Inside Hoops – Page 2587 – NBA Blog

J-Rich and Melo win Player of Week

The Charlotte Bobcats’ Jason Richardson and the Denver Nuggets’ Carmelo Anthony today were named the Eastern and Western Conference Players of the Week, respectively, for games played Monday, March 24, through Sunday, March 30. More info here.

J-Rich is playing well but it’s too little, too late for the Bobcats, who need a miracle to make the playoffs and may be having issues with head coach Sam Vincent, who several newspapers recently reported may not be kept around next season.

As for Melo, all recent talk was that they might miss the playoffs, as they were sitting in 9th place in the West for a while, but as of today they’ve jumped up to 7th, but only by virtue of a tie-breaker with the Mavericks and Warriors. I think Denver may stay in there.

Anyway, the Western conference playoff race is awesome. Even if you’re a fan of an East squad, watch the West closely, because that’s where it’s at.

Spain: Ricky Rubio may play in Olympics

Fiba.com reports: Spanish backcourt phenom Ricky Rubio is almost certain to be headed to the world champions’ pre-Olympic training camp with a chance of making the team for the Beijing Games as a back-up point guard. Pepu Hernandez, the Spain coach, indicated earlier this season that the DKV Joventut star would join up with the senior squad and that likelihood has become even stronger with Rubio enjoying an outstanding campaign with his club.

Wolves learning to compete in fourth quarter

The Minneapolis Star Tribune (Jerry Zgoda) reports: The Wolves lost eight of the first 13 times they led going into the fourth quarter this season. They now have won the past four games in which they led after three quarters and are 10-4 in that category since winning at Golden State on Jan. 21, the demarcation line in a season they started 5-34. “We’ve grown up,” Wolves center Al Jefferson said. They won seven games in March, are 14-19 since that Jan. 21 game, and Sunday’s victory was their second over the Jazz at home in five weeks. “We’re getting better and better,” Jefferson said. “To win like this two times in a row over them at home says a lot.”

Mar. 30: Lakers 126, Wizards 120 OT

For the Lakers, Kobe Bryant (just 7-of-24) had 26 points and 13 assists, Sasha Vujacuc (6-of-9, including 6-of-8 three-pointers) had 20, Vladimir Radmanovic (7-of-11, including 4-of-7 threes) had 18, and Derek Fisher (6-of-12, including 3-of-6 threes) scored 17.

For the Wizards, DeShawn Stevenson (9-of-15, including 8-of-12 three-pointers) had 27, Nick Young (10-of-16, including 3-of-4 threes) had 27, Caron Butler (6-of-17) had an awesome 17 points, 12 rebounds, 12 assists and 2 steals, and Antawn Jamison (6-of-15) had 19 points, 9 rebounds and 4 assists. The two teams combined for 31-of-57 from three-point range.

Mar. 30: Warriors 114, Mavs 104

The AP reports: Monta Ellis scored 30 points and Kelenna Azubuike hit two clutch shots down the stretch to help the Golden State Warriors beat the Dallas Mavericks 114-104 Sunday night to create a three-way tie for seventh place in the ultracompetitive Western Conference… Baron Davis added 21 points, Stephen Jackson had 16 and Andris Biedrins had 16 points and 14 rebounds. Azubuike scored 15 off the bench a day after Davis and Jackson called for more help from the reserves. Josh Howard scored 36 to lead Dallas in his third straight 30-point game since Nowitzki went down with the injury. Brandon Bass added 21 off the bench, while Kidd had 13 points, 14 assists and nine rebounds.

Mar. 30: Kings 120, Sonics 107

For the Kings, Kevin Martin (11-of-19) had 31 points, Ron Artest (12-of-23) had 29 points, 12 rebounds, 4 steals and 2 blocks, and Francisco Garcia (8-of-14) had 21 points and 5 rebounds. For the Sonics, Kevin Durant (10-of-18) had 25 points, Jeff Green (9-of-16) had 21 (but a few too many turnovers), Earl Watson (9-of-15) had 20 points and 12 assists, and Damien Wilkins (7-of-15) had 18. The Kings shot 55.1% from the field, and had 28-of-32 free throws, compared to just 11-of-15 free throws for the Sonics.

Mar. 30: Celtics 88, Heat 62

The AP reports: Kevin Garnett scored twice before Miami made a basket, and the Boston Celtics held the Heat to an NBA-record low 17 field goals, coasting to an 88-62 victory Sunday. The matchup of the NBA’s best team and its worst was even more lopsided than anticipated. Boston was up 27-4 after 10 minutes and Celtics coach Doc Rivers started subbing for his starters just 7:10 into the game. Boston’s backups finished the first quarter, handled most of the second and all of the fourth as no starter played more than 25 minutes. Leon Powe had 17 points and 13 rebounds for Boston, and Garnett finished with 12 points, five assists and eight rebounds in 21 minutes. Ricky Davis had 14 points and six rebounds and Chris Quinn had scored 14 with eight assists for the Heat (13-60), who lost their third straight and sixth out of seven as they solidify their hold on the worst record in the NBA. Miami coach Pat Riley skipped his fourth game to resume his college scouting tour, and assistant Ron Rothstein ran the bench.

Mar. 30: Cavs 91, Sixers 88

The AP reports: LeBron James made a twisting bank shot with 19.3 seconds left to put Cleveland ahead to stay and the Cavaliers defeated the Philadelphia 76ers 91-88 on Sunday night. James, who finished with 26 points, took the ball at the top of the key, drove through the lane and put Cleveland up 90-88. After a Philadelphia miss, Cleveland forward Joe Smith was fouled and made one free throw. Andre Iguodala, who led the 76ers with 19 points, missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer. Trailing 86-82, Cavaliers guard Delonte West hit two 3-pointers to tie the game at 88 with 1:13 to play. West finished with 18 points. James, who made 4-of-17 shots in Saturday’s loss to Detroit, was 11-of-18 from the field with nine rebounds and nine assists.

Mar. 30: Hornets 118, Raptors 111

The AP reports: David West scored 32 points and Chris Paul had 20 points and 16 assists to lead the New Orleans Hornets to a 118-111 victory over the Toronto Raptors on Sunday night. Peja Stojakovic scored 25 and Tyson Chandler had 17 points and 10 rebounds as the Hornets bounced back from a 20-point loss in Boston on Friday night to win for the sixth time in seven games. The Hornets reached 50 wins for the first time since the 1997-98 season. Chris Bosh scored 21 points and Carlos Delfino added 18 as Toronto’s modest two-game winning streak came to an end. Rasho Nesterovic had 14 and Jamario Moon added 13 for the Raptors, who have lost seven of 10.

Mar. 30: Hawks 114, Knicks 109

The AP reports: Marvin Williams scored 27 points and Joe Johnson had 23 to help the Atlanta Hawks win their third straight, 114-109 over the New York Knicks on Sunday… Jamal Crawford led the Knicks with 39 points—19 coming in the third quarter—but he was just 2-for-5 from the field in the fourth before his meaningless layup ended the scoring… Johnson, who had a season-high 13 assists, caught Al Horford’s pass from the right wing and laid in a short turnaround for a 105-94 lead with 3:42 remaining… David Lee finished with 17 points and 10 rebounds.