Hoops News Blog

Prize rookie Kyrie Irving scored a season-high 26 points and Antawn Jamison matched his season high with 23, helping the Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Phoenix Suns 101-90 on Thursday night. Irving, who played only 11 games at Duke before being drafted first overall, topped his previous high of 21. Anderson Varejeo contributed 15 rebounds for [...]

Just 10 games into his NBA career, Jon Leuer found himself in the starting lineup for the Milwaukee Bucks. The rookie from the University of Wisconsin helped the Bucks take an early lead and then turned it over to veteran guards Brandon Jennings and Stephen Jackson as the Bucks held off the Detroit Pistons 102-93 [...]

Before the Atlanta Hawks took the court, Joe Johnson whispered a message to teammates Josh Smith and Jeff Teague. “We have to take ownership,” Johnson said, “at both ends of the court.” Clearly, they were listening. Smith scored 30 points, Johnson added 23 and Teague chipped in with 16, leading the Hawks to a 111-81 [...]

Rudy Gay scored a season-high 26 points and the Memphis Grizzlies beat New York 94-83 on Thursday night to end the Knicks’ winning streak at four games. The Knicks played most of the second half without scoring leader Carmelo Anthony after he sprained his right ankle early in the third period. He didn’t return and [...]

Josh Smith scored 30 points, Joe Johnson added 23 and the Atlanta Hawks won their first game without All-Star center Al Horford, routing the Charlotte Bobcats 111-81 on Thursday night. The Hawks learned earlier in the day that Horford, a leader on and off the court, will miss at least three months after tearing the [...]

New York forward Carmelo Anthony left the Knicks’ game against Memphis on Thursday night after spraining his right ankle early in the second half. Knicks officials said Anthony wouldn’t return and that X-rays were negative. Anthony, the Knicks’ leading scorer at 26.6 points a game, injured the ankle on New York’s end of the floor [...]

Atlanta Hawks All-Star center Al Horford will miss at least three months with a shoulder injury, a major blow to a playoff contender in the Eastern Conference. The team announced Thursday that Horford tore his left pectoral muscle in the first quarter of Wednesday night’s game at Indiana. The injury will likely require surgery, stunning [...]

Former Trail Blazers guard Patty Mills says he’d like to return to the NBA when the Chinese league that holds his rights releases him. Mills, who is from Australia, was cut by the Xinjiang Flying Tigers of the Chinese Basketball Association earlier this month because of a hamstring injury. The dismissal was controversial because the [...]

Golden State Warriors center Kwame Brown is expected to miss at least three months because of a chest injury. The Warriors announced Thursday that an MRI determined that Brown has torn his pectoralis major, the large chest muscle that attaches to his right shoulder. He will have surgery in the next few days.

The Minnesota Timberwolves will be without forward Michael Beasley and guard J.J. Barea this weekend when they travel to New Orleans and Atlanta. Beasley has not played since Jan. 6 because of a sprained right foot. Barea missed four games this season with a strained left hamstring and now is out with a sprained left [...]