The Oklahoma City Thunder have gotten a couple of much-needed days off
following one of the most hectic opening schedules in the league. They won’t get
any more rest this weekend.

They’ll play three games in three days beginning with a home-and-home series
against the Houston Rockets that starts Friday night at Chesapeake Energy Arena.

Oklahoma City was one of two teams along with the Los Angeles Lakers to play
seven games in the first 10 days of the season, and the Thunder (5-2) appeared
to show signs of fatigue toward the end of that stretch.

They dropped back-to-back games following their first 5-0 start since
winning six in a row to open the 1998-99 season when they were the Seattle
SuperSonics.

Oklahoma City averaged 90.0 points and shot 41.9 percent over its two
defeats after averaging 102.0 points on 48.0 percent shooting during the
unbeaten start. The Thunder are 10 for 39 (25.6 percent) from 3-point range in
two games this month after leading the Western Conference in December at 41.7
percent.

They haven’t played since Tuesday, when Kevin Durant was 1 of 7 on 3-point
tries and missed 18 of 26 shots overall in a 103-93 loss to Portland. While
Durant had 19 points for his second-lowest total of the season, James Harden
scored a team-best 23 starting for an ill Thabo Sefolosha.

“We definitely miss (Sefolosha), but there are no excuses,” coach Scott
Brooks said. “We have enough in our locker room to get the job done. … We just
have to play better. We understand that sometimes it takes a tough loss.”

The two-day break could lead to an improved performance Friday, as could a
matchup with a Rockets team which is winless in four road games. Oklahoma City
has won four of five over Houston (2-4), including three straight at home by
double digits.

The teams meet again Saturday night at the Toyota Center before the Thunder
host San Antonio on Sunday.

“Three in a row is going to be tough, but it’s something we’ve got to fight
through,” Durant said. “The two days off before is going to help.”

Durant reached 30 points in each of the first four games but hasn’t done so
in the last three, averaging 19.3. He’s scored at least 30 in the last two
matchups with the Rockets.

“I’m a scorer, so I can’t get down on one game,” the two-time scoring
champion said. “I can’t let it snowball to the next.”

Houston, meanwhile, is trying to salvage the end of a three-game trip that
included its most lopsided defeat of the season, 117-89 to the Los Angeles
Clippers on Wednesday.

The Rockets gave up 41 points in the first quarter – the most allowed by any
team in one period this season – and scored 14 in the fourth, their fewest in
one period.

“We made mistakes offensively and defensively,” said guard Kyle Lowry, who
scored a team-high 17 points. “It’s just something we’ve got to figure out. We
can’t have nights like this. It was a terrible day for us.”

Lowry was one of six players in double figures during Houston’s lone win
over Oklahoma City last season, 99-98 on Nov. 28, 2010. Kevin Martin had a
team-best 23 points and has averaged 23.3 over his last 15 matchups with the
Thunder.

Martin has averaged 12.8 points in Houston’s four road losses, compared to
26.0 in its two home wins.

By Eric Stephen

– Managing Editor

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Jan 2, 2012 – The Los Angeles Lakers look to rebound from Sunday’s loss as they welcome the Houston Rockets to Staples Center on Tuesday night. The Lakers have split their first six games of the season, which were played in a span of eight days, including a weekend split against the Denver Nuggets with each team winning at home.

Kobe Bryant made just six of 28 shots in Sunday’s 99-90 road loss to the Nuggets, and has made just 12 of 46 field goals (26.1%) in the last two games. Bryant also had six turnovers on Sunday night and missed seven of his eight three-point attempts. Per the great Basketball-Reference, no Laker in the last 27 years has shot so many times and made so few as Kobe did on Sunday night, the only Laker to miss more than 20 shots in a game during that span.

The game was so bad it prompted C.A. Clark at Silver Screen and Roll to label Kobe’s effort “the culmination of every negative Kobe Bryant stereotype you’ve ever heard. It was one of the most actively selfish games you will ever see in the game of basketball, in part because if most any other player tried to get away with what Kobe did tonight, the coach would pull said player in a heartbeat.”

Andrew Bynum has been strong in his return to the Lakers after missing the first four games via suspension. After grabbing 29 points, 13 rebounds, and two blocks in Saturday’s home win over Denver, Bynum followed it up the next night with 18 points, 16 rebounds, and one block. He has made 20 of his 30 field goal attempts in his two games.

The Lakers won their season series against the Rockets last season, and have won the season series against Houston in each of the last three years. The Lakers have beaten the Rockets in eight of their last 10 meetings. Kevin Martin leads the Rockets in scoring so far this season, averaging 19.3 points per contest. Perhaps Martin can pose for a photo with teammate Luis Scola (15.5 points, 5.8 rebounds per game) and Pau Gasol in a Chris Paul trade ‘what if’ stance.

The Rockets (2-2) have played just four games to date, winning both of their home games and losing both of their road contests. They have been off for two days after beating the previously unbeaten Atlanta Hawks at home on Saturday.

Tuesday’s 7:30 p.m. PST game will be televised by Fox Sports West. For more Lakers basketball news and information, be sure to read Silver Screen and Roll.

Read More: Kevin Martin (G – HOU), Pau Gasol (C – LAL), Andrew Bynum (C – LAL), Kobe Bryant (G – LAL), Luis Scola (F – HOU), Houston Rockets, Los Angeles Lakers, Houston Rockets at Los Angeles Lakers, Jan 3, 2012 7:30 PM PST

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The Los Angeles Lakers will host the Houston Rockets January 3 in the Staples Center after a much-needed day of rest. The Lakers split their series with the Denver Nuggets and now they will see a Houston team that is tough to figure out.

Andrew Bynum is never afraid of contact under the bucket.
Photo By Bridget Samuels Wikimedia Commons

The Rockets have a 2-2 record and their games have ranged from a 20-point win over the aging San Antonio Spurs to a 20-point shellacking at the hands of the Memphis Grizzlies. This early in the season it is difficult to measure any NBA teams as they play back-to-back games and struggle to learn new offenses and new faces.

The teams with the advantages are teams with little or no personnel changes and teams that have not switched coaches since last season. The Lakers are dealing with both situations and it shows on nights when they play back-to-back like they did with the Nuggets over the New Years holiday.

The Lakers age showed in their game with Denver and the altitude did not help the veteran team. A rested Andrew Bynum contributed in his first two games of the NBA season and he capped off the home and home with Denver by hauling down 16 rebounds and taking the pressure off Pau Gasol down low.

Gasol scored 20 points in the Lakers 99-90 loss to Denver but it shows that the Lakers have a tough time winning when Kobe Bryant gets marginalized by an aggressive defense. Bryant scored 16 points against Denver and this Lakers team must pitch in when Kobe has an off night.

Bryant will be tough to contain against the Rockets with a day of a rest under his belt. Bryant went 1-8 from three-point range and shot a miserable 6-28 overall from the field against the Nuggets in the altitude at Denver but that is already a memory and Bryant will be back in the comfort of Staples Center for his game against the Rockets.

Metta World Peace has been hard to get a handle on early in the season. He went without a point in the first game against the Nuggets and then went 1-4 from three-point territory in the second game while scoring 10 points.

The Lakers three losses early in the season are a concern but there are still 60 games left on the schedule and the Lakers have a deeper team than last year. New free agent acquisitions like Troy Murphy and Josh McRoberts got the Lakers front office laughed at in the off-season but they are making their presence known in the early games.

McRoberts, nicknamed the “White Shadow” by Lakers head coach Mike Brown, is a nice addition off the bench and he has contributed as a change of pace component coming into the game at key times. The season is just beginning and the Lakers nation needs to relax and enjoy watching this team develop into a contender. Starting the season with 10 consecutive wins is nice but this year will be a fun year as the team builds for the post season.

*Todd Jacobs is a native Southern Californian and longtime Los Angeles Lakers fan since the early ’70s.

Sources:

ESPN Clubhouse: Los Angeles Lakers news and stats.

Note: This article was written by a Yahoo! contributor. Sign up here to start publishing your own sports content.

By Keith Cordero Jr

– College Sports Writer

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Dec 24, 2011 – The Houston Rockets have been busy this off-season. Despite missing on acquiring Lakers forward Pau Gasol in the original Chris Paul to the Lakers trade, the Rockets remained patient and came to an agreement with nine-year NBA veteran C Samuel Dalembert. The Rockets have big plans for the upcoming season and some new faces in Houston with Rick Adelman, Chuck Hayes and Yao Ming no longer in town.

Dalembert, 30, a former first round draft pick in 2001 by the 76ers spent his first eight seasons in Philadelphia and last season with the Sacramento Kings. At 6’11″ Dalembert provides first year Rockets Head Coach Kevin McHale with a solid force in the middle of the paint and a veteran presence for the youth that is Jordan Hill and Marcus Morris.

Dalembert for his career is averaging 8.1 points per game to go along with 8.3 rebounds and 1.9 blocks per game and has started 537 of 662 games in which he has played.

In a very deep Western Conference with talented big men (Gasol, Zach Randolph, Dirk Nowitzki, Andrew Bynum, LaMarcus Aldridge, Al Jefferson) the Dalembert add makes a ton of sense. Rockets fans should be happy with this move. Dalembert should start alongside projected starters Kyle Lowry, Kevin Martin, Luis Scola and Chase Budinger.

Read More: Al Jefferson (C – UTA), Samuel Dalembert (C – SAC), Kevin Martin (G – HOU), Chris Paul (G – LAC), Dirk Nowitzki (F – DAL), Kyle Lowry (G – HOU), Pau Gasol (F – LAL), Yao Ming (C – WEST), Chuck Hayes (C – SAC), LaMarcus Aldridge (F – POR), Andrew Bynum (C – LAL), Luis Scola (F – HOU), Jordan Hill (F – HOU), Chase Budinger (F – HOU), Rick Adelman (H – HOU), Marcus Morris (F – HOU), Houston Rockets, Philadelphia 76ers, Sacramento Kings, Los Angeles Lakers

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The Houston Rockets extended a contract for the services of Memphis Grizzlies Center Marc Gasol.  The $55 Million Dollar 4 year deal is the most the Rockets can offer Gasol, as he is a restricted free agent.  Being a restricted free agent means that the Grizzlies have the option to match any offer received by Gasol and he has to stay if they do.  Grizzlies owner Michael Heisley told NBA.com on Sunday that his team would match the offer.

The Houston Rockets originally had arranged for a multi-team trade for Gasol’s older brother Pau but the move had been vetoed by the NBA. No stranger to trade talk involving the Gasol Family, the Los Angeles Lakers had previosuly traded their rights to Marc Gasol in order to secure the trade for the older Pau Gasol.  This is the first time in NBA history that one brother was traded for another.

Marc Gasol stands at 7’1 and has had an amazing run in his two seasons in the NBA.  He broke the Memphis Grizzlies franchise rookie record of the highest field goal percentage at the end of the season by shooting 53%. The previous record was held by his older brother Pau, who shot 51.8% from the field his rookie season.He will be an unrestricted free agent at the end of this season.

Do you agree with the decision to tender Marc Gasol a contract by the Houston Rockets?

HOUSTON – NBA sources confirm the Houston Rockets are once again trying to land Los Angeles Lakers center Pau Gasol.

He would come to Houston as part of the three-team deal the Rockets have been attempting  to engineer with the Lakers and New Orleans Hornets.

The initial deal had Houston sending forward Luis Scola and guards Kevin Martin and Goran Dragic to New Olreans, with the Hornets sending guard Chris Paul to L.A.

The original deal that was killed by the NBA, also had the Lakers sending forward Lamar Odom to New Orleans, who would also get a 2012 first-round pick via the New York Knicks from the Rockets.

If the trade is to go through additional players may be added to gain the approval of the NBA.

Scola, Martin and Dragic were not allowed to practice with the Rockets on Saturday while the three teams waited for the NBA to approve the deal.

“I faced the media yesterday,” Scola said while laughing during his interview with FOX 26 Sports. “I told them everything I know.

“The same answers apply for today, nothing has changed. I don’t know what’s happening.”

Scola did work out on Saturday, but not with the team.

“I was not allowed to practice,” Scola said. “I was allowed to work out by myself earlier. I did work out. I wait until the last moment to see if I’m finally cleared to practice and they said no.
So I took a shower and I left. There’s nothing more I can say because I really don’t know.”

Scola said he just wants to get on the floor and play basketball and if possible, with the Rockets.

“I just want to play, at this point I just want to play,” Scola said. “I told you yesterday how much I would like to be here in Houston.

“You, me and everybody knows how that is not up to me. At this point since I can’t control where I’m going to play, all I want is to play.”

Scola said it is not easy being patient through this process.

“I’ve been waiting five months to play and finally when the day comes they don’t let me practice,” Scola said. “At this point I just want to play and hopefully it’s in Houston.

“I’m just sorry I can’t tell you more, because I don’t have any more. This will go through the night and tomorrow I wil go to Toyota Center.”

And Scola may be able to return to practice with the team of his choice-the Houston Rockets.

ESPN reported late Saturday night the Lakers have ended their efforts to acquire Chris Paul, which would also put an end to the three-team trade involving the Rockets and Hornets.
 

The New Orleans Hornets are scheduled to face the Houston Rockets in an NBA preseason game on Oct. 26 at 7:30 p.m. at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum in Biloxi.

The Hornets announced their eight-game preseason schedule on Thursday.

Unless the NBA ends its lockout in the next two months, the exhibition season will be cancelled.

NBA players are locked out while the league seeks a new collective bargaining agreement.

The Coast Coliseum ticket office said that ticket sales will be announced at a later date.

The Hornets open the preseason on the road with three straight games: the San Antonio Spurs (Oct. 9), the Cleveland Cavaliers (Oct. 15) and the Oklahoma City Thunder in Wichita, Kan. (Oct. 17).

The Hornets will host the Orlando Magic on Oct. 18 at the New Orleans Arena.

The Hornets will also have two straight road games against Atlanta (Oct. 20) and Miami (Oct. 24).

New Orleans will close the preseason against the NBA champion Dallas Mavericks on Oct. 28 at 8:30 p.m. at the New Orleans Arena. ESPN will televise the contest.

The regular season is to begin with a home game against the Chicago Bulls on Nov. 2.

The Hornets went 47-35 last season and lost to the Los Angeles Lakers in the playoffs.

The Rockets hired Kevin McHale as their new coach on June 1. McHale has replaced Rick Adelman.

The lockout is giving one of the Rockets’ players, Chase Budinger, a chance to pursue his other favorite sport. He will play in the Corona Light beach volleyball tournament in California this weekend.

Yao Ming is likely to make it official on Wednesday, announcing what is expected to be his retirement from the NBA and a sport that made him a household name in China.

The 7-foot-6 center for the Houston Rockets played eight seasons in the NBA, but has missed 250 regular-season games over the past six years.

His career, including frequent appearances for the Chinese national team at Olympics and world championships, has included leg and foot injuries.

On Wednesday, a large reception hall at a hotel in the Pudong section of Shanghai — Yao’s hometown — has been booked for what will likely be the country’s media event of the year.

Hundreds of media have been accredited to attend the restricted event and are expected to arrive hours early to go through security checks. It is expected to be broadcast live in China and in many countries around the world.

Reports have been circulating for nearly two weeks that the 30-year-old star would retire, but the Rockets have not commented due to the NBA lockout and his management refused to confirm the reports. The NBA said it has not received official retirement paperwork from Yao.

Yao’s contract expired after last season, and the Rockets said they were interested in re-signing him if he came back healthy. Yao said in April in China that his professional future depended on his recovery from a stress fracture in his left ankle.

Selected to the NBA All-Star team eight times after being the top overall pick in the 2002 draft, Yao averaged 19 points and 9.2 rebounds. More importantly, his impact expanded the NBA’s influence in Asia into lucrative merchandise sales and TV ratings.

Yao had played six years with the Chinese national team before joining the Rockets, and was already a star in his home country.

He carried the Olympic torch through Tiananmen Square and his country’s flag during the opening ceremonies at the Beijing Olympics in 2008.

He also donated $2 million and set up a foundation to rebuild schools in the wake of the 2008 earthquake in Sichuan.

After his rookie season, Yao helped the Rockets reach the playoffs in the next two seasons.

Yao played in 77 games in the 2008-09 season, when Houston reach the second round of the playoffs for the first time since 1997.

But Yao broke his left foot in a postseason game against the Los Angeles Lakers, and underwent complex surgery that sidelined him for the entire 2009-10 season. He lasted only five games at the start of the 2010-11 season, before breaking his left ankle. He underwent surgery in January, and was lost again for the season.

Oklahoma City Thunder star forward Kevin Durant was on a promotional tour in China earlier this month when he was asked about Yao’s impact on the game.

“Tough, man, tough to see a great player and a great competitor like Yao Ming leave the game after being injured a few years,” Durant said during a stop in the city of Tianjin, east of Beijing.

“He comes in, he works everyday. He sets such a good example for the players coming into the league.”

———

AP Sports Writer Chris Duncan in Houston contributed to this report.

HOUSTON – Los Angeles Lakers assistant Chuck Person interviewed with Houston Rockets coach Kevin McHale and General Manager Daryl Morey Monday in Houston.

Person becomes the third known candidate to interview with the Rockets as the team builds McHale’s staff.

When reached by FOX 26 Sports in Houston, Person declined comment.

The Rockets have also met with Denver Nuggets assistant Melvin Hunt and Memphis Grizzlies assistant David Joerger.

Person, who just completed his first season with Lakers, has also worked as an assistant for the Indiana Pacers, Sacramento Kings and Cleveland Cavaliers.

Person played 13 years in the NBA and was named Rookie of the Year in 1987.

Read More: Houston Rockets

Chuck Person was rather en vogue as a head coaching candidate this offseason, but as positions are filled, he’s apparently changing his focus to assistant coaching jobs.

Person served on the Los Angeles Lakers staff this past season and has previously spent time coaching the Cleveland Cavaliers, Indiana Pacers and Sacrament following his NBA career, but his next stop could be as an assistant with the Houston Rockets on new coach Kevin McHale’s staff.

Person interviewed with the Rockets on Monday, according to ESPN’s Dave McMenamin, after previously interviewing for the Golden State Warriors head coaching job as well as with Mike Brown to continue in his position as a Lakers assistant.

Other possible candidates for McHale’s staff have included Dave Joerger of the Memphis Grizzlies, Denver Nuggets assistant Melvin Hunt and Chris Finch of the Rockets’ D-League team.

There’s no hurry in filling out McHale’s staff, but it would be nice to clear it up sooner rather than later so that these names aren’t picked up by other teams once they fill their head coaching positions.

The Los Angeles Lakers have narrowed their coaching search to former Cleveland Cavaliers head coach Mike Brown and former Houston Rockets coach Rick Adelman, according to sources, with current Lakers assistant Brian Shaw, the preferred choice of most of the team’s current players, still in the mix. But the Lakers’ insistence on holding firm to a lower salary for their next head coach has kept the search open.

The Lakers want to significantly reduce the salary they pay their next head coach after paying Phil Jackson $10 million in his final season and $12.5 million the previous season. The Los Angeles Times reported Monday that the Lakers were not willing to go above $5 million in salary next season. While Brown is not expecting to make $7 million a year as Doc Rivers will be getting from Boston starting next season (Rivers signed a five-year, $35 million deal last week), the next tier of coaches, led by New York’s Mike D’Antoni (four years, $24 million), don’t have Jackson or Rivers’ pedigree, while Brown has a 2007 Finals appearance and two Eastern Conference finals appearances to his credit.

But the Lakers are adamant about maintaining their salary ceiling, and seem to be looking for the candidate that will accept those terms as opposed to picking a candidate and negotiating a deal with him.

Yahoo! Sports reported Tuesday evening that the Lakers were in serious negotiations with Brown, who has spent this year working in television with ESPN after being fired as coach of the Cavaliers after Cleveland’s second-round loss to Boston in the 2010 playoffs.

Lakers owner Jerry Buss had said earlier in the day in a radio interview on XM Sirius Radio that the team was “very close” to hiring a new coach, and seemed to dismiss the notion that the team would hire Shaw because several players, including Kobe Bryant and Derek Fisher, had endorsed his candidacy.

“Obviously, we have to select somebody who has a reputation that players would be happy with,” Buss said in the interview, on Playboy Radio, with local broadcaster Michael Eaves and Lakers executive Bonnie-Jill Laflin. “But to ask a direct player to select a particular coach, that’s general manager territory.”

Brown, 41, was 272-138 in five seasons in Cleveland, reaching the second round of the playoffs each season. But after the Cavaliers’ six-game loss to Boston in which the Cavs played poorly in the last two games, Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert decided to fire Brown. That decision helped lead to former team president Danny Ferry’s departure from the club as well, and James, famously, followed both out the door in July.

Adelman, 64, moved into eighth place on the NBA’s all-time coaching victories list this season, finishing the year with 945 wins, one better than Bill Fitch and seven ahead of Red Auerbach. In 20 seasons as a head coach, Adelman is 945-616 (.605), with only four losing seasons. His teams have made the postseason 16 times, and he’s reached the Finals twice, both times with Portland (1990 and 1992). This season may have been one of his best coaching jobs; Houston had hoped to have Yao Ming back this season after he’d missed all of the 2009-10 season with a stress fracture in his left ankle, but Yao only played five games before suffering another stress fracture in the left ankle that shelved him the rest of the year.

But Adelman remade the Rockets on the fly, turning them from a team that was planning to pound the ball inside to one that got its scoring from the perimeter with guards Kevin Martin and Kyle Lowry. Houston didn’t make the playoffs, but was one of the hottest teams in the league down the stretch, going 17-8 after the All-Star break. Nonetheless, the Rockets made next to no attempt to re-sign him and the club announced after the season it and Adelman had mutually agreed to part ways.

Shaw has been a Lakers assistant for five years, gaining the respect of players as someone who can speak candidly to players and challenge them. He played with the team from 1999 to 2003, helping the team win three straight NBA titles. He has said that he would maintain the triangle offense that Jackson used both in Los Angeles and Chicago, though he would tweak it some. Buss said that he expected the team to play some triangle next season but also expected some changes in the offense.

The Lakers have moved away from veteran coaches Jeff Van Gundy and Mike Dunleavy, the ex-Clippers coach and general manager who led the Lakers to the 1991 Finals.