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Baron Davis missed the Knicks’ game at New Jersey on Wednesday night because of a stomach virus and was replaced in the starting lineup by Mike Bibby.
Davis was feeling ill Tuesday and played only 18 minutes of the Knicks’ 118-110 victory over Boston. He has been the starter since Jeremy Lin was lost to knee surgery, despite battling a hamstring injury.
— Reported by the Associated Press
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Kyrie Irving wanted to finish his rookie season on the floor. Despite some worry, the Cleveland Cavaliers will let him do it.
The NBA’s presumptive rookie of the year returned to the starting lineup on Wednesday night against Philadelphia after missing nine straight games with a sprained right shoulder.
Irving, who hasn’t played since April 3 when he re-injured his shoulder against San Antonio, will play limited minutes.
Cavs coach Byron Scott said the team considered shutting Irving down for the final six games of the season, but decided to let him play after he was given a clean bill of health by trainer Max Benton and team physician Dr. Richard Parker.
— Reported by Tom Withers of the Associated Press
“Basketball Wives” star Jennifer Williams is filing a lawsuit Wednesday accusing a Manhattan woman of a flagrant foul for viciously slapping her face during a taping of the reality show.
Williams, ex-wife of NBA player Eric Williams, also has filed a complaint with the state attorney’s office in Florida, said lawyer Sanford Rubenstein.
“Violence used against any person is wrong but when a woman hits another woman it sets a horrible example for young girls everywhere,” Williams told the Daily News.
“I choose to use the justice system to fight back,” she said in an exclusive interview.
The defendant, Nia Crooks, is a personal assistant to “Basketball Wives” co-star Evelyn Lozada. Crooks belted Williams while VH1 cameras were rolling Jan. 21 in the presidential suite of the Gulfstream Park racetrack in South Florida.
— Reported by John Marzulli of the New York Daily News
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The Cleveland Cavaliers have recalled forward Luke Harangody from the Canton Charge, the Cavaliers exclusively owned and operated NBA Development League team, Cavaliers General Manager Chris Grant announced today.
Harangody was assigned to Canton on April 15th and recently took part in an extremely rare four-games-in-four-nights set while leading the Canton Charge to their first-ever playoff series victory. Already on assignment with Canton, Harangody led the Charge to a Game 1 victory over the Springfield Armor in Canton on April 13th with 16 points on 6-12 shooting (.500), nine rebounds and three assists in 34 minutes. The following day he was recalled by the Cavaliers and started at Washington, recording a double-double with 16 points on 6-11 (.545) shooting, 10 rebounds and three steals in 37 minutes in a 98-89 victory.
The Notre Dame alumnus was re-assigned to Canton on Sunday, April 15th for Game 2 at Springfield, where he scored a team-high 26 points in 39 minutes in a 125-116 overtime loss. The following night in the decisive Game 3 matchup against Springfield, he grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds and added seven points in 25 minutes in a 115-106 win. In the four games, Harangody averaged 16.3 points on .500 shooting and 8.0 rebounds in 33.8 minutes per game.
The 6-foot-8 forward has appeared in 16 games with Cleveland this season, posting averages of 2.5 points and 2.4 rebounds in 9.7 minutes per game. He is available for the Cavaliers’ game tonight versus Philadelphia.
The New Orleans Hornets announced today that they have signed center Darryl Watkins to a 10-day contract.
The 6’11” center is in his second NBA season, originally appearing in nine games for the Sacramento Kings during the 2007-08 season, averaging 1.3 points and 1.3 rebounds in 7.9 minutes per game. Undrafted out of Syracuse in 2007 after four seasons with the Orange, Watkins has appeared in preseason games for the Kings (2007-08), San Antonio Spurs (2008-09), Cleveland Cavaliers (2009-10) and most recently the Hornets in 2010-11, where he played three games, scoring 2.0 points and pulling down 3.0 rebounds in 9.0 minutes of action.
To make room for Watkins, the Hornets announced today they have waived center Chris Johnson. Johnson has missed the last eight games with a concussion, suffered Apr. 1 against the Phoenix Suns. Originally claimed off waivers on Mar. 20, Johnson played in seven games for New Orleans this season, averaging 3.3 points and 3.1 rebounds in 11.5 minutes.
The roster currently stands at 15.
Dallas Mavericks guard Delonte West has been fined $25,000 for a physical taunt by poking Gordon Hayward of the Utah Jazz in the ear, it was announced today by Stu Jackson, NBA Executive Vice President Basketball Operations.
The incident occurred with 3:40 remaining in the second quarter of Utah’s 123-121 win over Dallas at EnergySolutions Arena on April 16.
You can read about the initial incident and see a video clip here. And also see more on Hayward’s reaction here.
Kentucky freshmen Anthony Davis, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist and Marquis Teague and sophomores Terrence Jones and Doron Lamb will enter their names in this year’s NBA Draft. All five players are projected as first-round picks.
Together, the five led Kentucky to its eighth national championship, a 16-0 mark in league play and the program’s 45th Southeastern Conference championship. UK finished with a 38-2 record, tying the NCAA record for wins in a season.
Davis, the National Player of the Year and 2012 Final Four Most Outstanding Player, blocked a national-best 4.7 shots per game while leading the Wildcats in scoring (14.2), rebounding (10.4) and field goal percentage (.623). He broke the school and SEC records and NCAA freshman records for blocks in a season with 186. He finished the season with 20 double-doubles which was the most in the SEC this season while also tying the UK freshman record for double-doubles.
Kidd-Gilchrist, an All-America selection by multiple media outlets and the NCAA Tournament South Region Most Outstanding Player, ranked second on the team with seven double-doubles including three against top-20 ranked teams, with the other three coming on the road. Kidd-Gilchrist ranked second on the team in rebounding (7.4), third in blocks (37) and steals (37) and fourth in scoring (11.9).
Teague led the Wildcats in assists this season with 191, ranking second in the SEC in assists per game (4.8). He finished the season with the second-most assists by a freshman in UK history, and his 2.0 assist-to-turnover ratio in conference play was the best by a UK point guard under head coach John Calipari in the last three seasons. Over the last 22 games, he finished with a 2.2 ratio.
Jones ranked third on the team in scoring (12.3) and rebounding (7.2). He ranked 62nd nationally in blocks per game (1.8) and became the 59th member of UK’s prestigious 1,000-point club, finishing his career ranked 52nd on the Wildcats’ all-time scoring list. He is only the 34th player in program history to tally 1,000 points and 500 rebounds. Only five prior UK players recorded 1,000 points, 500 rebounds and 140 blocks.
Lamb ranked second on the team in scoring (13.7) while hitting better than 46 percent from 3-point range (46.6). He also became a member of the 1,000-point club in Kentucky’s win over Kansas in the national championship game, finishing his career with 1,018 points. He concluded his career as the top 3-point shooter in school history, hitting 47.5 percent of his 3-pointers.
Underclassmen have until April 29 to declare for the draft.
The 2012 NBA Draft will take place on June 28, in the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J.
— University of Kentucky
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
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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
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Hornets center Chris Kaman will miss New Orleans’ final five games because of a bruised left tibia.
The Hornets say the injury occurred during New Orleans’ victory over Memphis on Sunday night.
The 7-foot Kaman missed the Hornets’ win at Charlotte on Monday night.
— Reported by the Associated Press