The AP reports: Jason Richardson scored 26 points, and the Charlotte Bobcats beat the Pacers 107-103 on Saturday night to deal a severe blow to Indiana’s playoff hopes. The Pacers entered the night two games behind Atlanta for the eighth spot in the Eastern Conference with three games to play… Indiana’s Danny Granger scored a career-high 37 points, including 17 in the fourth quarter while playing with five fouls… Mike Dunleavy added 22 points and seven assists for Indiana, which had its four-game winning streak end… Nazr Mohammed had 16 points and 13 rebounds, Emeka Okafor had 14 points and 18 rebounds and rookie Jared Dudley scored a career-high 19 points for the Bobcats, who outrebounded the Pacers 59-46.
Author: Inside Hoops
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Celtics now 36-1 against losing teams
The Boston Herald (Mark Murphy) reports: The Celtics are now a remarkable 36-1 against sub-.500 teams, which goes a long way toward explaining why they have the best record in basketball. “We play for ourselves, not other teams,” said Kevin Garnett. “That’s what (coach) Doc Rivers says to us. That comes to life when we play teams that don’t have any significance. “We tend to not play to the competition’s level, because we are playing for the postseason. We must experience the reps. If we go in thinking we have to take care of business, and give other players the chance to play, we need nothing more and nothing less.”
Heat to get worst record in league
The Miami Herald (Sarah Rothschild) reports: The Heat lost 96-91 to the Memphis Grizzlies at AmericanAirlines Arena on Friday, assuring itself of the worst record in the league when the season ends and, more importantly, the best chance to secure the top pick in the NBA Draft. By finishing with the fewest wins, the Heat has a 25 percent chance of getting the top overall pick and a 44 percent chance of landing the first or second pick. The team is guaranteed no worse than the fourth pick. The Heat will learn its fate May 20 in the NBA lottery drawing, which determines the order for the June 26 draft. A projected top pick, Kansas State forward Michael Beasley has scheduled a news conference for 5 p.m. Monday, when he likely will announce he intends to enter the NBA Draft. Memphis point guard Derrick Rose, another projected top pick, has not revealed his plans but is expected to turn pro.
Nets officially miss playoffs
The New York Post (Fred Kerber) reports: Now, next season unofficially starts for the Nets. Their 2007-08 playoff dreams are finished. They have been eliminated. That is official. The Nets were living on borrowed time with little hope. They had to win their final four games while hoping eighth-place Atlanta went 0-4 to even smell a chance. The Nets went 0-for-2 last night. “After having six years of tasting the post-season, to not be able to play in the post-season is extremely disappointing. We apologize to our fans, to our management, to our ownership that we didn’t fulfill our responsibility,” said coach Lawrence Frank. “We feel like we’ve let a lot of people down. This won’t ever happen again.”
Apr. 11: Kings 103, Blazers 86
The AP reports: Kings coach Reggie Theus let John Salmons know how unimpressed he was with his performance in the first half. After the break, the sub-turned-starter took over the game. Salmons scored all of his 18 points in the second half, leading the Sacramento Kings to a 103-86 win over the Portland Trail Blazers on Friday night… Francisco Garcia scored 16 points, Spencer Hawes had 15 points and seven rebounds, and Beno Udrih had 11 points for the Kings, who are now 25-14 at home this season… LaMarcus Aldridge had 24 points and 13 rebounds for Portland, who only led in the game’s opening minutes. Travis Outlaw scored 18 points, Channing Frye had 15 points and 14 rebounds, and Brandon Roy had 12 points.
Apr. 11: Spurs 95, Sonics 74
The AP reports: With one of their top scorers out and the other having a mediocre night, the San Antonio Spurs were still able to grab an easy—and important—victory over the Seattle SuperSonics. San Antonio’s 95-74 win Friday night strengthened its chances at getting home-court advantage, at least for the first round of the playoffs. Tony Parker scored 20 points, while Tim Duncan added 12 points and six rebounds on 4-of-12 shooting for the Spurs… Kevin Durant scored 20 points and Earl Watson had 17 for the Sonics, who dropped all three of their games in a swing through Texas… Jeff Green scored 10 points for Seattle and Nick Collison grabbed 14 rebounds.
Apr. 11: Rockets 101, Suns 90
The AP reports: Tracy McGrady had 22 points, six rebounds and seven assists, and Luis Scola added 19 points as the Rockets cruised to a 101-90 win over the Phoenix Suns on Friday night… Rookie Carl Landry added 14 points and seven rebounds, and reserve guard Bobby Jackson had 13 points as the Rockets stayed in the hunt for the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference playoffs. They moved 1 1/2 games ahead of the Suns in the standings… Amare Stoudemire scored 37 points and Shaquille O’Neal added 16 points for the Suns, who mustered their lowest point total since a 116-86 loss to Detroit on Feb. 24.
Apr. 11: Pistons 102, Wizards 74
The AP reports: With Cleveland and Philadelphia having already lost and facing a Detroit team that is coasting toward the playoffs, the Wizards came out with one of their worst performances of the season, shooting just 27 percent in a lopsided 102-74 loss to the Pistons on Friday night… Detroit, which has clinched the Eastern Conference’s second seed, had played poorly in back-to-back losses to New York and Philadelphia, but Jason Maxiell’s career-high 28 points helped them regain their focus… Antwan Jamison led Washington with 15 and DeShawn Stevenson added 11.
Apr. 11: Grizzlies 96, Heat 91
The AP reports: Hakim Warrick and Kyle Lowry each scored 17 points, Mike Conley and Juan Carlos Navarro scored 15 points apiece as the Grizzlies shot 42 percent from the floor (33-of-78) while holding the Heat to 38 percent shooting (33-of-88)… Rudy Gay was quiet for most of the first half until his two-handed baseline dunk gave the Grizzlies a 52-36 lead. It was his first field goal of the game. Gay finished with 14 points on 5-of-18 shooting… Earl Barron scored 22 points to lead the Heat, who failed to win back-to-back games for the first time since Dec. 9-10, when they defeated the Los Angeles Clippers and Phoenix Suns.
Apr. 11: Hawks 116, Knicks 104
The AP reports: Joe Johnson kept the Hawks in control of the race for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference, scoring 34 points Friday night in a 116-104 victory over the New York Knicks… Josh Smith and Mike Bibby added 24 points apiece for the Hawks, who won all four meetings with the Knicks this season, sweeping the series for the first time since moving to Atlanta for the 1968-69 season. Al Horford finished with 19 points and 11 rebounds… Jamal Crawford scored 20 points for the Knicks, who were trying for their first four-game winning streak of the season… Wilson Chandler added 18 points and Zach Randolph had 17 for the Knicks, who outrebounded Atlanta 49-35 but allowed the Hawks to shoot 55 percent from the field.