The Arlington Heights Daily Herald (Mike McGraw) reports: This week figures to be important, with four interviews scheduled. Paxson plans to meet with Utah assistant Tyrone Corbin, former Minnesota coach Dwane Casey, part-time Utah assistant Jeff Hornacek and Sacramento assistant Chuck Person. Paxson also acknowledged that he has spoken to some candidates whose teams still are alive in the playoffs. According to a league source, ex-Bulls coach Phil Jackson worked out a time for Paxson to visit Los Angeles in recent days, where he most likely spoke to Lakers assistants Brian Shaw and Kurt Rambis. Among the teams playing in the conference finals, other candidates for the Bulls’ job include Boston’s Tom Thibodeau, Detroit’s Michael Curry and Terry Porter, along with San Antonio’s Mike Budenholzer.
Category: NBA Teams
NBA teams blog
Byron Scott probably staying with Hornets
The AP reports: NBA coach of the year Byron Scott, who has the right to buy out the remainder of his contract and go to the highest bidder next season, showed little interest in leaving the Hornets on Wednesday. “I expect to be here,” Scott said. “In my mind right now I hope to be here unless something crazy happens.”
May 21: Lakers 89, Spurs 85
The AP reports: Kobe Bryant scored all but two of his 27 points after halftime, including a go-ahead, 10-foot jumper in the lane with 23.9 seconds remaining, and the Lakers rallied from a 20-point deficit to beat the Spurs 89-85 on Wednesday night in Game 1 of the Western Conference finals… Bryant’s jumper put the Lakers ahead for good after two free throws by Manu Ginobili with 1:22 remaining and a follow shot by Tim Duncan with 41 seconds left tied the game at 85. After Bryant’s game-winner, Ginobili missed a 3-pointer and Sasha Vujacic made two free throws with 7.3 seconds to go, completing the scoring… The Lakers outscored the Spurs 24-13 in the fourth quarter, when San Antonio shot 3-for-21, including 1-for-9 from 3-point range… The Spurs outscored the Lakers 14-2 to start the third quarter for a 65-45 lead, drawing groans from the crowd of 18,997 at Staples Center, where the Lakers haven’t lost since March 28. Suddenly, the Lakers came together, scoring 14 straight points in a span of 3:05 to draw within six. Bryant had seven points and two assists during the run.
InsideHoops.com Stat Notes: The Lakers shot 43.2%, the Spurs 40.5%. But the Lakers shot a respectable 4-of-10 three-pointers while the Spurs were just 5-of-20 (Mike Finley went 0-of-5). Free throws were close, but the Lakers were a bit better. Rebounds, assists and turnovers were fairly close.
For the Lakers, Bryant (shot 11-of-21) had 27 points, 5 rebounds and 9 assists. Pau Gasol (9-of-16) had 19 points, 7 rebounds, 2 steals and 2 blocks. Vladimir Radmanovic (5-of-5) had 10 points and 5 rebounds. Sasha Vujacic on 8 shots had 10 points and 5 rebounds. Lamar Odom (3-of-12) and Derek Fisher (1-of-9) had bad games, though Odom had 8 rebounds and 2 blocks.
For the Spurs, Tim Duncan (12-of-25) had 30 points, 18 rebounds, 2 steals, 4 blocks, but more turnovers than assists. Tony Parker needed 17 shots for his 18 points, 10 rebounds (yup) and 6 assists. Bruce Bowen (5-of-8) scored 12. Manu Ginobili (just 3-of-13) had just 10 points, 4 rebounds and more turnovers than assists. Mike Finley shot 0-of-5 for no points. Ime Udoka had 7 of the Spurs 9 bench points.
Spurs old while Lakers young
The Washington Post (Michael Lee) reports: Derek Fisher is the Lakers’ only regular rotation player older than 30. On the other hand, Parker is the only player who is younger than 30 in the Spurs’ regular rotation. But the 26-year-old Parker doesn’t mind being grouped with the rest of the AARP roster. “With all the years with the [French] national team, you can add me an extra four years,” Parker said with a laugh. Parker and Horry both joked that a postseason reunion with the Lakers will make them feel young again. Tim Duncan, Kobe Bryant, Fisher and Horry have been around for each of the previous five Lakers-Spurs clashes, of which the Lakers won three. Horry switched from the Lakers to the Spurs before the teams last met in the conference semifinals in 2004, a series that the Lakers won after Fisher made an off-balance 17-foot jumper with 0.4 of a second left in the critical Game 5. The Lakers advanced to the NBA Finals that season, losing to the Detroit Pistons.
Lakers and Spurs yet again
The Washington Post (Michael Lee) reports: “It’s getting old,” Tony Parker said about the Spurs facing the Los Angeles Lakers in the playoffs for the sixth time since 1999. Then Parker paused, cracked a sly grin and said: “Nah, it never gets old. It’s always great to play the Lakers. Kobe [Bryant] is at his best. They have a great team. Back to the rivalry; it’s going to be great.” If anything has gotten old, it’s the Spurs, who have had to hear about their age this season more times than Republican presidential candidate John McCain. “People always talk about us being old,” said Spurs reserve Robert Horry, 37. “They classify you as being old because you don’t dunk anymore or don’t slash as fast as you used to slash, but we’re still going. Our game plan is usually pretty good.”
May 20: Celtics 88, Pistons 79
The AP reports: Not even a week of rest could prepare the Detroit Pistons for the hottest home team in the NBA. Kevin Garnett had 26 points and nine rebounds and Paul Pierce scored 22 points Tuesday night to give Boston an 88-79 victory over the Pistons in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals, the Celtics’ 15th straight home win… Kendrick Perkins had 10 rebounds for Boston and Rajon Rondo scored seven of his 11 points in the fourth quarter, hitting a 3-pointer with 1:47 left in the game after the Pistons cut the deficit to 83-75. Rondo also had seven assists and five steals while outplaying Chauncey Billups, the MVP of the 2004 NBA finals, in his return from a right hamstring injury… The Pistons quickly erased the first-quarter lead, even going ahead 13-12. But they trailed 41-40 at halftime and scored just 17 points in the third quarter, 10 from Richard Hamilton, while the Celtics took a 69-57 lead on Eddie House’s 3-pointer with 2 seconds left.
InsideHoops.com Stat Notes: The Celtics shot 52.2%, the Pistons 42.4%. Three-pointers weren’t much of a favor. The Pistons got to the free throw line a bit more, and hit a slightly higher percentage. Rebounding was even. But the Celtics dished 27 assists, the Pistons just 15. Turnovers were close.
For the Celtics, Kevin Garnett (11-of-17) had 26 points, 9 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 blocks. Paul Pierce (9-of-18) had 22 points, 6 rebounds, 6 assists (but 5 turnovers). Rajon Rondo (5-of-9) had 11 points, 7 assists and 5 steals. Ray Allen (just 3-of-10) keeps struggling and had 9 points, 4 assists and 2 steals. Kendrick Perkins had 10 rebounds.
For the Pistons, Tayshaun Prince (just 7-of-16 with no free throws) had 16 points and 4 rebounds. Richard Hamilton (just 5-of-13) had 15 points and 6 rebounds. Antonio McDyess (5-of-10) was good with 14 points and 11 rebounds. Rasheed Wallace (just 3-of-12) had 11 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals. Chauncey Billups (3-of-6), returning from injury, in 31 minutes had 9 points and little else.
No one trying to take Pat Ewing from Magic
The Orlando Sentinel (Brian Schmitz) reports: Unless circumstances change, Magic assistant coach and Howard’s big-man guru Patrick Ewing will return next season. Magic Chief Operating Officer Alex Martins told the Sentinel that no team has asked the club for permission to talk to Ewing, including his former team, the New York Knicks. When Mike D’Antoni took over the Knicks as coach last week, he said he would be interested in handing one of his assistant spots to Ewing, who has another year on his contract with the Magic.
George Karl has left hip replacement surgery
Denver Nuggets Head Coach George Karl underwent successful left hip replacement surgery today.
The surgery, which lasted more than two hours, was performed at Rose Hospital by Dr. Hal Crane of Orthopedic Associates, the team orthopedic group for the Nuggets.
Karl is expected to resume walking without a cane in a week to 10 days.
Billups still not fully healthy
The Detroit News (Chris McCosky) reports: Well, finally, before shoot-around Tuesday morning, Chauncey Billups came clean. The hamstring injury that he sustained in Game 3 in Orlando may never be completely healed the rest of the playoffs. But it’s healed enough for him to play and to be, in his mind, productive. “I’m feeling pretty good,” he said, “and for what’s not good I know once the adrenaline gets going and the excitement of the game, I will be fine.”
Cavs may make summer changes
The Akron Beacon Journal (Brian Windhorst) reports: Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert agrees with LeBron James, who said Sunday that some personnel moves might be in order, that some changes have to be made before next season. He said he thought putting the team in a better chance to win a Game 7 was important, and it started with ”having a focus to have a better regular season” so they could get homecourt advantage. The Cavs won five fewer games this season and slipped from the No. 2 seed in the East to the No. 4 seed. But that will likely not include any changes at the very top. Gilbert said he has a ”great respect” for Brown and General Manager Danny Ferry. The owner said he would hold meetings with team officials in a couple weeks to examine what changes could be made. As for whether he is feeling any stress about getting James a so-called star ”sidekick” or making some changes to upgrade the Cavs’ often stagnant offense, Gilbert avoided being pinned down.