NBA News Blog – Page 1037 – NBA Blog

Hornets begin workouts of draft prospects

The New Orleans Hornets are working out prospects at the Alario Center today, the first of two sessions they’re conducting.

The guys working out this morning are: Tyler Zeller, a 7-foot center from North Carolina, John Henson a 6-11 power forward from North Carolina, Meyers Leonard a 7-1 center from Illinois, Arnett Moultrie a 6-11 power forward/center from Mississippi State and Terrence Jones a 6-9 power forward from Kentucky.

All of the prospects the Hornets are working out today are players they are targeting for their No. 10 pick in the first round.

— Reported by John Reid of the New Orleans Times Picayune

Wizards keep Randy Wittman as head coach

The Washington Wizards have decided head coach Randy Wittman will keep running the show.

Wizards President Ernie Grunfeld announced today that Wittman will return as the team’s head coach for the 2012-13 season.

“We are excited to bring Randy back as head coach and give him the opportunity to build on the positive momentum that the team showed under his leadership last season,” said Grunfeld. “We were very pleased with the development of our young players and the commitment to winning he instilled despite taking over the team under difficult circumstances.”

Wittman was originally named head coach of the Wizards on January 24, 2012, after Flip Saunders was relieved of his duties following the team’s 2-15 start. The Wizards finished 18-31 (.367) after Wittman took over the team and won eight of their final 10 games (including their last six in a row).

“I’m very appreciative of the opportunity that Mr. Leonsis and Ernie have given me and I’m thrilled to be returning to work with these players and this organization,” said Wittman. “I felt that we made significant progress throughout last season and we are all looking forward to having a full summer, training camp and season to continue to improve this team.”

Wittman continues his third stint as a head coach after leading both the Minnesota Timberwolves (2006-07 to 2008-09) and Cleveland Cavaliers (1999-2000 to 2000-01). He had served as the Wizards’ lead assistant since the 2009-10 season prior to being named head coach last season. Wittman began his coaching career as an assistant with Indiana before stops as an assistant coach in Dallas and Orlando.

Originally drafted by the Washington Bullets with the 22nd overall pick in the 1983 NBA Draft, Wittman played nine NBA seasons for Atlanta, Sacramento and Indiana before retiring in 1992 with a career average of 7.4 points per game while shooting .501 from the field in 543 games.

Ray Allen says his ankle is improving

The Boston Celtics are a different-looking team these days, and Ray Allen has a lot to do with that.

Allen is starting to move without the ball and raise up for shots — and knock them down — in a fashion that’s similar to what we’ve seen from him in the past.

The ankle injury that hobbled him for weeks, Allen said, isn’t nearly as bothersome anymore.

“Just going into the game, starting the game, having my legs underneath me is for me it’s a huge deal now,” said Allen, who had 16 points on 6-for-16 shooting from the field. “How I feel now is a lot different from how I start the game.”

— Reported by A. Sherrod Blakely

Dwyane Wade expects Tyson Chandler to start for Olympic team

The Knicks’ Tyson Chandler was a safe bet to make the Olympic team this year, because the coaches love the center’s selfless style and defensive mentality. It turns out the players feel likewise.

Heat guard Dwyane Wade said that because Dwight Howard has undergone back surgery, he expects Chandler to start at center for Team USA in this summer’s London Olympics.

“Absolutely,” Wade said. “We watched Tyson, the things that he does, his ability to cover so much on the basketball court, from the three-point line to the rim. He’s phenomenal.”

“And especially the style of play in the Olympics is a little different. The style is not necessarily post-up, post-up, post-up. It’s more so of having a big guy down there, someone who can defend, someone who can rebound, someone who can catch and finish. So he brings that to the team.”

— Reported by Al Iannazzone of New York Newsday

LeBron James annoyed by Game 4 foul-out

This time LeBron James couldn’t get criticized for missing the last shot or passing the ball in the final seconds. It wasn’t possible Sunday night since the Miami Heat forward had the same amount of control on the outcome as a Boston Celtics fan in the rafters of section 312 at TD Banknorth Garden.

A stoic James stood with his arms folded at the end of overtime in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference finals after fouling out for the first time since 2008. With no James and Chris Bosh unavailable due to injury, it was back to Dwyane Wade’s old Heat days as he had the ball in his hands with the Celtics ahead 93-91 as the clocked ticked down. James helplessly watched from the other side of the floor as Wade’s game-winning 3-point attempt didn’t save the day and the Celtics tied the series 2-2.

“I don’t foul out,” James said after scoring a game-high 29 points. “If I’m going to foul out, that sixth foul, I wish I would have earned it [and it] had actually been a foul on me. Whatever.”

James received his sixth foul, an offensive one, in the post with 1:51 left in OT after getting tangled up and going to the ground with Mickael Pietrus. The Celtic defender got veteran referee Joey Crawford to bite on the thespian act. James had four offensive fouls Sunday and the deciding whistle happened with Boston ahead 92-91. Celtics fans roared at a fever pitch as James strolled to the bench.

— Reported by Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports

Celtics beat Heat 93-91 in OT, tie series at 2-2

The Celtics’ big lead gone and leading scorer along with it, Rajon Rondo had a message for Kevin Garnett.

”It’s time,” Rondo said. ”We have to take the game over.” …

Rondo had 15 points and 15 assists, and scored the final three points of the Celtics’ 93-91 overtime victory on Sunday night that evened the Eastern Conference finals at two games apiece.

Getting a huge break when LeBron James fouled out for the first time since joining the Heat, the Celtics recovered after blowing an 18-point lead in regulation and need two victories for a third trip to the NBA finals in five years.

Garnett added 17 points and 14 rebounds for the Celtics, while Paul Pierce scored 23 points before fouling out. Ray Allen finished with 16 points.

James had 29 points and Wade scored 20 after another dismal start for the Heat, who host Game 5 on Tuesday…

In a game that started as a Celtics blowout and turned into a foul- and tension-filled fourth quarter, followed by the second overtime in this series, the Celtics held on when Wade missed a potential winning 3-pointer on the last possession.

— Reported by Brian Mahoney of the Associated Press

Pierce committed his sixth personal, an offensive foul on a collision off the ball with Shane Battier with 4:22 left in overtime. Udonis Haslem’s dunk gave Miami a 91-89 advantage, but those would turn out to be the final Heat points.

Daniels replaced Pierce and hit a free throw, but then lost a rebound out of bounds after a Mario Chalmers miss. Garnett then defended a Chalmers drive, with Rondo scoring in transition.

Garnett then rebounded a James miss. Rondo misfired on a drive, and Pietrus drew James’s sixth personal with 1:51 left. Pietrus grabbed two offensive rebounds to extend a 65-second possession, and Garnett was off target with 46 seconds left.

Battier missed a 3-point try, Daniels drawing a foul on the rebound. Rondo drew a foul with 21.4 seconds left and missed the first free throw, but the second made it 93-91, the Heat calling a timeout.

Daniels fouled Dwyane Wade with 14 seconds left, the Heat calling a 20-second timeout. Rondo and Daniels switched onto Wade, who missed an open 3-pointer just before the buzzer.

— Reported by Frank Dell’Apa of the Boston Globe

Wade finished with 20 points on 7 of 22 shooting and played the entire second half and overtime. Paul Pierce led the Celtics with 23 points before fouling out in overtime. Rondo had 15 points and 15 assists.

“I got a good look,” Wade said of his final shot. “It just didn’t go in.”

James drilled a three-pointer with 37.5 seconds left in regulation to tie the game at 89-89. On the Celtics’ next possession, he forced a turnover when he absorbed a charge by Kevin Garnett. With 21.1 seconds left and the game tied, the Heat had time to draw up a potential game-winning play. Whatever coach Erik Spoelstra drew up went off script when James passed to Udonis Haslem at the buzzer, who air-balled a jump shot. James’ pass to Haslem was partially deflected.

“When he gets doubled, I come from the strong side and try to get in LeBron’s vision,” Haslem said. “I don’t think we would do anything differently. I we could, I would have probably pulled a little higher, so he could get a better passing angle.”

— Reported by Joseph Goodman of the Miami Herald

Durant, Ibaka power Thunder past Spurs 109-103 to tie series 2-2

When Lil Wayne turned down Kevin Durant’s invitation to watch the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 4 of the Western Conference finals, he missed quite a show by the three-time scoring champion.

Durant scored 18 of his 36 points in a scintillating final 7 minutes, Serge Ibaka added a career-high 26 points and the Thunder evened the series at two games apiece by beating the San Antonio Spurs 109-103 Saturday night.

After seeing his team’s 15-point lead dwindle to four, Durant took over midway through the fourth quarter by scoring all 16 of the Thunder’s points during a span of just over 5 minutes to keep the Spurs at bay…

With All-Star teammate Russell Westbrook limited to seven points, Durant did almost all of the damage late to send the series back to San Antonio all square for Game 5 on Monday night.

Durant, who finished behind only LeBron James in MVP voting, hit three straight jumpers, the last one coming after he bumped into Tony Parker in the lane to draw a foul and set up a three-point play. Then he attacked the rim for his next three baskets, getting to the line again when he was fouled on a layup off of James Harden’s alley-oop…

Tim Duncan had 21 points for San Antonio, which had won 20 in a row before losing Game 3. Leonard added 17 points and nine rebounds.

Ibaka made all 11 of his shots – and all four of his free throws – to lead a strong performance from Oklahoma City’s frontcourt while Durant’s usual running mates, Westbrook and Harden, both struggled.

Ibaka, starting center Kendrick Perkins and reserve Nick Collison combined to go 22 for 25 from the field for 49 points. Westbrook missed eight of his 10 shots and Harden was limited to eight points.

— Reported by Jeff Latzke of the Associated Press

Before the fourth, the Spurs were burned by the surge of Ibaka, who made all 11 of his field goals, one shy of an NBA playoff record, en route to a career-high 26 points, adding a perfect (4-for-4) showing from the foul line.

Not renowned for his offense, Perkins nailed seven of his nine shots for 15 points to go with nine rebounds.

“Their bigs were the difference in the game,” said Tim Duncan, who had his best game of the series with 21 points and eight rebounds.

Together, Ibaka, Perkins and Collison formed an unlikely Big Three for OKC, combining to make 22 of 25.

“If you had a shooting drill with nobody guarding you, I don’t think you could do that,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said.

Durant had just four attempts during a first half spent involving the OKC big men.

— Reported by Jeff McDonald of the San Antonio Express-News

The NBA record for the most shots made without a miss in a playoff game is 12-for-12, set by Larry McNeill in 1975. Scott Wedman is the only other player in NBA history to go 11-for-11. He did it in 1985.

“That’s a pretty big effect,” a still astonished Popovich said. “All the (Thunder’s) bigs really scored tonight. Obviously, you put most of your attention on the big three there and try to do a great job on them first. But the bigs came through tonight and were outstanding.”

The Thunder’s big man trio of Ibaka, Kendrick Perkins and Nick Collison combined to shoot 22-for-25. Perkins was 7-for-9. Collison was 4-for-5.

— Reported by Darnell Mayberry of the Oklahoman

Chris Bosh works out with Heat

Chris Bosh took part in the Miami Heat’s morning workout Friday, though coach Erik Spoelstra won’t say if the injured All-Star forward can return for Game 4 of the Eastern Conference finals against the Boston Celtics.

Bosh remained sidelined by a lower abdominal strain for Friday night’s Game 3 and Spoelstra says “his return is indefinite.” Game 4 is Sunday in Boston.

Spoelstra says Bosh will be re-evaluated daily.

— Reported by the Associated Press

Celtics beat Heat 101-91, trail series 2-1

Kevin Garnett had 24 points and 11 rebounds and Rajon Rondo scored 21 points with 10 assists to lead the Boston Celtics to a 101-91 victory over the Heat in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference finals on Friday night, cutting Miami’s lead in the series to 2-1.

Game 4 is Sunday night in Boston.

Paul Pierce scored 23 points for Boston.

LeBron James scored 34 points, but the NBA MVP and the rest of the Heat went cold during a 7-minute stretch at the end of the first quarter and the beginning of the second, when Boston outscored them 15-0 to turn a six-point deficit into a nine-point lead.

James scored 16 points in the first quarter but had just four points with one rebound and one assist in the fourth, when Miami cut a 24-point deficit to eight. Mike Miller hit consecutive 3-pointers during an 11-0 run that cut the deficit to 95-87.

Miami still trailed by eight points, with the ball, when Dwyane Wade missed and Ray Allen grabbed the rebound, sending Rondo on a fast break that made it a 99-89 with 99 seconds to play. James threw the ball away underneath, then missed a 3-point attempt the next time down – one of only four shots he took in the fourth quarter.

Pierce found Garnett for a long jumper at the other end, and the teams began emptying their benches.]

— Reported by Jimmy Golen of the Associated Press

Kevin Garnett scored a team-high 24 points on 10-of-16 shooting and added 11 rebounds as the Celtics made an effort to establish him around the basket early and it aided them in building as much as a 24-point lead. Rajon Rondo added 21 points, 10 assists and 6 rebounds, while Paul Pierce kicked in 23 points despite just 7-of-21 shooting over 40 minutes. Boston shot 50 percent (38-of-76) from the floor and dominated on the glass, outrebounding Miami 42-32. LeBron James scored a game-high 34 points on 16-of-26 shooting, but was a bit quiet after a big first quarter. Dwyane Wade chipped in 18 points on 9-of-20 shooting.

A James jumper with 2:15 to play in the first quarter had the Heat out front by six at 28-22, but the Heat would go scoreless for the next 6:47 spanning into the second frame. A 15-0 burst had the Celtics out front 37-28 after a Garnett layup. Despite shooting a mere 27.8 percent (5-of-18) in the second quarter, the Heat stuck around a bit before a 3-pointer by Ray Allen right before the half pushed Boston’s lead to a first-half high 13 points (55-42) and prevented Miami from stealing away any momentum. Boston extended its lead in the third quarter with Garnett on the floor, then held on for dear life as Miami trimmed that 24-point cushion to single digits late in the fourth quarter.

Looking eager to upstage Rondo on the heels of his 44-10-8 effort in Game 2, James came out firing. Not only did he put up 12 shots, but he connected on seven as part of a 16-point first-quarter outburst. It could have been worse; he missed 3 of 4 free throws. The Heat shot 61.1 percent (11-of-18) in the first quarter, but Boston hung around at 60 percent shooting (12-of-20) and actually led 30-28 after the first 12 minutes.

— Reported by Chris Forsberg of ESPN Boston

Boston got an unexpected spark off the bench late in the first quarter when Doc Rivers called upon the seldom-used Marquis Daniels.

He only scored two points, but his activity on defense and all-around hustle seemed to be just the spark the Celtics were desperately needing.

And defensively, he was actually able to do something none of his teammates have done up to this point in the series – slow down LeBron James.

After making seven of his first nine shots, Daniels’ defense was instrumental in James missing three of his next four shots.

— Reported by A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE

LeBron finished with 34 points, but that came with a strange asterisk. He had 16 in the first quarter, and it looked like the start of something good for the Heat. Instead, it represented something else.

His teammates stood around watching him. The offense became him only. Wade, as is happening regularly, couldn’t get going in the first half. He had an inefficient six points on nine shots.

And, let’s face it, when Wade isn’t joining LeBron on a big night the Heat has little chance. Wade finished with 18 points, but the game had drifted away from the Heat before most of them mattered.

It was more than that, though. Wade and LeBron had 35 free-throw shots in Game 2 — a fact Boston loudly pointed out between games. They had five Friday night.

— Reported by Dave Hyde of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel

LaMarcus Aldridge recovering from scary virus

LaMarcus Aldridge wrote the following:

“On Saturday I came down with a blood virus. I quickly became sick and had to be rushed to the hospital. I thought it was a case of bad food or a bad cold, but I was wrong. It turned out to be a very serious virus that if not treated quickly could actually be deadly! One thing I know for sure is that I’ve never felt worse in my life and there were times I wasn’t really sure where I was going. Thankfully I had a lot of family support and great medical care that helped me fight through it and now I’ve turned the corner and I’m feeling much better. I know it was God ultimately that decided my fate and looked out for me to make sure I got healed.”

— Written by LaMarcus Aldridge on the TrailBlazers.com Blog