The AP reports: The New Orleans Hornets gathered in front of their bench, wearing ball caps and T-shirts commemorating the first division championship in the franchise’s 20-year history… David West scored 32 points and Chris Paul had 12 during a decisive run in the third quarter as the Hornets beat the Los Angeles Clippers 114-92 on Tuesday night… Chris Paul finished with 22 points and 12 assists, while Chandler added 11 points and 11 rebounds. Rookie Julian Wright scored all 14 of his points in the fourth quarter, including a thunderous dunk. Rookie Al Thornton led the Clippers with 26 points. Corey Maggette contributed 13 off the bench.
Author: Inside Hoops
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Apr. 15: Nets 112, Bobcats 108
The AP reports: For the New Jersey Nets, missing the playoffs took a lot the fun out of rallying from a 20-point deficit to beat the Charlotte Bobcats. Richard Jefferson scored 28 points and hit a go-ahead jumper in overtime and the Nets limited the Bobcats to 47 points in the final 29 minutes in a 112-108 meaningless victory on Tuesday night… Vince Carter added 18 points, Devin Harris had 17 and eight assists and Bostjan Nachbar added eight of his 10 points in the fourth quarter and overtime as the Nets won their second straight… Jason Richardson had 31 points (and 8 steals) to lead Charlotte in the game between two non-playoff teams. Nazr Mohammed added 19 points, Raymond Felton had 18 and Okafor had 15 rebounds.
Apr. 15: Pistons 115, Wolves 103
The AP reports: Flip Saunders only cares about one more thing in the regular season. He wants his Detroit Pistons to get through Wednesday’s game in Cleveland without an injury… Tuesday, Detroit got 55 points from the reserves, including 20 from Jarvis Hayes and nine each from three others. “We’re having a good time out there right now,” said Richard Hamilton, who led the starters with 18… Billups added 17 points and six assists against his former team, while Al Jefferson led Minnesota with 30 points.
Apr. 15: Magic 121, Hawks 105
The AP reports: Maurice Evans had a career-high 27 points and six of his Orlando teammates also scored in double figures, leading the Magic to a 121-105 victory over the Atlanta Hawks on Tuesday night. Evans scored 23 points in the second half as both playoff-bound teams substituted liberally, knowing the game had no impact on their postseason positioning… Orlando shot 57 percent from the field (47 of 82), getting 17 points from Hedo Turkoglu, 15 from Dwight Howard and 14 from Jameer Nelson. Rashard Lewis added 12 points, while Keyon Dooling and J.J. Redick had 11 each. Marvin Williams and Salim Stoudamire led the Hawks with 16 points apiece… Dooling had nine assists, one off his career high.
Rafer Alston out at least one week
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.
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.