Day: April 18, 2012

NBPA committee cancels internal audit

In a pushback against National Basketball Players Association president Derek Fisher, union executive director Billy Hunter convinced members of the NBPA’s executive committee to kill an independent audit of the union’s finances and practices, Yahoo! Sports has learned.

Hunter had his legal team send a brief memo to players Tuesday night, telling them the audit voted upon on Friday by the executive committee had been cancelled. The memo was obtained by Yahoo! Sports.

Fisher had pushed for an internal audit of Hunter’s New York offices, and gathered the necessary votes on a conference call Friday to proceed with the inquiry, sources said.

— Reported by Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports

Celtics almost traded Ray Allen to Grizzlies last month

ray allen

As the NBA trade deadline lurched into its final hour a month ago, league sources say the call Ray Allen long feared had come: Boston Celtics coach Doc Rivers was on the line, telling him he had been traded. Allen had been sent to the Memphis Grizzlies for a package including O.J. Mayo and a draft pick, and the Celtics’ Big Three had come to a most brusque ending.

For 20 minutes or so, Allen had to process the information. They traded me to Memphis? And yet, as the disappointment dissolved to anger, Rivers returned with a messenger’s nightmare: Never mind. The deal fell apart. Take a deep breath and let’s go back to work again.

Before the Big Three could make it past the trade deadline, Allen-to-the-Grizzlies had to fall apart and discussions on a deal that would have sent Paul Pierce to the New Jersey Nets for an expiring Mehmet Okur contract and a lottery pick never reached completion, league sources said. Celtics general manager Danny Ainge loves the talent in the 2012 NBA draft, but he still gets one more run, one more chance with this group in the Eastern Conference playoffs.

— Reported by Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports

Ray Allen attributes his ankle problems to having big calves

Ray Allen

Ray Allen has missed more than 10 games this season due to right and left ankle injuries. As the Boston Celtics look ahead to their playoff push, health is of the utmost importance to the 16-year veteran guard.

In order to maintain his ankles, Allen, who has sat out the past four games with a sore right ankle, is paying extra attention to another part of his body: his calves.

He attributes some of his ankle problems over the years to his over-sized muscles. Allen underwent double ankle surgery in 2007.

“I’ve been told that I have huge calf muscles my whole life,” Allen, 36, said earlier this month. “But they’re always like the bane of my pain, of my existence, because I always feel tightness in there. When they do get tight, it keeps my ankles from moving.”

— Reported by Jessica Camerato of CSNNE

Spurs rout Lakers, improve spot atop West

tony parker

While last week’s blowout loss to the Lakers still stings the San Antonio Spurs, they found a way to feel better while moving into prime position to win the West.

Tony Parker had 29 points and 13 assists, Tim Duncan had 19 points and eight rebounds, and the Spurs handed Los Angeles its worst loss of the season, 112-91 on Tuesday night.

Just six days after the Kobe Bryant-less Lakers jumped to a 26-point lead during a comfortable victory at San Antonio, the Spurs answered by scoring 18 consecutive points during an impressive second-quarter spree. The Spurs snapped Los Angeles’ four-game winning streak while dominating a meeting of division leaders – albeit with Bryant sitting out his sixth straight game to rest his bruised shin…

Manu Ginobili scored 15 points as the Spurs (44-16) improved their position atop the Western Conference with their fourth straight win, moving a half-game clear of Oklahoma City (44-17) for the No. 1 playoff seed. Popovich didn’t sit his stars in the second game of a three-in-three-nights stretch, with Duncan playing 35 minutes and Parker 30…

Andrew Bynum had 21 points and seven rebounds for the Lakers, whose Pacific Division lead over the Clippers dwindled to a half-game, although the Lakers hold the tiebreaker. Matt Barnes and Pau Gasol scored 16 points apiece, but with Bryant watching from the bench in a sharp suit, Los Angeles couldn’t match the depth of the Spurs, who got at least four points from 10 players.

— Reported by Greg Beacham of the Associated Press

Melo has triple-double, Knicks rout Celtics

carmelo anthony

As the Celtics staggered to the locker room after getting hit by an NBA record-tying 3-point assault, the halftime musical selection perfectly summed up how they must have felt.

It was ”You Dropped a Bomb on Me” – and Carmelo Anthony and two sharpshooting subs sure did.

Anthony had 35 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists for his second career triple-double, and the New York Knicks made 19 3-pointers to keep alive their Atlantic Division title hopes with a 118-110 victory over Boston on Tuesday night.

JR Smith and Steve Novak both scored 25 points for the Knicks, who overcame a season-high 43 points from Paul Pierce and moved into sole possession of seventh place in the Eastern Conference while trimming Boston’s division lead to 3 1/2 games.

Novak hit eight 3s in the highest-scoring game of his career. Smith made all seven of his 3s in the first half, equaling a team record.

”Our bench was great tonight,” Anthony said. ”Novak and JR, them guys combined for 50 points off the bench. When they get hot like that, it’s hard to deal with.”

— Reported by Brian Mahoney of the Associated Press