Another week, another former Blue Devil on the move in the busy NBA. Austin Rivers was traded in a three-team deal to the Los Angeles Clippers, who are coached by Rivers' father Doc Rivers. That and more in this week's Duke in the NBA:
Kyrie Irving, Cleveland Cavaliers: It might be getting close to panic time in Cleveland. The Cavaliers got LeBron James back Tuesday against Phoenix, but still fell 107-100, their ninth loss in 10 games and sixth straight. Irving had one of his worst games of the season, with just nine points on 4-of-14 shooting and eight turnovers. The dynamic point guard also struggled at times Sunday in a 103-84 rout at Sacramento, as his 21 points came on just 7-of-18 shooting.
Irving bounced back late Thursday against the Lakers with 22 points on 9-of-16 shooting as Cleveland ended its streak 109-102. The 6-foot-3 guard is averaging 20.7 points and 5.2 assists per game, but has to be disappointed with his record playing with James and Kevin Love. Cleveland is now 20-20 and currently sixth in the East as it looks to make a midseason push before the All-Star break.
Mason Plumlee, Brooklyn Nets: Plumlee has continued his strong play, but the Nets have continued losing. In losses against Detroit, Houston and Memphis this week, the second-year center scored 53 points on 24-of-30 shooting and added 24 rebounds. After an awful start to the season, Plumlee has raised his season averages to 10.3 points and 7.0 rebounds per contest on 59 percent shooting and is averaging 16.8 points and 10.2 rebounds per game on 68 percent shooting in his last five. Brooklyn has lost seven games in a row after getting to 0.500 and rumors about trades, ownership selling the team and the antics of Kevin Garnett continue to be distractions, but Plumlee is playing the best basketball of his career for the eighth-place Nets.
J.J. Redick, Los Angeles Clippers: Redick had a decent week, scoring 37 points in three games and knocking down seven 3-pointers as the Clippers notched wins against Dallas and Portland and lost to Miami. The sharpshooter is averaging 14.9 points per game and shooting 42.5 percent from long range for Los Angeles, which is positioned nicely in the West at 26-13.
Gerald Henderson, Charlotte Hornets: After last week's 31-point effort in a win against Toronto, Henderson coming back down to earth a bit this week was predictable. The 6-foot-5 guard scored 20 points in two games on 8-of-23 shooting as Charlotte knocked off New York before losing to San Antonio. After a slow start to the year due to injury, Henderson is back getting consistent minutes and averaging 9.9 points per game on the year. The Hornets are just 1.5 games back of No. 8 seed Brooklyn despite their 15-25 record.
Luol Deng, Miami Heat: Deng has struggled since his Christmas Day explosion against Cleveland, but had a strong game Wednesday that he hopes can get him going in 2015. The small forward had 19 points on 6-of-11 shooting and added seven rebounds in Miami's 15-point loss to Golden State. In his two previous games this week, Deng combined for just 18 points on 8-of-22 shooting and 11 rebounds. He is averaging 13.9 points per game on 49.2 percent shooting, but will need to build on Wednesday's performance at Oracle Arena for the 17-22 Heat to gain momentum.
Mike Dunleavy, Jr., Chicago Bulls: Dunleavy suffered an ankle injury New Year's Day that appeared relatively minor, but the floor spacer has still not returned and is apparently still unable to run without feeling pain. The Bulls are 26-14 and in a great spot to make a run to the NBA Finals if they get healthy and Dunleavy's 40-plus percent clip from long range provides a cog in the rotation that many people forget about.
Elton Brand, Atlanta Hawks: Brand rarely plays, but in his 16th season could finally be on a team that has a chance to make a deep playoff run. Atlanta is 31-8 and has a four-game lead on the second-place team in the East. The Hawks have won 23 of their last 25 and 10 in a row and even got Brand some minutes in their last two contests. The 6-foot-9 forward had six points and seven rebounds in 20 minutes against Philadelphia Tuesday and four points in six minutes against the Celtics Wednesday.
Austin Rivers, Los Angeles Clippers: Rivers has had a disappointing career, to say the least, after being a top-10 pick, but was traded to the Clippers to play for his father Doc Rivers Thursday after a three-team deal involving Boston and Phoenix. Rivers was sent to Boston earlier this week to make the move possible. Now in his third season, the 6-foot-4 guard needs to show dramatic improvement to avoid being considered a bust, but perhaps some tutelage from his father and a winning culture can inspire the 22-year old. Rivers averaged 6.8 points on 38.7 percent shooting and 28 percent shooting from 3-point range in his time with the Pelicans.
Shavlik Randolph, Boston Celtics: Randolph was sent to Boston as part of the Rivers trade after starting the season with Phoenix. In 16 games this season, the 6-foot-10 big man averaged 1.1 points and 1.6 rebounds in just 6.3 minutes per appearance. Randolph is in his eighth season and could be on the move again if the Celtics decide they want to continue clearing room for draft picks. Boston has already made nine trades this season and could have as many as 14 draft picks in the next two drafts.
Lance Thomas, New York Knicks: Thomas was signed to a 10-day contract after being acquired from Oklahoma City, but saw 18 minutes of playing time in London Thursday for the woeful Knicks. Thomas had seven points, four rebounds and two assists as New York fell 95-79 to Milwaukee to drop to 5-36 on the year.
Andre Dawkins, Sioux Falls Skyforce: Dawkins was released by the Heat last week but was immediately scooped up by the team's D-League affiliate. The sharpshooter played with the Skyforce in eight games earlier this season and averaged 23.1 points per game. In his final appearance Dec. 20, he scored 42 points and went 12-of-15 from 3-point range and has picked up where he left off.
In his first two games back in the D-League, Dawkins scored 55 points, including a 33-point outburst Thursday night.
Although he is not on an NBA roster, he looks to be enjoying lighting up the D-League day in and day out and could position himself nicely for the future if he can keep it up.
That's it for this week. Keep up with the Blue Zone for weekly Duke in the NBA updates and for all your Duke basketball and recruiting news.
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