Drew Gooden drops a triple-double on Cavs

The AP reports:

Drew Gooden had 15 points, 10 rebounds and 13 assists for his second career triple-double, and the Milwaukee Bucks beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 115-105 on Wednesday night.

Gooden completed the triple-double with a rebound near the end of the third quarter. Gooden also had a triple-double against the Cavaliers last April, marking the last time the Bucks had a player accomplish the feat.

Ersan Ilyasova had 22 points before fouling out for the Bucks, who have won four straight.

Kyrie Irving had 28 points for the Cavaliers, who lost their second in a row.

Celtics forward Chris Wilcox will miss remainder of season

Chris Wilcox

The Boston Celtics announced today that forward Chris Wilcox will undergo aortic surgery at the Cleveland Clinic on March 29, and will miss the remainder of the 2011-12 season.

A team of leading cardiac specialists who consulted with Wilcox and the Celtics indicated that surgery should completely repair Wilcox’s condition and that he can expect to resume his NBA career next season.

Wilcox has long had an aortic abnormality that remained stable throughout his 10-year NBA career. However, as a precautionary measure, the Celtics medical staff scheduled frequent aortic scans for Wilcox, and a recent scan showed a significant enlargement of his aorta. After several follow-up tests, doctors recommended surgery.

“While we are saddened that Chris will not be able to play again this season, the most important thing is his health, and we were fortunate to have access to an amazing team of specialists to evaluate Chris’s case,” said Celtics President of Basketball Operations Danny Ainge. “The entire Celtics family supports Chris during this difficult time in his career.”

Knicks say team, coach Mike D’Antoni mutually agreed to part ways

Mike D'Antoni

New York Knickerbockers Senior Vice President, Basketball Operations and Interim General Manager Glen Grunwald announced today that it has been mutually decided that Mike D’Antoni will no longer be the head coach of the Knicks. Mike Woodson has been named interim head coach.

“After speaking with Mike this morning, we mutually agreed that it would be best for the organization if he did not continue in his role as coach of the Knicks,” said Jim Dolan, executive chairman of The Madison Square Garden Company. “Mike is a class act and true professional and we have appreciated his honesty, commitment and years of service to the organization.”

Over the past four seasons, D’Antoni, who had been hired on May 13, 2008, compiled a 121-167 (.420) record at the helm, including leading the team to the NBA Playoffs last season.

“We thank Mike for the hard work he and his staff had put towards making New York a destination for great players in our league as we went through our rebuilding process,” Grunwald said. “But now is the time to look forward to the remaining 24 games of the season. We have a lot of faith in Mike Woodson, who will focus all of his efforts to get this team back into the playoffs and make our final push.”

In six seasons as the head coach of the Atlanta Hawks, Woodson compiled a 206-286 (.419) record, that included three consecutive playoff appearances ending an eight-year drought. He was named a Knicks assistant coach on Aug. 29, 2011.

Stephen Curry could be sidelined for a while

Stephen Curry

Warriors point guard Stephen Curry could be out for an extended period of time.

Curry suggested after Tuesday’s win at Sacramento that he was ready to sit out to get his ankle healthy. He didn’t say he was shutting it down for the remainder of the year, but he did say getting his sprained right ankle healthy was a priority.

“If he’s 100 percent, he will play this season,” Lance Young, Curry’s agent, said via text.

Curry isn’t 100 percent healthy. Still, the decision to focus on getting the ankle completely healthy is a change of gears. Before the trade, Curry was doing all he could to stay on the court. At shootaround Tuesday morning, he said he was feeling good and ready to play.

But after the trade, which several players said privately they viewed as a death sentence for this season, Curry had a change of heart.

— Reported by Marcus Thompson II of the Bay Area News Group

Dwight Howard tells Magic he won’t opt out of contract

Dwight Howard

Dwight Howard has told several teammates, as well as members of the Orlando Magic organization, that he will not opt out of his contract at the end of this season, sources close to the situation said.

That would mean Howard would remain under contract in Orlando through the 2012-2013 season.

Howard has not signed a waiver of his early termination option at this point, which means nothing is guaranteed yet. Both Howard and his representation must sign the documentation.

This latest development comes one day after league sources with knowledge of the situation said Howard’s public plea late Tuesday to remain in Orlando for the rest of the season only served to anger the Magic and has pushed them closer than ever to trading their superstar center.

Convinced that Howard, on the advice of his agent, is trying to manipulate the situation, the Magic are telling teams they will trade Howard before Thursday’s 3 p.m. ET deadline if he does not commit to them beyond this season, league sources said.

— Reported by Chris Broussard of ESPN the Magazine

Grizzlies interested in Gilbert Arenas

Gilbert Arenas

The Grizzlies are exploring the possibility of adding free-agent guard Gilbert Arenas, according to multiple NBA sources.

Arenas, 30, remains unemployed after the Orlando Magic made him one of the first casualties of the amnesty clause provided in the latest collective bargaining agreement.

Despite mutual interest, no deal will be completed until the Griz have the opportunity to see Arenas in a private workout. A source with knowledge of the negotiations indicated both parties were arranging a meeting.

— Reported by Ronald Tillery of the Memphis Commercial Appeal

Look for a faster Bucks offense

The AP reports:

Getting guard Monta Ellis from Golden State does mean the Bucks will have a top-10 scorer, a significant addition for a team that already was trying to play a quick transition offense with center Andrew Bogut out injured. Now Bogut is gone for good, sent to the Warriors along with Stephen Jackson .

Said Bucks guard Brandon Jennings , “My first thing I said was, `Well, it looks like we’ll be running a lot more.”

Christian Laettner is currently a D-League assistant coach

The AP reports:

After a three-year period during which creditors have obtained judgments totaling more than $26 million against Laettner, a business partner and their companies, the former NBA All-Star is trying to rebuild and make a new mark in basketball – as a coach.

In a Tulsa convention center gym where most of the bright-red seats were empty, Laettner got out on the court an hour before a recent game. He set a screen on an imaginary defender to free up a shot during pregame warm-ups, and stuck a hand in the face of a shooter.

Laettner’s job is to develop these young players to the point they’re ready to play in the NBA. If he does well enough, he’ll seek his own call-up to the big leagues.

“These guys are ready to go,” said Laettner, the lone assistant for the Fort Wayne (Ind.) Mad Ants of the NBA Developmental League.

Bulls sign Mike James to 10-day contract

The Chicago Bulls today signed guard Mike James to a 10-day contract. Per team policy, terms of the contract were not disclosed. James, (6-2,190), will be in uniform tonight when the Bulls take on the Miami Heat at the United Center at 8:30 p.m. (CT).

James, 36, appeared in seven games with Chicago earlier this year and averaged 6.1 ppg, 3.6 apg and 1.0 rpg in 12.4 mpg. This will mark his third stint with Chicago this season. He originally signed with the Bulls on Jan. 11 (waived Jan. 28) and again on Feb. 14.

Chicago’s roster now stands at 14.

Manu Ginobili says he is healthy, fine for tonight

Tim Griffin of the San Antonio Express-News (Blog) reports:

Spurs guard Manu Ginobili said he had no lingering effects from a hip flexor injury and expects to be ready to play in tonight’s game against Orlando.

When asked his chances of playing against the Magic, Ginobili was definite that he would like to play.

“I would say 100 percent percent,” Ginobili said. “But if the other guy says 20 … But I’m ready to play.”

Ginobili said his removal from the game was more precaution after two previous injuries this season.

“It’s not that I got hurt,” Ginobili said. “I just got tight.”