Josh Howard’s Return

Good article — Howard’s return could be catalyst for Dallas Mavericks –  in the Dallas Morning News about the soon to be returning Josh Howard

Josh Howard’s season is about to resume, probably Tuesday night against the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Teammates have indicated Howard has looked sharp in recent practices, but Jason Terry offered the clearest sign of Howard’s imminent return after Monday’s practice at the Target Center.

“He looked great,” Terry said. “Even last week, he was good in our last hard practice. He looked confident.

Eddie Sefko, the author of the article, continues

Dwight Youngest To Reach 5,000 Boards

Congratulations to Dwight Howard who just became the youngest ever player to reach the milestone of 5,000 career rebounds.

Here’s a graph from ESPN telling you who he just beat out for top spot.

Player	Years, Days
Dwight Howard	23, 112
Wilt Chamberlain	25, 128
Dave Cowens	25, 153
Walt Bellamy	25, 197
Moses Malone	25, 265
Kevin Garnett	25, 296

Thunder Sign Shaun Livingston

RealGM has the press release

The Oklahoma City Thunder have signed guard Shaun Livingston to a multi-year deal, Executive Vice President and General Manager Sam Presti announced today.

Per team policy, terms of the agreement were not announced.

Parker’s 10,000th Point

Nice information in the San Antonio Express

Barring something unforeseen and potentially disastrous for the Spurs, Tony Parker should become the fourth player in franchise history to reach the 10,000-point plateau tonight in New Orleans.

Parker, 26 years old and in his eighth season, needs just seven points to hit that milestone.

George Gervin, David Robinson and Tim Duncan are the only other Spurs enshrined in the 10,000-point club.

Northwest Division Title

The Standings

1. Denver Nuggets — 46 wins and 26 losses — 10 games remaining
2. Portland Trailblazers — 45 wins and 27 losses — 10 games remaining
3. Utah Jazz – 44 wins and 27 losses — 11 games remaining
4. Oklahoma City Thunder — 20 wins and 51 losses — 11 games remaining
5. Minnesota Timberwolves — 20 wins and 52 losses — 10 games remaining

Minnesota and Oklahoma City will be both be in the bottom half of the lottery this summer.

The three other teams — Denver, Utah and Portland — are all vying for the division title.

Congratulations To Shaq

A belated congratulatory post to Shaquille O’Neal who recently (12 days ago against Oklahoma) entered the Top Five All-Time leaders in NBA History for scoring.

• Kareem Abdul-Jabbar — 38,387 points
• Karl Malone — 36,928 points
• Michael Jordan — 32,292 points
• Wilt Chamberlain — 31,419 points
• Shaquille O’Neal — 27,442 points

Andres Nocioni Talks

Andres Nocioni said the following in a recent interview with a Spanish paper named Olé — Spanish paper roughly translated into English by Google:

“This is the worst season of my career, no doubt. Not played well all year and I realize,” says the eaves of entry, chat with Olé.

- But the worst of your career or the NBA?

- In my career, without doubt. Neither Racing, with 15 years, played well (laughs). It was a season to run the garbage and I switched over to Sacramento …

- What are the reasons for the poor campaign?

- The knee-right (laughs). Bothered me all year and I could never play with my physical and usually do. When I have a lot of minutes, I had to loosen the knee. It is not an excuse but a reality.

Udoka Wants To Remain In San An

Nice to hear that Ime Udoka wants to remain in San Antonio

Udoka signed a two-year deal worth over $2 million with San Antonio in the summer of 2007.

“Definitely,” Udoka said of wanting to remain with the Spurs. “I’ve had a great two years here. Just the comfort level you get from playing with these guys, and knowing the type of team we have, it’s great to be here.”

Did McHale Just Bench His Starters?

Does ESPN’s box score have the starting lineups correct?

• Center — Craig Smith
• Power Forward — Brian Cardinal
• Small Forward — Rodney Carney
• Shooting Guard — Kevin Ollie
• Point Guard — Bobby Brown

Anyone want to take a guess at who is backing up those players?

• Randy Foye
• Mike Miller

Paul Pierce’s Minutes

Paul Pierce’s minutes on the season

• October — 36.5 minutes a game
• November — 36.6 minutes a game
• December — 36.7 minutes a game
• January — 35.8 minutes a game

This is when things start to get hectic

• February — 41.4 minutes a game
• March — 39.4 minutes a game (two recent blowouts got him below forty minutes a night)

Basically, Paul Pierce, has been playing 40 minutes a night for the last 25 games.