Pelicans lose Perkins for the next three months

Kendrick Perkins will miss the next three months as he recovers from a right pectoral injury. The New Orleans Pelicans center’s news is coming on the heels of an 0-4 start to the season.

The team is also dealing with injuries to Omer Asik, Tyreke Evans, Quincy Pondexter and Norris Cole.

Perkins was never expected to play a major role with the team this season. His signing was more so to teach young power forward Anthony Davis. With Asik out, head coach Alvin Gentry was forced into using Perkins more before his injury.

He suffered the injury last Saturday against the Golden State Warrriors. He was a starter in three games and averaged 5.3 points and 2.7 rebounds.

Last season, he split time with the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Cleveland Cavaliers, where he combined for 68 games. With the Thunder, he averaged 4.0 points and 5.5 rebounds per game, but with the Cavaliers, it was a different story, as he averaged 2.6 points and 2.4 rebounds.

He signed a one-year, veterans minimum salary back in July. In 12 career NBA seasons that also included the Boston Celtics, he’s averaged 5.5 points, 5.9 rebounds and 1.2 blocks per game.

Staying put: Chalmers re-signs with the Heat for the next two years

By Anthony Caruso III
Posted: July 13th, 2014 at 11:55 pm EST

On Friday, LeBron James decided to leave the Miami Heat for the Cleveland Cavaliers. Many thought it would be a mass exit for the other free agents as well.

However, that has not been the case. Free agent Mario Chalmers is the latest to stay put.

Mario Chalmers (Getty Images)

Chris Bosh and Chris Andersen also re-signed deals with the Heat. They are also expected to re-sign Udonis Haslem and Dwyane Wade this week.

“Proud to stay I’m back [with] the Heat,” Chalmers wrote on Twitter. “Heat nation we still here.”

The 28-year-old is expected to keep his starting point guard role with Norris Cole and Shabazz Napier backing up. If teams are able to make him struggle like the San Antonio Spurs did in the NBA Finals, Napier will be named the starter.

Chalmers has been with the Heat for the past six years. In his career, he has averaged less than 10 points a season.

It was thought after the loss in the NBA Finals that Chalmers would leave town. As players decided to go elsewhere, the Heat had to re-sign their point guard for the next several years.

RT @ESPNSteinLine: As for Mario Chalmers, hearing he landed a two-year deal from the Heat in the region of $8+ million

— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) July 14, 2014

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Spurs defeat the Heat in Game 5 to win the NBA Finals

By Anthony Caruso III
Posted: June 15th, 2014 at 11:04 pm EST

The San Antonio Spurs are the NBA Champions.

The Spurs beat the Miami Heat, 104-87, causing a 4-1 series win in the NBA Finals. It is the second loss in the NBA Finals for the Big 3 of LeBron James, Chris Bosh, and Dwyane Wade.

San Antonio Spurs celebrating (Photo by the San Antonio Spurs)

“We remember how it felt last year,” Duncan said. “It makes last year ok. We remember how it felt in that locker room that got us here today.”

This championship is the fifth for the Spurs since 1999. It is also the fourth in the Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, and Manu Ginobili era.

Last year, the Spurs were just seconds away from winning their fifth in Miami, before Ray Allen hit a key three-pointer and turned Game 6 into the Heat’s favor. A few days later, the Heat won in Game 7, as the Spurs were deflated after the Game 6 loss.

Kawhi Leonard let the Spurs with 22 points. Ginobili came off the bench and scored 19 poins with Patty Mills scoring 17 off the bench, as well.

Parker scored 16 points, and Duncan scored 14 points with 8 rebounds. Besides Leonard, Boris Diaw chipped in five points and Danny Green had zero from the Spurs starting lineup.

Marco Bellinelli scored 4 points, while Tiago Splitter scored 3 points. Jeff Ayres and Aron Baynes chipped in 2 points.

They had 16 fast break points and 32 points in the paint. The Spurs also scored 8 points off of 8 turnovers.

The Heat were led by James, who had 31 points. This was his third NBA Finals loss in his career.

Bosh scored 13 points with Wade chipping in 11 points. The rest of their starting lineup had 8 points, as Rashard Lewis scored 3 points and Allen, who started as the point guard in place of Mario Chalmers, had five points.

Michael Beasley scored 9 points and Chalmers had 8 points. Toney Douglas had 3 points, while Udonis Haslem and Norris Cole had 2 points.

The Heat had 11 fast break points, and 34 points in the paint. They scored 12 points off of turnovers.