NBA News Blog – Page 1051 – NBA Blog

James Harden wins 2011-12 NBA Sixth Man of Year award

The Oklahoma City Thunder’s James Harden is the winner of the 2011-12 NBA Sixth Man Award as the league’s best player in a reserve role, the NBA announced today. Harden, who led all NBA reserves in scoring (16.8 ppg), came off the bench in 60 of 62 games he appeared in, helping Oklahoma City finish with the NBA’s third-best record (47-19).

Harden received 584 of a possible 595 points, including 115 of a possible 119 first-place votes, from a panel of 119 sportswriters and broadcasters throughout the United States and Canada. Louis Williams, who led the Philadelphia 76ers in scoring (14.9 ppg) despite not starting a single game, finished second with 231 points. Jason Terry of the Dallas Mavericks, who won the award in 2008-09, finished third with 81 points.

In order to be eligible for this award, players had to have come off the bench in more games than they started. Players were awarded five points for each first-place vote, three points for each second-place vote and one point for each third-place vote.

Harden, the third overall pick of the 2009 NBA Draft, was a model of consistency, scoring in double figures in 58 of 62 contests, while averaging 4.1 rebounds and 3.7 assists in 31.4 minutes per game. He topped the 20-point mark on 15 occasions, with the Thunder going 14-1 in those games. He shot .491 from the field, .846 from the free throw line, and .390 from three-point range.

Grizzlies force Game 6, beat Clippers 92-80

Marc Gasol scored 23 points and Zach Randolph added 19 as the Memphis Grizzlies avoided elimination by beating the Los Angeles Clippers 92-80 on Wednesday night, forcing a Game 6 in the Western Conference first-round series.

With Gasol and Randolph scoring early, the Grizzlies looked like the team that knocked off top-seeded San Antonio last spring and took Oklahoma City to seven games in the conference semifinals.

Game 6 is Friday night in Los Angeles. If the Grizzlies can win, Game 7 would be Sunday in Memphis.

Rudy Gay added 14 points for Memphis.

Mo Williams had 20 points for the Clippers while Chris Paul scored 19 and Blake Griffin had 15 points and 11 rebounds. Paul and Griffin both missed time in the fourth quarter with injuries.

Paul strained a groin muscle and appeared to jam a finger while Griffin hyperextended his left knee…

In the arena nicknamed the Grindhouse in honor of the Grizzlies’ bruising, blue-collar style, Memphis pounded the ball into the paint and banged on the Clippers all game long. The Grizzlies outscored Los Angeles 48-26 in the paint and had a 42-35 edge in rebounds.

— Reported by Teresa M. Walker of the Associated Press

Heat eliminate Knicks from playoffs in Game 5

LeBron James had 29 points, eight rebounds and seven assists, Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade both scored 19 points and the Heat ousted the shorthanded Knicks 106-94 in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference first-round series Wednesday night.

The Heat won the series 4-1, and will meet Indiana in the East semifinals starting Sunday in Miami…

Carmelo Anthony scored 35 points for the Knicks, including a spinning jumper over James at the end of the third quarter that pulled New York within 81-67. It was far from being enough to stave off an all-too-familiar playoff result for Anthony, part of that 2003 draft class that also yielded James, Bosh and Wade.

Anthony has played 54 postseason games, being part of wins only 17 times. A misleading stat for certain – it’s hardly all on him – and no shortage of people in the Heat organization interrupted their celebrating of a series-clincher to tip their caps Anthony’s way afterward…

James shot 48 percent from the field in the series, Anthony shot 42 percent. James averaged 6.2 rebounds and 5.6 assists, Anthony averaged 8.2 rebounds and 2.2 assists…

Amare Stoudemire scored 14 points, Landry Fields and J.R. Smith both added 12, Mike Bibby had 10 and Tyson Chandler grabbed 11 rebounds for New York, which is 1-8 in playoff games with Anthony and Stoudemire as teammates…

Miami went 7-1 against the Knicks this season, including playoffs. The Heat won three of four games against Indiana this season.

— Reported by Tim Reynolds of the Associated Press

Don Nelson to get college degree after nearly 50 years

Just a week after Shaquille O’Neal received his doctorate degree, Don Nelson will receive his Bachelor’s degree in physical education that was nearly 50 years in the making.

The winningest coach in NBA history, the now-retired Nelson, who turns 72 next week, will take part in commencement ceremonies this Saturday at Carver-Hawkeye Arena on the campus of the University of Iowa.

“The reason I coached all these years was that I enjoyed so much being around young, talented people,” Nelson told the Des Moines Register. “This will be like coaching my teams, really. I love talented, young kids.”

Nelson, who spent 14 years as a NBA player, followed by 31 seasons as an NBA head coach, needed to require foreign language requirements to finally obtain his long-desired degree, which he put on hiatus when he left Iowa in 1962. He was able to complete those language requirements through correspondence/online classes.

— Reported by the Sports Xchange

Long rest is helpful to Perkins, Thunder

Perhaps the best part of the time between games has been added recovery time for starting center Kendrick Perkins, who left in the first quarter of Saturday’s game with a strained muscle in his right hip. He has missed both practice sessions while getting treatment and is still considered day to day.

Brooks planned a lighter session Thursday to let his players recover.

”It’s always good to get some time off because you can rest and everybody has aches and pains when you go through a season – any season, not just this short season this year,” Brooks said. ”Just any season, it’s always a physical grind on your body.”

It’s not just keeping his team’s bodies in the right shape, though. Brooks also wants to keep his players mentally engaged, and he’s figured out a simple way to get the most out of them.

”Any time we put a scoreboard into the game, it raises up the competition. We do that with a lot of things,” he said, listing off everything from full scrimmages to free throws.

— Reported by Jeff Latzke of the Associated Press

Video: Rajon Rondo gets mad at cameraman

Watch Boston Celtics guard Rajon Rondo get angry at a cameraman for filming him in the arena hallway:

Detroit Pistons hope to keep Jason Maxiell

Pistons president of basketball operations Joe Dumars would like to have power forward Jason Maxiell return next season.

But as he put it at his season-ending media availability last month, the decision is up to Maxiell, who has until June 30 to let the team know whether he will pick up his option of $5 million.

“It’s a player option so that’s totally in his hands,” Dumars said. “Obviously we’d love to have Max back.

“I think clearly this was his best year. He was in the best shape of his life. He looked great.”

— Reported by Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press

Raja Bell dislikes Jazz coach Tyrone Corbin

Calling Jazz coach Tyrone Corbin unprofessional and saying his career with the Jazz is over, Raja Bell opened up firing Tuesday during a season-ending media interview and never ran out of bullets.

The 35-year-old guard said Corbin made things personal by not allowing him to take the court during Utah’s first-round playoff defeat to San Antonio. Every active Jazz player except Bell recorded minutes. And after working back from knee and groin injuries this season only to watch his teammates be swept by the Spurs without him, Bell left no room for reconciliation. He’s done with the Jazz, and has no intention of playing another game in a Utah uniform…

Longtime Utah small forward C.J. Miles said he was proud of what his team accomplished and is open to returning next season. But the seven-year veteran joined Bell in questioning Corbin’s communication skills, pointing toward deep-rooted issues that sometimes undercut the team’s improved chemistry this year.

— Reported by Brian T. Smith of the Salt Lake Tribune

Nuggets avoid elimination, hold off Lakers in Game 5

JaVale McGee went out with the attitude that Game 5 was the last game of his life. The other Denver Nuggets played their own mental games, some drawing inspiration from Lakers center Andrew Bynum’s comment about how closeout playoff games can sometimes be easy.

The Nuggets went deep into their motivational wells for an impressive win at Staples Center, and not even Kobe Bryant could prevent the Lakers from getting on a plane back to Denver.

Andre Miller scored 24 points, including two free throws with 12.8 seconds left, and Denver survived Bryant’s late scoring barrage in a 43-point performance, avoiding playoff elimination with a 102-99 victory over Los Angeles on Tuesday night and trimming the Lakers’ series lead to 3-2.

McGee had 21 points and 14 rebounds for the sixth-seeded Nuggets, who barely survived a frenetic finish. Denver had a 15-point lead midway through the fourth quarter against the lifeless Lakers, but Bryant engineered a swift comeback before his final three shots missed…

Bryant scored 12 points over the final 4:45, hitting four 3-pointers that trimmed the Nuggets’ lead to 98-96 with 59 seconds left. Bryant then missed a potential tying 5-footer and a 3-pointer, but Denver missed two of four free throws before Ramon Sessions hit a 3-pointer with 12.8 seconds left, trimming the Nuggets’ lead to one point…

Arron Afflalo scored a career playoff-high 19 points and Danilo Gallinari added 14 for the Nuggets, while rookie Kenneth Faried had 10 points and nine rebounds. Miller scored 10 points in the fourth quarter and 17 in the second half, calmly leading his young teammates to the win…

Bynum had 16 points and 11 rebounds for the Lakers, who lost a closeout playoff game at home for the first time since May 4, 2006, against Phoenix.

— Reported by the Associated Press

Deng, Boozer lead Bulls past 76ers in Game 5

The Chicago Bulls aren’t quite finished after all. They’re still in a dire situation, though.

Luol Deng scored 24 points, Carlos Boozer added 19 points and 13 rebounds, and Chicago beat the Philadelphia 76ers 77-69 on Tuesday night to avoid a first-round playoff exit.

The top-seeded Bulls finally won without point guard Derrick Rose, building a nine-point halftime lead and staying in control down the stretch to pull within 3-2. Game 6 is Thursday in Philadelphia, and the way Chicago sees it, maybe, just maybe, some of the pressure is now on the 76ers…

Deng played more like an All-Star after averaging just eight points in the previous three games, hitting 4 of 5 3-point attempts – three in the fourth quarter. He also grabbed eight rebounds. Boozer tied a career-playoff high with six assists, and the Bulls came out on top just when their season appeared to be unraveling…

Jrue Holiday scored 16 points for Philadelphia but hit just 5 of 17 shots. Lou Williams scored 13 points and Andre Iguodala and Spencer Hawes both finished with 11 as the Sixers remained one win from their first series victory since 2003.

Hawes grabbed 14 rebounds, but it was a rough night for him after scoring 21 and 22 the previous two games. He wound up with a nasty scratch running from the side of his left eye to below the lip after going up for a shot during the fourth quarter…

Ronnie Brewer and Evan Turner appeared to exchange some heated words, but Gibson and Brand wound up getting technical fouls with 2:25 left.

— Reported by the Associated Press