazz at the Energy Solutions Arena on Monday was a good start. Playing in his first game since Nov. 13, Rose had 18 points and five assists in 24 minutes 37 seconds of action. He went 5-for-10 from the field, including 3-for-5 on three-pointers. “Oh I don’t know, Jesus," Thibodeau said, when asked if Rose looked fatigued. “Gotta get out there and play, you know. I thought he did a lot of good things. You can see he’s not real comfortable with the ball yet, but that will come. When Derrick strings some games together, he’s going to take off. He’s gotta go. That’s the bottom line, he’s gotta go." In other words, it’s time. “To me, it’s been time,” Rose said.

  • Michael Grange of Sportsnet.ca: Lou Williams stood just past half court dribbling patiently, letting the clock tick down to the end of the first quarter before getting into attack mode, crowd at the Air Canada Centre knowingly gathering in a long, low, “Louuuu.” He faked. He hesitated. He shot and he missed — a rarity these days — but Jonas Valancuinas was there to clean up the garbage and the Raptors got the bucket anyway. Everything is going the Raptors way. On Monday the best team in the Eastern Conference tipped off against on of the hottest teams in the West — the Phoenix Suns came to Toronto having won five straight — and the Raptors did the usual, winning 104-100. They did it on the strength of a dominant third quarter when they held the Suns to 8-of-21 from the floor as the Raptors threatened to blow the game open and a fourth quarter only a survivalist could love.

  • Ben Bolch of the Los Angeles Times: The Clippers watched the initial aftermath of a St. Louis County grand jury's decision not to indict a white police officer in the fatal shooting of an unarmed black teenager on a television in their locker room. Forward Blake Griffin seemed moved watching footage of the racially charged situation in Ferguson, Mo., pausing several times during his postgame interview to collect his thoughts. "I don't think it's my position to say, 'This is messed up or this is wrong,'" Griffin said of the grand jury's decision. "But I think about the people who have been affected by it and supporting everybody who was hurt." The Clippers endured a racially motivated controversy last spring when then-owner Donald Sterling made disparaging remarks about blacks and was forced to sell the team.

  • Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle: With starters Dwight Howard, Pat Beverley and Terrence Jones out, the Rockets used their seventh lineup in 14 games. They have not had every starter available since the second game of the season or the same starting lineup of any kind in more than two consecutive games. "Like coach (Kevin McHale) said a long time ago and keeps on telling us all the time, we have to fight with the players we have right now," forward Donatas Motiejunas said. "It's basketball. Injuries happen all the time. Everyone has to be ready. I don't think we're thinking, 'What's going on?' Everybody has to concentrate a little more because guys are out."

  • Scott Fowler of The Charlotte Observer: Jeff Taylor really messed up a couple of months ago in Michigan. He drank heavily. He shoved a woman. He punched a hole in a hotel wall. He was belligerent and uncooperative when the cops showed up. The Charlotte Hornet reserve forward admitted to all those mistakes Monday, delivering an apology that sounded both remorseful and real. "I own what I did," Taylor said in an eight-minute news conference in which he answered questions about the Sept.25 incident for the first time. "I take full responsibility for it. ... Silver alluded to that last week in his statement about the case announcing the suspension, referencing "the evolving social consensus -- with which we fully concur -- that professional sports leagues like the NBA must respond to such incidents in a more rigorous way." This was rigorous, all right. But Taylor put himself in the situation to begin with -- don't forget that. And at least on Monday, he didn't make a mess of things for a second time."

  • Brian Lewis of the New York Post: NBA Commissioner Adam Silver went out of his way to call out the Nets’ spending as unhealthy for the league in a recent interview with GQ. The magazine interviewed Silver on a wide array of topics, from marijuana use in the league to raising the draft-age limit. But when asked for one change he would make in the NBA, he pointed toward Brooklyn’s wanton spending. “I would have a harder salary cap,” Silver said. “I still think it’s unhealthy for the league when a team like Brooklyn goes out and pays an exorbitant luxury tax in order to give themselves a better chance to win. “From a league-office standpoint, the ideal league would be for all thirty teams to compete based on the skill of their management and players, as opposed to one team paying more to get better talent. So creating a more even system would be at the top of my list. And I’ll give you one more: I think it would benefit the league to raise the minimum age from 19 to 20." This is hardly the first time Silver has talked of his desire for a hard cap, and it’s a talking point that surely will crop up when the league and the Players Association try to negotiate a new labor deal in 2016. But it was noteworthy he called out the Nets completely unprompted — even if the team’s union rep Deron Williams pled no comment.

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