NBA News Wire
NBA roundup: Pistons’ Meeks to miss two months
Jeff Hawkins is an award-winning sportswriter with more than four decades in the industry (print and digital media). A freelance writer/stay-at-home dad since 2008, Hawkins started his career with newspaper stints in Michigan, North Carolina, Florida, Upstate New York and Illinois, where he earned the 2004 APSE first-place award for column writing (under 40,000 circulation). As a beat writer, he covered NASCAR Winston Cup events at NHIS (1999-2003), the NHL's Chicago Blackhawks (2003-06) and the NFL's Carolina Panthers (2011-12). Hawkins penned four youth sports books, including a Michael Jordan biography. Hawkins' main hobbies include mountain bike riding, 5k trail runs at the Whitewater Center in Charlotte, N.C., and live music.
All posts by Jeff HawkinsUpdated15 Oct 2021
Detroit Pistons guard Jodie Meeks is expected to be sidelined for up to two months with a stress reaction in his lower back.
The Pistons announced Tuesday that the injury was found during a CAT scan on Monday by team medical personnel. Meeks was bothered by back spasms last week and was tested when the pain failed to go away. He had 13 points and four rebounds in the Pistons’ preseason opener on Oct. 7 against the Chicago Bulls.
The team said it will monitor Meeks’ activity while the back heels and re-evaluate his status after eight weeks. Doctors expect Meeks to fully recover with rest and rehabilitation.
—LeBron James was to sit out the first of three preseason games on Cleveland’s schedule this week when the Cavaliers played the Milwaukee Bucks on Tuesday night.
Cavs coach David Blatt said after the morning shootaround that James would take the night off to rest his back. The Cavs just returned from a trip to Brazil for an exhibition game against the Miami Heat.
After Tuesday’s game, the Cavs travel to Cincinnati to face the Indiana Pacers at Xavier University’s Cintas Center before returning to Cleveland to play the Dallas Mavericks on Friday night.
—A weekend preseason date between the Boston Celtics and Brooklyn Nets will be a trial case for an abbreviated game length of 44 minutes.
The game Sunday at Barclays Center will be reduced as the NBA examines “the flow of a shorter game as compared to the standard 48-minute game.” Four 11-minute quarters and a reduction in mandatory media timeouts the second and fourth quarters could expedite the game.
—The Toronto Raptors exercised the fourth-year team options on the rookie contracts of center Jonas Valanciunas and forward-guard Terrence Ross.
Financial details were not announced, but both players now have guaranteed contracts through the 2015-16 season.
Valanciunas was the fifth overall pick of the 2011 NBA Draft and has averaged 10.3 points, 7.6 rebounds and 26.3 minutes in 143 over the past two seasons after playing overseas in 2011-12. Ross was the eighth overall pick in 2012, and averaged 10.9 points, 3.1 rebounds and 26.7 minutes in 73 games last season, including starting 62 of the final 63 games. He also won the 2013 Sprite Slam Dunk contest during All-Star weekend.
