NBA Monday: Pacers move to 8-0 with win over Grizzlies

Sure, Kevin Love may have been a touch grumpy after the Wolves lost a tight one to the Clippers in Los Angeles, but he is still nobly combating a reporter epidemic: You can’t just say stuff to players in the locker room. If you want answers, you must ... you know, ask questions.

(via SI)

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And this one was a back-and-forth affair in the final frame.

Via @AnthonyBain

To be clear, Pondexter hasn’t exactly lit the earth ablaze with his shooting thus far this season. The fourth-year small forward has been, in a word, terrible. He’s shooting 31.3 percent from the arc and 31 percent from the floor, but he’s at least been a threat for the shooting-starved Grizzlies.

Pondexter recently signed a new deal with Memphis worth $14 million, so expect the Grizzlies to take their time in making sure he’s ready to go. It’s too early to tell at this point how long the forward will be out.

So, there’s a reason rules against taunting are in the NBA: some people out there are offended by the idea of highly paid athletes acting really happy that they did something really incredible against other highly paid athletes. Personally, I don’t have a problem with it, perhaps because of a childhood spent playing NBA Street Vol. 2.

But, um, is this taunting?

Bynum has played limited minutes this season after missing all of last season. He’s played in five of seven games, sitting out the second game of back-to-backs. The Cavs have been content to ease him back into playing, bringing him off the bench and managing his minutes. Coming off a few days of rest, Bynum will now enter the starting lineup, although his minutes are likely to remain limited.

Bynum’s return to the starting lineup comes a few days after he said he was a “shell of myself right now on the court” and admitted he’d previously considered retiring.

According to Gardner, Sanders suffered the injury in an off-court incident. Sanders was allegedly involved in a bar fight in which one man was reportedly hit with a champagne bottle. No charges were filed for the incident. Sanders missed practice with a swollen thumb on Nov. 5, but was initially considered day-to-day. He was listed as doubtful to play on Saturday and ended up missing his second straight game.

Sanders was still listed as day-to-day on Monday, before reportedly undergoing surgery. Coming off an excellent year, Sanders struggled in the first three games of the season, averaging 2.7 points, 3.7 rebounds and 2.0 blocks.