The Indiana Pacers are doing about as well as expected, with 6 wins and 10 losses. They’ve played without Mike Dunleavy, who is normally their second best player and would at worst be third best this season depending on how much you like point guard T.J. Ford. But they have one problem that has been the case for a while now. The Indianapolis Star (Mike Wells) reports:

The biggest issue I have with the Pacers offense is the same one I had during the summer - they don’t have anybody to score for them in the post. Starters Troy Murphy and Rasho Nesterovic are perimeter big men. The Pacers tend to settle for jump shots too often when the game gets tight. Roy Hibbert may be their best low-post scoring threat. That should tell you something because he’s raw offensively.

Marquis Daniels, playing only one minute less per game this season than Danny Granger, has stepped up, shooting 46.0% for 16.1 points, 6.3 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game. Assuming Dunleavy’s knee eventually heals enough for him to play, Daniels will lose many of those minutes. But still, he should be proud of his performances so far this season.

At the end of the third quarter in Philadelphia, Chicago Bulls rookie point guard Derrick Rose unleashed a crossover on 76ers point guard Andre Miller that was so nasty I was forced to replay it 15, maybe 20 times.

Despite playing way off Rose, giving himself tons of time to react, Miller was owned so badly he actually fell down. And it wasn’t a fluke fall. He got crossed, badly. Tape up those ankles.

With the 76ers up 55-50 and the quarter about to end, Rose had the ball up top in three-point range, jab-stepped a few times to test Miller’s reaction, drove right using his right hand, then at the free throw line shifted to his left and went right down the middle of the paint. Miller got crossed so badly he toppled to the floor.

Rose got right to the rim and put up a short finger-roll. A goaltending call was made on Samuel Dalembert, who swatted it a bit too late, so Rose got credit for the bucket.

See the video clip and fan discussion, and post comments of your own.

–Jeff

The Utah Jazz have 11 wins and 7 losses this season, which is pretty good considering they’ve had more injuries than a hospital. The Deseret News (Loren Jorgensen) writes:

The fact remains that the Jazz have been bitten hard by the injury bug this season. Consider that last year Jazz players missed a grand total of 45 games due to injury or personal reasons through the entire 82-game regular. Through Friday night’s home win over the Sacramento Kings, however, Jazz players had missed 52 games due to injury or personal reasons already. And that’s in only 17 games. Deron Williams, Utah’s unquestioned floor leader, missed 13 games with a sprained left ankle. His return this week has seemed to energize the entire club even though the Jazz are still missing Carlos Boozer, one of the few NBA players who can average 20-plus points and 10-plus boards.

The Jazz remain a lower-level championship contender. Meaning, a title is possible, but it would be a bit surprising if they managed to pull it off. But again, they’ve been hurt. A bunch of top West teams aren’t playing so great this season. Once Utah is healthy, they could wind up being the second or third best team in the entire West, and better than almost anyone in the East other than the Celtics.

Players often claim they have no grudge against their former teams, but Al Harrington, now with the Knicks, was pretty vocal while with the Warriors stating that things weren’t working out with him and coach Don Nelson in Golden State.

On Saturday, when the Knicks hosted the Warriors, Harrington went off for a huge game. Here’s the Contra Costa Times (Marcus Tompson II) reporting:

Warriors forward Al Harrington said he had this date marked the moment he got traded to the New York Knicks. His controversial clashing with coach Don Nelson led to his eventual departure from the Warriors, who traded him for guard Jamal Crawford on Nov. 21. But he couldn’t completely move on with the reunion date looming so close. Saturday, it happened, and Harrington showed up. “I dreamed up 60, 30 rebounds, 15 assists,” Harrington said with a smile. He wasn’t that far off. Harrington had 36 points and 12 rebounds in 39 minutes as his Knicks took down his former Warriors 138-125 at Madison Square Garden. Harrington played like the versatile weapon he always claimed to be. He knocked down 5-of-7 from 3-point range, grabbed four offensive rebounds and had a handful of dunks. He was playing up to the crowd and chest-bumping with his teammates.

It should be noted, however, that I (InsideHoops.com editor Jeff Lenchiner) put up 23 points, 8 rebounds and 12 assists against the Warriors that same game. And I’m not even on the Knicks. That’s how bad the Warriors defense was. Still, good game by Harrington, who could start to fit very nicely in the Mike D’Antoni small-ball scheme of things in New York.

The Salt Lake Tribune (Steve Luhm) reports: Among the 30 NBA arenas, Energy Solutions is the the ninth-oldest.    Of the eight arenas that are older, three have been renovated in recent years and one - Amway Arena in Orlando - will be vacated in 2010-11 when the Magic move into a new $480 million home.    There is some good news for the Jazz and their fans, however. According to team president Randy Rigby, EnergySolutions Arena has not outlived its usefulness.    “We are in an older building, there’s no question about that,” Rigby said. “But the positive thing is, we have the structure and design in place that gives us a lot of opportunities to make modifications and extend the life of this building - easily - for another 15 years. . . . It can be a very viable and productive building for a long time.”

The Los Angeles Daily News (Ramona Shelburne) reports: Clippers center Chris Kaman sat out Saturday’s game and could miss all of next week with a strained left arch. A team spokesman said it was unlikely Kaman would travel with the team on its upcoming three-game road trip. Kaman had a cortisone shot to help relieve the pain after Wednesday’s game against the Nuggets, but said he’s only experienced “minimal relief.” “Right now I’m feeling pretty sore so I don’t know what’s going to happen,” he said. “Hopefully it’ll calm down next week and I can get back out there.”

The St. Paul Pioneer Press (Phil Miller) reports: Mike Miller’s 19-foot jumper to beat the Thunder on Friday was a feel-good moment for the first-year Timberwolf and his victory-starved team. But the 16 shots Miller took before that game-winner might have been even more significant. Miller hit eight of 17 shots in Oklahoma, and was noticeably more willing to assert himself at the offensive end. Along with a 10-for-19 night against the Spurs three weeks ago, it was just the second time since coming to Minnesota on a draft-night trade that Miller resembled the perimeter gunner he had been in Memphis. “He got into a nice rhythm and took some good shots,” said forward Craig Smith. “He can make them.” He can if he takes them, but that’s been the catch for Miller in Minnesota. The 6-foot-8 swingman is a career 46 percent shooter, and 40 percent from three-point range. But Miller has tried to work his way into the Wolves’ offense slowly this year, and has passed up shots he didn’t hesitate to try in his previous nine NBA seasons.

The San Antonio Spurs announced today that they have assigned guard Blake Ahearn to the Austin Toros, the NBA Development League team owned and operated by the Spurs.

Ahearn has appeared in three games for the Spurs and averaged 2.7 points in 6.3 minutes. He was signed by San Antonio on 11/16.

Ahearn was the first player called up from the NBA Development League in the 2008-09 season. He was in Minnesota’s 2008 training camp where he averaged 7.8 points and 1.2 assists in five games. After being waived by the Timberwolves he joined the Dakota Wizards. Ahearn was in camp with the Wizards prior to signing with the Spurs.

Celtics assistant coach Clifford Ray was a star NBA center. He’s also a hero to dolphins everywhere. The Boston Herald (Mark Murphy) reports:

One of the most famous stories concerning Ray involved his role in saving the life of a dolphin from Marine World in 1978. The mammal had ingested a stainless steel screw, and Ray, because of his long reach, was brought in by doctors, who greased his arm so he could reach down the dolphin’s gullet and remove the screw. At another point, before he finally caught on as a big man coach following a long and oft-frustrating search for work within the sport, Ray worked on oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico.

Dolphins are awesome. Clifford Ray is pretty cool, too.

Remember Houston Rockets guard Luther Head? Of course you do. Though, you’ve barely seen him this season, because Head has barely played. But he did big things Saturday. The Houston Chronicle (Jonathan Feigen) reports:

Luther Head, who had played in just five games this season, started in McGrady’s place and then drove the Rockets to a stunning 103-84 rout of the San Antonio Spurs on Saturday night at Toyota Center. Head, who had not played since Nov. 15, made seven of 11 shots in scoring 21 points, two more than he had in the season’s first 16 games combined. “You have to sit down and think and keep yourself ready, keep yourself motivated,” Head said of sitting out so many games. “It’s tough, but if that’s what I have to do, it’s what I have to do.” Head started against San Antonio last season and was told he was starting Saturday about 30 minutes before the game. “You get pumped,” he said of his reaction to that news. “It’s, ‘OK, I’m going to get to play tonight. I’m going to get a certain amount of minutes because I’m starting.’ “

This season, Head is only averaging 3.8 points and 1.0 assists in 12.4 minutes. He’s shooting just 31.6%, though that percentage doesn’t mean much considering he’s barely taken any shots.

As the editor of InsideHoops.com, I make more money in a month than Shaquille O’Neal makes in a year. I write this while flying on my private jet to visit one of my 29 mansions. Still, even compared to me, NBA players live a life of luxury. It’s also possible I’m hallucinating. Anyway, the Toronto Star (Dave Feschuk) reports:

In L.A. last night, for instance, the Raptors stayed at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel, an ultra-luxe crash pad to pop-culture deities from John Lennon to Julia Roberts. The place is opulent enough that Jim Labumbard, Toronto’s veteran media relations guru who’s forgotten more nights in five-star hotels than most of the rest of us will ever experience, recalls bunking in a Wilshire suite lavish enough to have a bathroom on either end of its acreage. “Two bathrooms?” said Chris Bosh, the Raptors all-star, shrugging as though he’d know exactly what to do with such extravagance. “Have two baths, man.” If NBA players have grown blasé about their luxury lifestyle, consider that it’s been more than 20 years since the Detroit Pistons led the move to now-universal private-charter air travel. And even Sam Mitchell, the 43-year-old former player, can scarcely recall the days when a veteran had to pay a premium to secure his own room on the road. In this every-man’s-an-island league, a spacious room of one’s own is now an inalienable right written into the collective bargaining agreement.

Being an NBA player is cool.

The Boston Globe (Frank Dell’Apa) reports: Larry Brown has returned to the area where his professional coaching career started. Brown, now leading the Bobcats, guided the Carolina Cougars in the American Basketball Association for two seasons (1972-74). But Brown nearly became a Celtics assistant two years ago. “It was very close,” Celtics coach Doc Rivers said. “He said yes. That’s about as close as you can get. But, like I jokingly said, it was a Larry yes, not a sign-on-the-document yes. I knew what was going on, though. His wife’s parents were not doing well. He knew it was a tough decision. He said yes but he may not be able to do it. He just thought at the end of the day he needed to be at home. “He would be a great guy to lean on, he would have been great. I would have loved him. He is overqualified, that’s why I would have loved him. He’s a great mind, and the more you’re around him, the more you understand that.”

The AP reports: Zach Randolph needed only two games to make an impact with the Los Angeles Clippers. The former New York Knicks forward had 27 points and 13 rebounds, and helped fuel a pivotal fourth-quarter run with eight consecutive points, leading the Clippers to a 97-96 victory over the Miami Heat on Saturday night. Al Thornton also had 27 points and grabbed eight rebounds to help Los Angeles snap a four-game losing streak… Baron Davis, playing despite a stomach virus, had 15 points, nine assists and five rebounds… Dwyane Wade had 26 points, 11 assists and six rebounds for Miami, but the NBA scoring leader missed a desperation a 3-pointer as time expired.

The AP reports: Sixth-man Jason Terry scored 24 points and the Mavericks pulled away in the third quarter to beat the Sacramento Kings 101-78 on Saturday night. One night after ending a five-game losing streak against the Lakers, the Mavericks won again on the road. Josh Howard missed his fifth straight game because of a sprained ankle, and Jerry Stackhouse was back in Dallas nursing an injured heel that has kept him inactive the last eight games… Dirk Nowitzki had 19 points and eight rebounds to help the Mavericks even their record at 8-8 with their sixth road win of the season. Reserve Devean George scored all 13 of his points in the second half. Beno Udrih had 13 points, nine assists and seven rebounds and John Salmons had 10 points for Sacramento. The Kings have lost six straight and nine of 10. The Kings also have dropped six in a row at home for the first time since 1998, two shy of the franchise record.

The AP reports: Devin Harris had 34 points and six assists and the Nets beat the Jazz 105-88 on Saturday night, giving New Jersey its fourth win in five games… Vince Carter added 22 points, Yi Jianlian added 11 points and Bobby Simmons scored 10 for New Jersey, which wraps up the road trip Sunday night at Phoenix. The Nets outrebounded the Jazz, outscored them inside and prevented Utah’s fast break from getting going… Utah was without All-Star forward Carlos Boozer (thigh) for the sixth straight game and lost Andrei Kirilenko to an ankle injury in the second quarter… Paul Millsap led the Jazz with 20 points and 10 rebounds. Williams had 10 points and 13 assists and Mehmet Okur had 10 points and 11 rebounds as three Utah starters had double-doubles, but the bench contributed just 22 points and 11 rebounds.

The AP reports: LeBron James expects his team to look to him late in close games. The Cleveland Cavaliers certainly did Saturday night. James scored 11 straight points for Cleveland late in the fourth quarter and finished with 32 in the Cavaliers’ 97-85 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks… Zydrunas Ilgauskas added a season-high 23 points and 17 rebounds to help Cleveland win for the 13th time in 14 games. Michael Redd returned after missing 14 games with a right ankle sprain to lead the Bucks with 20 points in 35 minutes… Richard Jefferson had 19 points for Milwaukee, and Ramon Sessions had 16. Ridnour had 15 points, all in the second half.

The AP reports: Who needs Tracy McGrady? Seldom-used reserve Luther Head scored 21 points in place of the injured All-Star and the Houston Rockets used balanced scoring to beat the San Antonio Spurs 103-84 on Saturday night. Ron Artest added 16 points and eight rebounds, Yao Ming and Rafer Alston scored 12 points apiece, and Luis Scola added 11 for Houston, which had all five starters in double-figures for just the second time this season. Alston also had six assists, and reserve Shane Battier scored 15 points. The Rockets finished with 22 assists… Tim Duncan shook off a bad start to score 17 points for the Spurs, who had held their last 11 opponents under 100 points. Tony Parker had 15 points and seven assists in his second game and first start since missing nine games with a sprained ankle.

The AP reports: Kevin Durant and the Oklahoma City Thunder snapped their long losing streak with a timely game against the Memphis Grizzlies. Durant scored 30 points, and Jeff Green added 22 to help the Thunder end the losing streak at 14 with a 111-103 victory over Memphis on Saturday night… Russell Westbrook had 12 points for the Thunder, and Damien Wilkins and Desmond Mason finished with 11 each. O.J. Mayo led Memphis with 30 points, while Rudy Gay and Marc Gasol had 16 each… The Thunder had come close to ending the winning streak in a couple of games recently, losing on a last-second shot against Minnesota on Friday night and dropping a 99-98 game against Phoenix last Tuesday night. This time, they were able to stop the skid by closing out the game.

The AP reports: With the game still close early in the second half, Carmelo Anthony and Chauncey Billups made sure Denver didn’t need another late comeback. Billups scored a season-high 27 points in three quarters, Carmelo Anthony added 25 points and 10 rebounds, and the Nuggets beat Minnesota 106-97 on Saturday night. Denver closed with a 21-6 run in the fourth quarter to beat Minnesota 90-84 in Denver on Nov. 16. Anthony had the go-ahead dunk in that game. This time he and Billups keyed a 14-0 run midway through the third quarter to help Denver open a 80-63 lead. Billups said it was the team’s best quarter since he arrived in a Nov. 3 trade… Randy Foye scored a season-high 25 points to lead Minnesota. Al Jefferson had 20 points and 13 rebounds, and Kevin Love had his first career double-double with 18 points and 12 rebounds. Love averaged 5.8 points in his previous nine games.

The AP reports: Chris Duhon had a franchise-record 22 assists, David Lee had career highs of 37 points and 21 rebounds, and New York rang up a record-setting 82 points in the first half in a 138-125 victory over Golden State on Saturday night… Duhon set Lee up for numerous dunks against the defenseless Warriors, who completed a winless five-game Eastern trip and looked as if they couldn’t wait to get home. One of the slams, with 3:11 remaining, allowed Duhon to break Richie Guerin’s franchise record of 21 assists set Dec. 12, 1958… Al Harrington, traded from the Warriors to the Knicks last week, added 36 points and 12 rebounds. Wilson Chandler scored 16 points for the banged-up Knicks, who used only seven players… Corey Maggette led the Warriors with 32 points and 12 boards. C.J. Watson scored 23 points.