Wake Forest Athletics
Wednesday Morning Basketball Report
11/18/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Nov. 18, 2009
It was an injury-plagued week for the former Demon Deacons playing in the National Basketball Association. Chris Paul, Josh Howard and Tim Duncan all missed time due to injuries since last Wednesday.
Paul of the New Orleans Hornets was injured in Friday night's loss to the Portland Trail Blazers. Paul suffered a severe ankle sprain in what has been a tough week for the New Orleans Hornets. He is out indefinitely but he could be back in three to four weeks. At the time of his injury, Paul was averaging 23.8 points, 9.2 assists and 1.7 steals this year and boasted a league-leading 65.6 three-point percentage.
Howard also will be sidelined indefinitely in order to give his left ankle some more post-surgery healing time. To-date this season, Howard has appeared in three games and averaged 12.7 points and 3.7 boards for the Dallas Mavericks.
San Antonio's Tim Duncan indicated that his ankle is still bothering him but he returned to action in the Spurs' loss to the Thunder on Saturday, after missing more than a week. Notching another double-double, Duncan was 9-of-14 shooting for 22 points and grabbed 10 rebounds. He added three assists and two blocks in the contest.
For the Hornets, Darius Songaila has contributed off the bench this week. He had eight points, one block and a rebound in 18 minutes of action last Wednesday night at Phoenix. After being held to no points on Nov. 13, Songaila answered with back-to-back perfect shooting performances. He went a combined 7-of-7 against the Hawks and Clippers, totaling 14 points, five rebounds, three steals and a block in the two games.
Jeff Teague has played a total of 27 minutes over the Atlanta Hawks' past four games. In the win against the Hornets on Nov. 14, Teague played 15 minutes, shooting 2-of-7 for four points. He added one assist, one rebound and a steal in the Hawks' 121-98 victory. On Monday night against Portland, Teague had two points, two rebounds and a steal in only five minutes of action. The Hawks are 5-0 in the last five games in which Teague has seen action, including Monday night's 99-95 win over the Blazers.
James Johnson played in three Chicago Bulls' matchups this week. His strongest performance was last night, when he came in for six minutes and totaled five points, two rebounds and a block in the victory against Sacramento. Earlier in the week, Johnson also had four points and a rebound at Toronto.
Check back to WakeForestSports.com each week for updates on how the six former Wake Forest student-athletes are faring in the NBA.
