Nothing But Net: Cavs onslaught just the start . . . Leiweke lurks in Seattle
How are things going in Cleveland? Hard to imagine them being any better: The Cavaliers will go for a franchise-record 14th straight win Friday at Indiana; Tristan Thompson is practising again, and a return from a calf injury that’s kept him out since Nov. 1 is imminent; Isaiah Thomas is scrimmaging four-on-four and he could soon be joining his new team for the first time; and Derrick Rose has come to grips with his injury circumstances and rejoined the team. Been a good week for the defending Eastern Conference
champions.
MOVING THE NEEDLE: The civic leaders in Seattle this week approved a $600-million U.S. upgrade to Key Arena there in hopes of attracting an NBA or NHL team to one of the best sports cities in North America. The WNBA Storm, MLS Sounders, baseball’s Mariners and the Seahawks of the NFL all do well. The question is whether there is room for two winter sports franchises or one. But the aspect of the bid that should catch the attention of people in this neck of the woods is that it’s being spearheaded by Tim Leiweke. Love him or loathe him, the former head of Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment has a way of getting things done and his ties to the NBA are not to be laughed at. There is no team for sale, expansion’s not on the docket, but underestimate Leiweke at your peril.
JAZZ FUSION: The Utah Jazz are certainly not the same without Gordon Hayward, lost to free agency, and having Rudy Gobert on the sidelines for 11 games with a bruised knee was a blow, but it’s been softened by the play of rookie guard Donovan Mitchell. In his first 25 games, Mitchell made 61 three-pointers, more than any other rookie in the same period in NBA history. The top five in that
category: Damian Lillard, Portland (56); Allen Iverson, Philadelphia (54); Brandon Jennings, Milwaukee (53); and Rudy Fernandez, Portland (52).
AREA 51: There’s been an awful lot of NBA basketball played over the years in Portland by an awful lot of the all-time great players. But until Washington’s Bradley Beal scored 51 points in the Wizards’ win over the Trail Blazers on Tuesday no visiting player had ever scored 50 points in a game in Portland. Kareem AbdulJabbar and Sweet Lou Hudson each dropped 49 on the Blazers, but no one had ever reached half a century
until Beal did it.
THUMBS DOWN: Nerlens Noel gambled on himself last summer, turning down a contract extension from the Dallas Mavericks to play this year on a qualifying-offer deal worth about $4 million and become an unrestricted free agent in July. Seems ill advised. Noel had all but disappeared from the Mavericks rotation, playing just 12 minutes a night, and is now facing surgery to repair a thumb ligament that will keep him out until possibly late January. Whether he can get back in time for the Mavs to find a trade for him in February is now in doubt.