NBA News Blog – Page 1060 – NBA Blog

Jazz embarrassed after Game 2 beatdown

One word crossed Al Jefferson’s lips in a muted tone when he was asked to describe what had just happened to him and the Utah Jazz on the AT&T Center court.

“Embarrassing.”

The night was inexplicable for Paul Millsap — the worst he’d ever been part of during his NBA career. “Tough” was the description Gordon Hayward uttered a few times. Devin Harris admitted it was “a little demoralizing.”

Game 2 was SOOOOO BAD for the Jazz, even Spurs coach Gregg Popovich kind of came to their defense.

The Jazz were hounded, hammered and humiliated by San Antonio — and that was just the first half. When the final buzzer finally blared its merciful sound, the Jazz were on the extremely short end of a 114-83 rout Wednesday night.

The Spurs — after beating the Jazz by an average of 23 points in their first two playoff games — will take a 2-0 series lead into Utah for Game 3 on Saturday night.

“We had a good night. They had a poor night,” Popovich, the 2012 NBA coach of the year, said. “This was just a matter of them having a bad, bad night. … It happens to all of us.”

— Reported by Jody Genessy of the Deseret News

Knicks hope to break streak of ineptitude in NBA playoffs

Mike Bibby, a veteran of 102 playoff games and three conference finals, was in disbelief when told of his team’s long-standing ineptitude. “Eleven years without a playoff win?” Bibby asked. “Not one game?” Nope. “A game or a series?” A game. “You sure?” Yup. “Dang, I didn’t know that. It’s surprising.”

While it may be news to Bibby, who just joined the Knicks this season, it could become part of history Thursday night.

If the Knicks fail to beat Miami in Game 3 at the Garden, it would be the franchise’s 13th straight playoff loss, which would set an NBA record.

The Knicks are currently tied with the Grizzlies, who lost 12 straight from 2004 through 2006.

— Reported by Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News

Chris Bosh goes home to be with expectant wife

Heat forward Chris Bosh may miss Game 3 of Miami’s Eastern Conference first-round series in New York on Thursday after being summoned home because his wife was preparing to give birth.

The Heat were told late Wednesday that Bosh had to return home. Bosh left from New York on a private plane, and his wife, Adrienne, posted a photo on a social media account saying ”hurry home.”

— Reported by the Associated Press

Grizzlies beat Clippers 105-98, tie series 1-1

O.J. Mayo felt so responsible for how Memphis blew a 27-point lead in the series opener with the Clippers that he had barely slept since that loss. He made sure all the Grizzlies can sleep well now.

Mayo scored 10 of his 20 points in the fourth quarter, and Memphis bounced back to beat Los Angeles 105-98 on Wednesday night in Game 2.

”We’ll get some good rest tonight and go to L.A. for two more games,” Mayo said.

The Grizzlies collapsed Sunday night, letting the Clippers grab home-court advantage in the best-of-seven, first-round Western Conference series. Down 21 points at the start of the fourth quarter, the Clippers tied the NBA playoff record for largest final-period comeback…

Gay also scored 21 points and Memphis showed off its depth with six players reaching double figures. Mike Conley had 19, Zach Randolph 15, Marreese Speights 11 and Tony Allen 10.

Paul led the Clippers with 29 points. Blake Griffin had 22, and Mo Williams and Nick Young 11 apiece…

The Clippers shot 64.7 percent (11 of 17) in the first quarter and hit 4 of 6 at the free throw line. But they just couldn’t match the Grizzlies who outrebounded the Clippers (37-2) with a big edge on the offensive boards (16-4), which they used to outscore them 18-6 on second-chance points. Memphis also had a 46-38 edge in the paint…

The emotions are starting to boil in this series, and the Grizzlies brought out wrestler Jerry ”The King” Lawler came out and delivered a pile driver to someone dressed up as a Clippers’ fan. That almost seemed to help spark the Grizzlies.

— Reported by the Associated Press

Pacers dominate Magic 97-74 to take 2-1 lead

Danny Granger had 26 points and nine rebounds, Roy Hibbert added 18 points and 10 rebounds, and the Indiana Pacers beat the Orlando Magic 97-74 on Wednesday night to a take a 2-1 lead in the first-round series.

The Pacers regained home-court advantage with the victory, riding good shooting early and building a 29-point lead in the fourth quarter.

They also dominated scoring underneath thanks to a 46-33 rebounding edge and have outscored the Magic 81-43 in the third quarter in the series.

Glen Davis led the Magic with 22 points, and J.J. Redick added 13. The Magic never led, struggled to get any scoring in the paint, and made a series-low five 3-pointers.

Game 4 is Saturday in Orlando.

Indiana coach Frank Vogel’s implored the Pacers after each of the first two games to make better shot selections.

They finally did it in Game 3.

It translated into their best shooting of the series as the Pacers built a 23-point lead in the third quarter and led 76-55 entering the fourth.

— Reported by Kyle Hightower of the Associated Press

Spurs wreck Jazz 114-83 to take 2-0 lead

Tony Parker scored 18 points and Kawhi Leonard added 17 as the Spurs raced to a 114-83 blowout victory over Utah Wednesday night at the AT&T Center.

The victory gave the Spurs a 2-0 lead in the best-of-7 series. Game 3 will be played in Salt Lake City on Saturday night.

It was the third largest victory in the Spurs’ playoff history and the largest since a 122-88 victory over Sacramento on April 22, 2006.

The Spurs shot 57 percent from the field and had a balanced scoring attack featuring seven players in double figures.

It stretched the Spurs’ consecutive winning streak to a season-best 12 games, including the last 10 games in the regular season.

Josh Howard and Al Jefferson scored 10 points apiece to lead Utah, which shot 34 percent from the field.

Wednesday’s victory punctuated a big night for Spurs coach Gregg Popovich, who was presented the Red Auerbach Trophy as the NBA’s Coach of the Year in ceremonies with Tim Duncan and David Robinson on the court shortly before tip-off.

The Spurs blew the game open with a run of 20 consecutive points late in the first half. During the run, Utah missed 12 straight shots and committed three turnovers in the drought that stretched for nearly seven minutes.

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

Suns forward Channing Frye undergoes shoulder surgery

Phoenix Suns forward Channing Frye today underwent successful surgery on his right shoulder, the team has announced.

Under the recommendation of Suns orthopedic surgeon Dr. Thomas Carter, Frye had the procedure performed by Dr. Lewis Yocum in Anaheim, Calif.

Frye injured the shoulder in second quarter of the Suns’ April 21 game against the Denver Nuggets at US Airways Center and missed the season’s final two games. Frye averaged 10.5 points and 5.9 rebounds in 64 games (59 starts) this season. It was the career-high third-straight season Frye has averaged double-digit scoring, all three seasons since joining the Suns.

Tyson Chandler wins 2011-12 NBA Defensive Player of Year award

Tyson Chandler of the New York Knicks is the recipient of the 2011-12 NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award, the NBA announced today. Chandler becomes the first player in franchise history to earn the honor.

Chandler received 311 points, including 45 first-place votes, from a panel of 121 sportswriters and broadcasters throughout the United States and Canada. Oklahoma City’s Serge Ibaka finished second with 294 points and Orlando’s Dwight Howard, who had won the award each of the previous three seasons, finished third with 186 points. 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 received.

With Chandler anchoring the middle, New York’s defense improved markedly from the previous season in multiple categories. The Knicks ranked among the top half of the league in several key defensive categories, including opponent turnovers per game (17.0, 2nd), opponent field goal percentage (.442, 10th), and opponent scoring (94.7 ppg, 11th). Opposing teams averaged 22.5 more points and shot .520 from the field when Chandler was not in the lineup. Opponents shot .438 with Chandler in the lineup. In addition, Chandler grabbed 22.1 percent of his team’s defensive rebounds when he was on the floor.

UNC basketball hires Hubert Davis as assistant coach

Former University of North Carolina guard, 12-year NBA veteran and ESPN analyst Hubert Davis is the Tar Heels’ newest assistant men’s basketball coach, head coach Roy Williams announced today.

Davis has spent the past seven years with ESPN as a highly regarded college basketball analyst and co-host of College GameDay. He is replacing Jerod Haase, who spent nine years on Williams’ staff at Carolina prior to being named the head coach at UAB.

“I am very excited, thankful and honored to re-join the Carolina basketball program as an assistant to Coach Williams,” says Davis. “I loved being a part of college basketball during my time at ESPN by attending practices and games and developing relationships with players and coaches. Now I will have the opportunity to do this on a more personal level at a university and with a basketball program that I have loved my entire life.”

The Burke, Va., native played in 137 games as a Tar Heel from 1988-92, during which time UNC went 102-37, won the 1989 and 1991 Atlantic Coast Conference Tournaments and played in the 1991 Final Four. He scored 1,615 points, an average of 11.8 per game, and holds the UNC record for career three-point percentage at .435 (197 of 453). He scored in double figures 80times, had 23 games with 20 or more points, including 25 against Kansas in the 1991 national semifinals.

Davis averaged 21.4 points and earned second-team All-ACC honors as a senior. He scored in double figures in 32 of 33 games that season, including 20 games with 20 or more points and 30 or more in four games. He netted a career-high 35 points at Duke on March 8, 1992.

As a junior, Davis made 64 of 131 three-pointers, a percentage of .489 that is second-best in UNC history. He shares the UNC single-game record for three-pointers, as he made eight at Florida State as a senior.

“I am ecstatic to announce that Hubert Davis will be joining our program as an assistant coach to replace Jerod Haase,” says Williams. “Jerod was phenomenal as a player and assistant and I am elated that I can fill this spot with Hubert. I helped recruit him to Carolina in 1988, coached him in the World University Games in 1991 and have always admired him on and off the court. I knew the day would eventually come when I would need to replace staff members as they moved on. For the last four or five years Hubert has alwaysbeen on my mind in case a spot did come open. I didn’t know if I could get him to come back, but I knew I wanted him to be the first option. Coaching is about teaching, relationships and passion and I feel Hubert is the perfect choice. Our student-athletes will benefit greatly from what he adds to our staff.

“I really was overjoyed by the interest from former players and I knew I wanted the hire to be a former Tar Heel. I considered several current college coaches as well as people wanting to get into college coaching – it was a fabulous group. Guys like Shammond Williams are not in college coaching now, but is going to be great when his time comes. We also had interest from NBA assistants, so it truly was a diverse group, but Hubert is taking the job and I know all former Tar Heels will be extremely happy.

“Again, I am ecstatic to make this announcement and look forward to working with Hubert. My entire staff and team are excited about Hubert and his family being with us.”

The New York Knicks selected Davis in the first round of the 1992 NBA Draft. He played in 12 seasons in the NBA, scoring 5,583 points, an average of 8.2 per contest. He made 728 three-point field goals and prior to the 2011-12 season was third in NBA history in three-point percentage at .441.

— UNC Basketball Info

Scott Skiles will return as Bucks coach

Scott Skiles still will be in charge of the Milwaukee Bucks next season.

Skiles confirmed Tuesday that he would return for his fifth season as coach with the franchise.

And it was clear he believes he has unfinished business after the Bucks faded to a 3-7 record in the last three weeks of the season, hardly good enough to catch the surging New York Knicks or the fading Philadelphia 76ers for an Eastern Conference playoff spot.

The lockout-shortened season became just the latest non-playoff year for the franchise, its fifth in the last six seasons and third in four years under Skiles.

Skiles confirmed in a phone call that he would return to the Bucks and said he wanted to “hit the ground running” this summer to prepare for next season.

Skiles had discussions during the past few days with owner Herb Kohl and general manager John Hammond. The coach decided to work in the final year of his deal with a clear goal of returning to the playoffs.

— Reported by Charles F. Gardner of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel