Kevin's jersey number - #21 - was chosen because Malik wore #21 at St. John's University.

Garnett hasn't said much about Malik's death, and friends and family hope that the tragedy doesn't have long-lasting negative effects on Kevin as a person and a player.

Arvydas Sabonis had some funny comments when asked about his constant foul troubles when guarding Shaquille O'Neal: "I was standing too close to (Shaquille) O'Neal," he explained. "Apparently there are people who are forbidden from standing close to him."

Tim Duncan's knee injury will make an Olympics appearance a close call. It may be in his best interest to skip the games and take it easy.

Despite popular opinion - that the Heat need to make a change - any change - to put them over the top (of the Knicks, at least), Pat Riley insists that the day the Heat scrap their team and begin rebuilding, he'll be out of Miami.

The Michael Jordan Restaurant in Chicago is bankrupt.

Jalen Rose stated this after the Knicks won game 4 to tie the series: "We're not going to lose this series." If the Pacers do lose this series, Jalen has a tough decision to make. He can stick around with the old veterans that surround him, or head to greener pastures. Assuming the Pacers either get eliminated by the Knicks, or get crushed in the finals, what would you do if you were Jalen? And what if the Pacers did well in the finals, or even won it all?

With Ewing, the Knicks lose 2 games in Indiana. Without Ewing, the Knicks win both games in New York. Why are we pointing this out? Because it's fun to stir up the "Are the Knicks better without Ewing?" argument. Now, go call up your Knicks fan friends and yell at each other for a while.

InsideHoops.com rocks.

Knicks players who aren't the top scoring options stepped it up big time in Game 4. Larry Johnson made like Grandmama with 25 points (including a not-too-shabby 5 for 5 from 3-point range). Charlie Ward put up the type of stats that Mark Jackson (and every point guard Ward guards) used to put up against him: 16 points (4 of 6 from 3-point range), 7 assists, and 6 rebounds. And New York got a terrific boost from the 16 points, 5 rebounds, and 3 assists that Kurt Thomas came out of nowhere (due to lack of playoff minutes) to produce.

Latrell Sprewell scored 12 points, playing with a broken bone in his left foot.

Chris Dudley tied his career high (just kidding) with 0 points. But, he did produce 5 fouls.

On with the playoffs.

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