NBA News Blog – Page 1054 – NBA Blog

Al Jefferson says Spurs are better than Jazz

Jefferson said he hasn’t competed against a team comparable to San Antonio during his eight-year career. And three separate times during an interview Sunday, the Utah big man acknowledged the Spurs are stronger than and superior to the Jazz.

“It gets to the point where you’re just playing a team that’s better than you; that know what it takes to win and know how to win,” Jefferson said.

He added: “If you lose to a team because you didn’t play your best, that’s one thing. If you’re playing your best and doing everything that you can, and you’re just playing against a team that’s better than you, that’s another one.”

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

No Mavs playoff money for Lamar Odom

In public, Dallas Mavericks players have been diplomatic when discussing Lamar Odom’s failure to compete this season. Their truer feelings came out in a locker room vote Sunday, when they decided not to include Odom in their share of playoff money.

A team source confirmed that Odom will miss out on about a $14,000 playoff share.

“If the Lamar thing would have worked out and if he would have played like the year before when he was the best sixth man, I think we would have had a shot,” Dirk Nowitzki said of going deeper in the playoffs. “It would have given us another playmaker, another guy that’s long, that can defend and rebound.

“But for whatever reason the stuff he was going through off the court was just too much. He couldn’t help us the way he wanted, the way we wanted, and we had to move on without him.”

— Reported by ESPN Dallas

Jason Terry future with Mavs uncertain

Jason Terry has been a permanent fixture with the Dallas Mavericks for the past eight seasons.

Whether he makes it to a ninth season is anybody’s guess.

“I think you need to ask him that,” general manager Donnie Nelson said Sunday. “You talk about a guy that’s given his heart and soul to this franchise, and made big plays and big shots.

“We’d love to have Jet back. It’s just at what cost?”

Terry, who made $11.4 million this past season, was the starting point guard when the Mavs made their first appearance in the NBA Finals in 2006.

— Reported by Dwain Price of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram

Jason Terry, Jason Kidd, Delonte West, Ian Mahinmi, Brian Cardinal and Yi Jianlian become unrestricted free agents on July 1. The Mavs also hold options on Brandan Wright, Vince Carter, Kelenna Azubuike and Lamar Odom.

Thus, Shawn Marion, Brendan Haywood, Rodrigue Beaubois, Dominique Jones and Nowitzki are the only players under contract for next season. The Mavericks might use their amnesty clause on Haywood’s contract, which would give them more salary cap space.

— Reported by Dwain Price of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram

Ramon Sessions not looking into his future yet

Conventional wisdom suggests point guard Ramon Sessions will terminate his contract July 1, become a free agent and sign a bigger and better deal with the Lakers.

After all, he wasn’t acquired March 15 to be just a rent-a-player.

He would prefer to think about the present rather than the future, however, and concentrate on helping the Lakers advance past the Denver Nuggets in their Western Conference quarterfinal series.

Sessions, who made his playoff debut in Game 1 against the Nuggets after spending his first four seasons with non-qualifiers Milwaukee, Minnesota and Cleveland, is due to be paid $4.3 million for this season and $4.5 million in 2012-13.

“It’s definitely something that’s not in the back of my mind right now because I’m trying to focus on the playoffs,” Sessions said on the eve of Game 4.

— Reported by Elliot Teaford of the Los Angeles Daily News

Bobcats may want Jerry Sloan to be next coach

We’re hearing that the Bobcats may take a look at Jerry Sloan to replace Paul Silas.

The former Utah Jazz coach would be a tremendous, out-of-the-box choice and the first indication that Jordan is committed to turning his seven-win team around.

The obvious connection between Jordan and Sloan is that they both have their numbers hanging from the rafters in Chicago’s United Center. Beyond that, Jordan has great admiration for the coach he twice defeated in the Finals, at the end of his second three-peat.

Sloan might be tempted to return to the sidelines, if the situation and money are right. But what about taking over a team low on talent and embarking on a long rebuilding campaign, while working for an owner who doesn’t have deep pockets, doesn’t like to spend money on players and has been looking to sell half the team for close to a year?

— Reported by Mitch Lawrence of the New York Daily News

Supporting cast gives Lakers 3-1 edge over Nuggets

Kobe Bryant and Andrew Bynum put up their usual big numbers. Their supporting cast came up even bigger, sealing the Los Angeles Lakers’ 92-88 victory over Denver on Sunday night that put the Nuggets on the brink of elimination.

Bryant had 22 points and Bynum added 19 to help the Lakers overcome a six-point halftime deficit and take a 3-1 lead in the first-round playoff series that they can wrap up Tuesday night when the series shifts back to Staples Center for Game 5.

Sixth-man Jordan Hill had 12 points and 11 rebounds, and recently acquired guard Ramon Sessions and reserve point guard Steve Blake each hit crucial 3-pointers in the final minute as the Lakers broke free.

Those were the players the Nuggets preferred had the ball in crunch time, and Bryant wasn’t at all hesitant to oblige…

Sessions, whose acquisition from Cleveland this spring led to the trade of five-time NBA champion Derek Fisher, finished with 12 points, and Blake had 10…

After torching the Lakers for 50 points combined in the previous two games, Ty Lawson was held to 11 points and Nuggets big men Kenneth Faried and JaVale McGee weren’t nearly as effective on offense or disruptive defensively as they were in Game 2, when they combined for 28 points and 30 rebounds. Together, they had 14 points and 11 rebounds Sunday…

The game was briefly delayed with 1:10 left in the first half when a female fan started walking across the court while the Nuggets were setting up a play.

— Reported by the Associated Press

Pierce helps Celtics top Hawks for 3-1 series lead

By the time Avery Bradley, who is recovering from a dislocated shoulder, sank a free throw to give the Boston Celtics a 37-point lead early in the third quarter, Paul Pierce was done for the night, riding a stationary bicycle under the stands and trying to keep his sore left knee from stiffening up.

Ray Allen went to the bench soon after to rest his ailing right ankle. He grabbed a seat near Kevin Garnett, who is about to turn 36 and played 42 minutes in the previous game – surpassing 50,000 total minutes in the regular season and playoffs in his 17-year NBA career.

”We had a lot of things going on on our bench today with bodies,” coach Doc Rivers said on Sunday night after the Celtics coasted to a 101-79 victory over the Atlanta Hawks to take a 3-1 lead in their best-of-seven playoff series. ”The whole game I kept looking down there (to see if) there were enough guys to put in the game.”

Pierce scored 24 points in 18 minutes before heading to the stationary bicycle in the tunnel leading to the locker room, getting some much-needed rest after the Celtics scored 16 of the first 18 points in the second half…

”Their team set the tone from the jump ball and we weren’t able to recover,” said Al Horford, who played for the first time in almost four months and scored 12 points…

Horford returned from a torn pectoral muscle that has kept him out since Jan. 11, but he wasn’t available in the fourth quarter. Josh Smith returned after missing Friday’s game and had 15 points and 13 rebounds for Atlanta. Tracy McGrady, a key contributor in the first half of Game 3 before turning his ankle, played just nine minutes and scored two points…

The Hawks weren’t able to get any closer than 22 points before Rondo and Allen hit back-to-back 3-pointers, then Rondo made a behind-the-back fake to clear out the lane for an easy layup as Boston closed out the third quarter with a 90-63 lead.

— Reported by the Associated Press

Melo scores 41, Knicks beat Heat in Game 4

Amare Stoudemire raised his hands in the air, one covered in padding, as streamers fell from the ceiling above him.

Finally, New York could celebrate an NBA playoff victory again.

Carmelo Anthony scored 41 points, Stoudemire had 20 points and 10 rebounds in his return from a cut hand, and the Knicks snapped an NBA-record, 13-game postseason losing streak by beating the Miami Heat 89-87 Sunday in Game 4 of their first-round series.

”I think it’s the first of many,” said Stoudemire, his left arm back in a sling to keep his hand elevated. ”Tonight was a great win for us, for our fans to finally get over that hump of those consecutive games that we lost, I guess the Knicks, lost over those years in the playoffs.”

— Reported by the Associated Press

76ers beat banged-up Bulls, take 3-1 series lead

Spencer Hawes scored 22 points and Jrue Holiday had 20 to help the surprising Philadelphia 76ers beat the Chicago Bulls 89-82 on Sunday and take a 3-1 lead in their Eastern Conference playoff series.

Andre Iguodala had 14 points and 12 rebounds for the Sixers, who have won the last three games after losing Game 1.

Holiday stretched the lead with consecutive 3-pointers late in the game to put the Sixers one win away from joining the short list of eighth-seeded teams that have won a series against a No. 1 seed.

Game 5 is Tuesday in Chicago.

The top-seeded Bulls played without Derrick Rose (torn ACL) and Joakim Noah (sprained ankle). Rose is out for the season and Noah is day to day for the rest of the series.

— Reported by the Associated Press

Jason Kidd not retiring from NBA yet

As would befit a 39-year-old point guard who just finished posting 16 points, a game-best eight assists and seven rebounds in a key playoff game, Jason Kidd isn’t ready to hang up his sneakers.

“I’ll land somewhere early, I would think,” Kidd said regarding his upcoming free agency.

He’s heard everything from going home to Oakland to play with Golden State to backing up Deron Williams — wherever it is that Williams ends up playing. That seems likely to be either in Brooklyn with the Nets or in Dallas with the Mavericks.

Kidd said he essentially will try to help recruit Williams as a free agent this summer. He could envision himself next season as Williams’ backup.

— Reported by Eddie Sefko of the Dallas Morning News