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Coach Doc Rivers hopes Celtics avoid Heat in playoffs

Does he pay attention to the standings?

“I do but I don’t,” Rivers said in his best hedging language. “I really don’t. I know we’re in the seventh spot. I know we want to stay out of the eighth spot.

So, Rivers is actually admitting he wants avoid the Heat?

“Of course we would,” Rivers admitted when asked that very question. “But if we play them, we’ll be ready. But of course we would. Listen, I’m not that dumb. I’m not the brightest guy but come on. Really, you would love to avoid anyone [like Miami]. Listen, no matter who we play, we’re going to play a tough team. It’s going to be New York, Indiana or Miami. There’s no cakewalk for us. It’s going to be hard.”

To Rivers point, the Celtics are 1-3 this year against New York, 1-2 against Miami and 2-0 against Indiana. The Celtics play the Heat next weekend in Miami and the Pacers at the Garden on April 16.

— Reported by Mike Petraglia of WEEI

Michael Beasley says he has stopped listening to people, using instincts again

The Suns marketers have stretched the usual Fan Appreciation Night into a Fan Appreciation Month.

The Suns players are unable to stretch a quarter or half that their fans appreciate into an entire game.

The Suns played their season’s best first quarter for a 37-23 lead Friday night. It was their highest-scoring quarter of the season. With a 64-55 halftime lead, the Suns had matched their best scoring half. Trying to stretch that effort for an entire game was like stretching gum too thin. The bubble popped.

The Suns rallied late but could not clean up the wreckage of a 10-turnover third quarter and lost 111-107 to Golden State at US Airways Center. The Suns are on a season-worst eight-game losing streak, their first one since the last Steve Nash-less team, and have matched the franchise record for consecutive home losses of six. By losing for the 12th time in the past 13 games, the Suns now have the NBA’s third-worst record (23-53)…

Beasley finished with 25 points, his second best total of the season, and his fourth consecutive double-digit scoring game, matching his season’s best streak.

“I just stopped listening to people,” Beasley said. “I’m doing what I know how to do. That’s really it. The more I listen to people, the more I got to think about. So, at times, it messes me up when I’m trying to think about a thousand things at once. I just stopped listening to people and just started trusting my instincts again.”

What people?

“Everybody,” Beasley said. “My friends, my family, my teammates, the coaches.”

— Reported by Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic

DeMarcus Cousins plays just nine minutes in Kings loss to Dallas

The end of this season is beginning to feel a lot like the end of the Paul Westphal coaching era in Sacramento.

There are obvious issues between center DeMarcus Cousins and coach Keith Smart, like there were with Cousins and Westphal.

And just like the end of Westphal’s time before he was fired early in the 2011-12 season, Cousins found himself in an unusual spot Friday night – coming off the bench.

Cousins played just nine minutes – all in the second quarter – of the Kings’ 117-108 loss to the Dallas Mavericks at Sleep Train Arena.

Cousins was benched for the first time this season when healthy and dressed for a game. In December, Smart left Cousins in Sacramento for a road game in Portland as part of a disciplinary action for a verbal altercation in Los Angeles.

— Reported by Jason Jones of the Sacramento Bee

Bernard King to be inducted into Hall of Fame

Former Knick Bernard King has finally gotten into the Hall of Fame, according to a source.

The announcements will become official Monday at the Final Four in Atlanta. Ironically, King lives in Atlanta and attended the Knicks game Wednesday.

King played from 1982-87 with the Knicks and his career was shortened by knee trouble. He was disappointed in recent years about being passed over for the Hall. His name came up this week when Carmelo Anthony nearly acheived his feat of posting back-to-back 50-point games. King did that during the 1984-85 season. King averaged 26.5 points during his Knicks career.

— Reported by Marc Berman of the New York Post (Blog)

Shaun Livingston reaction to Kevin Ware injury

Ware is expected to play again and the injury, despite the goriness, is not career-threatening. Livingston suffered a more damaging fate. Doctors says ligament tears are much more difficult to overcome than bone breaks, and Livingston had to rehabilitate from multiple ligament tears. His quickness, at one time a strength, was gone.

He has walked the road Ware is about to embark, an arduous rehabilitation filled with self doubt, constant visions of that night, and questions about your durability and desire.

“I would say stay away from the public’s opinion,” Livingston said when asked what advice he would offer Ware. “Just stay strong with his faith and focus on the positives.

“Obviously everything is going to be about what he can’t do, his limitations and all that. He has to focus on the positives, moving forward. That’s the way he’s going to make progress.”

— Reported by Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe

Kobe Bryant feels worn out

It was bound to happen sooner or later. The effect of all those minutes is taking a toll on Kobe Bryant.

What was left of him after playing all but 73 seconds the previous two games and 42 more minutes in the Los Angeles Lakers’ 86-84 win over the Memphis Grizzlies on Friday night could barely get up out of the chair afterward.

“I’m f-ing tired,” Bryant said, when asked why his voice sounded so rough. Bryant is one of the best-conditioned athletes on the planet. He puts his body through rigorous workouts during the season and over the summers to be able to handle workloads like this. But even he might have a limit.

— Reported by Ramona Shelburne of ESPN Los Angeles

Kobe, Lakers hold off Grizzlies 86-84

Dwight Howard got in the way when Mike Conley drove the lane in the waning seconds, doing his delicate best to alter Conley’s potential game-deciding shot without fouling.

When Conley couldn’t score over Howard, the Los Angeles Lakers could exhale – one more victory in their desperate playoff push.

Kobe Bryant had 24 points and nine assists, Pau Gasol added 19 points, and the Lakers stayed in the final playoff position in the Western Conference with an 86-84 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies on Friday night.

Howard hit a free throw with 4.1 seconds left before playing solid defense on Conley’s final shot attempt, and the Lakers won their third straight in the final weeks of their push for a postseason spot. Los Angeles (40-36) barely leads Utah (40-37) – and everybody on the Lakers’ high-priced roster is aware of their situation…

Howard had nine points and 10 rebounds, while Earl Clark and Antawn Jamison contributed 13 points apiece off the bench as the Lakers won without injured starters Steve Nash and Metta World Peace. Los Angeles also avoided getting swept in its season series with the Grizzlies, whose four-game winning streak ended.

But it wasn’t over until Conley, who scored 21 points in a stellar performance, missed a potential go-ahead jumper with 5 seconds left and another layup before the buzzer. The playoff-bound Grizzlies couldn’t score in the final 2 1/2 minutes, and they gave some of the credit to the Lakers’ desperate defense…

Memphis’ Marc Gasol had 11 points, eight rebounds and seven assists in a lively matchup with his brother. Zach Randolph added 15 points as the Grizzlies fell one game behind Denver for the fourth seed in the West.

— Reported by Greg Beacham of the Associated Press

Big game from Tristan Thompson helps Cavs end losing streak

Tristan Thompson’s new career highs of 29 points and 17 rebounds weren’t nearly as important to him as the number he helped the Cleveland Cavaliers avoid.

There will be no 11th straight loss for Cleveland.

Thompson and the Cavaliers dominated Boston inside as Cleveland ended its 10-game losing streak by beating the Celtics 97-91 on Friday night.

”During this losing streak, we had a lot of games we should have won but at the end of the day we ended up taking the L,” Thompson said. ”Tonight was our game to win. We knew we had to take it and bring it back to Cleveland.”

It was the second time in two days Thompson took on a leadership role for the Cavaliers. After practice Thursday, he lashed out at critics who blame the Cavaliers’ woes on coach Byron Scott and rumors that he won’t be back for a fourth season. Thompson called the speculation ”bogus,” saying it was the players’ responsibility to work their way out of the slide…

Alonzo Gee also had a double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds for the Cavaliers, who avenged their most painful loss of the skid…

Wayne Ellington scored 12 points and Kyrie Irving added 11 points for Cleveland in his third game back since missing eight with a sprained shoulder.

The Celtics played without team captain Paul Pierce, who was out with a sore ankle…

Green scored 23 points for Boston and Shavlik Randolph had 16 points before fouling out with 6:57 left in the fourth. Brandon Bass scored 12 and Avery Bradley had 10 points for Boston.

— Reported by the Associated Press

Kevin Durant scores 34, Thunder pound Pacers 97-75

Kevin Durant overcame a bruised left calf to score 34 points and Russell Westbrook added 24 points, leading the Oklahoma City Thunder to a 97-75 victory over the Indiana Pacers on Friday.

Oklahoma City (56-20) has won three straight to move into a tie with San Antonio for the top seed in the Western Conference.

The win capped an impressive back-to-back sweep for the Thunder, who beat the Spurs on Thursday night. They arrived at the team hotel in Indy on Friday at about 4 a.m., then went out and prevented the Pacers from clinching their first Central Division title in nine years.

But the Pacers (48-28) can clinch the title with a win Saturday at Washington.

Indiana, which had its five-game win streak ended, was led by Roy Hibbert with 22 points and David West with 17…

Indiana will not play another team from the West unless it reaches the NBA Finals. … The Pacers have won only four division titles since joining the NBA. … Durant also had nine rebounds, while Westbrook finished with seven rebounds and nine assists.

— Reported by Michael Marot of the Associated Press

LeBron James, Kevin Durant named NBA Players of Month for March, 2013

The Miami Heat’s LeBron James and the Oklahoma City Thunder’s Kevin Durant today were named the NBA Eastern and Western Conference Players of the Month, respectively, for games played in March.

James captured his fifth straight Kia NBA Eastern Conference Player of the Month award by helping the Heat to a league-best 17-1 record as the team chased history, winning 27 straight games before falling to the Chicago Bulls 101-97 on March 27. The 27 consecutive victories are the second most in NBA history, trailing only the 1971-72 Los Angeles Lakers (33), while the Heat’s 17 wins in a single month established a league record. James averaged 25.8 points, 8.2 rebounds and 7.4 assists while shooting 53 percent from the field for the month. He scored at least 20 points 14 times and shot at least 50 percent from the field in 13 contests.

Durant guided Oklahoma City to a 12-5 mark in March, averaging 27.6 points (tops in the NBA), 8.5 rebounds and 3.8 assists while shooting 48 percent from the field and 90 percent from the free throw line. On pace to win his fourth consecutive scoring title, Durant scored 20-plus points 16 times and topped the 30-point plateau on seven occasions. Averaging a career-best 4.4 assists, Durant dished out at least five assists seven times. He also recorded two-plus blocks in eight games.

Other nominees for NBA Eastern and Western Conference Players of the Month were Boston’s Jeff Green, Brooklyn’s Deron Williams, Golden State’s Stephen Curry, Indiana’s Roy Hibbert, Miami’s Dwyane Wade, Memphis’ Mike Conley, New York’s J.R. Smith and San Antonio’s Tim Duncan.