In Celtics-Cavs Game 3 ref calls unfair quick tech on Doc Rivers

I’m watching Game 3 of the Celtics-Cavaliers series, in Cleveland, and as the Celtics came up the court Kevin Garnett got called for an offensive foul call, as he bumped into Delonte West but possibly appeared to shove him in the process, causing West to fall down. It possibly should have just been a no-call. It certainly wasn’t a charge.

Anyway, mere seconds after the call, referee Bennett Salvatore called a technical foul on Celtics coach Doc Rivers. I absolutely hate that sort of call, when a tech comes that quickly. Players and coaches should be allowed to vent for a few seconds, or even longer, without fear of the ref responding by doing something that hurts their team and possibly gets them thrown out of the game.

This all came at around 3:42 in the first quarter with the Cavs enjoying an early 18-8 lead.

New Knicks coach is Mike D’antoni

The New York Daily News (Frank Isola) reports: The Knicks gave their head coaching job to ex-Suns coach Mike D’Antoni on Saturday. D’Antoni built an offensive powerhouse in Phoenix with two-time MVP Steve Nash and now replaces Isiah Thomas on the Knicks, inheriting his mess in the process. Mike D’Antoni averaged 58 wins over his last four seasons with the Phoenix Suns and was the architect of one of the NBA’s most exciting offensive teams. Of course, he also had Steve Nash, Amare Stoudemire and Shawn Marion executing his game plan. Now, he’ll presumably be working with Stephon Marbury, Eddy Curry and Zach Randolph.

Keon Clark still in legal mess

The Toronto Sun  (Frank Zicarelli) reports:  Of the many characters to play in Toronto, few could match Keon Clark, whose demons continue to haunt him. On Thursday, Clark was convicted on a misdemeanour weapons charge stemming from a March 2006 incident at his Danville, Ill., home. He faces a year in prison. The ruling follows Clark’s bench trial for possession of a firearm without a valid card. Yesterday, he was scheduled to stand trial on disorderly conduct for filing a false police report in January 2007; criminal damage to property over $300 US in September and three driving infractions stemming from two incidents in March 2007 and one in July.

May 9: Jazz 104, Lakers 99

The AP reports: So much for Carlos Boozer’s slump and the Lakers’ unbeaten run through the playoffs. Boozer scored 27 points and tied a career playoff-high with 20 rebounds to lead Utah to a 104-99 victory Friday night, cutting Los Angeles’ lead in the Western Conference semifinals to 2-1. The Jazz handed the Lakers their first loss of this season’s playoffs and got back into the series by doing at home what they couldn’t do on the road. The Jazz hit exactly half their shots and forced the Lakers into 18 turnovers, looking very little like the team that stumbled through two straight losses in Los Angeles to open the series… The Jazz took the lead early in the second quarter and never gave it up. Utah held off a late push by the Lakers and league MVP Kobe Bryant, who had 34 points, seven assists and six rebounds but could not carry the team alone. Nobody else scored more than 13 points for Los Angeles… Utah’s offense was stagnant in the first two games, but on Friday the Jazz started hitting from the outside and moving the ball around enough to clear the inside for the layups their offense is designed to create. Boozer started slowly, but finished 12-for-21 and had 11 points and seven rebounds in the fourth quarter.

InsideHoops.com Stat Notes: The Jazz shot 50.0%, the Lakers 48.5%. Both teams struggled from three-point range, but the Jazz were slightly better (and Mehmet Okur hit four threes). The Lakers were better at the free throw line, going 30-of-37, the Jazz 20-of-28. Rebounding was close, but the Jazz had 21 assists, the Lakers 14. And the Lakers threw the ball away more.

For the Jazz, Boozer had 27 points and 20 rebounds. Mehmet Okur (8-of-14, 4-of-7 threes) had 22 points, 7 rebounds, 2 steals, but 5 turnovers. Deron Williams (6-of-12) had 18 points and 12 assists. Andrei Kirilenko (5-of-9) had 12 points and little else. Matt Harpring (4-of-8) scored 12 off the bench.

For the Lakers, Kobe Bryant on just 20 shots had 34 points, 6 rebounds and 7 assists (4 turnovers). Lamar Odom (3-of-3) had 13 points, 12 rebounds and 3 blocks. Derek Fisher (3-of-6) had 13 points and 3 steals. Pau Gasol (6-of-10) had just 12 points, 6 rebounds, 2 steals, 2 blocks, but 5 turnovers. And Luke Walton scored 11 with 2 steals off the bench. Jordan Farmar and Sasha Vujacic combined to go 0-for-9 for 0 points.

Ben Wallace doubtful for Game 3 Saturday

Cavaliers forward/center Ben Wallace experienced dizziness with 8:20 remaining in the first quarter of the Cavaliers game last night at Boston and did not return to the game. Exams and testing done at The Cleveland Clinic today determined that he has allergies and a viral inner ear infection in his left ear with dizziness. He is currently listed as doubtful for Game 3 versus Boston tomorrow night (Saturday) at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland.

May 8: Spurs 110, Hornets 99

The AP reports: The NBA’s defending champions were not going into an 0-3 hole against the New Orleans Hornets. Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili scored 31 points each and Duncan added 16 points and 13 rebounds as the Spurs beat the Hornets 110-99 in Game 3 of the Western Conference semifinals on Thursday night… Chris Paul, still almost unstoppable, led the Hornets with 35 points and nine assists. David West had 23 points and 12 rebounds for New Orleans, which was dominant in the first two games of the series… Ginobili, the league’s top sixth man, started for the first time this postseason and led a Spurs charge early in the final quarter. Left alone, he hit a wide-open 3 and was fouled by Bonzi Wells, who scrambled at him to guard the shot. Ginobili’s free throw put San Antonio up 87-82, and another 3 by Ginobili 38 seconds later made it 90-84. New Orleans got within 90-88 before the Spurs took over, playing out the fourth quarter better than they have played all series… Peja Stojakovic, the Hornets’ 3-point sharpshooter, was held to eight points on 2-of-7 shooting as he was guarded by San Antonio’s Bruce Bowen.

May 8: Celtics 89, Cavs 73

The AP reports: Paul Pierce and Ray Allen found their shooting touch. LeBron James can only hope he left his in Cleveland. Pierce scored 19 points, Kevin Garnett added 13 with 12 rebounds, and Allen broke out of a seven-quarter scoring drought with 16 points to help the Boston Celtics beat the Cavaliers 89-73 on Thursday night and take a 2-0 lead in the Eastern Conference semifinals. One game after going 2-for-18 from the field and missing his last six shots, including a layup to tie the game with 8.5 seconds left, James missed his first three tries and finished with 21 points on 6-for-24 shooting… James will have a more welcoming crowd for the next two games than the Boston fans who serenaded him with a chant of “Over-rated!” as he went 1-for-11 over the second and third quarters. This time, the poor shooting was contagious: The Cavaliers shot 35.6 percent in the game, hitting just 11.8 percent in the second quarter as Boston turned an eight-point deficit into a nine-point lead. From early in the second quarter to early in the third, a span of 13:41, Boston outscored Cleveland 36-10. Zydrunas Ilgauskas had 19 points for the Cavaliers, and reserve Anderson Varejao had 10 rebounds in 32 minutes after forward Ben Wallace went to the locker room just 3:40 into the game due to dizziness.

Sonics name Troy Weaver assistant GM

Seattle SuperSonics General Manager Sam Presti announced today that Troy Weaver has been named Sonics assistant general manager.

Weaver was the Director of Player Personnel for the Utah Jazz in 2007-08. He originally joined the Jazz as head scout and served in that capacity for three seasons before his promotion to Director of Player Personnel.

Prior to joining the Jazz, Weaver spent four seasons as an assistant coach at Syracuse, one season at New Mexico and three seasons as an assistant coach with Pittsburgh. While at Syracuse, the team won the 2003 NCAA National Championship led by Weaver recruit Carmelo Anthony.

“Troy comes from a very successful organization in Utah,” Presti said. “He has a terrific array of personnel and coaching experience that will positively impact what we are trying to build here with the SuperSonics.”

Weaver will serve as assistant general manager alongside current assistant general manager Rich Cho, who is entering his 11th season with the Sonics and his eighth as assistant general manager.

Second round playoffs notes

Nineteen teams have recovered from 2-0 deficits to win a best-of-seven series, including two last postseason.

The Utah Jazz defeated the Houston Rockets 4-3 in their first round series after dropping the first two games, and the Cleveland Cavaliers defeated the Detroit Pistons 4-2 in the Eastern Conference Finals after falling behind 2-0.

New Orleans, which owns a 2-0 lead in its Western Conference semifinals series against San Antonio, is out-rebounding the Spurs by an average of six rebounds (50-44) and is shooting .491 from the field, while San Antonio is at .417. Game 3 is tonight in San Antonio (9:30 p.m. ET, ESPN).

New Orleans’ Chris Paul has recorded a points/assists double-double in six of his first seven playoff games, including three 30-point, 10-assist games.

The Celtics own a 1-0 lead in its best-of-seven Eastern Conference semifinals series against Cleveland, with Game 2 tonight in Boston (7 p.m. ET, ESPN). In their 76-72 Game 1 victory, the Celtics held LeBron James to only 12 points on 2-of-18 shooting. James, however, fell one rebound and one assist shy of a triple-double, finishing with 12 points, nine rebounds and nine assists. James has made fewer than two baskets once, on Dec. 29, 2004, when he shot 0-of-5 against Houston.

The Los Angeles Lakers took a 2-0 lead in their best-of-seven Western Conference semifinals series against Utah, defeating the Jazz 120-110. One of the reasons the Lakers are in control of the series is the defensive effort their frontcourt has made against All-Star Carlos Boozer. Boozer, who led Utah in scoring during the regular season (21.1), was limited to 15 points in Game 1 on 6-of-14 shooting. In Game 2, he was held to just 10 points on 3-of-10 shooting.

The Lakers are averaging a playoff-high 114.7 points, out-distancing the next closest team, New Orleans (102.4 ppg) by 12.3 points. L.A. also is shooting a postseason-best .491 from the field and averaging a playoff-off 26.5 assists.

The postseason’s best defense belongs to Boston, which is allowing only 85.3 ppg on .397 shooting from the field.

Orlando scored a 111-86 home victory in their best-of-seven Western Conference semifinals series against Detroit to avoid going down 3-0. Rashard Lewis recorded a playoff career-high 33 points, shooting 11-of-15 from the floor and 5-of-6 from three. In the first two games of the series, played in Detroit, Lewis scored a combined 38 points, shooting 15-of-41 from the floor and 2-of-12 from three. During the regular season, Lewis shot .483 in home games compared with .429 on the road.

– NBA News