Hello and welcome to the Evening News.
As the playoffs are now officially under way, we’ll keep you updated every evening. What’s happening today?
Here’s the latest news from around the league:
Billy King close to extension with Brooklyn.
According to Yahoo! Sports’ Adrian Wojnarowski, the Brooklyn Nets are close to offering a contract extension to general manager Billy King. King’s current contract is set to expire over the summer. 
Since joining the Nets in the summer of 2010, King has managed to transform the Nets from perennial bottom feeders in the East into one of the conference’s top teams. With the trades for Deron Williams, Joe Johnson, and Gerald Wallace, along with the re-signing of Brook Lopez, the Nets appear to have a solid nucleus for postseason contention for the next several years.
Still, the move comes as somewhat as a surprise to me. After all, Brooklyn had heavy interest in Phil Jackson in January after firing Avery Johnson and were speculated to be front runners in the pursuit of Jackson’s services in the front office this summer. While King has done a good job with the Nets, many of King’s critics argue that he’s thrown money around carelessly and has only thrived in Brooklyn because of Mikhail Prokhorov’s seemingly endless wallet.
Doc Rivers fined for airing grievances, Garnett expects to play.
NBA executive vice president of basketball operations, Stu Jackson, announced on Thursday that Doc Rivers has been fined $25K for criticizing the officials following the Celtics’ Game 2 loss to the Knicks on Tuesday evening.
“I thought the fouls on Kevin [Garnett] were horrendous and had a huge effect on us,” Rivers told reporters after the game.
Garnett was called for two early fouls on consecutive plays in the first quarter of the loss to the Knicks. While Rivers was vocally displeased with the officiating, he didn’t feel as though his comments warranted a fine. 
“I didn’t think I said much and that could be a problem,” Rivers said. “Because all I basically said was, Kevin getting into foul trouble had a huge impact on the game. That’s not criticizing officials. So I’ve just got to make sure I focus on our stuff.”
On an unrelated note, Kevin Garnett fully expects to play in tomorrow’s critical Game 3 in Boston after aggravating his hip in Game 2. Garnett missed 10 of Boston’s last 13 regular season games with various ailments and has yet to look comfortable on the court in the playoffs.
“I’m looking forward to tomorrow — being home, back in Beantown. Very much so,” Garnett said. “We haven’t been home since all the current events and everything … so, yes, we’re anticipating it being very emotional, very inspiring, and we’re looking forward to coming out and trying to get this Game 3.”
Steve Blake out indefinitely.
Just as the Lakers got Jordan Hill back from injury, another crucial role player went down. We reported earlier that Steve Blake is out indefinitely with a strained right hamstring. Blake left last night’s loss to San Antonio in the fourth quarter after he felt a “sharp pain.” 
Although the Lakers’ front court finally has Dwight Howard, Pau Gasol, and Jordan Hill playing healthy together for the first time since the beginning of the season, Mike D’Antoni is faced with the very real possibility of playing Game 3 in Los Angeles without any of his four best perimeter players on the court. Beyond Kobe Bryant, who is out at least 6-8 months with a torn Achilles, Steve Nash, Jodie Meeks, and now Steve Blake are all doubtful for Game 3 with various ailments.
Even before Blake’s injury, the Lakers biggest concern was in the backcourt. Now, the team must rely on solid contributions from Darius Morris, Andrew Goudelock, and Chris Duhon (gasp) to have a chance at competing with the Spurs in Game 3.
