The Los Angeles Clippers today waived point guard Sam Cassell. The official
report is here.
It’s too bad that Elton Brand and Shaun Livingston got injured. I’d
have liked to see the Clippers this season with those guys alongside the
improved Chris Kaman (yes, Brand being hurt did put more responsibility on
Kaman’s shoulders, but he also did really get better). They looked like a
decent team, but fell off for a bit, and now Cassell is gone. Of course,
he’s not the future - Shaun Livingston, if he can recover from serious
injury, and meet his potential, is.
If Cassell does wind up signing with the Boston Celtics, I think it’ll
work out in a big way. What better backup point guard than a guy like him?
He’s a smart player, and a scoring point guard, but he does it in a manner
that helps a team. As opposed to scoring point guards that take bad shots and
don’t fit into a total team offense.
I assume that on Boston, Rajon Rondo would continue to start and play the bulk
of minutes, but Cassell would get plenty of time off the bench. And Cassell will
help Rondo improve in practice.

SportsTicker reports: Toronto Raptors forward Chris Bosh will start in place
of Kevin Garnett in Sunday’s All-Star Game. Bosh has averaged a team-high
22.7 points and 9.1 rebounds for the Raptors and is making his third consecutive
All-Star appearance and second straight start.
The Toronto Sun (Mike Ganter) reports:  Rivers was asked what made Bosh his
choice. “Because of the Canadian dollar — you know, it’s grown in
value, and so we figure we’d go with that,” Rivers said to much
laughter. “No — I think he deserves it, I really do. I think he’s
terrific, a terrific player, and I think he deserves more attention than
he’s getting, so I think he should start.”

Here’s Boston Celtics All-Star Ray Allen, speaking at All-Star weekend:
Q: What are your thoughts on the NBA expanding overseas?
Ray Allen: I’d be excited about it. I think it definitely shrinks the
world, and to be able to shrink the world through a sport that I play is
awesome. I welcome that idea to be able to travel on a consistent basis. As much
as I travel between the United States of America through all these great cities
and states, I get to see so much and see so many different cultures and people.
To be able to extend that to Europe… I think that would do wonders for not
only basketball, but for people and cultures in the world bringing them all
together through basketball.
Q: Would American players want to live overseas or would that be a problem?
Ray Allen: Well, I’m sure there’s a lot of international players
who don’t want to live in America currently. It’s easy for a player
now in the league to say that from having lived in America right now, but if
you’re a player in college and you get drafted, you get drafted to, you
know, the London Gators, you’re happy to be in the NBA. You know, when I
came out of college, people were asking where I wanted to play, and I said it
doesn’t matter because I’m in the NBA. I’m getting paid to do
something I love and get to travel, and I’m pretty sure those would be
those guys’ sentiments as they come up out of college. Right now, people
are just used to their routines… living in America, thinking I
wouldn’t want to play overseas… but once you understood the feel to
it, I’m pretty sure a lot of people’s ideas and perceptions of those
ideas would change.

Final score: East 134, West 128. Fun game!
The East’s LeBron James was awarded the 2008 NBA All-Star game MVP award.
For the East: Ray Allen (10-of-14, 5-of-9 threes) had 28 points in just 19
minutes. LeBron James (12-of-22) had 27 points, 8 rebounds, 9 assists (4
turnovers), 2 steals and 2 blocks. Dwight Howard (7-of-7) had 16 points, 9
rebounds, 3 assists and 3 steals. Chris Bosh (7-of-15) had 14 points and 7
rebounds. Dwyane Wade (7-of-12) had 14 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists. Paul
Pierce scored 10. Jason Kidd dished 10 assists.
For the West: Brandon Roy (8-of-10) had 18 points, 9 rebounds and 5 assists.
Carmelo Anthony (8-of-17) had 18 points and 7 rebounds. Amare Stoudemire
(8-of-11) had 18 points and 5 rebounds. Chris Paul (7-of-14) had 16 points, 3
rebounds, 14 assists (just 2 turnovers) and 4 steals. Carlos Boozer (7-of-15)
had 14 points and 10 rebounds. Dirk Nowitzki (just 5-of-14) had 13 points and 4
rebounds.
The best East players were LeBron, Dwight Howard and Ray Allen. The best West
players were Chris Paul and Brandon Roy.
Read unedited 2008 NBA All-Star game notes taken live as the action
happened.

Here’s the head coach of the Boston Celtics and the 2008 East All-Star
team, Doc Rivers
Q: Do the players have a curfew on Saturday night?
Doc Rivers: No, I’m going to tell them all to go out and I’m going
to play all the guys, but my guys as many minutes as possible. That’s the
key for me.
Q: Would you be in favor of a change like in baseball where the winner of the
All-Star Game gets home court in The Finals?
Doc Rivers: No, I don’t like that. There’s some guys who may be in
the game whose team has no chance of being in the playoffs, so what vested
interest would they have in the game? I would, and I certainly do. I like the
way it is. I’ve always said that I would love winner take all. I
don’t know what the pot is — the winners get a certain amount of money
and the losers get a certain amount of money. I think they should make it one,
and the winners take all. I think that would change it a little bit. Other than
that, I like it exactly the way it is.
Q: Are you worried about your team peaking too soon?
Doc Rivers: Well, no, because we have so much room for improvement. I know, at
least I hope, that because we’ve not been together but five months –
it’s not like we’ve been a team that’s been together for a
long time. We understand that we’re playing catch-up to all the teams. We
don’t go by record. We don’t. We look at Detroit, Cleveland, San
Antonio, Dallas and Phoenix, all those teams have gone through everything that
we’ve not gone through. So we understand that we can’t relax and
that we have a lot of room to improve.

NBA.com reports: Rajon Rondo certainly is doing his part in the absence of
Kevin Garnett. Rondo is making significant contributions all over the floor,
posting 12 points, seven rebounds, seven assists, two steals and two blocks as
the Celtics earned a 104-97 road win over the Pacers on Tuesday. In
Sunday’s win over the defending-champion Spurs, Rondo had a season-high 12
assists to go along with 11 rebounds, the third time he’s led the Celtics
(40-9) on the boards since Garnett went down. Boston has won four straight
without KG, who also will miss the Celtics’ home game against the Knicks
on Wednesday, their last before the break.

The Boston Celtics are hosting the New York Knicks, and in the mid third
quarter Boston forward Glen Davis spun in the air (it appeared to be a full 360)
and landed badly, hurting his left knee.
A replay didn’t look particularly bad — no disgusting
‘obvious’ injury or anything — but Davis fell to the ground and
stayed there, in obvious pain. He was eventually helped off the court and
brought to the locker room. No word on how serious it is.
It’s just a strained quad muscle.

InsideHoops.com NewsWire: Boston Celtics guard Ray Allen has been named by
NBA Commissioner David Stern to replace injured East All-Star Caron Butler (left
hip flexor strain) of the Washington Wizards for the 2008 NBA All-Star Game on
Sunday, Feb. 17 in New Orleans.
Allen will be making his eighth NBA All-Star appearance.
“I am disappointed that I am going to miss the All-Star game,” said
Butler.  “I feel it is best for me to get the proper rest in preparation for
the second half of the season.  I am honored to be selected as an All-Star.  I
will still enjoy the weekend with my teammate Antawn Jamison and my fellow NBA
All-Stars.”
Butler, who is in his sixth NBA season, is currently averaging career highs in
points (21.4), steals (2.4), field goal percentage (.476), and free throw
percentage (.913).
The NBA All-Star Game on Sunday, Feb. 17, will air live on TNT and ESPN Radio
beginning at 8 p.m. EST.

Detroit Pistons forward Rasheed Wallace has been named by NBA Commissioner
David Stern to replace injured East All-Star Kevin Garnett (abdominal muscle
strain) of the Boston Celtics for the 2008 NBA All-Star Game on Sunday, Feb. 17
in New Orleans.
Wallace will be making his fourth NBA All-Star appearance. East All-Star head
coach Doc Rivers will determine which player on his roster will replace Garnett
in the starting line-up.
The NBA All-Star Game on Sunday, Feb. 17, will air live on TNT and ESPN Radio
beginning at 8 p.m. EST.

The Timberwolves are being cool. The Celtics are playing in Minnesota Friday
night, but Kevin Garnett is almost definitely still out injured and not able to
play. So the Wolves, just for the heck of it, are hooking attending fans up with
a free ticket for a future game. Here’s the press release:
In response to the likelihood of former Timberwolves player Kevin Garnett not
being able to participate in tomorrow night’s game between Minnesota and
Boston, the Timberwolves announced today that all fans in attendance will
receive a voucher redeemable for one ticket to an upcoming Wolves game. The
gesture is in recognition of the special circumstance of Garnett’s return
to Minnesota, the fan sentiment surrounding this game and also serves as a thank
you to loyal Wolves fans in attendance.
“While injuries are a part of the game and there is never a guarantee
that any player will be in uniform, we recognize that this is a very special
circumstance and share our fans’ disappointment at the prospect of Kevin
not being able to participate,” Timberwolves President Chris Wright said.
“Just as we know our fans are eager to thank Kevin for his immense
contributions to this team and this community, we want to thank the fans for
their continued loyalty to our franchise.”
Ticket vouchers will be distributed to all fans as they enter Target Center for
tomorrow’s game. The vouchers are redeemable for one ticket to one of the
following Wolves home games: Sunday, Feb. 10 vs. Toronto, Tuesday, Feb. 19 vs.
Philadelphia, or Tuesday, Feb. 26 vs. Utah.