Friday's games review - Feb 4, 2012 (by Eurobasket News )
Denver N. - LA Lakers 89-93
Andrew Bynum (7'0''-C-87, agency: David Lee services) scored 22 points, Kobe Bryant (6'6''-G-78) added 20 and the Los Angeles Lakers opened a season-high six-game trip with a 93-89 victory over the weary Denver Nuggets on Friday night. Al Harrington missed a 3-point attempt with 2 seconds left that would have put Denver ahead [read more]
Denver N. - LA Lakers 89-93 Andrew Bynum (7'0''-C-87, agency: David Lee services) scored 22 points, Kobe Bryant (6'6''-G-78) added 20 and the Los Angeles Lakers opened a season-high six-game trip with a 93-89 victory over the weary Denver Nuggets on Friday night. Al Harrington missed a 3-point attempt with 2 seconds left that would have put Denver ahead. Pau Gasol added 14 points and 17 rebounds for the Lakers, who won for the third time in 10 road games this season and prevailed in Denver for only the second time in their last seven trips to the Pepsi Center. The Lakers took control after Nuggets center Timofey Mozgov rolled his left ankle while scoring a bucket early in the second half. He was helped to the locker room by Chris Andersen and Julyan Stone without putting any pressure on his left foot and didn't return. The Nuggets said X-rays were negative. Two minutes later, Denver's leading scorer, Danilo Gallinari, was accidentally poked in his left eye by Metta World Peace and retreated to the locker room for a few minutes to replace his contact while the Lakers put the finishing touches on a 10-2 run. Gallinari was held to six points on 1-of-9 shooting and watched from the bench for the final 6 minutes as the Nuggets turned to their deep and balanced bench. Harrington, who led Denver with 24 points, hit back-to-back 3-pointers that got them to 84-83 with 4 minutes remaining. It stayed tight until the final minute, and Nene's slam with 28 seconds left cut the Lakers' lead to 91-89. Bynum missed a dunk with 11 seconds left, and after the officials reviewed the tape, they overturned their initial ruling that the ball went off a Nuggets player and out of bounds. As Andre Miller was about to inbound the ball, the Nuggets called a full timeout. Miller then got the ball in to Ly Lawson, who passed to Harrington, whose long-range attempt was off the mark. Matt Barnes was fouled on the rebound and sank two free throws with two-tenths of a second left. Usually, it's the Lakers who are wearied after flying into Denver on the red-eye after playing the night before in L.A., and the Nuggets who are well-rested. Not this time. The Lakers were hunkered down in snowy Denver Thursday night while the Nuggets were beating the Clippers by 21 points at the Staples Center and then flying back to Denver, which was getting hit by a storm that dumped more than a foot on snow on the Mile High City. It showed as the Lakers negated the Nuggets' superior speed by getting back on defense often enough to keep the game from turning into a track meet. Behind Bynum's 15 first-half points, the Lakers took a 44-41 lead into the locker room after stifling both Denver's fast-break and Gallinari, who averages 17.5 points but scored just two in the first half, on free throws in the final minute. It was noted before the game that Nuggets coach George Karl finally had a roster with enough big men to match up to the Lakers' size, but he said he wanted nothing to do with a matchup like that. 'This team goes to the post as much as anybody in basketball. I don't want to try to beat them power vs. power, I want to go speed. I want pace vs. power,' Karl said. 'We're always going to try to outrun them.' The Nuggets took their first lead, at 47-46, on Gallinari's 3-pointer with 10:34 left in the third quarter, and a half-minute later Mozgov went up for a bucket that made it 49-46 and immediately hit the floor in excruciating pain as the Pepsi Center got quiet. He was replaced by Harrington. When Gallinari went out, he was replaced by forward Corey Brewer, and Bryant capitalized with six quick points until Gallinari returned to the floor. The Lakers used a 10-2 spurt to take control at 56-51 and they never trailed again. The game finally turned up-tempo late in the third quarter, but the Nuggets didn't ever regain the lead. *Courtesy of www.miamiherald.com
New Jersey N. - Minnesota T. 105-108 The Minnesota Timberwolves almost never won away from home last season. Now, they don't seem eager to go back there. Luke Ridnour (6'2''-PG-81, college: Oregon) made the tiebreaking three-pointer with 1:23 left, Nikola Pekovic (6'11''-C-86, agency: Beo Basket) scored a career-high 27 points, and the Timberwolves beat the New Jersey Nets 108-105 on Friday night to surpass last season's road victory total. The Timberwolves overcame a career-high 42 points from Anthony Morrow, whose eight three-pointers in 11 attempts were the most in the NBA this season. Kevin Love added 20 points and 10 rebounds for Minnesota, which improved to 6-4 on the road and 11-12 overall. The Wolves, just 5-36 on the road last season, have won three in a row away from home. So, how about more road games? 'I wish,' Love said. 'If it was that way we'd be over the doomed .500 mark that we can't seem to get over. I really don't even want to talk about it because it's kind of been our Achilles' heel.' Rookie Ricky Rubio finished with 10 points, 10 assists and six steals for the Wolves in his point guard matchup with Deron Williams. Williams had 12 points and 14 assists, but shot just 5 of 18 and had two costly turnovers in the final half-minute. Rubio came up with a steal with 1:35 left, leading to Ridnour's three-pointer that made it 102-99. The Wolves got the ball back after replays showed a ball went off Williams out of bounds with 29 seconds remaining, and Ridnour made two free throws for a five-point lead. But Morrow, who missed the last game with a sprained left ankle, converted a four-point play to make it 104-103 with 22 seconds left. Jose Barea and Ridnour each made a pair from the line around Kris Humphries' dunk to keep the lead at three, and the Nets lost their final chance when Williams fumbled the ball trying to throw a pass, with Rubio eventually coming up with it and lofting it downcourt as time ran out. 'Anthony was open, too,' Williams said. 'It was an unfortunate turnover. Last two of the game are on me. I told the team it was my fault.' Minnesota is just 5-8 at home, where it plays Saturday against Houston. But the Wolves seem comfortable on the road. Rubio is quickly making fans around the league, particularly in large markets, and one fan held a Puerto Rico flag behind the basket when Barea made his first appearance Friday. Coach Rick Adelman agreed that maybe the Wolves should play more on the road. 'It seems like that's where we win,' he said. 'But I think it just gives you a lot of experience and different guys really stepped up. Pek was terrific. Just really terrific. I thought Ricky was really good tonight.' Humphries had 16 points and nine rebounds. Pekovic, in his second year from Montenegro, made 11 of 14 shots. He replaced an ineffective Darko Milicic to start the second half and dominated inside while also grabbing 11 rebounds. His layup erased the Nets' last lead and tied it 99-99 with 1:55 left. 'Pekovic played unbelievable,' Rubio said. 'He's a tough guy. He's really tough I can tell you. He saved me a couple of times. I was all over with the ball and he was right there to finish the basket. He's a smart guy. 'He knows how to play. He did an unbelievable job. Maybe he was the key of the game today.' The Wolves led 23-19 after one, then used a 13-1 run early in the second to open a 36-22 lead on Michael Beasley's follow with 8:15 remaining in the half. Morrow then hit a three-pointer and suddenly the Nets were rolling, tearing off a 23-5 spurt that gave them a 45-41 edge. Morrow hit his fourth three of the period with 1:33 to go, and the Nets led 50-49 at the break. 'It's just me being in aggressive,' Morrow said. 'It's something that I'm continuing to build on.' The Wolves trailed by one early in the third before Wes Johnson slammed down Rubio's lob pass, then hit a three-pointer for a 63-59 lead. Love hit two free throws, Rubio made a nifty move that had the crowd gasping to set up Johnson for a three-point play, and Pekovic hit two free throws to cap a 12-0 burst and make it 70-59 with 5:17 left in the period. The Nets cut it to 80-75 after three. *Courtesy of www.brandonsun.com
Houston R. - Phoenix Suns 99-81 Kevin Martin (6'7''-G/F-83, college: W.Carolina) scored 16 points, Kyle Lowry (6'0''-PG-86, college: Villanova) had eight rebounds and nine assists and the Houston Rockets beat the Phoenix Suns 99-81 on Friday night. Chase Budinger added 12 points and 10 rebounds for the Rockets, who got another strong effort from their reserves to beat the Suns for only the second time in the last nine meetings. Courtney Lee and Patrick Patterson also scored 12 points apiece off the bench for Houston. Marcin Gortat had 15 points and 12 rebounds and Shannon Brown scored 12 for the Suns, who've lost five of their last seven. Houston had a 49-39 rebounding edge and held Steve Nash to six points and nine assists. *Courtesy of www.sfgate.com
Boston C. - New York K. 91-89 Paul Pierce (6'7''-F/G-77, college: Kansas) scored 30 points and Ray Allen (6'5''-G-75, college: Connecticut) had nine of his 14 in the final quarter to lift the Boston Celtics to a 91-89 win over the struggling New York Knicks on Friday night. Kevin Garnett finished with 15 points and eight boards for the Celtics, who won for the seventh time in eight games. Carmelo Anthony scored 26, Tyson Chandler had 20 with 11 rebounds and Amare Stoudemire had 16 with 11 rebounds for the Knicks. New York lost for the 11th time in 13 games. Garnett grabbed his 10,000th career defensive rebound early in the second quarter, becoming the third player in NBA history to reach that mark. He's behind former Celtic Robert Parish (10,117) and Karl Malone (11,406). Boston point guard Rajon Rondo returned after missing the previous eight games with a right wrist injury, but was ineffective, scoring just seven points and getting seven assists. After Iman Shumpert's jumper from the right corner closed the score to 85-83, Allen nailed a 3 from the right wing. Following a put-back by Chandler, Allen caught the ball in the right corner, drove the baseline and hit a left-hander that rolled in, giving the Celtics a 90-85 lead with just under 2 minutes left. But the Knicks battled back, closing the gap to one after an alley-oop layup by Chandler and a steal and breakaway layup by Landry Field's with 1:26 left. Following a miss by Pierce, Anthony missed a drive, but the ball went out of bounds off Brandon Bass' hands, giving New York another chance. But the Knicks turned it over. Pierce had what appeared to be an off-balance 3-pointer with 14.4 seconds left as the shot clock expired. But the officials overruled it following a reply review. Fields missed a 3 from the left corner with 6 seconds left and Pierce grabbed the rebound and was fouled. He hit the first, but missed the second. Steve Novak airballed a desperation 3 and Garnett batted the ball down the floor as time expired. Boston, which trailed since late in the opening quarter, tied it at 77 on Chris Wilcox's two free throws with 7:13 to play. The teams traded baskets and remained tied until Allen nailed a 3 from the right side with 4:24 to play. It was his first basket of the second half. New York had a six-point halftime lead and increased it to 67-55 on Anthony's off-balance jumper midway into the third quarter. Both teams then played sloppily, turning the ball over numerous times and missing jumpers as the Knicks maintained at least a nine-point edge until late in the quarter. Boston scored the final seven points of the third, cutting it to 72-69 after three when Wilcox had a put-back of Pierce's miss at the buzzer. The Knicks led 28-27 after one quarter and scored 13 of the initial 18 in the second to pull ahead 41-32 on Fields' 3 from the wing. They opened a double digit lead (48-37) on Jared Jeffries' 3-point play with 2:36 left in the quarter en route to a 55-49 halftime edge. Pierce's long-range shooting kept Boston close in the opening half. He had 15 points, going 3 for 6 on 3s. Garnett had 13, going 6 of 7 from the floor, hitting a rare 3 from the left wing. It was only his second attempt this season and he's made both. With the crowd a little extra excited with the Patriots playing in the Super Bowl on Sunday, it appeared to help get the teams energized early, with both teams appearing to play tough defense from the start. *Courtesy of www.sfgate.com
Dallas M. - Indiana P. 87-98 Paul George (6'9''-G/F-90, agency: Priority Sports, college: Fresno St.) hit seven 3-pointers and finished with a career-high 30 points, and the Indiana Pacers won in Dallas for the first time in eight years, beating the Mavericks 98-87 Friday night. The Pacers took the lead for good with seven consecutive points in the first 2 minutes of the second half. George made a go-ahead running layup then had a steal that he turned into a dunk and a free throw. Indiana got its 10th road win this season, matching Chicago for the most in the NBA. The Pacers had lost 11 of their previous 12 away games against the Mavs, the only win in that stretch coming in 2004. Dirk Nowitzki (7'0''-F-78) scored a season-high 30 points for Dallas on 12-of-17 shooting. It was a big boost for last year's NBA finals MVP, who was playing only his fourth game after a planned four-game hiatus to strengthen his sore right knee. David West added 20 points for the Pacers, while Danny Granger had 16 and Darren Collison 13. Roy Hibbert, the other Indiana starter, had nine points and 14 rebounds. Vince Carter had 14 points for Dallas, which has lost consecutive games at home for the first time since losing the first two games of the season back in December. Dallas had a 53-52 halftime lead before Indiana's quick second-half surge. George had the quick layup, then a steal after a bad pass by Nowitzki. The Mavericks had two more turnovers before Collison's 21-foot jumper made it 59-53 and Dallas coach Rick Carlisle called timeout. The Pacers stretched the lead to 69-59 on a 3-pointer by George. That ended a quick segment when Hibbert missed inside, West got the rebound and pushed the ball outside to one wing before it went to George on the right side. George's seven 3s were one off the Indiana franchise record held by Reggie Miller and set in 1997. Nowtizki had 20 points by halftime, when he was already 9-of-11 shooting. Things were going so good for Nowitzki that with about 2 1/2 minutes left in the game, he was falling away from the basket and flung a ball up while being fouled. He added the free throw, but the Mavs still trailed by 11 at that point. In the previous three games since coming back, Nowitzki had scored only 28 total points while shooting 28 percent (11 of 39). The Pacers got off to a fast start, making their first eight shots and taking a 25-17 lead on Granger's 3-pointer less than 6 minutes into the game. They finished at 43 percent (37 of 87) Nowitzki was 5 for 5 at that point and didn't take another shot in the first quarter. Indiana made only two more baskets the rest of the quarter, allowing Dallas to pull to 29-28. *Courtesy of www.ktvn.com
Philadelph.76 - Miami Heat 79-99 Dwyane Wade (6'4''-G-82, college: Marquette) scored 26 points, and LeBron James (6'8''-F-84) had 19 points and 12 rebounds to lift the Miami Heat to a 99-79 win over the Philadelphia 76ers on Friday night. Mario Chalmers scored 13 points and Chris Bosh had 12 to help the Heat go on a dominant late run that put away the pesky Sixers. The Heat used a 15-0 spurt in the fourth quarter to turn a tight one for 36 minutes into a comfortable victory and hand the Sixers just their third home loss of the season. Thaddeus Young scored 16 points for the Sixers, who snapped a four-game winning streak. Wade used a pair of ferocious dunks during the game-changing run that pushed the Sixers' first sellout crowd of the season toward the exits. The Sixers opened the week with wins against Orlando and Chicago. The Heat squashed the home-week sweep. *Courtesy of www.chron.com
Orlando M. - Cleveland C. 102-94 Dwight Howard (6'11''-C-85) scored 19 points, had 16 rebounds and blocked eight shots as the Orlando Magic outlasted the Cleveland Cavaliers 102-94 on Friday night. Jason Richardson (6'6''-G-81, college: Michigan St.) also added 19 points in his first action in two games after resting a sore knee. Hedo Turkoglu added 18 points and Ryan Anderson chipped in 17. The Magic won their seventh straight over the Cavaliers, despite playing without injured starting point guard Jameer Nelson and suspended reserve big man Glen Davis. Orlando continues a stretch of nine games in 13 days Saturday at Indiana. Alonzo Gee led Cleveland with 20 points, followed by Kyrie Irving with 18. The Cavs have now lost three of their last four. Cleveland returns home to host Dallas on Saturday and head to Miami Tuesday. The Magic, who came in averaging 15.5 turnovers per game, had just five against the Cavs and opened up a 21-point lead in the fourth quarter. The Cavs got it down to 95-90 with 2:12 to play using the 'Hack-a-Howard' strategy - fouling Howard intentionally and sending him to the free-throw line. Howard missed four straight attempts from the line during one stretch before sinking a pair to give the Magic a seven-point cushion and help close it out. Orlando coach Stan Van Gundy had to make some pregame adjustments to his rotation after Davis was suspended for two games prior to tip-off Friday for conduct detrimental to the team. He'll also miss the Indiana game. Van Gundy acknowledged before the game that he and Davis were involved in a verbal incident during the morning walkthrough, but said nothing physical took place. He didn't elaborate further, though added he said he didn't expect the suspension to go beyond two games. Nelson continues to deal with concussion symptoms. Without a true third point guard behind Chris Duhon, the team released Larry Hughes following Wednesday's win over Washington and signed free agent Ish Smith Thursday. Smith had two early assists, including one on a dunk by Earl Clark, but also had three fouls in just five minutes of action early. He finished with four assists in nine minutes of action. Despite the missing bodies, the Magic managed to take a nine-point advantage into the break, building their cushion hitting six first-half 3s. Richardson also hit five of his six attempts from the field for 11 points. Cleveland also helped out, connecting on only 29 percent of its field goals (14 for 48). Jamison kept the Cavs close with an 11-point, 10 rebound effort in the half. *Courtesy of www.ktvn.com
Detroit P. - Milwaukee B. 88-80 Rookie Brandon Knight (6'3''-G-91, college: Kentucky) scored a season-high 26 points, holding his own against Milwaukee's Brandon Jennings (6'0''-PG-89) and helping the Detroit Pistons snap a seven-game losing streak with an 88-80 victory over the Bucks on Friday night. Knight, who was outscored 21-0 by Jennings in a loss at Milwaukee on Monday, helped the Pistons build a 15-point lead in the third quarter. Milwaukee went on an 11-0 run spanning the end of the third and beginning of the fourth, and Detroit led by only four with 2:54 remaining. Knight responded with a floater, followed moments later by a driving shot off the glass, and the Pistons held on. Jennings scored 20 points, but only seven after the first quarter. Greg Monroe added 19 points and 11 rebounds, and Tayshaun Prince had 13 points for the Pistons. Shaun Livingston was the only other Milwaukee player in double figures with 14 points. The Bucks had won three straight, including a come-from-behind victory over Miami on Wednesday. The Pistons led by as many as nine in the first quarter, but Jennings made all five of his shots in the period and it was 26-all after one. Jennings finished 7 of 19, and the Bucks shot only 35 percent as a team. Milwaukee trailed 51-41 at halftime and never seemed to click offensively after scoring at least 100 points in each of its previous five games. With Detroit up 58-52, Jennings tried a behind-the-back pass on a 2-on-1 break to Beno Udrih. The play resulted in a turnover, and the Pistons slowly increased their lead. Knight made a nice bounce pass in transition to Rodney Stuckey for a layup and a 64-53 advantage. Jonas Jerebko made it 70-55 with a dunk. Milwaukee trailed 72-68 in the fourth, but Monroe scored inside to halt the Bucks' run. That wasn't the last time the Bucks cut the deficit to four. It was 80-76 and 82-78 late in the fourth, but Knight answered both times with a basket. In their previous five games, the Pistons had allowed opponents to shoot 46 of 89 from 3-point range. Milwaukee was only 3 of 17 on Friday - after making 10 in each of its previous two games. The Bucks also had only 10 assists - after six straight games with at least 20. *Courtesy of www.wisn.com
Oklah.City T. - Memphis G. 101-94 Kevin Durant (6'9''-G/F-88, college: Texas) scored 36 points and hit the tiebreaking 3-pointer in the final minute to lift the Oklahoma City Thunder to a 101-94 victory against the Memphis Grizzlies on Friday night in a rematch of their epic Western Conference playoff series. Durant scored the final seven points of the game after Memphis had pulled even at 94 on Mike Conley's 3-pointer from the right side with 1:12 remaining. Durant pulled up in front of Rudy Gay to answer with a 3 from the right wing and added a jumper from the foul line to push the lead to five. He closed it out by grabbing the rebound on O.J. Mayo's 3-point attempt and hitting two free throws after getting fouled. James Harden scored 10 of his 24 points during Oklahoma City's fourth-quarter rally. Marc Gasol led Memphis with 24 points and Gay scored 23. That duo and Durant all played the entire second half in a thrilling renewal of the Western semifinals won by Oklahoma City last year in seven games. That series included a triple-overtime classic and another game that went to one overtime. The Thunder won twice in Memphis this season by a total of eight points, but it was the Grizzlies that were in control most of the way in this one. Harden engineered a comeback from a 10-point deficit late in the third quarter. He hit two 3-pointers and drove for two layups during a 15-4 burst to start the fourth quarter for the Thunder. His drive set up Nick Collison for the go-ahead free throw, and Daequan Cook followed with a jumper from the right side for an 84-81 lead. The Grizzlies had an answer and were able to claw back and tie it - only for Durant to deliver the knockout punch. Russell Westbrook added 21 points and seven assists for the NBA-leading Thunder, who are the only team other than Chicago to score at least 100 points on Memphis this season. Oklahoma City has done it twice and the Bulls once. It was the only stop at home for the Thunder during a 19-day span featuring eight out of nine on the road. Tony Allen had 17 points and O.J. Mayo scored 13 for the Grizzlies, who are also in the midst of playing nine of 12 away from home. After the Thunder had trimmed an 11-point deficit down to one, Memphis pulled away again with a 10-2 run that started when Gay tipped in Dante Cunningham's miss. Cunningham sneaked up from behind Durant for a steal in the backcourt to set up Gay's 3-pointer during the run, and Conley followed with a jumper to make it 66-57 with 5:13 left in the third. Gasol's two free throws in the final minute of the third quarter briefly bumped the lead up to 10 before Harden ignited Oklahoma City's comeback. Memphis used a couple of bizarre steals to fuel a 9-0 run late in the first quarter. Conley came up with a pass that went through Serge Ibaka's legs and it ended up leading to Gay's two-handed putback dunk on a fast break. On the next trip, Ibaka stepped in the way of a Westbrook pass. Cunningham grabbed the loose ball and fed Mayo for a right-handed transition dunk to make it 23-17 Memphis. The Grizzlies let Oklahoma City score the next six points to tie it, then put together a 15-4 run bridging the first quarter break that featured nine points by Mayo. Allen's fast-break layup, which came after Harden flopped on a 3-pointer without drawing a foul, pushed the Memphis edge to 38-27 with 8:29 left before halftime. Harden hit a pair of 3-pointers during an 8-0 comeback for the Thunder, and Oklahoma City got within two points three separate times before settling for a 50-44 deficit at halftime. *Courtesy of www.utsandiego.com
Toronto R. - Washington W. 106-89 Leandrinho Barbosa (6'3''-PG-82) shook off flulike symptoms to score 19 points, Amir Johnson (6'9''-F/C-87) had 18 points and 13 rebounds, and the Toronto Raptors beat the Washington Wizards 106-89 on Friday night. Linas Kleiza added 15 points and Jose Calderon had a season-high 17 assists for the Raptors, who bounced back from consecutive blowout losses to Atlanta and Boston and improved to 2-9 without leading scorer Andrea Bargnani, who is out with a strained left calf. James Johnson scored 13 points and DeMar DeRozan had 11 as Toronto topped 100 points for just the third time this season, exceeding the 80.2 they'd been averaging without Bargnani. The Raptors scored 104 points Dec. 26 in an opening night win at Cleveland, and had 111 in a double-overtime win at Utah on Jan. 25. Barbosa missed Friday's shootaround with flulike symptoms but showed no ill effects against the Wizards. He scored nine points in the second quarter and had six more in the third. Nick Young scored 21 points and John Wall had 15 as the Wizards lost their third straight and fourth of five. Trevor Booker scored 13 points and Jordan Crawford had 11. Washington dropped to 1-10 away from home this season and has won just four times in 52 road games since the start of last season. The Raptors were ahead 80-69 heading into the fourth and pulled away from there, leading by as many as 22. Toronto, which led by 10 at the break, matched a season high with 55 first-half points. Wizards veteran Rashard Lewis scored eight points, leaving him six shy of 15,000 for his career. When he reaches the mark, Lewis will join Paul Pierce and Jason Kidd as the only players to score at least 15,000 points, grab 5,000 rebounds and make 1,500 3-pointers. *Courtesy of www.miamiherald.com
Clippers sign Kenyon Martin to one-year deal - Feb 4, 2012 (by Eurobasket News )
The first call Martin Kenyon (6'9''-F-77, college: Cincinnati) received came from former Denver Nuggets teammate Chauncey Billups, telling the 6-foot-9 power forward that the Los Angeles Clippers would be a nice fit. Then Clippers All-Star Chris Paul called Martin, reiterating that the Clippers would love to have his services [read more]
The first call Martin Kenyon (6'9''-F-77, college: Cincinnati) received came from former Denver Nuggets teammate Chauncey Billups, telling the 6-foot-9 power forward that the Los Angeles Clippers would be a nice fit. Then Clippers All-Star Chris Paul called Martin, reiterating that the Clippers would love to have his services.
This all came around the same time Clippers Coach Vinny Del Negro and vice president of basketball operations Neil Olshey had met with Martin to express the teams interest.
Martin apparently was sold, because on Friday he signed a one-year, mini mid-level contract for $2.5 million to play for the Clippers.
Del Negro said Martin will provide the Clippers with quality depth in the frontcourt off the bench to help out All-Star power forward Blake Griffin, center DeAndre Jordan and Reggie Evans.
Del Negro said the plan was for Martin to join the team in Orlando by Sunday or Monday.
Del Negro said he didnt think Martin would play in a game with the Clippers for a few days. When he does, Del Negro said, Martin will be the third big man on the team.
'Hes a pro and I think hes going to fit in perfect for us,' Del Negro said on the teams plane Friday before the Clippers flew to Washington to start a six-game trip that begins against the Wizards on Saturday.
'Ive talked to him a lot and kind of explained everything and hes very comfortable with the situation. Now weve just got to get him in here and figure things out as we go forward.'
Martin averaged 8.6 points and 6.2 rebounds with the Nuggets last season in 48 games, but he averaged 13.5 points and 7.2 rebounds over his 11-year NBA career in New Jersey and Denver.
Martin recently played for the Xinjiang Tigers in China before he left the team in December. He had been required to wait until their season was over before he could join any NBA team. But he was cleared to return to the NBA on Thursday by FIBA, the international basketball federation.
The Clippers won Martins services over the Miami Heat, San Antonio Spurs, New York Knicks and Atlanta Hawks.
It helped that Martin has a home in Los Angeles, that the Clippers were willing to provide him with the playing time that he sought and that Billups and Paul sold him on the Clippers.
'Kenyon gives us another dimension,' Del Negro said. 'He gives us some more depth up front, which we needed.'
Glen Davis suspended for two games by the Orlando Magic - Feb 4, 2012 (by Eurobasket News )
The Orlando Magic have suspended power forward Glen Davis (6'9''-F-86, college: LSU) for tonights game against the Cleveland Cavaliers and Saturdays game against the Indiana Pacers because of what team officials are labeling conduct detrimental to the team.
Davis had an outburst during the teams shootaround this morning at Amway Center as the team went through some of the Cavaliers plays on the teams practice court.
Davis and coach Stan Van Gundy ultimately got into an argument [read more]
The Orlando Magic have suspended power forward Glen Davis (6'9''-F-86, college: LSU) for tonights game against the Cleveland Cavaliers and Saturdays game against the Indiana Pacers because of what team officials are labeling conduct detrimental to the team.
Davis had an outburst during the teams shootaround this morning at Amway Center as the team went through some of the Cavaliers plays on the teams practice court.
Davis and coach Stan Van Gundy ultimately got into an argument.
Van Gundy would not discuss many of the details of what happened, but Van Gundy and a witness said the disagreement never turned physical.
I like Glen, Van Gundy told reporters before tipoff. I think Glens heart is in the right place. I think he wants to help this team. I think he wants to play well. I like Glen as a person. I believe in the reasons that we brought him here. I think hes capable of doing all those things.
That said, Davis has developed a reputation within the Magic organization as an intensely emotional player.
In December, the Magic and Davis agreed to a four-year deal worth about $26 million, and the Magic acquired Davis and swingman Von Wafer in a sign-and-trade deal with the Boston Celtics for power forward Brandon Bass.
Davis play so far this season has been up and down. At times, he has provided the bone-crunching screens, the hustle plays and the rebounding the team coveted when it acquired him. But at other times, Davis has migrated too far from the basket and attempted jumpers that are out of his range.
Two fans who attended the Magics game against the Portland Trail Blazers in Portland on Jan. 11 alleged that Davis had a profane argument with one of them during pregame warm-ups after another fan said something behind Davis back.
Those fans and Davis said the confrontation never turned physical, and Davis subsequently said he never used profanity.
On Jan. 18, Davis received a technical foul in a game against the San Antonio Spurs after he complained to a referee over a foul call and pulled down his shorts, revealing Spandex underwear.
Davis serves as Orlando's backup center, and with him serving a two-game suspension, rarely used rookies Daniel Orton and Justin Harper could play larger roles than usual.
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