Larry Sanders scores 24, Bucks beat Bobcats 131-102

larry sanders

Larry Sanders’ latest career night led to a big scoring night for the Milwaukee Bucks.

Sanders had a career-high 24 points and 13 rebounds as Milwaukee cruised to a 131-102 victory over the Charlotte Bobcats on Monday night for the Bucks’ highest total in more than four years.

”It’s working out pretty well,” said Sanders, who had set his previous career scoring high of 21 on Thursday in a win over the Los Angeles Lakers. ”I am just trying to stay active. My teammates are doing a great job of finding me down there, trusting me to finish plays, and I’m shooting the ball when I’m open.”

Monta Ellis had 19 points, a career-high 14 assists and six steals to help Milwaukee pull 1 1/2 games behind seventh-place Boston in the Eastern Conference playoff race. The Celtics lost to Minnesota on Monday.

Ersan Ilyasova added 22 points for the Bucks, and J.J. Redick scored 20, 16 in the second half. Brandon Jennings had 19, as Milwaukee, which had lost five of six, remained solidly in the eighth position in the East, with a six-game lead over idle Philadelphia.

Kemba Walker scored 27 points to lead the Bobcats, and Gerald Henderson had 17.

Charlotte came in allowing 47.3 percent shooting and 103.1 points per game – second-worst in the league in both categories – and it showed.

— Reported by Erik Brooks of the Associated Press

Omer Asik gets 22 points and 18 rebounds, Rockets beat Magic

omer asik

Omer Asik matched his career high with 22 points and grabbed 18 rebounds and the Houston Rockets beat the Orlando Magic 111-103 on Monday night without James Harden and Chandler Parsons

Jeremy Lin had 19 points and 11 assists and Francisco Garcia had 14 points, five assists and three blocks for the Rockets, who hardly missed their top two scorers until Orlando made a late run. Harden sat out for the second straight game with a sore right foot and Parsons missed the game with an illness.

Rookie Maurice Harkless scored a career-high 28 points and Beno Udrih had 17 points and 10 assists for the Magic.

The Rockets won for the eighth time in 10 home games and inched closer to their first playoff berth since the 2008-09 season. Houston holds the No. 7 seed in the Western Conference.

Greg Smith started the game with a one-handed dunk and the Rockets were off and running. Smith and Asik got any shot they wanted early on and the Rockets opened with a 21-6 spurt…

[Tobias] Harris had 18 points and 11 rebounds for Orlando.

— Reported by Chris Duncan of the Associated Press

Nikola Pekovic scores 29, Timberwolves beat banged-up Celtics

Nikola Pekovic

Nikola Pekovic bruised and battered the overmatched Boston front line for 29 points to lead the Minnesota Timberwolves to a 110-100 victory over the Celtics on Monday night.

Andrei Kirilenko had 17 points, nine rebounds and five assists, and Dante Cunningham scored 19 points off the bench for the Wolves, who delivered coach Rick Adelman his 998th career victory.

Avery Bradley scored 19 points for Boston, which was playing without Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett. The Celtics, who started the day 2 1/2 games ahead of eight-seeded Milwaukee in the Eastern Conference playoff race, have lost seven of their last nine games.

This one snapped an 11-game winning streak against the Wolves, who beat Boston for the first time since Garnett was traded there in 2007.

Jeff Green had a quiet night with just 10 points and seven rebounds, while Jason Terry and Terrence Williams each scored 14 points for Boston, which was a step slow on the second night of a back-to-back…

Ricky Rubio had nine points and 10 assists for the Timberwolves.

— Reported by Jon Krawczynski of the Associated Press

Mike Conley layup helps Grizzlies beat banged-up Spurs

mike conley

Mike Conley drove for a layup with 0.6 seconds left, and the Memphis Grizzlies rallied to beat the San Antonio Spurs 92-90 Monday night for their third straight victory.

The Grizzlies matched their franchise record with their 50th win this season, and they won their 12th straight at home. They pulled out a win in a game where Conley’s bucket gave them their first lead since 18-16 late in the first quarter.

Conley scored the final five points and finished with 23. Jerryd Bayless had 17 points, Marc Gasol 16, Zach Randolph 11 points and 10 rebounds, and Tayshaun Prince had 11 points.

Tony Parker had 25 points for the Spurs. Parker tried to beat the buzzer with a jumper that was too late.

Tiago Splitter added 13 points and 11 rebounds for San Antonio, who was not at full strength playing its second game in two nights. The Spurs left Kawhi Leonard at home with a sore left knee. Manu Ginobili is out at least three weeks with a strained right hamstring, and Tim Duncan also did not play after playing 35 minutes in Sunday night’s 88-86 loss to Miami.

— Reported by Teresa M. Walker of the Associated Press

Hawks hand Cavaliers ninth straight loss

Devin Harris

Devin Harris scored a season-high 25 points and Josh Smith nearly added a triple-double Monday night as the Atlanta Hawks beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 102-94 to improve their chances of securing home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs.

Smith had 18 points, 14 rebounds and eight assists before a sparse crowd in Philips Arena to help the Hawks (42-33) pull within one game of Brooklyn (42-31) for fourth place in the Eastern Conference.

Reserve Marreese Speights scored 14 of his 22 in the final quarter, but the Cavs (22-51) did not seriously threaten after pulling within 58-56 early in the third period.

Shaun Livingston, starting with Kyrie Irving not playing in the second night of a back-to-back, had 14 points and six assists in Cleveland’s ninth straight loss.

Harris, who scored 13 of his 17 points in the fourth quarter of Saturday’s win over the visiting Magic, picked up where he left off. He scored Atlanta’s first seven points and had 11 in the first quarter as the Hawks built a 25-19 lead…

Al Horford returned to start at center for Atlanta after missing two games with a stomach illness. He had 16 points and six rebounds before fouling out in the fourth quarter.

— Reported by Matt Winkeljohn of the Associated Press

Greg Monroe scores 24, Pistons beat Raptors 108-98

Greg Monroe

Greg Monroe scored 24 points, Jose Calderon had 19 points and nine assists against his former team, and the Detroit Pistons snapped a three-game losing streak by beating the Toronto Raptors 108-98 on Monday night.

Rodney Stuckey scored 18 points, Jonas Jerebko had 10 of his 15 in the fourth quarter and rookie Khris Middleton added 11 as the Pistons won for just the third time in 19 games.

Rudy Gay scored 34 points, Jonas Valanciunas had 17 and DeMar DeRozan 15 as the Raptors lost for the seventh time in eight games. Toronto was outscored 33-19 in the final quarter…

Before the game, the Pistons announced that forward Jason Maxiell will miss the remainder of the season after surgery to repair a detached retina. Maxiell began complaining of blurry vision last week and didn’t travel with the team for Sunday’s loss at Chicago. He stayed in Detroit to visit a specialist, who diagnosed the injury.

Detroit was also without guard Will Bynum, who sat out with a strained right hand.

Raptors swingman Landry Fields was unavailable because of pain in his right elbow. Fields had surgery on the elbow last November, forcing him to miss 22 games. He skipped Monday’s game to travel to Los Angeles for follow-up testing.

— Reported by Ian Harrison of the Associated Press

Paul Pierce out for personal reasons

Boston Celtics forward Paul Pierce did not travel with the team for Monday’s game against Minnesota due to what the team called personal reasons.

Coach Doc Rivers says he doesn’t expect Pierce to be out any extended period. It’s just the second game Pierce has missed this season, and his banged-up Celtics could certainly use him. Boston lost six of its previous eight games heading into Minnesota, with the playoffs fast approaching.

— Reported by the Associated Press

Andrew Goudelock named D-League Performer of Week through March 31

Andrew Goudelock of the Rio Grande Valley Vipers was today named NBA Development League Performer of the Week for games played March 25-31. This is the second consecutive week Goudelock has received Performer of the Week honors. He shared the award last week with Fort Wayne’s Tony Mitchell.

Goudelock (6-3, 200, College of Charleston) led the Vipers to a 4-0 week, extending their winning streak to eight games, while averaging 29.5 points on 53 percent shooting from the field to go with 6.0 assists, 4.0 rebounds and 2.0 steals.  He scored a season-high 42 points and connected on 8-of-13 attempts from behind the arc in a 118-105 win over the Tulsa 66ers on March 27. In 35 games for Rio Grande Valley this season, he is averaging 21.8 points, 5.9 assists 4.2 rebounds and 37.3 minutes.

Other top performers considered include Austin’s Lester Hudson, Bakersfield’s Damion James, Canton’s Antonie Agudio, Erie’s Cory Higgins, Fort Wayne’s Tony Mitchell, Idaho’s Justin Holiday, Iowa’s Paul Harris, Los Angeles’ Gary Flowers, Maine’s Jermaine Taylor, Reno’s Samardo Samuels, Santa Cruz’s Jeremy Tyler, Springfield’s Dominique Sutton, Sioux Falls’ Jarvis Varnado, Texas’ Fred House and Tulsa’s DeAndre Liggins, on assignment from the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Manu Ginobili out 3-4 weeks with strained right hamstring

manu ginobili

The San Antonio Spurs today announced that Manu Ginobili is expected to miss three-to-four weeks with a strained right hamstring.  The injury occurred during the first quarter of the Spurs vs. L.A. Clippers game on March 29.

The team also announced that Tim Duncan (sore left knee) and Kawhi Leonard (sore left knee) are both out for tonight’s game at Memphis.

Sixers sign Justin Holiday, waive Jeremy Pargo

The Philadelphia 76ers announced today that they have signed guard Justin Holiday.  Holiday is the 31st “Call-Up” of the 2012-13 NBA Development League season.  He will wear #14.  In order to make room on the roster for Holiday, the Sixers waived guard Jeremy Pargo.

Holiday (6-6, 180) appeared in 47 games with 42 starts for the Idaho Stampede in the D-League this season, averaging 17.3 points, 5.3 rebounds, 2.5 assists, 2.43 steals and 1.17 blocks in 34.7 minutes per game while shooting 42.1% from the floor, 41.2% from 3-point range and 81.6% from the line.

At the time of his call-up, Holiday ranked tied for 14th in the D-League in scoring and first in steals.  In 15 games played in March, he averaged 23.3 points along with 2.5 3-pointers made on 46.3% shooting from behind-the-arc.

In 14 games played for the Sixers, Pargo averaged 4.9 points, 2.0 assists and 1.2 rebounds in 14.9 minutes per game.

Holiday was not selected in the 2011 NBA Draft following his collegiate career at Washington.  He spent the 2011-12 season playing overseas for Generali Okapi Aalstar in the Belgian League.

This past July, Holiday played for the Sixers in the AirTran Orlando Pro Summer League and was second on the team in scoring with 11.8 points per game.  He also played for Cleveland in the 2012 NBA Summer League in Las Vegas.

Holiday signed with the Cavaliers on Oct. 1 and took part in their training camp while appearing in one preseason game before being waived on Oct. 10.  He signed with Portland on Oct. 12 and played in two preseason games before being waived prior to the start of the regular season on Oct. 26.

Justin is the older brother of Sixers All-Star guard Jrue Holiday.  Justin was born on April 5, 1989 while Jrue was born on June 12, 1990.  The brothers played basketball together at Campbell Hall, a private school in North Hollywood, Calif.  In Justin’s senior season, which was Jrue’s junior season, Campbell went 33-1 and won the California Division IV state title.