Draft lottery disappointment for Knicks

Draft lottery disappointment for Knicks

Here’s the New York Daily News reporting on the Knicks, who after Tuesday’s Draft Lottery only came away with the No. 4 overall pick in June’s NBA Draft:

Phil Jackson did not hit the jackpot, and he did not even land the all-important consolation prize.

The pain and embarrassment of the worst season in franchise history did not result in the Knicks winning the lottery for the second time in 30 years on Tuesday night – or even finishing in the top-2 – as the Ping-Pong balls determined they will select fourth overall in the NBA draft on June 25.

The Minnesota Timberwolves, which had a 25 percent chance of winning the lottery as the NBA’s worst record, were awarded the top pick and the right to choose between the consensus top two prizes of the draft class – 19-year-old big men Karl-Anthony Towns of Kentucky and Jahlil Okafor of Duke.

Tyler Ennis undergoes shoulder surgery

Bucks guard Tyler Ennis undergoes shoulder surgery

Tyler Ennis undergoes shoulder surgery

Milwaukee Bucks General Manager John Hammond announced that guard Tyler Ennis underwent successful labral repair surgery to his right shoulder today. After consultation with Bucks orthopaedist Dr. Michael Gordon and Dr. David Altcheck from the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York, the procedure was performed this morning in New York.

Ennis was acquired along with Miles Plumlee and Michael Carter-Williams on Feb. 19 in a three-team deal with Phoenix and Philadelphia. In 25 games (one start) this season for Milwaukee, Ennis averaged 4.0 points, 2.4 assists and 1.1 rebounds in 14.1 minutes per game.

Report: Pelicans interested in Alvin Gentry

Report: Pelicans interested in Alvin Gentry

Here’s the San Francisco Chronicle reporting on the NBA’s coaching scene:

Report: Pelicans interested in Alvin Gentry

Clippers head coach Doc Rivers said this month that he didn’t think Warriors associate head coach Alvin Gentry would be in Golden State for very long — a statement that is starting to look pretty prophetic.

New Orleans president Mickey Loomis and general manager Dell Demps met with Gentry on Monday night in San Francisco, according to Yahoo Sports. ESPN reported that the Warriors granted permission for Gentry to interview for head-coaching vacancies between playoff series.

He also has been mentioned as a front-runner for Chicago’s top coaching post, should Tom Thibodeau be fired, and among the candidates for open gigs in Denver and Orlando. Gentry declined comment on the subject.

Marcin Gortat says personal issues distracted him this season

Marcin Gortat says personal issues distracted him this season

Here’s the Washington Post blog reporting on Wizards center Marcin Gortat, who made some partially-revealing comments about his play this season:

marcin gortat was dealing with personal issues

Sometime around the all-star break, the gregarious Marcin Gortat who had captivated the District vanished. After several months of humorous, insightful and candid takes, he politely rushed through interviews if he did them at all. When asked twice over the final weeks of the season to assess his individual campaign, Gortat said he would address his personal situation during his exit interview. That came Monday.

“I would say in the eight years of my career, the eighth year was pretty much the toughest one from a personal standpoint,” said Gortat, who completed the first of a five-year, $60 million contract. “I had some issues during the season and that definitely didn’t help me to focus on basketball. That part is on me, definitely on me. I can’t blame anybody for that. I’m not going to talk about those issues. That’s why we call this personal business.”

Kyrie Irving says he will play in Game 1 vs Hawks

Kyrie Irving health status for Eastern Conference Finals: good to go

Kyrie Irving says he will play in Game 1 vs Hawks

The Cleveland Cavaliers are still without Kevin Love, who is out for the rest of the playoffs and inactive for months beyond that, but banged-up guard Kyrie Irving appears healthy enough to play in Game 1 against the Atlanta Hawks in the 2015 Eastern Conference Finals. Here’s the Akron Beacon Journal reporting:

Kyrie Irving worked overtime Monday, bouncing around the court during a shooting drill with LeBron James long after the formal portion of practice had ended.

Irving is still fighting injuries to both his left knee and right foot, but he moved fluidly and without a limp. And most importantly, he declared himself ready for Wednesday’s opening game of the Eastern Conference finals at the Atlanta Hawks.

“I’m going to go,” he said.

Irving’s availability was never really in doubt, although Cavaliers coach David Blatt cast a temporary shadow when he said he was hopeful Irving would be ready. After Irving was a full participant on Monday, Blatt said he was “encouraged’ by the progress his star guard made in a relatively short amount of time.

LaMarcus Aldridge had thumb surgery today

LaMarcus Aldridge had thumb surgery today

LaMarcus Aldridge had thumb surgery today

Portland Trail Blazers forward LaMarcus Aldridge underwent successful surgery today to repair the injured radial collateral ligament of his left thumb. Dr. Thomas J. Graham performed the procedure at the Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland, Ohio.

Aldridge is expected to be able to return basketball activity in approximately eight weeks.

The Blazers finished the regular season with a 51-31 record. They lost to the Memphis Grizzlies in the first round of the NBA playoffs, in five games.

In the regular season, Aldridge averaged 23.4 points and 10.2 rebounds per game. His season almost ended early due to his thumb injury, but he played through it.

Rockets complete comeback, eliminate Clippers in seven games

Rockets complete comeback, eliminate Clippers in seven games

James Harden scored 31 points, Dwight Howard had 16 points and 15 rebounds and the Houston Rockets never trailed in a 113-100 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers on Sunday, sending them to the Western Conference finals for the first time since 1997.

It’s the ninth time in NBA history that a team has overcome a 3-1 series deficit to win a playoff series.

The Rockets needed an epic comeback to overcome a 19-point third-quarter deficit and force Game 7. No such heroics were needed Sunday when they were up by 17 after three and Howard opened the fourth quarter with a 3-point play to push it to 88-68.

Blake Griffin scored five points in a 9-0 run to cut the lead to eight points with less than 2 1/2 minutes remaining. Harden made a pair of free throws after that, but a dunk by DeAndre Jordan got the Clippers within eight again. This time Trevor Ariza hit a 3 from the corner to secure the victory.

— Associated Press

Kevin Seraphin wants a starting role, somewhere

Kevin Seraphin wants a starting role, somewhere

Here’s CSN Washington reporting on 6-10, 278-pound Wizards backup center Kevin Seraphin, who feels ready to step up into a starting role, whether it’s with his current squad or someplace else:

Kevin Seraphin wants a starting role, somewhere

Barring a major roster overhaul that creates room for Kevin Seraphin and a bump in salary, his time with the Wizards, who acquired him in a trade five years ago on draft night, will end.

In his most significant playoff duty of his four-year career, Seraphin came in for an ill Marcin Gortat on Friday and scored 13 points and grabbed eight rebounds in 28 minutes in a series-closing 94-91 loss to the Atlanta Hawks in Game 6 of the East semifinals.

Seraphin, who signed a one-year qualifying offer last summer for $3.9 million to remain in Washington, is eager to spread his wings.

“I definitely want a chance to be a starter,” Seraphin, who matched his career high with 79 regular-season appearances but didn’t start a game for the 46-win Wizards, told CSNwashington.com. “I definitely want to be somewhere I have a chance to be a starter.”

Wizards put up fight but are eliminated by Hawks

Wizards put up fight but fall to Hawks

Here’s CSN Washington reporting on the Wizards, whose offseason has begun:

Yes, the Eastern Conference semifinals with the Atlanta Hawks, was super duper close, painfully so for the Washington Wizards. Historically so at that. The last four games were decided by five points or less. That hadn’t happened in an NBA playoff series since 2006. The Wizards lost the last three of those games en route to dropping the series 4-2.

John Wall’s fractured left hand and wrist stands out as the obvious “What if” question of the series. Even with the All-Star point guard missing three games and playing the last two with those five fractures, Washington took Atlanta, a team that ran away with the Eastern Conference regular season title, to the brink.

Get past Wall and the question is what differences led to the Wizards thinking about summer vacations instead of meeting LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference finals.

“I guess little details,” center Marcin Gortat said after revealing details of food poisoning that kept him on the bench for most of the series finale. “Little details in our game. Scrappy little details and that’s why we get punished for I guess.”

Magic interview power forwards at Draft Combine

Magic interview power forwards at Draft Combine

Here’s the Orlando Sentinel reporting on the Magic, who have a nice set of guards on their roster but can use some help up front:

Attempting to detect a pattern in the players a team interviews at the NBA Draft Combine is a dangerous exercise.

Orlando Magic officials, for instance, don’t disclose the names of the 18 players they spoke with during the event. Making matters more difficult: The league assigns the interviews based on the demand for specific players. So the prospects the Magic interviewed weren’t necessarily the people the Magic wanted to interview most.

But if the Magic are intent on shoring up their power forward spot through the draft, the team made some progress in its research. Team officials interviewed at least six power forward prospects during the combine — UCLA’s Kevon Looney, Kentucky’s Trey Lyles, Wisconsin’s Frank Kaminsky, Arkansas’ Bobby Portis, Syracuse’s Rakeem Christmas and LSU’s Jordan Mickey — those players said.