Around the NBA: Grizz dig deep . . . LeBron loads up
Beset by injuries and the departure of long-time stalwarts Zach Randolph, Tony Allen and Vince Carter, the Memphis Grizzlies are reduced to finding starters from all over. In a game Saturday against Houston, the Grizzlies started five players who were either second-round picks or undrafted: Canadian Dillon Brooks (No. 45, 2017), Chandler Parsons (No. 38, 2011), Mario Chalmers (No. 34, 2008), Marc Gasol (No. 48, 2007) and JaMychal Green (undrafted, 2012). Memphis lost 105-83 to the Rockets.
STATE OF FULTZ: Given the injury history of their recent top picks — Joel Embiid, basically two seasons on the shelf; Ben Simmons, out for his rookie season — the Philadelphia 76ers are being careful with 2017 No. 1 overall pick Markelle Fultz and heralding every small step toward a return as news. Fultz hasn’t played since Oct. 23 because of a shoulder problem, and the team’s latest update would be considered promising only because it wasn’t bad news. But good news? Not sure. Fultz will be re-evaluated in two or three weeks, the team said Sunday, meaning that, at best, he will have missed a month of his first season.
FORD TOUGH: T.J. Ford, whose NBA career was marked by a number of serious spinal cord injuries, is going to play again after agreeing to participate next summer in the BIG3 league — the half-court circuit featuring ex-NBAers that was started last summer by entertainer Ice Cube. Ford, now 34, retired from the NBA in 2012. One of the most accommodating Raptors ever with the media, Ford averaged nearly 14 points and eight assists in 126 games with Toronto and has been running youth programs in his native Houston the last few years.
LEBRON AND ON AND ON: How many minutes 32-year-old LeBron James plays every night is an ongoing issue with the Cleveland Cavaliers and those who follow them. Now in his 15th season — and that includes seven trips to the NBA final — James is leading the league in minutes, averaging 37.9 heading into Wednesday night. He’s already eclipsed 40 minutes in 10 of Cleveland’s first 17 games, as well. It’s a heavy load, but coach Tyronn Lue isn’t too worried. “I played with Michael Jordan when he was 39. He played 37 minutes a night. Karl Malone was 37, played 38 minutes a night. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Magic Johnson, Kobe,” Lue said after James put in a relatively easy night of 27 minutes against Detroit.
BATTLE HARDENED: Houston’s James Harden is one of the hardest players to guard — willing to pass as well as shoot, which means he makes teams pay regardless of how they defend him. The guard began play Tuesday leading the league in scoring (31.6 points per game) and assists (9.9) as he chases an elusive double. And he doesn’t care how teams try to guard him. “I’ve seen it all the last few years,” he told reporters in Houston. “Ain’t nothing they can do about it.” Doug Smith