Sometimes, this is what it takes.

An embarrassment. A humiliation. Losing to a team so bad it is being compared to the worst squads in NBA history barely a month into the season.


“I would have liked to have come out of this with a win, and I would have said the same exact thing, but I think we did need this,” Chauncey Billups admitted afterward. “I don’t like losing, but I think we needed this.”

It was as if Billups had hopped a time machine and returned to the team he joined a little more than a year ago — a team of individual showmen, a team of one-on-one players, a team that thought it could shoot its way out of any hole, no matter how deep.

And why not? It had been doing it throughout this season’s first month. As if reliving its early run- and-gun days, the Nuggets went into Sunday night’s game second in the NBA in scoring at more than 109 points per game, five more than they averaged a year ago when they became acquainted with the concept of defense.

Click here to read the full article – By Dave Krieger of The Denver Post

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Last year, when Mo Williams attached the “All-Star” prefix to his name for the first time, it seemed that he’d entered a more high-profile phase.

There were signs of it, too. A year after not even having a shoe contract, over the summer Williams appeared in his first Nike commercial and now sports his own line of shoes complete with his nickname, “Mo Gotti,” on the tongue.

But on the same team with LeBron James — whose off-court statements can generate as much interest as his on-court play — and Shaquille O’Neal, Williams has shed some of the spotlight. Add in the attention paid to Delonte West and the fast-rising J.J. Hickson, and the first month of the season has left Williams overlooked.


Click here to read the full article – By Brian Windhorst of cleveland.com

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History has shown that it’s never too late for the Bulls to turn things around.

In 2004-05, they started 2-13 and recovered to win 47 games. Last year, they won 12 of their last 16 to finish with a .500 record.

So to call the coming week a critical stretch for the Bulls would be an overstatement. But it would help if they could end a run of four straight lopsided losses before the team’s chemistry and confidence suffer lasting harm.


Click here to read the full article – By Mike McGraw of Daily Herald

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The NBA fined Phoenix Suns forward Amare Stoudemire and Charlotte Bobcats forward Tyson Chandler $7,500 each Sunday for posting to their Twitter accounts during games in violation of league rules.

Stoudemire’s Twitter feed was updated during the Suns’ 126-111 win over the Memphis Grizzlies on Wednesday, and Chandler tweeted a message the same night while the Bobcats were on their way to a 116-81 win over Toronto.

The league also fined Celtics forward Rasheed Wallace $30,000 for publicly criticizing officials following Boston’s 116-103 victory over Toronto on Friday night.

Click here to read the full article – By Associated Press of ESPN.com

Aaron Brooks kept looking to see when Luis Scola was going to come back to the Houston bench. Once the game was finally over, he realized why the Rockets’ starting forward never did.


Gouged in the right eye only 22 seconds into the Rockets’ 100-91 victory against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Sunday night, Scola sported a bandage over his eye in the locker room.

“At first I didn’t think it was that bad. I’d seen some blood and I’d seen a cut, but you never know how bad it was. To come in here and he looks like Captain Hook, you kind of feel bad for him,” said Brooks, who scored 18 of his 21 points in the second half. “So, I hope he gets back, and we had to pull it out for him.”

Scola was hurt on a freak play as the Thunder’s Etan Thomas dunked with his right hand, simultaneously smacking Scola in the face with his left.

Click here to read the full article – By Associated Press of ESPN.com

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Already with the best record in the Eastern Conference, the Orlando Magic might be getting even better.


Rashard Lewis seems to have found his form after a season-opening suspension.

Lewis scored 13 of his season-high 26 points in the third quarter, and the Magic beat the New York Knicks 114-102 on Sunday night for their sixth straight road victory.

“He got it going in the second half. That was nice,” Orlando coach Stan Van Gundy said. “It was the first time this year that he’s really gotten it rolling and that’s a good feeling.”

Click here to read the full article – By Associated Press of ESPN.com

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The Minnesota Timberwolves finally put an end to their long losing spell, and they did it against a team that had owned them over the last three years.


Ryan Gomes scored 27 points, the most by a Timberwolves player this season, and Minnesota snapped a 15-game losing streak with a 106-100 victory over the Denver Nuggets on Sunday night.

“Man, you don’t know how much a weight is off our shoulders right now,” Gomes said. “It was tough for us, but we had to battle. We knew it was going to break one day.”

The shock was it came against the Nuggets, who had won their previous 10 meetings against Minnesota and had been dominating at home, where they’d won 17 regular season games in a row dating to last spring.

Click here to read the full article – By Associated Press of ESPN.com

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The San Antonio Spurs won their fifth straight behind franchise centerpiece Tim Duncan.


The Philadelphia 76ers lost their sixth straight while hounded by speculation that their former star, Allen Iverson, might come back to rescue a deepening dismal start.

Duncan led San Antonio in scoring for the sixth time in eight games with 22 points, and the Spurs beat the Sixers 97-89 on Sunday night to extend their longest winning streak since pulling themselves out of a similar early slump last December.

“We really shouldn’t care that much about winning five in a row,” Spurs guard Manu Ginobili said. “It’s always good. It helps your confidence, and of course your standings, but we still believe we’ve got a long way to go.”

Click here to read the full article – By Associated Press of ESPN.com

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Philadelphia 76ers coach Eddie Jordan says no one has talked to him about bringing back Allen Iverson.

Jordan downplayed reports Sunday of Iverson possibly returning to the city where he became an NBA superstar, saying he hasn’t spoken to the recently retired guard and added that the Sixers are not seriously looking at any free agents.

“It’s something that’s probably more in the media than it actually is,” Jordan said. “We’re just going about our daily operation of practicing and trying to win a game. But certainly I have not talked to anybody about Allen Iverson.”

Click here to read the full article – By of ESPN.com

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The NBA fined Celtics forward Rasheed Wallace $30,000 for publicly criticizing officials following Boston’s 116-103 victory over Toronto on Friday night.

Wallace told reporters after Sunday’s win over Miami that he plans to appeal the fine, but stopped himself from getting into more trouble, biting his tongue before elaborating on the subject.

“I’m definitely going to appeal that. I mean, what did I say wrong? You know, if they don’t want … No, I ain’t going to do that,” Wallace said to reporters before stopping in mid-sentence and smiling before departing.

After being whistled for a second-quarter technical foul against the Raptors, Wallace vented postgame about the call — dubbing Toronto’s Hedo Turkoglu a “flopper” — and saying the NBA product had been watered down by such calls.


Click here to read the full article – By Chris Forsberg of ESPNBoston.com

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