The Nets go into Detroit with nine healthy players, including one All-Star (Deron Williams) and one small forward (Shawne Williams). They're hoping to avoid their fifth straight loss and 20th loss for the season. After beating the Pistons by three points with eight players last week, they lost by seven with 10 players on Wednesday.

In Wednesday's game, they lost Keith Bogans, almost certainly for the season, to both a broken ankle and a complete tear of a deltoid ligament. The Nets will wait till Monday's surgery before officially announcing if there's any chance of recovery this season. The Nets are unlikely to add anyone between now and then because they'd first have to cut a player.

The Pistons, on the other hand, are trying for their fourth straight under Lawrence Frank. Detroit is actually getting healthier with only Charlie Villanueva definitely out. Will Bynum is questionable. Two of the Pistons' young players, Greg Monroe and Brandon Knight will join Marshon Brooks in the Rookie-Sophomore Challenge in Orlando.

• New Jersey Nets Game Notes - New Jersey Nets
• Detroit Pistons Game Notes - Detroit Pistons
• Getting Inside - New Jersey Nets - Sports Xchange
• Getting Inside - Detroit Pistons - Sports Xchange
• Nets-Pistons Preview - Santosh Venkataraman - Stats LLC
• Nets’ Bogans out for season - Fred Kerber - New York Post
• Injury bug attacks Bogans; Deron Williams named an All-Star - Stefan Bondy - New York Daily News
• Pistons plan to stick with what's working - Vincent Goodwill - Detroit News
• Pistons' points surge, 3-game win streak go hand in hand - Vince Ellis - Detroit Free Press
  

Deron Williams is among the seven Eastern Conference All-Star reserves announced by the NBA on Thursday night. It will be Williams' third (and third straight) All-Star appearance, and his first as a member of the East.

"I am very honored to be selected to this year’s All-Star game," Williams tweeted. "I would like to thank all of the coaches in the Eastern Conference."

He was the only player from a sub-.500 team selected to the East All-Stars.

It's the Nets' 20th All-Star selection since they came to the NBA and their first since Devin Harris in 2009. (Full list after the jump.)

Joining Williams on the list of East reserves is Chris Bosh, Luol Deng, Roy Hibbert, Andre Iguodala, Joe Johnson, and Paul Pierce. The East starters are Derrick Rose, Dwyane Wade, LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony and Dwight Howard.

The All-Star Game will be played on Sunday, Feb.26 and televised on TNT.

• Pierce, Nowitzki headline reserves for 2012 All-Star Game - NBA.com
• All-Star 2012 Rosters - NBA.com
• Deron Williams Named to 2012 All-Star Team - New Jersey Nets
• Dirk, Pierce All-Stars; runs end for KG, Duncan - Brian Mahoney - AP
• Emphasis on winning gone with Williams' All-Star selection? - Steve Aschburner - NBA.com
• Nets’ Williams gets All-Star Nod - Fred Kerber - New York Post
  
• Williams becomes Nets' 12th NBA All-Star - Colin Stephenson - Star-Ledger
• Deron Williams, All-Star - Andy Vasquez - NJ Nets Nation
  
• Rapid Reaction: D-Will named All-Star - Mike Mazzeo - ESPN New York
• D-Will deserving of All-Star nod - Mike Mazzeo - ESPN New York

Continue reading this post »

Dennis Horner scored 24 points on 10-for-17 shooting and grabbed 11 boards, outplaying Sean Williams, as the Armor beat the Texas Legends, 114-98, in Springfield. Swat wound up with 17 points, nine rebounds and one block. He's the property of Mavericks, the Legends' parent club.

The Armor's three D-League all-stars combined for 53 points. JamesOn Curry, who had 21 of the 53, Jerry Smith and Jeff Foote, will play in the D-League classic on Saturday, February 25, at 2 p.m. The game will be on NBA TV.

Meanwhile in Istanbul, a future Net, Bojan Bogdanovic, scored 15 points for Fenerbahce who lost by 10 to Panathinaikos of Greece. Bogdanovic shot well from two (5-for-9) but was only 1-for-4 from three. He also handed out three assists.

• Near flawless offense leads Springfield Armor over Texas Legends - Jeff Thomas - Springfield Republican
• Game Report: Legends at Armor - D-League
  
• Boxscore - Euroleague
• Game Report - Panathinaikos vs. Fenerbahce Ulker - Euroleague
  

With the Grand Opening of Barclays Center scheduled for September 28, it looks like things will be a little tight. The latest report by engineering consultants for the arena bondholders is projecting a completion date of September 5, a little more than three weeks before the Jay-Z concert.

The next significant milestone in the construction timetable is installation of the arena scoreboard and video boards which is expected to start March 6 and the installation of ice rink systems starting 10 days later. Metal deck roofing is also expected to be completed the first two weeks of March. Meanwhile, the Empire State Development Corporation, which is working with Forest City Ratner on construction noted, "Yard construction hours have the potential to extend until 3:00 AM Monday through Friday".

• Barclays Center completion date pushed back a week - Norman Oder - Atlantic Yards Report
  

The Nets announced Thursday afternoon that Keith Bogans has "a complete tear of the deltoid ligament as well as a fractured left ankle" and will undergo surgery on Monday. His season is over.

Bogans injured the ankle near the end of the fourth quarter of Wednesday's loss to the Pistons, attempting to stop a Greg Monroe drive after Kris Humphries let Monroe go by him.

"My reaction," Avery Johnson said, "is it's really tough when we're screaming like 50 times, 'We don't want Monroe to go left. He's a left-handed player and he has two left hands.' We're screaming, 'We don't want him to go left,' but we still allow him to go left and dunk on us. And, as a result, Bogans gets tangled up inside and comes down wrong. It's just unfortunate that we didn't execute and defend somebody's individual strength, and Bogans gets hurt on the same play."

Bogans was signed just eight days ago, played in five games, and scored 21 points for the Nets.

• Keith Bogans Medical Update - New Jersey Nets
• Nets lose newcomer Bogans for season - Fred Kerber - New York Post Nets Blog
• Nets lose Keith Bogans to likely season-ending injury - Colin Stephenson - Star-Ledger
• Nets’ injury woes continue, Bogans done - Andy Vasquez - NJ Nets Nation
• Source: Bogans out for season, to have surgery - Mike Mazzeo - ESPN New York

While the Nets await word on whether Deron Willliams will be in Orlando at the end of the month for All-Star Weekend, three Armor players, including two who spent time in the Nets camp, have already gotten word they're heading south.

Nets camp invites Jerry Smith, D-League Player of the Week, and JamesOn Curry along with center Jeff Foote were named to the Eastern Conference team which will face off against the West on Saturday, Feb. 25. The game will be broadcast on NBA TV at 2 p.m. ET.

The Armor is one of two teams with three players headed to Orlando. The other is the Los Angeles D-Fenders, the Lakers affiliate. The Nets run basketball operations in Springfield.

The selection of Smith, Curry and Foote are the latest indications of the success the Nets have had with the Armor. The Springfield team is enjoying its first winning season; Dennis Horner filled in at the beginning of the season and Jordan Williams played much better for the Nets after a short stint with the Armor.

• Three Armor Players Selected to 2012 NBA D-League All-Star Game - Springfield Armor
• Jerry Smith, JamesOn Curry, Jeff Foote selected for All-Star Game from Armor - Jeff Thomas - Springfield Republican
  

The NBA on Wednesday awarded the 2013 All-Star Game to the Houston Rockets. The mid-season classic will be Sunday, Feb. 17, 2013 at the Toyota Center, which will also host the NBA Rising Stars Challenge and NBA All-Star Saturday Night, which includes the dunk and three-point shooting contest and skills challenge.

So who gets the 2014 game ... and accompanying weekend? Since the NBA often rewards teams and cities that have made big financial commitments to new arenas, word is that Barclays Center and the renovated Madison Square Garden will be at the top of the list.

"We are in the big event business, and the All-Star Game certainly would be classified as a big event," Brett Yormark recently told Big Lead Sports. "Our goal is to be aggressive to host every big event that we can."

But a league source reports that New York may have already told the NBA it cannot support the All-Star game. It would come only two weeks after the 2014 Super Bowl, which will be held in MetLife Stadium.

• Houston Gets 2013 NBA All-Star Game; Will Brooklyn Or Madison Square Garden Be Next? - Barry Janoff - Big Lead Sports
  

This may not be the best time to talk about the future, with the present so ugly, but Thursday the Nets will introduce ""The Vault at Barclays Center,", the 11 Jay-Z designed party suites that will retail for $550,000 a year. Previously known as the "Event-Level Suites", they will be courtside and the place where they hope the "who's who of New York" would congregate.

It's all part of the Nets' increasing promotion of Jay-Z's role with arena and team. Brett Yormark described his contributions to the Wall Street Journal, saying he's involved in the logo ("He's refreshed it"); designing new uniforms ("His fingerprints are all over it"); and coming up with a new color scheme ("A bold redirection"). The Journal reports the team plans to unveil all this spring.

• Jay-Z Determined to Make the Nets Stylish - Scott Cacciola - Wall Street Journal
• Suite life at B’klyn arena sure is sweet - Erin Durkin - New York Daily News
  
• A Sneak Peek Inside Barclays Center (Video) - Patch.com
  
• Barclays Center - The Vault - BarclaysCenter.com
• Jay-Z Won't Settle For Anything Less Than The Best Champagne And Forks - Deadspin