Stephen Curry has moved past Chris Paul in the All-Star voting in the latest voting returns, from Ben Golliver of SI: “Warriors guard Stephen Curry has moved past Clippers guard Chris Paul in the third round of 2014 All-Star fan voting returns, released Thursday by the NBA. If the results hold, Curry will claim a starting spot for the Western Conference team, supplanting Paul, who has started every year since 2009, with the exception of 2010, when he was injured. Curry, who has yet to make an All-Star Game during his five-year career, has garnered 677,372 votes, topping Paul’s tally of 651,073 by more than 26,000 votes. Paul had led Curry by roughly 51,000 votes in the second round of voting but recently sustained a separated shoulder that is expected to sideline him for six weeks. Lakers guard Kobe Bryant remains the leading vote-getter among Western Conference backcourt players with 844,538 votes, even though he is currently sidelined with a knee injury that puts his availability for the Feb. 16 game in New Orleans into question.”
Deron Williams will miss the next two games and will be re-evaluated over the weekend on his of-injured ankle, from Matt Ehalt of ESPN: ” Brooklyn Nets point guard Deron Williams (ankle) will miss the team’s next two games against Miami and Toronto, and is questionable for the contest against Atlanta in London on Jan. 16, according to coach Jason Kidd. Kidd added that Williams will be re-evaluated this weekend before a determination is made about if Williams will travel with the team to London. Williams has missed the last two games since spraining his left ankle, and his absence Friday against Miami and Saturday versus Toronto will mark the 14th and 15th games he misses. The 29-year-old has sprained his ankle three times this year, although it’s unknown when he suffered his latest setback. The first sprain cost him two games, while the second one forced him out for nine.”
- Slowly but surely, Blake Griffin’s shot has steadily improved this season. Here are some thoughts from J.A. Adande of ESPN: “Griffin was disappointed in some aspects of the game himself. Such is his evolution that he could make 11 free throws and still consider it an off-night at the line for him. It’s because the Celtics made him take 17 attempts and he missed six of them, a percentage of .647 in a season in which he’s shot 70 percent on free throws, including 78 percent since Dec. 14. Some people are slow to acknowledge that progression. You see plenty of that talk on Twitter, too, that Griffin still can’t shoot — even though he made a 21-footer for his second basket and drilled a fallaway jumper near the Celtics bench for his final field goal. In between came that throwdown over a cowering Humphries (whom Griffin dismissed with a shove for good measure).”
After struggling for much of the season and looking like a player that should soon retire, Kevin Garnett is starting to find his rhythm and being his expressive self again, from Devin Kharpertian of The Brooklyn Game: “Kevin Garnett, fresh off his best fourth quarter of the season, was screaming with joyful passion in the back area, hidden from view. It wasn’t exactly clear what he was saying, but it was clear who was saying it: Garnett yelled forcefully for minutes on end, with few breaks, at anyone who happened to be passing by… Garnett finished the game 5-7 from the field, mostly on his patented midrange jumper. “I work on my craft every day, so I expect it to be a certain way,” Garnett said of his jumper. “When I go to dial her up, I want her to pick the phone up. Tonight I dialed, and she was right there, answering like you’re supposed to.” “Offensively and defensively he’s been off the charts,” head coach Jason Kidd said of his 37-year-old starting center. “Defensively, he has been incredible for us since that Oklahoma game. He looks like he’s 25, and tonight, offensively, he looked like he was 21.”
Mo Williams will become an unrestricted free agent in the summer, but hopes to remain with the Portland Trail Blazers, according to Chris Haynes of CSNNW: “Portland Trail Blazers guard Mo Williams tells CSNNW.com he will opt out of his deal with the team at the conclusion of the season and become an unrestricted free agent this summer. Williams, 31, signed a two-year, $5.6 million deal with Portland last offseason and it contains a player option for the 2014-15 season that would have paid him $2.7 million. The veteran guard, who head coach Terry Stotts considers the best backup point guard in the league, says this decision was always the plan and adds that his main objective is to secure a lengthened contract with the Trail Blazers. “I would like to be here long term,” Williams revealed to CSNNW.com. “My goal is to work something out with Portland this summer. I like it here and I want to make this place home.”
Mark Jackson shared how he felt about the coaching situation in Brooklyn, from NY Daily News: ““To me, I think too much was made of it. I think it’s clownish,” Jackson said Wednesday before his Warriors, riding a 10-game winning streak, faced the Nets at the Barclays Center. “There’s no difference of opinions with my staff and I. They give suggestions. Some I go with. Some I don’t. But at the end of the day it’s my decision and we are united in whichever way we decide to go. If you have a problem with that, you should not be my assistant coach. That’s the way I feel about it. “I’m not saying that happened here but wherever it happens, it shouldn’t take place. So just disappointed in the way it was handled and how much credit is given to a head coach and how much fault is given. It’s a no-lose situation if I get credit when we win. But when we lose, Jason can’t coach a lick. He’s a Hall of Fame basketball player. He’s an All-time great. He’s going to be a heck of a basketball coach.”… “I cannot speak about Jason Kidd and Lawrence Frank because I do not know it,” said Jackson, who said he still speaks with Kidd. “But everybody has to know who is in charge, and that’s the head coach. He’s the guy calling the shots. I’ve never seen any of the Pips trying to lead. That’s Gladys’ role. Let Gladys be Gladys.”
James Park is the chief blogger of Sheridan Hoops. You can find him on twitter @SheridanBlog.
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