Ex-ref excited to keep his hands in the game
Monty McCutchen’s father raised an interesting point not long ago, and it resonated right away with the former NBA referee who decided to hang up his whistle earlier this season.
“He told me that no decision is real if it is easy,” McCutchen said.
McCutchen’s move off the floor and into the NBA office was certainly not easy. But instead of calling a few games a week, McCutchen sees his job now as one where he could have a say in how they all get officiated. About a month into his job as an NBA vice president overseeing referee development and training, McCutchen is jumping in with both feet.
He and fellow NBA executive Michelle Johnson are going to be instrumental in the league’s plan to improve how players and referees get along. There’s going to be more education, more studying, more explaining and more listening — and McCutchen truly believes it will work.
“I’m invigorated by the people I’m working with, Michelle Johnson,” McCutchen said. “I’m invigorated by the people in our office who work closely with referee operations. When you work with good people and you work for a good purpose, that invigorates our lives.”
Ask players and coaches who the best ref in the game was, and the majority of them would likely say McCutchen. His oncourt retirement means this season’s NBA Finals will be the first since 1985 where the refereeing corps for the series will not include either him, Joey Crawford or Danny Crawford — all recent retirees.
“It would be disingenuous of me to say I did not miss it,” McCutchen said. ROOKIES EVERYWHERE: The addition of two-way contracts seems to be helping more rookies get some NBA run. There’s been 97 rookies on the floor already this season, the most since 1949-50 — the fourth season of the NBA.
Roughly half of this season’s rookies were undrafted. And the No. 1 overall pick, Boston and Dallas have each used seven rookies. The Clippers and the Lakers have both played six.
REMEMBERING HANK: When Dwyane Wade got drafted in 2003, agent Henry Thomas was right at his side.
Fitting. Wade never left Thomas’ side, either.
Thomas died Saturday, after battling health issues for years. He didn’t have a huge stable of clients, but his impact was enormous in Miami — with Wade, Chris Bosh and Udonis Haslem all represented by Thomas for years.
He meant so much to Wade and Haslem that when Thomas fell gravely ill last week, they both rushed to be at his bedside and missed games in the process. They did so with the blessing of the Cavaliers and Heat.
LOVE HURTS: Kevin Love’s broken hand means he will miss the All-Star Game for the second consecutive season because of injury.
This won’t make him feel any better, but he’s in good company. The only other players in the last 20 years to miss two consecutive All-Star contests because of injuries are Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal.
Wednesday night
MAGIC 127, LAKERS 105: In Orlando, Fla., Marreese Speights scored 21 points in his second start of the season and Evan Fournier added 19 as Orlando ran away from Los Angeles.
Winning for only the fourth time in 24 games, the Magic made a franchise-record nine 3s in a 43-point third period, its highest-scoring quarter of the season. Orlando shot 18-for-32 from behind the arc in the game.
Julius Randle and Jordan Clarkson scored 20 each for the Lakers, who never led after the first quarter.
When Payton’s three-point play gave the Magic a 66-53 lead 93 seconds into the third quarter, Lakers coach Luke Walton yanked all five of his starters out of the game. But the Lakers never again got the margin under 11.
CAVALIERS 91, HEAT 89: In Cleveland, LeBron James scored 24 points and Jae Crowder made a go-ahead 3-pointer with 1:21 left as Cleveland began a long stretch without injured AllStar Kevin Love by holding off Miami.
The Cavs rebounded from a troubling loss at Detroit — Cleveland gave up 125 points to the undermanned Pistons — and prevented the Heat from overtaking them for third place in the Eastern Conference standings.
SUNS 102, MAVERICKS 88: In Phoenix, Josh Jackson scored a team-high 21 points in a costly Phoenix victory over Dallas.
In the first quarter, Suns guard Isaiah Canaan broke his left ankle in gruesome fashion on a contested drive to the basket. His ankle gave way on a hard, awkward landing, and his left foot was pointing in the wrong direction as his body tumbled to the floor.
As trainers rushed to Canaan, there were groans from the crowd and looks of shock from his Phoenix teammates, some of whom covered their eyes or looked away.
TRAIL BLAZERS 124, BULLS
108: In Portland, Ore., CJ McCollum scored a franchise-record 28 points in the first quarter and finished with a career-high 50 through three periods before heading to the bench as Portland beat Chicago.
McCollum’s 28 points in the opening quarter were the most in the NBA this season.
CELTICS 103, KNICKS 73: In Boston, Terry Rozier filled in nicely for Kyrie Irving, logging his first career triple-double in his first NBA start and leading Boston over New York.
Rozier had 17 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists to become the second player in NBA history with a tripledouble in his first start, joining Tony Wroten for Philadelphia on Nov. 13, 2013, according to Elias Sports Bureau. Irving was sidelined by a bruised right quadriceps after he got hurt during Monday’s win in Denver.
NETS 116, 76ERS 108: In New York, Spencer Dinwiddie scored 27 points and D’Angelo Russell added 22 in his best performance since returning from knee surgery as Brooklyn snapped a fourgame skid with a victory over Philadelphia. PACERS 105, GRIZZLIES 101: In Indianapolis, Myles Turner had 15 points and 11 rebounds in his return to the starting lineup as Indiana beat Memphis. HORNETS 123, HAWKS 110: In Atlanta, Kemba Walker hit a career-high nine 3s and scored 38 points, leading Charlotte to a dominant win over Atlanta.