Mutombo's Wrist Injury Adds to Nets' Concerns

Liz Robbins of the New York Times reports that The Nets are in a bit of a tail spin. They have lost the first two games of their four-game west coast trip and now Dikembe Mutombo has injured the wrist of his shooting hand.

The injury was suffered in the third quarter of the Nets' 126-118 overtime loss to the Los Angeles Clippers. X-rays were negative, but he has been listed as questionable for Saturday’s game against the Trail Blazers. On Friday Nets' president, Rod Thorn, said: "It's real sore today. As to whether he can play tomorrow, we'll just have to see."

Mutombo injured the wrist with six minutes to play in the third quarter when, driving to the basket, the Clippers' Eric Piatkowski slapped him and the ball. On the following defensive sequence, Mutombo motioned for Scott to take him out. He went to the locker room and had the wrist taped. Even though Mutombo played 11 minutes in the fourth quarter and all of the overtime period with the injury, he was in obvious pain afterward.

With the loss, the Nets dropped to 10-6 and are losing any positive momentum they have built up this early in the season. "It's the same situation we had last year with games on the West Coast and we lost four in a row," Coach Byron Scott said. "We're headed that way now."

Via

New Jersey Nets, Los Angeles Clippers, Portland Trail Blazers

Read the Full Story Discuss Send Feedback Buy Tickets

No Kidding, Miller comes up big

In an almost-perfect game Thursday night Clippers guard Andre Miller felt his game-tying three pointer with 4.9 seconds left against the New Jersey Nets was off. Fortunately for him and his teammates he was wrong.

Miller finished the game with 37 points and 16 assists, totals which equalled his career high and set his season high respectively, as the Clippers were able to pip the Nets 126-118 in overtime. His strong game overcame another All-NBA statline from the dangerous Jason Kidd, who finished with 35 points, 8 rebounds, and 8 assists.

"When it left my hand, I thought it was going to go past the rim,'' Miller said of his big 3-pointer. "Man, he was amazing, hitting shot after shot,'' added teammate Elton Brand.

"We played well, we finished off the game the way we needed to,'' added Miller. "Tonight was a night we were able to get to the basket and make plays. I was able to get guys involved in key situations and they were able to knock down shots."

Via

Los Angeles Clippers, New Jersey Nets

Read the Full Story Discuss Send Feedback Buy Tickets

Jazz Leaves Clippers at a Loss

John Stockton's shorts are still far too short to be considered fashionable at any point since, oh, 1985. Karl Malone still takes roughly 9.99 seconds of his allotted 10 to shoot his free throws. And the Utah Jazz still owns the Clippers.

What else is new?

The Jazz defeated the Clippers, 99-94, in front of a crowd of 15,243 on Tuesday night at Staples Center. That's 15 consecutive victories for Utah over the Clippers, a streak that seemed destined to end when Elton Brand made two free throws to give the Clippers a 90-84 lead with 3:39 remaining.

But the Clippers (5-10) missed too many free throws and turned over the ball to the Jazz far too often and, soon enough, Utah had pulled out a victory by closing with a 15-4 run.

Stockton and Malone didn't win the game by themselves. In fact, Calbert Cheaney (early) and Matt Harpring (late) played pivotal roles for the Jazz, winners of five consecutive games after starting the season 3-7.

Via Los Angeles Times

Los Angeles Clippers, Utah Jazz

Read the Full Story Discuss Send Feedback Buy Tickets