April 2013 – Page 7 – NBA Blog

Nate Robinson discusses unfriendly relationship with C.J. Watson

Chicago Bulls guard Nate Robinson doesn’t hide his dislike for the Brooklyn Nets’ C.J. Watson. In fact, Robinson views it as a positive.

“We’re just competitors,” Robinson said Monday after helping the Bulls even their Eastern Conference quarterfinals at a game apiece. “I don’t like him, he don’t like me. That’s how it’s going to be. There’s animosity between the two of us, and for us, that’s good.”

The cause of the animosity isn’t certain. Robinson essentially filled Watson’s role on the Bulls, who waived Watson last offseason and then signed Robinson to a non-guaranteed contract.

— Reported by ESPN Chicago

Josh Smith expected to play Game 2 for Hawks

Josh Smith, the Hawks’ leading scorer, will play in Game 2 against the Pacers Wednesday after suffering a sprained right ankle in the playoff series opener.

Smith was a full participant in Tuesday’s workout. He missed the on-court portion of Monday’s workout after suffering the injury in the third quarter of the Game 1 loss.

“I should be all right,” Smith said. “It’s still a little sore but it’s playoff time and I have to suck it up.”

— Reported by Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Battle will get tougher for Clippers in Memphis

The first game was a blowout and the second was a buzzer-beater, but both were wins for the Clippers and that means they hold a 2-0 advantage over the Memphis Grizzlies in the first round of the Western Conference NBA playoffs.

It’s a good omen for the Clippers, who have been up, 2-0, in a playoff series only one other time in franchise history. That time, in 2006, they went on to defeat the Denver nuggets, four games to one. It also holds an historical advantage as only 15 times in NBA playoff history has a team lost a series after winning the first two.

Those things mean little to the Clippers, however. Nobody in their locker room was satisfied after Chris Paul’s buzzer-beating bank shot gave the Clippers a 93-91 victory in Game 2 at Staples Center.

“All we did was protect our home court,” Vinny Del Negro said. “You have to win four games. We did what we were supposed to do. We know we’re going to have to play better in Memphis.”

It would be difficult to play better than Paul did down the stretch. He scored 19 of his 24 points in the second half and was the only Clippers’ player to score in the final 3:46 of the game. But the Clippers held a 12-point lead with just under 10 minutes to play and let the Grizzlies get back in to tie the game. They were able to get away with that at home, but trying that on the road would be playing with fire.

— Reported by Peter Yoon of ESPN Los Angeles

Charlotte Bobcats fire coach Mike Dunlap

Charlotte Bobcats President of Basketball Operations Rod Higgins announced today that the team has relieved Mike Dunlap of his duties as head coach. The search for his successor will begin immediately.

“Rich Cho and I conducted our season-ending review and met with Coach Dunlap to reflect on this season. As an organization, it was decided that we needed to make a change with the head coach position,” Higgins said. “We want to thank Mike for his contribution and wish him the best in his future endeavors.”

Dunlap was hired as the fifth head coach in franchise history on June 20, 2012 and posted an overall record of 21-61.

According to the Charlotte Observer, “Dunlap’s strength was player development and his greatest success was probably the improvement of point guard Kemba Walker. But he appeared to have friction at times with some of the veterans, including a verbal altercation with guard Ben Gordon during a shootaround. Players were asked in their exit interviews last week for a review of Dunlap’s coaching style. It’s unclear how much that factored in the decision to let him go. In a post-season interview with the Observer Friday, Dunlap said he had evolved as a coach this season. He noted that he had backed off on managing every aspect of games from the sideline and had shortened practices.”

Wizards inspired by Randy Wittman crying

On Nov. 26, the Wizards lost a home game to San Antonio, 118-92. It was the 12th straight loss to start the season, and the postgame locker room for the Wizards was an emotional scene. On Thursday, a tale told by Martell Webster revealed for the first time just how emotional it was.

“After we lost that 12th game and he came into the locker room – I don’t even know if he wants me to share this, but I don’t care – and he was crying, man, after that game,” Webster said. “And he told us that he cared about us. And for me, that was a point in the season where I was just like, I’m in. I’m totally in. I bought into the system. And when I did that, that’s when my season began to turn to a positive light, and I started to succeed after that point.

“That meant a lot because it showed that he really cared. He didn’t care about his job. He didn’t. He just cared about the guys that he was coaching. And that was amazing. That was touching for me. But that’s when I realized that I really wanted to buy into this system.”

A.J. Price said he also committed to the system after that night.

“I definitely remember that,” he said. “That showed me how passionate he was as a coach.

— Reported by Sarah Kogod of the Washington Post DC Sports Bog

Atlanta Hawks coach Larry Drew calls out team for playing soft

On the flight back to Atlanta, Hawks coach Larry Drew watched tape of his team getting pushed around in Game 1 of the playoffs.

”I couldn’t believe my eyes, to be perfectly honest,” Drew said Monday.

So, the normally upbeat Drew delivered a scathing message to his players: If they don’t get more passionate and a lot more physical, this series against the Indiana Pacers won’t be lasting very long.

”It becomes a little bit mind-boggling, particularly when you get to the playoffs,” he said. ”You’re going to come up with schemes and ways to defend things … but the last thing you think you need to come up with is any kind of motivating to get the guys to compete and play at a high level.”

The Pacers were quite the bullies in the opener of the best-of-seven series – and the visiting team barely pushed back. Atlanta was outrebounded 48-32. Indiana got to the foul line a staggering 34 times, compared to just 14 for the Hawks. The result was not all that surprising: a 107-90 rout that led to the scathing critique from Drew.

— Reported by Paul Newberry of the Associated Press

Leading candidate for Cavaliers coaching job may be Mike Brown

When the Cavaliers hired Mike Brown as their coach in 2005, owner Dan Gilbert first talked to Phil Jackson about coaching in Cleveland.

Eight years later, that same scenario appears to be playing out again.

Brown remains the leading candidate to return to Cleveland and replace Byron Scott, who was fired last week following his third losing season with the Cavaliers. On Saturday, a person with direct knowledge of the situation told The Associated Press that Brown was open to reuniting with a franchise he led to five straight playoff appearances and the NBA finals.

Brown met on Sunday night with Gilbert, who fired him in 2010 after the Cavs were ousted by Boston in the Eastern Conference semifinals. It’s not clear where the meeting took place, but Brown has been in the area recently because he’s moving his family back to Cleveland – a decision he made long before Scott was fired.

WKYC-TV first reported Brown and Gilbert were going to have dinner together. It’s not known if Brown, who went 272-138 with Cleveland, was offered the job.

— Reported by Tom Withers of the Associated Press

Paul George has big goals in mind

Indiana’s Paul George is already thinking big.

He wants that breakout regular season to become the norm and hopes Sunday’s triple-double is just the start of a far more tangible prize.

This is how George rolls – never satisfied with past performances, always intent on proving the doubters wrong – and it will be no different when the Pacers line up for Game 2 against Atlanta on Wednesday night. George’s mission: Proving he can be even better.

”I don’t want people to think it’s a one game type of thing,” he after Monday’s practice. ”I want to do outdo myself from Game 1.”

That won’t be easy after George finished with 23 points, 11 rebounds and 12 assists, tied Reggie Miller’s playoff record by going 17 of 17 from the free-throw line before missing his final attempt, joined Mark Jackson as the only players in the franchise’s NBA history to produce a triple-double in the playoffs, and was every bit as efficient on defense.

— Reported by Michael Marot of the Associated Press

Phoenix Suns and GM Lance Blanks part ways

The Phoenix Suns today announced that Lance Blanks will no longer serve as the club’s general manager.

“Lance has been a trusted friend and colleague,” said Suns President of Basketball Operations Lon Babby. “I thank him personally and professionally for his hard work on behalf of the Suns. We will continue to prepare for the offseason even as we look for his replacement.”

Blanks was originally named to the post on Aug. 5, 2010, after serving in the front offices of the Cleveland Cavaliers and San Antonio Spurs.

Steve Nash playing hurt for Lakers

It took Steve Nash three weeks to return to this point, but he made it painstakingly clear that he’s far from fully healed from a sore right hamstring.

Nash only described his hamstring as “OK” after scoring 16 points on only 6-of-15 shooting Sunday in the Lakers’ 91-79 loss in Game 1 of their first-round playoff series against the San Antonio Spurs at AT&T Center.

“I’m not myself. I’m not moving that well,” Nash said. “I was struggling a little bit. There were a few shots I would normally make.”

Will Nash feel healthy enough to play Wednesday in Game 2?

“I hope so,” Nash said.

— Reported by Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News