Lakers forward Ronny Turiaf was ejected early in the second quarter of Game 4 of the Western Conference semifinals against the Jazz on Sunday for a flagrant foul.Turiaf knocked Utah's Ronnie Price hard to the floor as Price drove for a layup, leaving the Jazz guard with a bloody gash over his right eye. more >>
The Dallas Mavericks made it official Saturday, announcing they had hired Rick Carlisle to replace Avery Johnson as their coach. Donnie Nelson, the Mavericks' president of basketball operations, said in a statement that Carlisle was "our top choice from the onset." more >>
The shots didn't drop again for LeBron James, and it hardly mattered. The rest of the Cleveland Cavaliers made most of theirs. James scored 21 points on another off-shooting night, but Delonte West scored 21, Joe Smith had 17 and the Cavaliers raced to a large, early lead in Game 3 in a 108-84 victory Saturday night over the road-challenged Boston Celtics to pull within 2-1 in their playoff series. more >>
Mike D'Antoni has agreed to coach the New York Knicks, bringing his entertaining offensive style from the Phoenix Suns to a team coming off one of the worst seasons in franchise history. The Knicks released a statement Saturday night saying they had agreed in principle with D'Antoni and that a press conference would be held once the contract had been completed. more >>
Richard Hamilton scored 32 points and Hedo Turkoglu missed a layup with time running out as the Detroit Pistons beat the Orlando Magic 90-89 on Saturday to take a 3-1 lead in their Eastern Conference semifinal series. Tayshaun Prince scored 17 for Detroit, including an 11-foot runner for the go-ahead basket with 8.9 seconds left. Rasheed Wallace had 16 points and eight rebounds. Antonio McDyess had eight points and 14 boards. more >>
It was the Boston Celtics, not Ben Wallace, feeling dizzy after this one. Wallace started Game 3 despite occasional dizziness from an inner ear infection and had one of his best performances since joining Cleveland in a midseason trade. His defensive presence inside was a major factor in the Cavaliers' 108-84 win, which pulled them within 2-1 in their Eastern Conference semifinal series. more >>
ORLANDO, Fla. – Richard Hamilton scored 32 points and Hedo Turkoglu missed a layup with time running out as the Detroit Pistons beat the Orlando Magic 90-89 on Saturday to take a 3-1 lead in their Eastern Conference semifinal series. Tayshaun Prince scored 17 for Detroit, including an 11-foot runner for the go-ahead basket with 8.9 seconds left. Rasheed Wallace had 16 points and eight rebounds. more >>
The Dallas Mavericks made it official Saturday, announcing they had hired Rick Carlisle to replace Avery Johnson as their coach. Donnie Nelson, the Mavericks' president of basketball operations, said in a statement that Carlisle was "our top choice from the onset." more >>
Detroit Pistons guard Chauncey Billups won't play in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference semifinals against the Orlando Magic on Saturday. Pistons coach Flip Saunders says Billups wouldn't be effective because of a sore hamstring. The All-Star strained it on Thursday after getting tied up under the basket with an Orlando player. more >>
NEW YORK (AP) – Mike D’Antoni is set to become coach of the New York Knicks. A person within the NBA told The Associated Press on Saturday that the Suns coach has accepted an offer from the Knicks. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because no official announcement had been made. more >>
Carlos Boozer broke out of his slump with 27 points and tied his career playoff-high with 20 rebounds, leading the Utah Jazz to a 104-99 victory over Los Angeles on Friday night, cutting the Lakers' lead in the series to 2-1. It was the Lakers' first loss this postseason. more >>
ORLANDO, Fla. – Orlando Magic coach Stan Van Gundy sees a little bit of Chauncey Billups in Pistons rookie Rodney Stuckey. Both have good size and strength for point guards and are tough to keep out of the paint. But Billups has more than 100 playoff games under his belt, and Stuckey is appearing in just his second series. more >>
There was no third-quarter breakdown for the San Antonio Spurs on Thursday night, just the desperate play of a team whose quest for a second straight NBA title was on the line. Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili both scored 31 points to lead the Spurs to a 110-99 victory over the New Orleans Hornets in Game 3 of the Western Conference semifinals. With the win, the Spurs avoided falling into an ominous 0-3 hole from which no NBA team has never returned. more >>
Kobe Bryant added another honor Thursday to go with his MVP award, becoming the only unanimous selection to the All-NBA team. The Lakers star was voted to the first team for the third straight season and sixth time in his career. He led Los Angeles to the best record in the Western Conference and was presented with the MVP trophy Wednesday before helping the Lakers to a 120-110 victory over Utah in Game 2 of the conference semifinals. more >>
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. more >>
