April 10, 2011 – NBA Blog – NBA Basketball Blog

Heat rock Celtics 100-77

The AP reports:

LeBron James scored 27 points, Dwyane Wade added 14 and the Heat moved closer to wrapping up the No. 2 seed in the East playoffs by beating the sliding Celtics 100-77 on Sunday.

Miami moved a game ahead of Boston, and trimmed its magic number to clinch the second seed to two.

Chris Bosh added 13 points and eight rebounds for Miami, which had been 0-3 against Boston this season.

Paul Pierce scored 24 points and Kevin Garnett added 21 for Boston, which lost for the 10th time in its last 19 games.

The Heat finally solved the Boston hex, beating the Celtics for the third time in the last 21 meetings. Bosh had been 1-13 against Boston since March 2007, and the Celtics ended both the 2009-10 seasons for Wade (in the first round) and James (in the second round).

Miami won for the 13th time in its last 16 games and outrebounded Boston 42-26, the Celtics’ total a season low.

Ray Allen scored 13 points for the Celtics. Rajon Rondo was held to just seven points and five assists on 3 for 8 shooting.

Jazz do not re-sign guard Kyle Weaver

Utah Jazz general manager Kevin O’Connor announced today that the team has elected not to re-sign guard Kyle Weaver to a second 10-day contract. Following the transaction, the Jazz roster now stands at 14 players.

Weaver was originally signed to a 10-day contract on March 31 and appeared in five games for the Jazz (all as a reserve), averaging 5.6 point, 2.0 rebounds and 1.4 assists in 13.8 minutes per game. He scored a career-high 19 points (7-11 FG) with three assists and two rebounds in 30 minutes at Sacramento on April 3.

Originally selected by the Charlotte Bobcats in the second round (38th overall) of the 2008 NBA Draft, Weaver (6-6, 201, Washington State) averaged 15.6 points, 5.6 rebounds and 3.3 assists in 30 games (24 starts) for the NBA Development League’s Austin Toros and Iowa Energy this season prior to being called up by the Jazz. At the time, Weaver became the NBA’s 17th D-League Call-Up and 14th different player promoted to the NBA this season. He was also the seventh D-League Call-Up in Jazz history, joining Rusty LaRue (2000-01), Mikki Moore (2003-04), Louis Amundson (2006-07), Sundiata Gaines (2009-10), Othyus Jeffers (2009-10) and Marcus Cousin (2010-11).

Nets sign Mario West for remainder of season

The New Jersey Nets have signed guard Mario West for the remainder of the season, Nets General Manager Billy King announced today. Per team policy, terms of the contract were not released.

The fourth-year veteran out of Georgia Tech has appeared in five games, three starts, for the Nets while averaging 4.0 points and 1.8 rebounds in 20 minutes. He tallied a career-high 13 points in his Nets debut on 4/1/11 at Philadelphia.

West has appeared in 161 career NBA games, including nine starts.

Ty Lawson hits 10 three-pointers for Nuggets

The AP reports:

Just keep shooting those 3s, Raymond Felton implored Ty Lawson.

Except for that last one.

Lawson made his first 10 3-pointers Saturday night on his way to a career-high 37 points in leading the short-handed Denver Nuggets to a 130-106 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Lawson became the first player in NBA history to start a game with 10 straight 3-point conversions but missed out on another record by finally missing from behind the arc…

Lawson missed a running 28-foot heave, though, as the third quarter ended with Denver ahead 101-69, finishing 10 for 11 from behind the arc.

“I told him not to,” Felton said. “Don’t shoot not crazy shot over there. But he wasn’t aware, though.”

Lawson had no idea that had he just stopped shooting 3s, he’d have been in the NBA record books for most 3-point conversions without a miss. Latrell Sprewell went 9 for 9 from behind the arc for the New York Knicks in a game against the Los Angeles Clippers in 2003.

Pacers guard Lance Stephenson demoted for violating team rules

Mike Wells of the Indianapolis Star reports:

Lance Stephenson’s ongoing immaturity issues could be pushing him closer to the door with the Indiana Pacers.

Any chance of Stephenson playing in the final two regular-season games or the playoffs ended Saturday, when coach Frank Vogel said Stephenson was demoted for violating team rules.

“He’ll be the fourth point guard through the playoffs,” Vogel said. “This is being done for disciplinary reasons. T.J. (Ford) will be our third point guard.”

Stephenson had been expected to play in the final two games but will assume the role formerly held by Ford, who has not played since Jan. 28.

Vogel declined to say what Stephenson did to warrant those actions. He did say, though, that there are no legal issues involved with Stephenson.