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Joakim Noah trying to deal with plantar fasciitis

Add cortisone shot to the list of treatments Joakim Noah has attempted to quell his nagging plantar fasciitis.

The Bulls’ center, who also has tried platelet rich plasma injections, sleeping in a splint and — three seasons ago — shock wave therapy, received the shot Monday night in an attempt to salvage regular-season action. Twice in the last three days, Noah has said he is resigned he will have to play through the painful condition the remainder of the season.

“It’s not great,” Noah said. “It’s frustrating. I felt pretty good to try it on Sunday (against the Pistons) but it swelled up on me pretty bad. But I’m confident I’ll be out there when it gets hot.”

That’s a nod to the playoffs. The reason Noah, who sat for the ninth time in 10 games on Tuesday, wants to play before then is to develop game shape and rhythm. But he admitted he barely can walk some mornings when he awakens.

— Reported by K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune

Judge rules DeJuan Blair must pay $53k to jeweler

Spurs center DeJuan Blair is scheduled to be deposed next week after a judge ruled he must pay more than $53,000 to Rivercenter Jewelers for merchandise the store allowed him to take on credit nearly three years ago, according to court documents and the attorney representing the jewelry store.

If Blair fails to show on Wednesday or continues to ignore the lawsuit that was first filed in October, the judge could find him in contempt and issue a warrant for his arrest.

Blair, 23, has filed no responding documents to the lawsuit, hasn’t appeared in court and in February a default judgment was issued in favor of the store.

A Spurs spokesman declined comment Tuesday. The general counsel for the Spurs referred questions to his agent Happy Walters.

Walters didn’t return two messages left at his Los Angeles agency.

Elliott Cappuccio, the attorney representing the store’s owner Zareem Merchant, said he had been in contact with the Spurs’ general counsel and Blair’s agent but never heard anything back.

— Reported by Michelle Mondo of the San Antonio Express-News

Knicks win first Atlantic division title since 1994

The Atlantic Division title has gone from preseason goal to late-season stepping stone.

The New York Knicks celebrated their first division title in nearly 20 years Tuesday, a goal they’ve discussed since training camp, then quickly turned their attention to their future plans:

-Earning the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference.

-Extending their 13-game winning streak.

-Beating Chicago for the first time this season.

-And then chasing, as J.R. Smith called it, ”that gold ball.”

The Knicks romped to their first Atlantic Division title since 1994, getting 36 points from Carmelo Anthony and beating the Washington Wizards 120-99 for their 13th straight victory.

”We took care of the division. Now it’s about making this run, finishing out the regular season strong and trying to making a push in the playoffs,” Anthony said.

Anthony put this one away with 21 points during the Knicks’ 37-point third quarter that gave them a 95-71 lead. The NBA’s scoring leader added eight rebounds and six assists while becoming the first Knick since newly elected Hall of Famer Bernard King with five straight 35-point games.

— Reported by Brian Mahoney of the Associated Press

Rip Hamilton returns to action for the Bulls

It’s been awhile since the Bulls have received any good news on the injury front. But that’s exactly what presented itself on Tuesday evening when coach Tom Thibodeau announced that shooting guard Richard Hamilton would return to action against the Toronto Raptors.

“We’re going to play him tonight,” Thibodeau declared of Hamilton, who came off the bench. “He’s going to have a chance to play some minutes, not a lot. He’s come along and he’s feeling better. We’ll see where he is. It’s one thing to be able to do it in practice; it’s another to be able to do it in a game. Of course we’ll have to see how he responds tomorrow after the game. We’re glad that he’s back.”

Hamilton has not played since Chicago’s 101-98 loss to Cleveland at the United Center on Feb. 26, missing 19 games due to a sore lower back.

— Reported by Adam Fluck of Bulls.com Blog

Metta World Peace will play Tuesday, Steve Nash will not

Metta World Peace will play Tuesday against New Orleans, 12 days after undergoing surgery for torn cartilage in his left knee.

Steve Nash, however, will not play for the Lakers and was doubtful for Wednesday’s game at Portland, Lakers Coach Mike D’Antoni said.

Tuesday marks the fourth game Nash has been sidelined because of hip and hamstring soreness. He sat out most of two other games because of the injuries.

World Peace’s return will ease the load for Kobe Bryant, D’Antoni said.

— Reported by Mike Bresnahan of the Los Angeles Times

Sacramento developer Mark Friedman jumps into bid to buy Kings

Sacramento developer Mark Friedman said today he’s joining the bid to buy the Kings and build the team a new arena at Downtown Plaza.

Friedman said today he’ll also participate in the non-arena development that’s being proposed for the Downtown Plaza site.

Friedman’s emergence comes one day after Mayor Kevin Johnson revealed that Southern California billionaire Ron Burkle had to reduce his role in the project because of a conflict of interest. Johnson hinted at a press conference Monday that there might be additional changes in the ownership structure.

— Reported by Dale Kasler and Ryan Lillis of the Sacramento Bee

Shavlik Randolph playing well for Celtics

“Shav is playing unbelievable basketball,” said Garnett. “I think he’s finding his little niche in here.”

In his last six games, Randolph is averaging 7.2 points on 74 percent shooting (17 of 23) and 5.5 rebounds in 16 minutes per game.

In the six games he played before that, Randolph was averaging 2.8 points on 44 percent shooting (8 of 18) and 3.8 rebounds in 9.8 minutes.

“I think I’ve got a little rhythm with that second group and knowing just what my role is going to be when I go out there,” Randolph said. “It’s very simple. I know, especially with Kevin back, I’m not going to be playing extended minutes.

“So when I go out there, it’s going to be for short periods of time and I’ve got to go out there and play with energy, rebound, play off people.”

— Reported by Baxter Holmes of the Boston Globe

Dwyane Wade remains out for Heat

Dwyane Wade will not play Tuesday night when the Miami Heat host to the Milwaukee Bucks, the fifth straight game the All-Star guard will miss while dealing with ankle and knee soreness.

Wade was able to participate in the team’s morning shootaround practice Tuesday. He remains listed as day-to-day and will be evaluated again Wednesday.

Heat center Chris Bosh missed the morning practice because he wasn’t feeling well.

— Reported by the Associated Press

Luis Scola says Suns do not know how to play basketball

“We can’t just play the game and pick out the good parts of the game and say we play well for a quarter or two or three. If you don’t play well for 48 minutes, you don’t play well,” Luis Scola said following the team’s most recent loss Sunday against New Orleans.

He was just getting started.

“We just don’t know how to play well,” he continued. “We don’t know how to play basketball and that’s why we lose. Until we learn how to play 48 minutes of basketball, we’re not going to win games. I’m surprised we won (23) games playing this way. Many of the games we won, we did the same thing. We just overcame it somehow. I’m also surprised we didn’t fix it. We saw the problem pretty much the first week and we couldn’t fix it. It’s very frustrating. It’s a bad year.”

— Reported by Craig Grialou of Arizona Sports

Knicks legend Bernard King says current squad can handle Heat

Bernard King, on the day he was officially named a Hall of Fame inductee, said the matchups may favor the Knicks in an Eastern Conference showdown against Miami and he has never seen Carmelo Anthony not do well against LeBron James.

“I certainly think that they have a chance to beat any team they face, whether it’s Miami or whatever,’’ King said yesterday. “The Knicks are a very deep team. They have a tremendous bench, and obviously in terms of their 3-point shooting, that puts tremendous pressure on the defense. It spreads the floor, and it allows [Tyson] Chandler to roll to the basket to get easy buckets around the hoop. I like their style of play, and I like the defense that they’re playing.’’

The Knicks have taken three of four from Miami this season.

— Reported by Marc Berman and Steve Serby of the New York Post