Wake Forest Athletics
Wednesday Morning Basketball Report
1/28/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan. 28, 2009
This is the first Wednesday Morning Basketball Report of the 2008-09 season, which will recap all of the action of the former Demon Deacon basketball players now competing in the National Basketball Association.
With last Thursday's announcement of the NBA All-Star starting lineups, Wake Forest became the only school in the nation to claim two starters in the 58th NBA All-Star Game on Sunday, Feb. 15, at 8 p.m. ET in Phoenix. Former Wake Forest standouts Tim Duncan and Chris Paul will be among the starting five for the Western Conference.
Duncan garnered the most votes of any forward in the Western Conference by nearly 177 percent. The worldwide vote for Duncan totaled 2,578,168, while Amar'e Stoudemire's count was second with 1,460,429. Duncan is making his 11th All-Star Game appearance after being taken first overall in the 1997 NBA Draft by the San Antonio Spurs.
Paul also eclipsed the 2-million mark with 2,134,798 votes, second only to Kobe Bryant's 2,805,397 in the guard totals. This will be Paul's second consecutive All-Star appearance.
In addition to the All-Star accolades, all four former Deacons playing in the NBA are making an impact this season.
Duncan averages 20.5 points and 10.3 rebounds per game with the Spurs.
Last week, he concluded a streak of seven straight double-doubles, dating back to Jan. 11. In a 30-point performance against the New Jersey Nets on Jan. 23, Duncan went 13-of-21 from the floor and 4-of-4 from the line. He finished with 15 rebounds, five assists and four blocks, in the Spurs' 94-91 victory.
In last night's five-point victory over the Utah Jazz, Duncan recorded 24 points, nine rebounds and eight assists. He led the Spurs in all three categories (Tony Parker also had 24 points).
The Spurs currently are atop the Southwest Division with a 30-14 record. San Antonio's next contest is Thursday against the Phoenix Suns at 10:30 p.m. ET. The game will be televised on TNT.
Following San Antonio's win, Paul and the New Orleans Hornets now trail Duncan and the Spurs by 1.5 games.
Paul leads all NBA players in assists (11.1 assists per game) and steals (2.78 steals per game), while averaging 21.3 points per game. Earlier in the season, Paul broke the all-time NBA record with 108 consecutive regular-season games with at least one steal. The previous record of 106 consecutive games with a steal, set by Alvin Robertson, had stood for 22 years.
In New Orleans' win over the Philadelphia 76ers on Monday night, Paul recorded a triple-double for the second time this month and the league-leading fifth time this season. He scored 27 points, grabbed 10 rebounds, recorded 15 assists and swiped seven steals, going 7-of-13 from the field and a perfect 12-of-12 from the free throw line.
New Orleans' next action is at home against the Denver Nuggets tonight at 8 p.m. ET.
For the Dallas Mavericks, Josh Howard has averaged 17.8 points this season along with 5.0 rebounds per game despite being sidelined for 17 games with wrist and ankle injuries.
Howard bounced back to the starting lineup on Jan. 19 with a 10-point, eight-rebound performance against the 76ers. Over the next three games on the road, Howard finished with 19, 22 and 18 points.
The Mavs will host the Golden State Warriors tonight at 9 p.m. ET on ESPN, immediately following the Wake Forest and Duke matchup.
The final former Deacon currently playing in the NBA is Washington Wizards' Darius Songaila. Songaila has seen action in 43 of the Wizards' 44 games, in which he averages 17.4 minutes of playing time, 5.9 points and 2.6 rebounds per game. In recent action at Portland, Songaila finished with eight points and two rebounds on Jan. 24.
The Wizards travel to Miami for a 7:30 p.m. ET game against the Heat tonight.
Check in every Wednesday morning for weekly updates and information on Duncan, Howard, Paul and Songaila.
