Houston Rockets guard Rafer Alston underwent an MRI test this afternoon at Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center which revealed a moderate to severe strain of his right hamstring. Alston suffered the injury in the third quarter of Sunday’s game at Denver and did not play in last night’s game at Utah. He is expected to miss a minimum of a week.
Author: Inside Hoops
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Sasha Pavlovic out 2-3 weeks
Cavaliers guard/forward Sasha Pavlovic suffered a left ankle sprain in the third quarter of last night’s game at Philadelphia. He underwent an MRI this morning at The Cleveland Clinic. The results of which confirmed the left ankle sprain. He is expected to miss 2-3 weeks and his status will be updated as appropriate.
Warriors playoff hopes end
The Bay Area News Group (Geoff Lepper) reports: For the first time in 175 games since Don Nelson returned the Warriors’ bench, he’ll be coaching a meaningless game. The Warriors’ regular-season finale Wednesday against visiting Seattle was rendered moot Monday after Golden State was eliminated from the playoffs. The faint hopes of a second consecutive playoff berth flickered during a third-quarter run where Golden State scored 15 consecutive points, but in the end, too much of Phoenix’s Amare Stoudemire ended the Warriors’ hopes. A 122-116 loss to the Suns on Monday leaves the Warriors (48-33) one game behind the Denver Nuggets (49-32) and destined to lose a tiebreaker even if they catch up with Wednesday’s regular-season finale. The Warriors are guaranteed of being a historical footnote: The winningest team not to make the playoffs since they expanded to 16 teams in 1983-84.
Raptors to face Magic in playoffs first round
The Orlando Sentinel (Tim Povtak) reports: The Toronto Raptors, by virtue of their 91-75 victory against the Miami Heat and the Philadelphia 76ers’ controversial 91-90 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers on Monday, earned the No. 6 seeding in the NBA Eastern Conference playoffs so that is who the No. 3-seeded Orlando Magic will face in the first round. The Sixers lost and the Cavs clinched the No. 4 seeding after refs reviewed a foul by Samuel Dalembert at the end of their game and called the 76ers, who thought the game was over, out of the locker room. Officials put 0.2 second back on the clock, and the Cavs’ Devin Brown sank two free throws for the win.
Former Sonics owner will sue to get team back
The Seattle Times (Percy Allen) reports: Howard Schultz says he wants the Sonics back. Nearly two years after selling Seattle’s NBA franchise to Oklahoma City investors, the Starbucks mogul has hired a lawyer and is preparing to file a lawsuit against Sonics chairman Clay Bennett to rescind the July 2006 sale. Attorney Richard Yarmuth confirmed Monday that his Seattle-based law firm, Yarmuth Wilsdon Calfo, is representing Schultz and plans to sue Bennett’s Professional Basketball Club in the next two weeks. “The damages that are being sought is to rescind, unwind the transaction,” Yarmuth said a day after the team played what could have been its final home game in Seattle.
Apr. 14: Suns 122, Warriors 116
The AP reports: While Baron Davis just sat and watched. Fighting off a cold that he said sapped his energy, Amare Stoudemire scored 11 of his 28 points in the fourth quarter and Phoenix recovered after blowing a 17-point lead for a 122-116 victory Monday night. The Warriors’ loss clinched the final playoff spot in the West for Denver. Steve Nash nearly had a triple-double with 13 points, 14 assists and nine rebounds as the Suns remained in the midst of a scramble for playoff positioning and a possible home-court advantage in the first round. Stephen Jackson scored 16 of his 23 points in the Warriors’ third-quarter comeback. Monta Ellis added 20 points, Kelenna Azubuike 17 and Andris Biedrins 16… Shaquille O’Neal had 19 points and 15 rebounds for Phoenix, but sat while coach Mike D’Antoni went with a smaller lineup during the decisive late stretch. Barbosa scored 19 and Raja Bell 16.
Apr. 14: Spurs 101, Kings 98
The AP reports: Tony Parker tied his season high with 32 points and added 11 assists as the struggling Spurs managed to pull out a 101-98 victory Monday night against the depleted Sacramento Kings… Playing only 24 minutes due to foul trouble, Tim Duncan had 17 points for the Spurs. Mike Finley scored 19 points and Fabricio Oberto had 17. John Salmons led the Kings with 29 points and 11 rebounds, Spencer Hawes had 17 points, Beno Udrih scored 16 and Garcia added 15… The Kings played without injured Kevin Martin and Ron Artest, their two leading scorers. Starting center Brad Miller also did not play.
Apr. 14: Jazz 105, Rockets 96
The AP reports: The Jazz went 37-4 at home, where they hope to be playing this weekend in the first round of the playoffs. “It changes every day, so we’ll see what happens,” said Carlos Boozer, who had 21 points and 11 rebounds in his 51st double-double of the season Monday… Mehmet Okur added 12 points and 13 rebounds and Deron Williams finished with 17 points and nine assists for the Jazz, who won for the sixth time in seven games and finished with their best home record since winning 38 games in 1996-97. Tracy McGrady and Luis Scola scored 22 each for Houston, which fell short with a late rally after trailing by 17 at the end of the third quarter. The Rockets made six 3-pointers in the fourth quarter to make it closer, but couldn’t overcome Utah’s huge lead.
Apr. 14: Bulls 151, Bucks 135
The AP reports: The Chicago Bulls couldn’t miss, thanks to the defensively inept Milwaukee Bucks, who haven’t been able to stop anyone all season. Luol Deng scored 32 points and Ben Gordon added 29 as the Chicago Bulls barely fell short for most points in franchise history in a 151-135 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks on Monday night… Chris Duhon had 22 points and 15 assists for Chicago, which fell five points short of its scoring record of 156 set March 16, 1984 at Portland, and four points short of its regulation record set against Phoenix on Dec. 4, 1990… The lone bright spot for the Bucks was rookie Ramon Sessions, who set a franchise record with 24 assists, three more than Guy Rodgers had in Milwaukee’s sixth game as a franchise on Oct. 31, 1968 against Detroit. Sessions also scored 20 points—the first 20-20 with points and assists in franchise history.
Apr. 14: Celtics 99, Knicks 93
The AP reports: Isiah Thomas was booed during pregame introductions and fans chanted for him to be fired in the final minute. But while firing Thomas may be the popular decision with fans, Jamal Crawford cautioned that it may not be the right one… Doc Rivers gave Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen the night off, but Rajon Rondo had 23 points and 10 rebounds for the Celtics, who learned during the game they will face the Atlanta Hawks in the first round of the playoffs. Sam Cassell added 22 points for the Celtics, who got a halftime pep talk from another champion who wears green: Masters winner Trevor Immelman, who watched the game the day after collecting the green jacket.. Nate Robinson scored 26 points and David Lee had 12 points and 16 rebounds for the Knicks. Rookie Wilson Chandler, who had been playing well lately, sprained his left knee in the third quarter. X-rays were negative.