Category: NBA News Blog

NBA news blog

LeBron James apologizes for using the word `retarded` in a press conference

We live in an increasingly politically-correct public world, where celebrities, sports stars and other famous people have to be careful about what they say, for fear of pissing off at least some major group somewhere. And in this case, as the AP reports:

The Miami Heat star muttered the word after Game 3 of the Eastern Conference semifinals as he and Dwyane Wade listened to a question about Wade’s takedown of Boston guard Rajon Rondo.

James had his hand covering his mouth when he said “that’s retarded” as a reporter asked Wade whether the play that dislocated Rondo’s elbow was dirty.

I’m glad that’s resolved.

Thunder tie series with Memphis with 3 OT thriller

The AP reports:

kevin durant

Kevin Durant scored six of his 35 points in the third overtime, and the Thunder scored the final 10 points to beat the Memphis Grizzlies 133-123 in a thriller that started Monday night and ended early Tuesday morning.

It was the second straight overtime game in the series and the NBA’s first triple-overtime playoff game since Chicago downed Boston 128-127 on April 30, 2009…

The Thunder blew a 16-point lead in losing Game 3 101-93 in overtime. This time, Memphis was up 18, lost that and fell behind 10 in the fourth quarter only to rally.

Memphis’ Mike Conley hit a 3 over a couple defenders to set up the first overtime. Grizzlies rookie Greivis Vasquez hit an off-balance, one-handed 3 setting up the second overtime, and it was Marc Gasol’s scoring to help extend this game five more minutes…

Russell Westbrook led the Thunder with 40 points and only three turnovers in more than 51 minutes of play. James Harden added 19, and Daequan Cook had 10. Durant, Westbrook and Harden played the most minutes in a single game in their pro careers. For Memphis, Zach Randolph and Gasol posted career highs in minutes…

Randolph led Memphis with 34 points and 16 rebounds. Gasol had 26 and 21 rebounds. O.J. Mayo had 18 points and Conley 16 before both fouled out. Vasquez had 14.

Live fan discussion of the game took place in this forum topic.

James, Wade lead Heat past Celtics 98-90 in OT of Game 4

The AP reports:

lebron james

LeBron James scored 35 points and grabbed 14 rebounds to lead Miami to a 98-90 overtime victory over the Boston Celtics on Monday night and give the Heat a 3-1 lead in the Eastern Conference semifinals.

Dwyane Wade scored 28 with nine rebounds and Chris Bosh had 20 points and 12 rebounds for Miami, which could eliminate the defending conference champions and advance to the East finals with a victory in Game 5 in Miami on Wednesday night…

James, Wade and Bosh scored 83 of Miami’s 98 points and had 35 of its 45 rebounds.

Paul Pierce scored 27, Ray Allen had 17 and Kevin Garnett had seven points and 10 rebounds for Boston…

In the overtime period, Garnett threw the ball away and then James made a fallaway jumper as the shot clock expired to give Miami an 88-86 lead. Allen missed, Bosh dunked at the other end, West missed a 3-pointer and then James drew a charging foul on Pierce. After another Boston turnover, Wade made a 2-pointer with his foot on the 3-point arc to give Miami a 92-86 lead with 2 minutes left in overtime.

Fans discussed the game live as it happened in this forum topic.

Thoughts from InsideHoops.com coming Tuesday.

Smith, Teague lead Hawks past Bulls 100-88 in Game 4

The AP reports:

Smith, Teague lead Hawks past Bulls 100-88 in Game 4

Josh Smith is frequently criticized by Atlanta fans for his inconsistent play. He heard nothing but cheers Sunday night, coming up with a huge game that helped the Hawks even the Eastern Conference semifinal against top-seeded Chicago at two games apiece.

Largely ignoring the long jumpers that aren’t his forte, Smith had 23 points, 16 rebounds, eight assists, two blocks and a steal in Atlanta’s 100-88 win over the Bulls…

Jeff Teague also played a big role in stopping the skid.

Filling in for injured Kirk Hinrich, the second-year guard again directed the team with the poise of a veteran instead of someone who played infrequently during the regular season and hardly at all in the first round of the playoffs. He scored 12 points and doled out four assists, putting the capper on a late 10-0 run that broke open a game that had been tight and intense all the way…

The actual MVP scored 34 points. But Derrick Rose needed 32 shots to do it, and he wasn’t nearly as effective as he was in scoring a career-best 44 points in Game 3, leading the Bulls to a 99-82 rout that restored Chicago’s home-court advantage…

Seven-footer Jason Collins started at center between Al Horford and Smith, putting Marvin Williams in a reserve role. Collins had a couple of early dunks, but he wound up playing less than 12 minutes…

Carlos Boozer had 18 points for Chicago, and Luol Deng added 13. Korver had an especially rough night, going 1 for 8 from the field. He missed all five of his 3-point attempts.

Mavs eliminate Lakers, sweep Phil Jackson to retirement

The AP reports:

Mavs eliminate Lakers, sweep Phil Jackson to retirement

Jason Terry and the Dallas Mavericks ended Phil Jackson’s tenure, and the Lakers’ reign as two-time champions, with a 122-86 victory Sunday. After two tight finishes and another game that was relatively close, the Mavs turned this one into a rout in the second quarter.

With Terry leading the way, Dallas hit a barrage of 3-pointers to go ahead by 24 points at halftime. When he made 3s on consecutive possessions early in the third quarter, Los Angeles knew it wasn’t going to come back in this game or the series.

Things got ugly early in the fourth quarter, with vicious, frustration-fueled cheap shots by Lamar Odom and Andrew Bynum getting them ejected 45 seconds apart. But at game’s end, Dallas coaches, players and team owner Mark Cuban lined up to bid farewell to the Zen Master…

Terry tied a playoff record with nine 3-pointers, and the club matched NBA postseason marks with 11 3s in the first half and 20 for the game. Dallas made 63 percent of its shots from behind the arc (20 of 32) and 60 percent of its field goals (44 of 73)…

Terry made 11 of 14 shots for 32 points. J.J. Barea set a career playoff-best with 22 points and Peja Stojakovic added 21 points. All three of those guys come off the bench…

Bryant finished 7 of 18 for 17 points. Shannon Brown was Los Angeles’ next-best scorer with 15. Pau Gasol’s lost postseason continued, too; he had 10 points and eight rebounds.

Panathinaikos beats Maccabi for 2011 Euroleague championship

The AP reports:

Panathinaikos won the Euroleague basketball final Sunday, beating Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv 78-70 behind 16 points and nine assists from Dimitris Diamantidis.

This was the sixth European title and third in five years for the Greek club. Italy’s Montepaschi Siena beat Real Madrid 80-62 for third place.

Former Arizona State center Mike Batiste, who also won the title with Panathinaikos in 2007 and ’09, scored 18 points and Drew Nicholas added 14. Maccabi’s Chuck Eidson had 17.

The Israelis were within three points at halftime, but their outside shooting faltered in the second half when it made just 1-of-9 from beyond the arc. Panathinaikos used a strong third quarter to build a double-digit lead, then withstood a late run from Maccabi…

Diamantidis, the regular-season MVP, was also the MVP of the Final Four. The only others to win Final Four MVP awards more than once are Toni Kukoc (four) and Dejan Bodiroga (two). Diamantidis won the championship for the third time with the Greens.

Montepaschi Siena beats Madrid for third place in 2011 Euroleague

The AP reports:

Montepaschi Siena beat Real Madrid 80-62 on Sunday to claim third place in the Euroleague Final Four.

With Madrid only three points behind, the Italian champions went on a 13-2 run to gain control for good in the third quarter.

Eleven players scored for Montepaschi, led by forward Ksistof Lavrinovic who had 17 points and four assists. David Moss added 11 points, while Bo McCalebb chipped in with 10 more.

Rondo returns and helps Celtics beat Heat 97-81 in Game 3

The AP reports:

His left arm wrapped in a sleeve and dangling lifelessly by his side, Rajon Rondo broke for the basket and sailed past LeBron James for a layup.

The dislocated elbow and stiff back weren’t going to stop him.

Rondo returns and helps Celtics beat Heat 97-81 in Game 3

Rondo still had one good arm—and his legs.

The Celtics point guard had 11 assists in the game and a pair of one-armed baskets in the fourth quarter on Saturday night to lead Boston to a 97-81 victory over the Miami Heat in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference semifinals.

“He showed he’s a really tough young individual,” said Kevin Garnett, who had 28 points and 18 rebounds—more than he had in the first two games combined…

Paul Pierce scored 27 for the defending East champions, who managed to avoid a 3-0 hole that no NBA team has ever overcome. But they came out of it with injuries to both point guards: Coach Doc Rivers said Rondo’s future availability is in question, and Delonte West had his bruised left shoulder wrapped at the end of the game…

Dwyane Wade had 23 points and seven assists, and Joel Anthony continued to contribute off the bench, scoring 12 with 11 rebounds. Playing in the building where his Cleveland career came to an end, spurring his free agency defection to Miami, James scored 15 points as he and Wade combined to make just 14 of 35 shots from the floor…

Shaquille O’Neal returned for Boston and was not much of a factor. He scored two points, with zero rebounds, in 8:29 for his first action of the postseason.

Grizzlies rally from 16 down, go up 2-1 on Thunder

The AP reports:

zach randolph

Zach Randolph had 21 points and a franchise-record 21 rebounds, and the Memphis Grizzlies rallied from a 16-point deficit to stun the Oklahoma City Thunder 101-93 in overtime Saturday and grab a 2-1 lead in their Western Conference semifinal.

The Grizzlies are trying to do something no NBA team has done in climbing from the No. 8 seed all the way to the Western Conference finals. They moved two wins away from that by remaining undefeated on their home court this postseason…

Kevin Durant, the NBA’s scoring leader in the regular season and these playoffs, took only three shots in overtime and missed them all. He finished with 22 points, his lowest this postseason after averaging 31.6 points coming in.

O.J. Mayo had 18 points off the bench. Mike Conley also scored 18, Marc Gasol had 16 and Tony Allen 10.

Russell Westbrook had 23 points and 12 assists, but committed seven turnovers and fouled out late in overtime for the Thunder. Serge Ibaka had 14 points and James Harden 12.

Oklahoma City was up 70-54 on Kendrick Perkins’ tip-in with 3:53 left in the third and seemed in control with Westbrook scoring 13 points in the period.

Memphis erased that lead with a 13-2 run and outscored Oklahoma City 23-10 in the fourth quarter, then 15-7 in overtime. The Thunder hit just 3 of 12 in the extra period.

Live fan discussion of the game took place in this forum topic.