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A judge says Kim Kardashian’s divorce trial should begin in early May.
Kardashian had been urging the judge to set the trial so her marriage to Kris Humphries can end before July, when her child with Kanye West is due to be born.
Superior Court Judge Scott Gordon set a May 6 trial date on Friday over the objections of an attorney for her estranged husband, an NBA player.
— Reported by the Associated Press
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Kris Humphries, who will have a $12 million expiring contract next season, is their main one. Then there’s MarShon Brooks, the highly talented/sometimes mistake-prone 24-year-old swingman who has struggled to gain confidence while playing sporadic minutes. Brooks is making just $1.16 million this season and won’t be eligible for restricted free agency until the 2015-16 campaign.
The Nets also have several future first-round picks at their disposal, and Tyshawn Taylor’s career-high 12-point, 34-minute performance on Monday night only increased his value in a potential deal.
Smith, 27, becomes a free agent at season’s end. He’s averaging 17.1 points and 8.6 rebounds, and would certainly be an upgrade at power forward, assuming the Nets could land him. Just imagine a lineup featuring Deron Williams, Joe Johnson, Gerald Wallace, Smith and Brook Lopez
— Reported by Mike Mazzeo of ESPN New York
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Brooklyn figured out how to win without its most versatile offensive player Monday night.
Feed Brook Lopez early and often, keep Reggie Evans active on the glass and put the ball in Joe Johnson’s hands with the game on the line.
It may need to keep that formula a while longer.
Lopez scored 25 points, Evans grabbed 22 rebounds and Johnson tied the score with a 10-foot bank shot to force overtime before closing it out with four straight free throws to give the Nets an 89-84 victory—their first in six tries at Bankers Life Fieldhouse…
Brooklyn (30-22) needed every one of those plays to turn things around.
They came into Monday night with three losses in four games, including a 111-86 shellacking at home Sunday. They had lost five straight in Indianapolis, one of the best home teams in the league this season, and had been struggling badly to score, too. Plus, they were missing guard Deron Williams who was diagnosed with synovitis, an inflammation of the ankle joint linings. He received platelet rich plasma treatment on both ankles and isn’t expected to return to the floor until after the All-Star break.
But without Williams, the Nets stayed focused.
They had only 11 turnovers, forced the normally proficient Pacers to shoot just 34.4 percent, limited All-Star forward Paul George to five points on 1-of-10 shooting, and rallied late in regulation in a game that looked all but lost. Then, in overtime, the Nets refused to let this one slip away…
David West Indiana’s other big scorer, got poked in the eye by Lopez 60 seconds into the game. When he returned to start the second half, he didn’t look like himself. He was just 2 of 11 from the field with seven points and six rebounds and missed three straight midrange shots at the end of regulation, the last a 14-footer that bounced off the front of the rim as time expired…
George Hill led the Pacers with 22 points and six assists while Lance Stephenson and Jeff Pendergraph each had 14. It was a season-high for Pendergraph, whose previous best was six.
— Reported by Michael Marot of the Associated Press
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Brooklyn Nets guard Deron Williams will miss the next two games, tonight at Indiana and Wednesday vs. Denver, due to synovitis (inflammation of ankle joint linings) in both ankles. Williams received PRP (platelet rich plasma) treatment on both ankles earlier today and is expected to return to action following the All-Star break.
Williams has played in 50 games for Brooklyn this season, posting averages of 16.7 points, 7.6 assists and 3.3 rebounds per game.
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The Brooklyn Nets are aggressively pursuing a trade for Atlanta Hawks star forward Josh Smith, league sources told ESPN.
The two teams are engaged in discussions, but one source said while “there has been lots of talk, nothing is close yet.”
As the NBA’s Feb. 21 trade deadline nears, Brooklyn is proving to be one of the most active teams in the league. As reported by ESPN.com on Friday, sources said the Nets also are talking with the Charlotte Bobcats about a Kris Humphries-for-Ben Gordon trade.
While the Nets certainly want Gordon, sources said acquiring Smith is their higher priority. A trade for Smith would seemingly kill a deal for Gordon, because Humphries is one of the players being discussed with Atlanta.
The Nets are willing to give up Humphries and second-year shooting guard MarShon Brooks for Smith.
— Reported by Chris Broussard of ESPN the Magazine
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Tony Parker has been so outstanding lately that Spurs coach Gregg Popovich called it ”beyond an All-Star level.”
Does that mean All-NBA? Maybe even MVP?
”I think he should be in every conversation for any award that’s going to be given,” Popovich said. ”I don’t think that is really tough to see. I mean, there’s a group of guys, but he should be in that group as one of the guys that’s playing the best in the league.”
Parker had 29 points and 11 assists in another brilliant performance without his two sidekicks, and San Antonio dominated the second half to beat the Brooklyn Nets 111-86 on Sunday night.
Two nights after a loss in Detroit ended their 11-game winning streak, the Spurs got back on track quickly behind Parker, who fell short of his third straight 30-point game only because he was so good that he sat out the final minutes of the rout.
Danny Green added 14 points and Tiago Splitter had 13 for the Spurs, who were again without Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili because of injuries as they beat the Nets for the fifth straight time and 19th in the last 20 meetings…
Joe Johnson scored 19 points and Brook Lopez had 18 for the Nets, who were outscored 60-29 in the second half and lost for the sixth time in nine games. Deron Williams finished with 15 points, but was a distant No. 2 when it came to the best point guards on the floor…
Duncan missed his third straight game due to a sore left knee, while Ginobili was out for the fourth consecutive game with tightness in his left hamstring. Popovich said he would be cautious with the two stars, knowing he needs them later this season.
— Reported by Brian Mahoney of the Associated Press
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The Nets and Bobcats have had discussions about a trade that would send Charlotte’s Ben Gordon to Brooklyn for Kris Humphries, according to league sources.
The talks are ongoing, but sources said no trade is imminent.
A Gordon-for-Humphries trade works financially as both players make $12 million a year.
The Nets’ interest in Gordon stems from their need for better ways to space the floor. Ranked 21st in the league in 3-point shooting, Brooklyn regularly has seen opponents clog the lane.
— Reported by Chris Broussard of ESPN the Magazine
Good thing she wasn’t a season-ticket holder.
Allison Barlow scored big at the Brooklyn Nets game Friday when she became Barclays Center’s 1 millionth customer — earning her two free tickets for every event there for a year.
Jaws dropped, lights flashed and streamers exploded in the air as the modest mom passed through the turnstile for her second Nets game at the arena — leaving her husband and friends who accompanied her stunned.
“I didn’t even know what was happening,” said Barlow, 50. “It’s kind of like a dream.”
— Reported by Corinne Lestch of the New York Daily News
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The Brooklyn Nets kept going deeper down their bench to find a winning combination. The Chicago Bulls simply had nowhere to go.
Brook Lopez scored 20 points through three quarters, then the Nets turned to their bench to beat the short-handed Bulls 93-89 on Friday night.
With most of their best players in street clothes, the Bulls’ normally sturdy defense allowed the Nets to make 11 of 18 shots in the fourth quarter. Nine of the baskets were by reserves.
”It’s huge, especially when a lot of our starters didn’t have it going tonight,” Nets guard Deron Williams said. ”It was good that those guys came in and stepped up for us. Without them, we don’t win this game.”
Andray Blatche scored all 11 of his points in the fourth quarter and MarShon Brooks had nine of his 13 as the reserves scored the Nets’ first 20 points. A starter didn’t score until Joe Johnson’s 3-pointer gave Brooklyn an 86-80 lead with 2 minutes to play…
Johnson finished with 13 points for the Nets, who bounced back from a loss to Miami on Wednesday by beating another top Eastern Conference team.
Luol Deng scored 18 points and Taj Gibson had 16 points and nine rebounds for the Bulls, who played without starters Joakim Noah, Carlos Boozer and Kirk Hinrich while losing for just the third time in 11 games…
Nate Robinson had 12 points and 11 assists but shot just 4 of 16 in place of Hinrich, who returned to Chicago to get his right elbow examined. Marco Belinelli scored 18 points and Jimmy Butler had 12 off Chicago’s bench.
— Reported by Brian Mahoney of the Associated Press
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In a radio interview yesterday, Reggie Evans claimed his message for LeBron James and the Heat was lost in translation.
The Nets power forward, appearing on SiriusXM’s “Off The Dribble,” said he didn’t knock the fact the Heat claimed last season’s title at the end of a lockout shortened season before Wednesday’s blowout loss to the Heat.
“I didn’t say it didn’t prove anything,” Evans said. “Those were not my exact words. I said they won a championship in a lockout season. That’s what I said. That was really about it.
“I never said they did not prove anything. I just said they won a championship in a lockout season. That was it. I guess people just took it out of proportion, that’s all.”
— Reported by Tim Bontemps of the New York Post