For the first time since his January injury, Kings veteran Garrett Temple went full speed in practice. The 30-year-old has been cautious with the injury, Jonathan Santiago of Kings.com writes, but finally found himself comfortable enough to return to the court.
“I’ve been out longer than I guess expected just because I know that I wanted to make sure that I got it all the way right,” Temple said this week before suiting up for the Kings in Sunday’s contest. “The setback I had last time was during the first day of practice. So after I got through my first day of practice yesterday without any other effects – a nice long two-hour practice – it helped my confidence.”
In 49 contests for the Kings this season, Temple had posted 7.7 points and 2.7 rebounds per game.
There’s more out of the Pacific Division:
- Thrust into a larger role ever since the Kings traded DeMarcus Cousins, Sacramento big man Skal Labissiere has run with the opportunity. Shahbaz Khan of Kings.com spoke with the rookie about his experience during the 2010 earthquake in Port-au-Prince, Haiti.
- Though he’ll turn 37 years old this week, Clippers guard Jamal Crawford would like to play three or four more seasons, K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune reports. Crawford is averaging 12.3 points per game in his 17th season.
- The Warriors will need to re-adapt to life without Kevin Durant but Zaza Pachulia has made an effort to come to terms with it, Steve Aschburner of NBA.com writes. “If I did something on purpose or even if I had flopped, that probably would have made me feel worse,” Pachulia said, “But it wasn’t even a flop. I got pulled. I fell. Nobody had control over it.“
- The lawyer of Matt Barnes requested a court date that doesn’t coincide with the NBA Finals, Rebecca Rosenberg of the New York Post writes. Barnes recently signed with the reigning two-time Western Conference champion Warriors.
- The return of Chris Paul has thrown the Clippers bench into disarray, writes Broderick Turner of the Los Angeles Times. With Paul back in the starting five, Austin Rivers has had to slide back into the second unit. “Things like this happen,” backup center Marreese Speights said, “But we still got time to get it right before the playoffs. We’ll be all right.”