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Dwight Howard named Defensive Player of Year

Dwight Howard of the Orlando Magic is the recipient of the 2008-09 NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award, the NBA announced today.

The 6-11 center led the NBA in rebounds and blocks, averaging 13.8 boards and 2.92 blocks. He also averaged 20.6 points on .572 shooting from the floor. Howard recorded nine 20-point/20-rebound games while leading the team in scoring 39 times and in rebounds on 69 occasions.

Howard, a three-time NBA All-Star, helped the Magic to its second consecutive Southeast Division title (59-23), including a 32-9 record at home. The Magic held opponents under 100 points 54 times this season — compiling a 43-11 record — including a season-low 68 points allowed by New Orleans on Dec. 25. Orlando allowed 94.4 ppg (7,737 points), which ranked sixth in the NBA, and overall the team was in the NBA’s top 10 in seven defensive categories.

Howard became the fifth player in NBA history to finish the season leading the league in rebounding and blocks (1973-74 was the first season blocks were kept as an official statistic). The select group includes Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (L.A. Lakers, 1975-76), Bill Walton (Portland Trail Blazers, 1976-77), Hakeem Olajuwon (Houston, 1989-90) and Ben Wallace (Detroit, 2001-02).

Howard received 542 points, including 105 first-place votes, from a panel of 119 sportswriters and broadcasters throughout the United States and Canada. Cleveland’s LeBron James finished second with 148 points and Miami’s Dwyane Wade finished third with 90 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.

Finishing fourth was Shane Battier, fifth was Ron Artest, sixth was Chris Paul, seventh was Kobe Bryant, eighth was Kevin Garnett, ninth was Chris Andersen and 10th was Rajon Rondo.

Mike Brown named Coach of Year

Cleveland’s Mike Brown is the recipient of the Red Auerbach Trophy as the 2008-09 NBA Coach of the Year, the NBA announced today.

Brown totaled 355 points, including 55 first-place votes, from a panel of 122 sportswriters and broadcasters throughout the United States and Canada. Coaches were awarded five points for each first-place vote, three points for each second-place vote and one point for each third-place vote.

In his fourth season at the helm in Cleveland, Brown guided the Cavaliers to a franchise- and NBA-best 66-16 (.805) season, marking only the 12th time an NBA team has won at least 66 games. Cleveland started the season with a franchise-best 23-straight wins at Quicken Loans Arena and finished with the best home record in the league at 39-2. Cleveland is the sixth team in NBA history to record 39 home wins and the first to do so since the 1996-97 Chicago Bulls. The Cavaliers’ 21-game improvement over last year’s 45-37 record tied the 1971-72 Los Angeles Lakers for the second biggest improvement all-time among teams with at least 45 wins in the previous season.

Brown was named NBA Coach of the Month for December, February and March. At the All-Star break, Cleveland owned the highest winning percentage in the Eastern Conference (36-9, .800), earning Brown the spot as head coach for the East in Phoenix. It was Brown’s first appearance as an All-Star head coach and the second in franchise history (Lenny Wilkens, 1989).

Brown led the Cavaliers to at least 45 wins in each of his first three campaigns, marking only the second time Cleveland won that many games in three consecutive seasons (1991-92 to 1993-94). With a combined regular season record of 211-117 (.643) in four seasons, Brown has the highest winning percentage of any head coach in franchise history. In each of his first three seasons in Cleveland, Brown has led the Cavaliers to the playoffs, amassing a franchise-best 26-20 (.565) postseason record. In 2007, he led Cleveland to its first trip to The Finals.

Brown joined the Cavaliers after two seasons as associate head coach for the Indiana Pacers. Prior to that, Brown served as assistant coach for three seasons in San Antonio, helping guide the Spurs to the 2003 NBA championship. Brown began his coaching career with the Washington Wizards, where he spent two seasons as an assistant coach under Bernie Bickerstaff.

The Coach of the Year Award is named after legendary coach and Hall of Famer Red Auerbach who guided the Celtics to nine NBA Championships. In 1996, Auerbach was honored as one of the Top 10 Coaches in NBA History as the NBA celebrated its 50th anniversary.

Houston coach Rick Adelman finished second in the voting with 13 first-place votes and 151 total points.

Orlando Magic coach Stan Van Gundy finished third with 13 first-place votes and 150 total points.

Portland Trail Blazers coach Nate McMillan finished fourth with 15 first-place votes and 127 total points.

Denver Nuggets coach George Karl finished fifth with 11 first-place votes and 117 total points.

The next five coaches to receive some votes were Jerry Sloan, Erik Spoelstra, Mike Woodson, Phil Jackson and Doc Rivers.

Billups leads Nuggets past Hornets in Game 1

The AP reports: Chauncey Billups scored 36 points and made a career-best eight 3-pointers in leading Denver to a 113-84 rout of the New Orleans Hornets, the second-biggest blowout in the Nuggets’ playoff history. Capitalizing on their first home-court edge in a playoff series in 21 years, the Nuggets nearly bested their previous biggest margin of victory, a 141-111 wallop of San Antonio back in 1985. Billups sank four of his 3s in the third quarter, when the Nuggets began to turn a tight game into a laughter. At one point, they led by 34. Denver used a 21-0 run spanning the third and fourth quarters to build a 95-69 cushion, a run that was highlighted by Billups’ seventh and eighth 3s.

InsideHoops.com notes: The Nuggets shot 50.7%, the Hornets just 37.2%. Both teams were excellent from three-point range. The Nuggets rebounded well… For Denver, Carmelo Anthony shot just 4-of-12 for 13 points and 7 rebounds – a quiet night… Denver simply had more contributions from across the board. Very few Hornets stepped up.

Fans predict first round playoff results

InsideHoops.com posted a poll two days ago asking fans to predict the results of the 2009 NBA playoffs first round.

In the East:

325 fans picked the Cavaliers to beat the Pistons. Just 29 picked Detroit.
321 fans picked the Magic to beat the 76ers. Just 20 picked Philadelphia.
258 fans picked the Celtics to beat the Bulls. 87 picked Chicago.
And in the East’s only fairly close result, 183 fans picked the Heat while 155 picked the Hawks.

As expected, other than the Lakers-Jazz series, the voting was pretty close in the West:

336 fans picked the Lakers to beat the Jazz. Just 17 picked Utah.
241 fans picked the Nuggets to beat the Hornets. 113 picked New Orleans.
224 fans picked the Spurs to beat the Mavericks. 122 picked Dallas.
198 fans picked the Trail Blazers to beat the Rockets. 152 picked Houston.

JR Smith scores 45, Nuggets beat Kings 118-98

The AP reports: J.R. Smith had a career-high 45 points and franchise-best 11 3-pointers to help the Denver Nuggets clinch the Northwest Division title and home-court edge in the playoffs for the first time in 21 years with a 118-98 win over the Sacramento Kings on Monday night… Smith was so hot down the stretch, when he single-handedly turned a nail-biter into a laugher, that the Kings resorted to fouling him intentionally so he wouldn’t get off 3-pointers. Twice he did anyway, and he sank all three foul shots both times… Carmelo Anthony had 21 points, nine assists and nine rebounds in 32 minutes against Sacramento, which was led by Ike Diogu’s career-best 32 points.Center Spencer Hawes injured his left knee on a flagrant foul by Kenyon Martin in the first quarter and did not return.

Nuggets re-assign Sonny Weems to D-League

The Denver Nuggets have re-assigned G/F Sonny Weems to the Colorado 14ers of the NBA Development League, team Vice President of Basketball Operations Mark Warkentien announced today.

Weems, 6-6, 203, has averaged 1.6 ppg in 12 games with the Nuggets this season. In two previous stints with the 14ers this season, Weems has averaged 20.4 ppg, 4.5 rpg, 2.9 apg and 1.05 spg in 19 outings. His second stint was highlighted by several big games, including a 36 point (15-22 FG), nine rebound outburst at Erie on March 27.

This assignment marks the 44th player assignment to the NBA Development League this season and the Nuggets’ fourth to the 14ers in 2008-09.

Weems was acquired by Denver in a draft-night trade with the Chicago Bulls and Portland Trail Blazers in exchange for a 2009 second round draft pick.

Bryant scores 33, Lakers beat Nuggets 116-102

The AP reports: Pau Gasol was impressed with Andrew Bynum’s comeback. A decrease in his own minutes to accommodate his fellow 7-footer wasn’t too shabby, either. Kobe Bryant scored 33 points, Gasol added 27 points and 19 rebounds and the Los Angeles Lakers welcomed back Bynum in a 116-102 win over the Denver Nuggets on Thursday night. The win was the fifth straight for the Lakers (63-16) and tied them with the idle Cleveland Cavaliers (63-15) for the league lead. Bynum, playing in his first game since tearing the medial collateral ligament in his right knee on Jan. 31, had 16 points and seven rebounds in 21 minutes… Carmelo Anthony had 23 points to lead the Nuggets, who lost for the first time in nine games and failed to secure the number two seed in the Western Conference. J.R. Smith had 19 points, while Chauncey Billups and Nene each added 17.

Nuggets eighth straight win, beat Thunder 122-112

The AP reports: Ideally, the Denver Nuggets wanted to jump on the Oklahoma City Thunder early and coast to a win before flying out to Los Angeles for their showdown with the Lakers. Instead, they had to fight like crazy before coming up big in the fourth quarter for a 122-112 win Wednesday night thanks to the usual stars—Carmelo Anthony and Chauncey Billups—and an unusually good finish by Linas Kleiza… Anthony scored 31 points against the Thunder, Nene added 23, Billups chipped in 18, including every one in an 11-2 spurt the Nuggets used to finally get control of the game. Kleiza scored 12 of his 17 in the fourth quarter and Chris Andersen blocked seven shots. The Nuggets needed every bit of that effort to stave off the Thunder, who were led by Kevin Durant’s 31 points and Jeff Green’s 24.

Melo leads Nuggets to rout of Timberwolves

The AP reports: Carmelo Anthony scored 23 points and Denver cruised to its seventh win in a row, beating the Timberwolves 110-87 on Sunday night. Thanks to San Antonio’s loss to Cleveland earlier in the day, Denver quietly extended its lead to two games over the Spurs for the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference… The game was essentially over by halftime, and it was a laugher by the fourth quarter with Anthony Carter lobbing alley-oop attempts to Sonny Weems. Anthony, who has scored at least 20 points in nine of his last 10 games, sat out the fourth… Sebastian Telfair had 18 points to lead the depleted Wolves. Already without regulars Randy Foye (hip) and Craig Smith (calf), Minnesota also had to make do without star rookie Kevin Love and his strong inside presence thanks to a nasty flu bug.

Smith leads Nuggets past short-handed Clippers

The AP reports: J.R. Smith’s scintillating 34-point performance off the bench sparked the Denver Nuggets’ 120-104 win over the short-handed Los Angeles Clippers Saturday night for their 11th win in 12 games… Anthony added 18 points for the Nuggets. Zach Randolph led L.A. with 22 points, and DeAndre Jordan added 21. Smith scored 21 points in just 12 first-half minutes as the Nuggets raced to a 66-47 halftime lead… The depleted Clippers were missing Marcus Camby (ankle), Mardy Collins (foot), Ricky Davis (knee), Al Thornton (foot), and Chris Kaman (flu), and Dunleavy had no choice but to play Steve Novak, who scored nine points in 22 minutes on a tender ankle.