Month: May 2009

Ron Artest ejected after elbows with Kobe Bryant

The Houston Rockets are visting the Los Angeles Lakers for Game 2 of their second round series. Late in the third quarter, Luis Scola and a few Lakers got into it, and Derek Fisher was ejected after slamming into Scola with 13 seconds left.

In the fourth quarter, Kobe Bryant was trying to box Ron Artest out. Artest had his left hand resting on the back of Bryant’s neck, though it didn’t look like anything dirty. As the jostling continued, it was Artest’s upper arm doing it. As Bryant went up for the rebound, Kobe’s right elbow went up into Artest’s neck area. Not sure if it actually hit his neck or not, but it was definitely a high elbow.

A foul was called on Artest, and a furious Ron went right over to jaw in Kobe’s face.

Artest was moved away by referee Joe Crawford, but after a few more seconds of yelling and waving his elbow to show what he was mad about, Artest was ejected.

If any foul should have been called on Artest, it should have been for what I described above. Instead, Bryant elbowed Artest, and that’s when the foul was called on Ron.

As for the ejection, I don’t think Artest needed to be thrown out. A technical foul would have been enough.

Derek Fisher elbows Luis Scola, is ejected

derek fisher elbows luis scola and is ejected

The Houston Rockets are visting the Los Angeles Lakers for Game 2 of their second round series. And things got touchy late in the third quarter, with hostility exchanged between Rockets forward Luis Scola and several Lakers.

With 13.2 seconds left in the third, Derek Fisher set a screen against Scola, but in the process of doing so, slammed into Scola and elbowing him hard.

Referees watched the replay and gave Fisher a flagrant-2 foul, which results in an ejection.

Fisher clearly deserved to be tossed. And don’t be surprised if he’s suspended for Game 3.

Rondo, House shine, Celtics beat Magic 112-94

The AP reports: Rajon Rondo took the pass from Eddie House and bolted for the basket, cutting between 6-foot-11 Dwight Howard and 6-10 Rashard Lewis for a thunderous dunk. In a crucial game for the Boston Celtics, the little guys came up big. Rondo had 15 points, 18 assists and 11 rebounds for his third triple-double of the playoffs, and House scored a career playoff high-shattering 31 points on Wednesday night to lead Boston to a 112-94 victory over the Orlando Magic in Game 2 that evened the Eastern Conference semifinals… Howard had 12 points and 12 rebounds and Lewis had 17 points and 10 rebounds for the Magic, who stole Game 1 on Monday night despite blowing almost all of a 28-point lead. Orlando never led Wednesday night, trailing by 15 at halftime and by as many as 26 in the second… Rondo had 12 assists without a turnover at halftime and finished one assist short of his career high… Ray Allen scored 22 points for the defending NBA champions, who will have at least one more home game.

Rafer Alston pimp-slaps Eddie House

Rafer Alston pimp-slaps Eddie House

Wednesday night in Boston, the Celtics hosted the Orlando Magic in Game 2 of their second round series.

In one sequence, Celtics guard Eddie House hit a deep jumper from the right corner, and seconds later, Magic point guard Rafer Alston slapped House in the back of the head as Eddie was running back down the floor.

After the game, Alston said that House had utilized an elbow, and that’s what made Alston react the way he did.

I have not seen a clear replay that showed ill-manner use of an elbow, but I will say that Alston should be fined, but probably not suspended.

If it was more of a hard hit with more direct force then I’d say a suspension for one game would be in order. But, it wasn’t.

Dave Bing wins Detroit Mayor race

The AP reports: Basketball legend Dave Bing was elected Tuesday as Detroit’s mayor through the end of the year, sweeping the incumbent from office in the city with myriad problems. “The real work starts now,” Bing said to loud cheers during his victory speech. “What we will bring … is efficiency, transparency, honesty and integrity back to the mayor’s office,” he said. With 100 percent of precincts reporting, Bing had 52.3 percent of the vote, or 49,054 votes, to 47.7 percent, or 44,770 votes, for Cockrel. Both are Democrats.

Sasha Pavlovic has broken nose

The Cleveland Plain Dealer (Mary Schmitt Boyer) reports: Cleveland Cavaliers guard Sasha Pavlovic, who had seven points and three rebounds in his first extended minutes in this post-season, suffered a broken nose in Tuesday night’s 99-72 victory over the Atlanta Hawks in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinals at The Q.

The Plain Dealer report says he’ll keep playing, with a protective mask.

Spurs vs Thunder in preseason

The Oklahoma City Thunder announced today that they will host the San Antonio Spurs in an exhibition game at Austin, Texas, on October 20th at 7:30 PM.

The game, which will be played at the Frank Erwin Center, marks the first time Thunder forward Kevin Durant will play a game on the campus of the University of Texas since February 28, 2007. Durant spent one season with the Longhorns, earning consensus Player of the Year honors, before being drafted in the first round of the 2007 NBA Draft (second overall) by the Oklahoma City Franchise.

The University of Texas retired Durant’s #35 jersey this past February in a special halftime ceremony during its contest with Texas A&M.

Nuggets take Game 2, beat Mavericks 117-105

The AP reports: Denver didn’t trail again after J.R. Smith’s bucket, which sparked the Nuggets’ 117-105 rout Tuesday night that gave them a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven series that shifts to Dallas this weekend… Carmelo Anthony scored 15 of his 25 points in the fourth quarter, including 10 in a 16-2 spurt the Nuggets used to start the quarter and break open a close game… “I thought we were right there again like we were the other night and just things with this team can get out of hand quickly,” said Dirk Nowitzki(notes), who scored 35 points… Nene scored 25, Smith had 21 and Billups 18 for the Nuggets, who won for the 15th straight time at the Pepsi Center, where they haven’t lost since March 11.

Cavaliers Rock Hawks 99-72 in Game 1

The AP reports: LeBron James dunked the first time he touched the ball and scored 34 points—22 in the first half—as the Cavaliers, who waited nine days between playoff games after a first-round sweep, shook off some early rust and pulled away for a 99-72 win over the Hawks in their Eastern Conference semifinal opener on Tuesday. Showing why he was voted the league’s best player in a landslide, James added 10 rebounds, three assists and four steals as the top-seeded Cavs won their fifth straight lopsided game in a postseason that has so far mirrored the best regular season in franchise history… Maurice Williams added 21 points for Cleveland, which became the first team since the 2004 Detroit Pistons to win each of its five playoff games by double figures. With the Cavs up by 21, James was pulled with 4:29 left—extra down time before Game 2 on Thursday night at Quicken Loans Arena, where the Cavaliers are 42-2. Josh Smith scored 22 and Mike Bibby 19 for the Hawks, who needed seven games to get past Miami and are playing in the second round for the first time in 10 years. They weren’t happy with their start in this series, going 9-for-30 and scoring just 28 points after halftime.

Rockets outmuscle Lakers 100-92 in series opener

The AP reports: Although the Rockets absorbed some hits and shed the most blood, they outmuscled the Los Angeles Lakers 100-92 in Game 1 of the Western Conference semifinals on Monday night. Yao had 28 points and 10 rebounds, Ron Artest added 21 points and Aaron Brooks had 19 for the Rockets, who are in the second round for the first time since 1997… Bryant, who finished a distant second to LeBron James in NBA MVP voting announced earlier Monday, scored 32 points, doing his best to keep the Lakers in the game despite missing practice on Sunday with a sore throat. He scored 22 of the Lakers’ final 42 points.

Live fan discussion of this game took place in this forum topic.