NBA News Blog – Page 1041 – NBA Blog

Ray Allen expected to start for Celtics vs Heat

The Celtics honestly don’t know what to expect from Ray Allen on a game-by-game basis, but they’re not ready to make a change. Asked if he considered starting Mickael Pietrus ahead of Allen, coach Doc Rivers said, “No. We’re going to stay the way we are.”

Still, there is concern over Allen who was challenged defensively against the 76ers and will be facing a far-greater problem in guarding Dwyane Wade who scored 99 points in Miami’s final three games against the Pacers.

“It’s tough. Really, you don’t know,” Rivers said. “We don’t know game to game with him. We don’t know how he’s feeling, then we don’t know how he’s going to deal with it during the game. The way we coached him so far, is with the eye that’s how we have to coach him. We have to watch him. If we feel like he’s moving enough to help us, we keep him on the floor. If he’s not moving enough, then we take him off the floor.

“Then the second decision is, do we put him back on the floor. It’s every game — in Game 7, the argument our staff was having. ‘Take him off, take him out, bring him in.’ Honestly, it’s just luck sometimes. We left him in and he made two 3’s. But the hook was close, I can tell you that.”

— Reported by Paul Flannery of WEEI

Spurs strike first against Thunder

Manu Ginobili scored 26 points and the Spurs won their 19th in a row — tying the NBA record for longest winning streak kept alive in the playoffs — by rallying in the fourth quarter on the orders of their furious coach to beat the Oklahoma City Thunder 101-98 in Game 1 on Sunday night.

It was a tantalizing near-upset for the young Thunder, who came as close as anybody to beating the Spurs for the first time in 46 days. But a nine-point lead didn’t last after the famously mercurial 63-year-old Popovich — the NBA’s Coach of the Year — huddled his lagging team together in the fourth and told them to “get nasty.”

“I said that?” Popovich said afterward.

A nationally television audience heard it.

“The heat of the game, stuff comes up,” Popovich said. “So I talked to them about they’ve got to get a little bit uglier, get a little more nasty, play with more fiber and take it to these guys. Meaning you have to drive it, you have to shoot it.”

And when they did, the Thunder couldn’t keep up.

Kevin Durant led the Thunder with 27 points. Russell Westbrook had 17, and insisted he was OK after taking a spill that was nasty in its own right — face first, bracing his fall with his hands and sitting under the basket for more than a minute while the entire Thunder bench walked across the court to check on their All-Star point guard.

— Reported by Paul J. Weber of the Associated Press

Bruce Bowen says diet helped Tim Duncan

Former Spur Bruce Bowen said that 2o pounds that Tim Duncan has lost since the end of last season has been a major reason for his comeback season this year.

Bowen appeared Sunday morning on ESPN’s Sports Center. He said that Duncan had a revelation that led to changes in his conditioning after the first-round elimination to Memphis last season.

“He lost a lot of weight,” Bowen said. “In fact, when we would go out to eat, Tim would split the bill and we had a big plethora of food out of us. But now, he’s starting to eat wheat bread and chicken only, no mayonaise, no mustard, none of that.”

Bowen said the weight loss has helped Duncan extend his career.

— Reported by Tim Griffin of the San Antonio Express-News

Charlotte Bobcats coaching search continues

The Charlotte Bobcats are in the process of setting up an interview with Indiana Pacers assistant Brian Shaw, perhaps as soon as next week. They also plan to meet with Los Angeles Lakers assistant Quin Snyder in Chicago before the NBA pre-draft camp the first week in June, sources told ESPN The Magazine’s Chris Broussard.

The Bobcats have reportedly already interviewed Jerry Sloan, Patrick Ewing, Nate McMillan, Dave Joerger, Mike Malone, Nate Tibbetts, Mike Dunlap and Stephen Silas — son of departed coach Paul Silas.

The Bobcats decided not to renew Paul Silas’ contract after the team finished 7-59 this season for the worst winning percentage in league history (.106).

— Reported by ESPN.com, with information from the Associated Press

Young Sixers must learn from Game 7 loss

Often, the most important lessons are the toughest to take. Just ask Jrue Holiday and Evan Turner.

Holiday and Turner, the Sixers’ youthful backcourt teammates and future leaders of the 76ers, received an up close and personal education on big-time basketball Saturday night in Game 7 at the Garden. It was there, during the Sixers’ season-ending, 10-point loss to the Celtics, where the young guards watched as Rajon Rondo and Ray Allen took them to school.

No, the Celtics’ veterans didn’t embarrass the Sixers with an array of highlight-reel buckets or anything like that. Instead it was a lesson of perseverance, more surgical than anything. Better yet, the young Sixers guards got to see how superstars act when it’s all on the line.

And don’t think for a minute that they didn’t pick up on it.

Rondo seemed to make the biggest impression on Holiday. Still just 21-years old and playing in his third NBA season, Holiday talked about wanting to develop into an All-Star or Olympian as his career progresses. In fact, during training camp last December, Holiday said he was planning on attending the Olympics in London this July where he hopes to get swept up in the excitement. Perhaps watching the Olympics in person could help spark the motivation to become an Olympian in 2016.

— Reported by John Finger of CSN Philly

Spurs win 19th straight game, lead 1-0 vs Thunder

It’s a catchphrase likely coming soon to fan T-shirts, Internet memes and the lexicon of the NBA playoffs for the foreseeable future.

”I want some nasty!”

Gregg Popovich didn’t just coin it. He snarled it, and the way his San Antonio Spurs obliged has the Western Conference finals off to a thrilling start.

Manu Ginobili scored 26 points and the Spurs won their 19th in a row – tying the NBA record for longest winning streak kept alive in the playoffs – by rallying in the fourth quarter on the orders of their furious coach to beat the Oklahoma City Thunder 101-98 in Game 1 on Sunday night.

It was a tantalizing near-upset for the young Thunder, who came as close as anybody to beating the Spurs for the first time in 46 days. But a nine-point lead didn’t last after the famously mercurial 63-year-old Popovich – the NBA’s Coach of the Year – huddled his lagging team together in the fourth and told them to ”get nasty.” …

Kevin Durant led the Thunder with 27 points. Russell Westbrook had 17, and insisted he was OK after taking a spill that was nasty in its own right – face first, bracing his fall with his hands and sitting under the basket for more than a minute while the entire Thunder bench walked across the court to check on their All-Star point guard…

After being held to just 16 third-quarter points, San Antonio scored 39 in the fourth. Westbrook chalked it up to a defensive breakdown that ”got out of hand” but it still left the Thunder in search of the road win they’ll need to in this series to reach the NBA finals for the first time since the franchise moved to Oklahoma City in 2009…

The Spurs matched the fourth-longest streak in NBA history, and with one more will become just the fourth team to surpass 20. Tim Duncan had 16 points and 11 rebounds, and Tony Parker shook off a dismal start to finish with 18 points…

On the other end, Oklahoma City’s own Big Three struggled to find its shot early before awakening in the second half. Durant, Westbrook and James Harden at one point through the second quarter were 5 of 21 – a typically ominous stat line for a trio that had been responsible for nearly 70 percent of Oklahoma City’s points through the playoffs so far…

Gary Neal added 12 points and was the only other Spurs player in double figures.

— Reported by Paul J. Weber of the Associated Press

Two classic Ginobili drives in the final 1:57 essentially finished off OKC. The capper, in which he split a pair of defenders before finding the rim, put the Spurs up 96-89 with 1:11 to go.

“That’s Manu’s game,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. “He’s somebody we depend on to create and make things happen.”

Tony Parker added 18 points, six assists and a season-high eight rebounds, while Duncan had 16 points and 11 rebounds for his fifth double-double of the postseason.

Harder-earned than most, the victory gave the Spurs claim to one of the fourth-longest winning streaks in NBA history.

Heading into the fourth quarter, with the Thunder up nine and rolling, that streak seemed on life support.

OKC already had forced 14 first-half turnovers, undermining any chance the Spurs had of generating offense, and Kevin Durant was heating up on his way to 27 points and 10 boards.

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

Prior to James Harden’s back-to-back but too-little-too-late 3-pointers in the final four seconds, the Thunder went just 5-of-14 in the fourth quarter. The reason was a heavy dose of one-on-one offense. The Thunder ran few sets and seemingly spent the first 15 seconds of the shot clock on every trip getting the ball up the court and trying to force feed it to Kevin Durant, who Spurs forward Stephen Jackson crowded in crunch time to prevent clean catches.

“We stopped moving the ball,” Harden said. “In that third quarter, we did a great job of moving the ball and getting their defense to move a little bit by hitting wide open shots and wide open layups. In the fourth quarter, we kind of slowed that down and they got a couple of easy transition buckets.”

To this point, the Thunder had been excellent this postseason at closing games. Oklahoma City came in 4-1 in games decided by three points or less and 5-1 in games decided by six points or less. The Thunder has battled back from seven-point, fourth-quarter deficits twice in these playoffs, as well as two other 13-point, fourth-quarter deficits.

— Reported by Darnell Mayberry of the Oklahoman

Stephen Jackson happy to be with Spurs

Games like tonight’s matchup with Oklahoma City are why Jackson said he’s happy to be back in San Antonio.

“To be able to win another championship, to play great basketball and to be in the postseason is something that I love,” Jackson said. “I get up for that. This is an organization that’s always first-class and always has a chance to be in the post season, so I was excited to come back.”

But Jackson said he’s in a different role with this team than in 2003, when he was a starting forward and averaged 12.6 points per game during the playoffs. That evolution gives this playoff run a decidely different feeling than the previous one.

— Reported by Tim Griffin of the San Antonio Express-News

Magic look to Spurs and Thunder front offices in GM search

The Orlando Magic have built their playing rotation in recent years mostly through expensive free-agent signings and costly trades. The results have been mixed. Although the Magic are a perennial playoff participant, and even reached the NBA Finals in 2009, the franchise also has accumulated one of the league’s highest player payrolls.

The Magic appear determined to construct their roster more efficiently in the future. In their search for someone to head their basketball operations department, the team seems to be focusing on executives from small- and mid-market franchises that have built top-notch rosters through the draft.

The Magic expect to interview San Antonio Spurs executive Dennis Lindsey and Oklahoma City Thunder executives Troy Weaver and Rob Hennigan to replace Otis Smith, according to Yahoo! Sports.

Lindsey, the Spurs’ vice president/assistant general manager under team president R.C. Buford, is in his fifth season with San Antonio after spending 11 seasons with the Houston Rockets.

— Reported by Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel

Thunder, Spurs franchises have unique connection

The Spurs step onto the Western Conference Finals stage Sunday night feeling a little like Dr. Frankenstein.

The Spurs helped create the monster that wants to devour them.

From Sam Presti’s roots in San Antonio to the civic-minded ownership group of both franchises; from the lottery luck of Tim Duncan and Kevin Durant to the international draft success of Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili and Serge Ibaka; from the fiscal responsibility demanded of a small market to a left-handed sixth man magician, the Thunder mirrors the Spurs in so many ways.

But consider the blueprint a partial payment for services rendered. Long before the NBA was anything but a gleam in Oklahoma City’s eye, OKC helped the Spurs become the stately Spurs.

Thunder chairman Clay Bennett sits on the NBA board of governors. The Thunder is not his first NBA rodeo.

— Reported by Berry Tramel of the San Antonio Express-News

Bulls likely want Luol Deng to skip Olympics

Chris Spice, performance director for British Basketball, accused the Bulls of pressuring Deng to withdraw from his Olympic commitment because of his wrist injury. Spice’s statement also decried the NBA’s lack of support.

NBA and Bulls officials declined to respond.

“Luol Deng is hugely committed to the British Basketball program and he has maintained this stance despite recent pressure for him not to play after injuring his wrist during the highly-demanding shortened NBA season,” Spice’s statement said. “We admire and support his stance. Luol is a true professional and manages his body extremely well as shown by the high amount of minutes he was able to play for his club after sustaining the injury in January.”

The collective bargaining agreement prohibits the Bulls from preventing Deng to play.

— Reported by K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune