May 2010 – Page 4 – NBA Blog – NBA Basketball Blog

Game 3: Stoudemire scores 42, Suns beat Lakers

The AP reports:

Amar’e Stoudemire matched his career playoff high with 42 points, 29 in the second half, and grabbed 11 rebounds to power the Phoenix Suns to a 118-109 victory Sunday night that cut the Los Angeles Lakers’ lead in the series to 2-1…

Robin Lopez, whose 7-foot presence gave the Suns some much-needed toughness inside, scored 20 on 8-of-10 shooting in 31 minutes, by far his most playing time since returning from a back injury at the start of the series. Phoenix made 37-of-42 free throws, 14 of 18 by Stoudemire. The Lakers were 16 of 20 at the line…

Kevin Ding of the Orange County Register reports (via blog):

The Lakers’ primary area of dominance — the paint — was muted by Phoenix’s zone. The points in the paint were 44 for the Lakers and 40 for the Suns. The Lakers took 32 3-point shots — a franchise playoff record — and made just nine (28 percent).

The Lakers tied the franchise playoff record by taking 31 3-point shots in their April 22 loss at Oklahoma City. They made 10 3-pointers that game (32 percent). The Lakers are 0-3 in the three playoff games in which they took 31 3-point shots, and now they’ve lost shooting 32 also.

Also hurting the Lakers’ cause inside was early foul trouble first for Andrew Bynum and then for Lamar Odom. Neither one wound up sustaining an effort, with Odom fouling out after making a series of poor decisions in the fourth quarter. He appeared bothered by a sore right side after driving into traffic in the first half and not getting a foul call.

InsideHoops.com notes:

Both teams shot a similar field goal percentage, and both were off from three-point range, though the Lakers tossed up way more from outside. The shooting stat that matters most is the free throw category: Suns 37-of-42, Lakers 16-of-20. Isn’t homecourt fun sometimes? Also, the Lakers committed 17 turnovers; the Suns just seven.

Steve Nash had 17 points and 15 assists. He brought it.

Ron Artest and Lamar Odom tossed up bricks, including lots of bad misses from three-point range.

Obama thinks LeBron fits with Bulls

The AP reports:

If LeBron James isn’t sure he can win in Cleveland, President Barack Obama thinks there’s an opportunity with his hometown Chicago Bulls.

“You know, like I said, I don’t want to meddle,” Obama told TNT. “I will say this: (Derrick) Rose, Joakim Noah it’s a pretty good core. You know, you could see LeBron fitting in pretty well there.” …

“I think that the most important thing for LeBron right now is actually to find a structure where he’s got a coach that he respects and is working hard with teammates who care about him and if that’s in Cleveland, then he should stay in Cleveland,” Obama said. “If he doesn’t feel like he can get it there, then someplace else.”

Magic are all shook up

Brian Schmitz of the Orlando Sentinel reports:

Coach Stan Van Gundy said players “were down” on Sunday when they started reviewing Game 3 videotape, conceding they are “a little shaken.

“It didn’t start great in the film session. Guys were down, but as it went along, they were fine,” he said. “Our guys haven’t been in this situation in a long time … to be beaten like that. We took a lot of losses in the playoffs last year. But other than Game 1 in L.A. (against the Lakers in the NBA Finals), we hadn’t been beaten like this.

“They don’t have a lot of experience with this. Our guys are a little shaken.”

The Magic unraveled in the first quarter when shots didn’t drop. Turnovers mounted and players decided to go one-on-one instead of patiently making the extra pass. The mass frustration spilled over to the defensive end.

Game 3: Celtics dominate Magic yet again

The AP reports:

Paul Pierce helped the Celtics open a 16-point, first-quarter lead, then watched as Rajon Rondo and Glen “Big Baby” Davis helped Boston coast to a 94-71 victory over the Orlando Magic and take a 3-0 lead in the best-of-seven Eastern Conference finals…

Pierce had 15 points and nine rebounds, Ray Allen scored 14 and Garnett added 10 points in just 24 minutes. But this time it wasn’t the Celtics’ aging all-stars that did the damage—it was the two youngest players on the roster, Davis and Rondo, who were born in 1986, the year that Larry Bird and the original Big Three won the last of their three NBA titles.

Davis scored 17 points, and Rondo added 11 points and 12 assists, and they also gave the team energy and defense that the Magic couldn’t match, diving to the floor for loose balls and getting the crowd going with spectacular plays…

One game after scoring 30 points, Dwight Howard had just seven and seven rebounds. Rashard Lewis was also disappointing, scoring four points on 2-for-8 shooting, missing all four 3-point attempts. Vince Carter and Jameer Nelson had 15 points apiece…

Pierce had eight points and five rebounds in the first quarter, when the Celtics scored the first seven points and then added a 14-0 run to open a 21-6 lead.

NBA fines Mark Cuban, Steve Kerr for violating anti-tampering rules

Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban has been fined $100,000 for public comments made in violation of the NBA’s anti-tampering rules, it was announced today by Joel Litvin, NBA President of League and Basketball Operations. Cuban’s comments were made during an online interview that ran on May 18.

Phoenix Suns President of Basketball Operations Steve Kerr has been fined $10,000, also for public comments made in violation of the anti-tampering rules. Kerr’s comments were made on a radio show on May 14.

L.A. D-Fenders (D-League) will take one-year hiatus

Mike Bresnahan of the Los Angeles Times reports:

The Lakers’ minor league affiliate, the Los Angeles D-Fenders, will take a one-year hiatus and will no longer use Staples Center as its home base, The Times has learned.

Lakers owner Jerry Buss will retain ownership of the D-Fenders, who are expected to reemerge at a different Southern California venue for the 2011-12 season.

Buss bought the team in July 2006 to try to create a legitimate feeder team for the Lakers, but the D-Fenders generated no revenue from ticket sales because the only people allowed to attend their home games were those who bought tickets to Lakers home games.

D-Fenders games at Staples Center typically started four hours before a Lakers game, often in front of crowds of fewer than 100 people, though Lakers General Manager Mitch Kupchak often was among the spectators.

Ron Artest cannot explain shooting improvement

Lisa Dillman of the Los Angeles Times reports:

Ron Artest managed to hit three three-point attempts in Game 2 and was six for nine from the field in scoring 18 points, a slight uptick from his Game 1 performance of 14 points.

There is, apparently, no explanation for his enhanced shooting.

“I’m not sure. I have no clue. I really don’t. I really don’t,” Artest said. “. . . All I do is shoot it. . . . I don’t know what it’s doing.”

More shooting practice in the gym?

“I don’t know,” he said. “I shoot a lot every day. When I was going 0 for 10 or whenever that was, I was in here shooting.”

Back to his comfort level with the triangle offense: Artest managed to get off a good line about his teammates.

“There are still guys that don’t know the triangle and they’ve been here longer than me,” he said, looking amused.

Wife gives Channing Frye pep talk

The Arizona Republic reports:

The pep talk came on the flight back from Los Angeles, and it set Channing Frye straight.

“I got an earful on the plane from my wife, man, but it was all positive,” the Suns’ center said Friday. “She’s like, ‘Just think about how far you’ve come and have some fun. . . . This is not you. This is not who you are. You’re supposed to be this and that. You’re showing everybody else wrong. Imagine if our kid was here now. How would you want him to act?’ “

That made Frye, whose wife is expecting their first child in October, realize he’s making mountains out of molehills. Through two games of the Western Conference finals, this has not been his series. A consistent long-rang shooter throughout the regular season, Frye has made just 1 of 13 against the Lakers. He played only 8 minutes, 39 seconds in Game 2, a season low.

Wife of Yao Ming gives birth to girl

Reuters reports:

Houston Rockets center Yao Ming and his wife Ye Li, a former basketball player with the Chinese national team, celebrated the birth of their first child on Friday.

“We are happy to announce the arrival of our daughter,” seven-times NBA All-Star Yao, China’s most popular sportsman, said in a statement. “This is a very special moment in our lives. We thank everyone for their support.”

Marc Spears of Yahoo reports:

Houston Rockets center Yao Ming and his wife, Ye Li, are now the parents of a baby girl born in Houston on Friday. The baby, whose name was not released, weighs seven pounds and nine ounces.

Both Ye Li and the baby are in good health. The girl is the couple’s first child.

Silver Stars sign Chamique Holdsclaw

The San Antonio Silver Stars today announced the signing of veteran forward Chamique Holdsclaw. Per team policy, terms of the contract were not disclosed.

In order to make room on the 11-woman roster for Holdsclaw, the Silver Stars waived guard Belinda Snell.

Holdsclaw signed with the Dream in April 2009 after the team acquired her rights from the Los Angeles Sparks. The 10-year WNBA veteran requested a trade from the Atlanta Dream prior to the start of 2010 training camp and did not report to the team; she was released from Atlanta on May 19, 2010.

“We are thrilled to have Chamique join the Silver Stars family,” said Silver Stars General Manager Dan Hughes. “Chamique and our staff felt it was such a great fit. We are excited to get to work with Chamique in a Silver Stars uniform.”

Holdsclaw originally was selected first overall by the Washington Mystics in the 1999 WNBA Draft. In her 10 seasons in the WNBA, Holdsclaw has tallied career averages of 17.3 points, 7.9 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 1.3 steals per game.

The 6-foot-2 forward was recognized as the 1999 WNBA Rookie of the Year in addition to being named a starter in the league’s inaugural All-Star Game. She spent six seasons in Washington and earned four All-Star Game selections (1999-2002) during her time with the Mystics. Her most productive season came in 2003 as she averaged a career-high 20.5 points, 10.9 rebounds and 3.3 assists per game.

Prior to the start of the 2005 season, Holdsclaw was traded to the Los Angeles Sparks in exchange for DeLisha Milton-Jones and the 13th overall pick in the 2005 WNBA Draft. Holdsclaw’s tally of 17.0 points per game in 2005 ranked her third in the league. She was voted into the WNBA All-Star game for the sixth time in her career and reached two career milestones: 6,000 minutes and 3,000 career points. In 2006, Holdsclaw was named a WNBA All-Decade Honorable.

After playing in five games with the Sparks in 2007, Holdsclaw announced her retirement from the league but continued to play overseas for TS Wisla Can-Pak Krakow (Poland).

On Dec. 17, 2008, the Dream acquired the rights to Holdsclaw from the Sparks in exchange for the no. 13 pick in the 2009 WNBA Draft. She tallied averages of 13.9 points, 4.4 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 1.4 steals per game with the Dream last season before missing the last nine games of regular season play and Atlanta’s first playoffs appearance after undergoing successful arthroscopic knee surgery.

Prior to being drafted into the WNBA, Holdsclaw completed an illustrious collegiate career at Tennessee that included being named a four-time Kodak All-American. She collected 3,025 career points and 1,295 career rebounds which made her the all-time leading scorer and rebounder in Tennessee history among both men and women. Additionally, her points and rebounds tallies ranked her first all-time in SEC women’s history and also first in the history of the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament. She won the Naismith Player of the Year trophy twice (1998, 1999) and was named the Naismith Player of the Century for the 1990s as she helped lead the Lady Vols to a 134-17 record during her time at Tennessee.

Snell has tallied career averages of 4.2 points, 1.7 rebounds and 1.1 assists per game in 112 games played. She signed with the Silver Stars as a free agent on March 30, 2009 and recorded a career-high 6.2 points per game and a career-high 2.3 rebounds per game in her first season in San Antonio. Snell re-signed with San Antonio on April 28, 2010, after reaching the FIBA Euroleague Women finals and winning the F.E.B. title with Ros Casares (Valencia, Spain).

“Belinda was a wonderful member of the Silver Stars and we want to thank her and wish her the best in the future,” said Hughes.