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Jason Kidd wins 2011-12 NBA Sportsmanship Award

Jason Kidd of the Dallas Mavericks is the recipient of the Joe Dumars Trophy presented to the 2011-12 NBA Sportsmanship Award winner, the NBA announced today.

Kidd (Southwest) was one of six divisional winners, which included Cleveland’s Antawn Jamison (Central), the Los Angeles Clippers’ Chris Paul (Pacific), Miami’s Shane Battier (Southeast), Minnesota’s Luke Ridnour (Northwest), and New York’s Jeremy Lin (Atlantic).

Kidd received 93 first-place votes (2,501 total points) of a possible 334. The NBA will make a $10,000 donation on behalf of Kidd to The Jason Kidd Foundation, which is dedicated to improving education among the youth, by ensuring that kids of all ages have the tools needed through mentoring, tutoring and technology programs to succeed in life.

For the eighth consecutive year, NBA players voted on this award, with eleven points given for each first-place vote, nine points for each second-place vote, seven points for third, five points for fourth, three points for fifth and one point for each sixth-place vote received. Each team nominated one of its players for the award. Former NBA players Greg Anthony, John Crotty, Antonio Davis, Eddie Johnson and Kenny Smith selected the six divisional winners from a pool of 30 team nominees.

The NBA will make a $5,000 donation to each of the divisional winner’s charities of choice: the Battier Take Charge Foundation on behalf of Battier; KaBOOM! on behalf of Jamison; the Jeremy Lin Foundation on behalf of Lin; the CP3 Foundation on behalf of Paul; and the Blaine (Wash.) Boys and Girls Club on behalf of Ridnour.

The annual award reflects the ideals of sportsmanship — ethical behavior, fair play and integrity — in amateur and professional basketball, a key focus of the league’s NBA Cares program efforts. The trophy is named for former Detroit Pistons guard and Hall of Famer Joe Dumars, the award’s first recipient.

Champion Mavs head home, trailing Thunder 2-0

Last postseason, Dirk Nowitzki and the Dallas Mavericks rode a wave of late-game comebacks to win the franchise’s first NBA title.

Now the Oklahoma City Thunder are showing the Mavs how it feels to be on the other side.

Russell Westbrook scored 29 points, Kevin Durant added 26 in an off-shooting performance and Oklahoma City clawed out a 102-99 victory over Dallas on Monday night to take a 2-0 lead in their first-round Western Conference playoff series…

Durant hit two free throws with 50.4 seconds left to give Oklahoma City a 98-97 lead, and reserve James Harden hit all four of his foul shots after that to close it out for the Thunder.

Jason Terry missed two 3-point attempts from the left wing in the final 5 seconds that could have tied it and set up overtime. Instead, the defending champs head back home facing what amounts to a must-win Game 3 on Thursday night in Dallas.

”That’s really all we need right now is to get on the board on Thursday,” said Nowitzki, who led Dallas with 31 points but missed both his shots in the final 75 seconds.

— Reported by the Associated Press

Khloe Kardashian and Lamar Odom pulling plug on show

Lamar Odom and Khloe Kardashian have decided to pull the plug on their spin-off show “Khloe & Lamar.”

Sources tell TMZ, the show’s second season will be its last … because Lamar wants to focus on reviving his fizzling NBA career.

As we previously reported, Lamar was relegated to the Dallas Mavericks’ inactive list after putting up career low numbers this season. If he’s lucky, he’ll be traded. If not, who knows.

— Reported by TMZ

Austin Toros win 2012 D-League championship

The 2012 NBA Development League Most Valuable Player Justin Dentmon scored a team-high 30 points to lead the Austin Toros to its first-ever NBA Development League Championship with a 122-110 victory over the Los Angeles D-Fenders Saturday night at the Toyota Sports Center in L.A.

The Toros led end-to-end for the second straight game in L.A., and overcame a Game One loss to beat the D-Fenders in three games. The team finishes the 2012 postseason a perfect 6-0 in elimination games.

Eric Dawson, the 2012 NBA D-League Impact Player of the Year, scored 21 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, while six Toros, including all five starters, scored in double figures. Julian Wright netted 19 points, while Brad Wanamaker poured in 18.

“We expected to win every game,” said Toros head coach Brad Jones. “We beat one heck of an L.A. D-Fenders team and we did it as a group so I’m really really excited for our guys.”

Mardy Collins finished with a game-high 31 points off the bench for the D-Fenders, while teammate Elijah Millsap scored 26. Malcolm Thomas recorded 17 points and 11 rebounds in the loss.

Deng leads Bulls over Mavericks 93-83

Derrick Rose could feel some pain in the area of his right ankle and foot, the site of his most recent injury during a season in which he has missed 26 games.

It was OK, though. All worth it. The fans were cheering for him, he was back on the court and the Chicago Bulls got another victory that moved them closer to clinching the top seed in the Eastern Conference.

”It was throbbing a little, but the great thing about it is we got the win and we get a couple of days off to get treatment and I’m going to stay off my feet and hopefully it’s going to get better,” Rose said after the Bulls beat the Dallas Mavericks 93-83 on Saturday night.

Rose’s return after missing three straight games wasn’t spectacular, but it was still a 32-minute effort that saw him get 11 points and eight assists…

The Bulls, able to use their starting five for just the 14th time this season, got 22 points from Luol Deng and 19 from Richard Hamilton in beating a Mavericks team that had already clinched a playoff berth two nights earlier, played at home Friday night and rested guards Jason Kidd and Jason Terry…

Dirk Nowitzki scored 17 points and Rodrigue Beaubois, starting in place of Kidd, added 16 – 10 in the final quarter – despite playing the second half with a dislocated finger. After leaving with about 7 1-2 minutes to go in the first half after hurting his finger guarding Ronnie Brewer, he returned minutes later to the game with his fingers taped.

— Reported by Rick Gano of the Associated Press

Justin Dentmon named 2012 D-League MVP

Austin Toros guard Justin Dentmon was today named the 2012 NBA Development League’s Most Valuable Player, as voted on by the NBA D-League’s 16 head coaches.

Dentmon, a 6-0, 185-pound guard out of Washington, started in all 40 regular season games he played for the Toros, averaging 22.8 points, 5.5 assists, 3.7 rebounds, 1.6 steals and 37.2 minutes. A 2012 NBA D-League All-Star, Dentmon ranked fourth in the League in scoring, finishing with double-digit points in 39 games. He led the Toros in scoring in 24 games and was the assist leader 26 times.

Twice honored for his play during the season, Dentmon was named the NBA D-League Player of the Month in January and the Performer of the Week on Jan. 17. He led the Toros to an NBA D-League 33-17 regular season record and the third seed in the NBA D-League Playoffs presented by BBVA. In two postseason game for the Toros since returning from the Raptors, he is averaging 18.0 points, 3.5 assists, 1.5 rebounds and 29.0 minutes.

A two-time Call-Up to the San Antonio Spurs and the Toronto Raptors, Dentmon appeared in six NBA games this season, averaging 4.3 points, 1.7 assists, 1.3 rebounds and 15.2 minutes.

“The impressive season that Justin had for the Toros is a testament to his talent and work ethic,” said Chris Alpert, Vice President of Basketball Operations and Player Personnel for the NBA D-League. “His leadership helped Austin to its best season yet, while individually he earned an NBA D-League All-Star selection and two trips to the NBA. He has emerged as one of the League’s top prospects, and I congratulate him on a fantastic season.”

Dentmon will be presented with the 2012 NBA D-League Most Valuable Player trophy prior to tonight’s semifinal game between the Toros and the Canton Charge, which tips off at 8:30 p.m. ET in Austin.

Dentmon joins Curtis Stinson (Iowa, 2011) Mike Harris (Rio Grande Valley, 2010), Courtney Sims (Iowa, 2009), Kasib Powell (Sioux Falls, 2008), Randy Livingston (Idaho, 2007) Marcus Fizer (Austin, 2006), Charlotte Bobcats guard Matt Carroll (Roanoke, 2005), Tierre Brown (Charleston, 2004), Devin Brown (Fayetteville, 2003) and Ansu Sesay (Greenville, 2002) as winners of the annual NBA D-League MVP award.

Delonte West fined $25,000 for giving `Wet Willy` to Gordon Hayward

Dallas Mavericks guard Delonte West has been fined $25,000 for a physical taunt by poking Gordon Hayward of the Utah Jazz in the ear, it was announced today by Stu Jackson, NBA Executive Vice President Basketball Operations.

The incident occurred with 3:40 remaining in the second quarter of Utah’s 123-121 win over Dallas at EnergySolutions Arena on April 16.

You can read about the initial incident and see a video clip here. And also see more on Hayward’s reaction here.

Gordon Hayward wanted to fight Delonte West after finger in ear incident

Utah Jazz swingman Gordon Hayward said he initially felt like ripping Delonte West’s finger off and fighting him after he jabbed it into Hayward’s right ear during the second quarter of Monday night’s triple-overtime win against Dallas.

”I wanted to fight right there, but you can’t do that,” Hayward said before Tuesday’s practice. ”It wouldn’t have been the smart idea. I’d risk getting a technical foul, getting suspended for the season, whatever. There’s more important things than fighting someone out on the court. The more important thing was getting the win and we were able to do that.”

Hayward acknowledged Tuesday that many of his teammates might have reacted differently.

But Hayward, who raised both arms and walked away, said he ”got the last laugh” as the Jazz prevailed 123-121 to keep their slim playoff hopes alive with four games remaining.

— Reported by Lynn DeBruin of the Associated Press

Delonte West shoves a finger in the ear of Gordon Hayward

Delonte West has always been explosive.

As a scorer, the starting shooting guard for the Dallas Mavericks is capable of putting points up in a hurry. Off the court, he’s capable of becoming a train wreck, with his highly publicized gun possession case of a few years ago a shining example.

When he’s able to separate the two, West is an X-factor at the NBA level, a combination guard who can be a significant factor. Sometimes, like Monday night against the Utah Jazz, he goes overboard.

His “wet willy” of Gordon Hayward, sticking his finger in Hayward’s ear, earned him a technical foul and a seat on the bench. It earned him a spotlight in the media after Utah’s 123-121 triple overtime win at EnergySolutions Arena. It could earn him a fine from David Stern’s office as well.

“I went over the line,” West said. “I saw some lint in his hair, and I wanted to get it out for him. Seriously, we were like two warriors out there. But I forgot the NBA is a gentlemen’s game. They want us to battle and scrap, but they want us to do it nicely.”

— Reported by Tony Jones of the Salt Lake Tribune

InsideHoops.com editor Jeff Lenchiner says: Sometimes Delonte West thinks he’s an NBA player, other times he thinks he’s a q-tip. Things are confusing sometimes.

Video of Delonte West giving Gordon Hayward a “Wet Willy”

Al Jefferson shines, Jazz beat Mavericks in 3OT

Al Jefferson scored 28 points and tied a career-high with 26 rebounds to fuel Monday night’s 123-121 triple-overtime victory over the Dallas Mavericks.

”Right now we just got to win every game, no excuse,” said Jefferson, who had 10 points in the extra periods. ”This is a big test for us. We just got to see where our heart is and I know everybody in the locker room wants to make the playoffs. So we are going to fight and we are going to fight ’til the end. That’s all we can do.” …

Dirk Nowitzki scored 40 points against Utah for the second straight time. His 3-pointer forced the second overtime, but he couldn’t convert late in the third extra period.

The Jazz forced overtime on Paul Millsap’s put-back dunk with 2.2 seconds remaining in regulation…

Jason Terry and Nowitzki both missed 3s in the final 10 seconds. Terry finished with 27 points and four 3s…

Hayward added 24 points for Utah and Harris had 23, with five 3s…

Millsap finished with 16 points, nine rebounds and two blocks.

— Reported by Lynn DeBruin the Associated Press