NEWS
- Chicago Bulls PG Derrick Rose has torn ACL and MCL in left knee, will miss remainder of playoffs –
@NBCMiami - Boston Celtics guard Ray Allen is still not sure if he’ll be able to play in the playoff opener against the Atlanta Hawks on Sunday.
- The New York Knicks’ Carmelo Anthony and the Los Angeles Clippers’ Chris Paul today were named the Kia NBA Eastern and Western Conference Players of the Month, respectively, for games played in April.
- All-Star point guard Deron Williams wants to have a new contract before the Olympics start in late July.
- Thunder guard James Harden says his head doesn’t hurt anymore and he’s ready to get back to playing basketball.
- Derrick Rose collapsed on the court after injuring his left kee late in Saturday’s first-round playoff game against the 76ers at the United Center on Saturday. The Bulls star executed a jump stop before launching himself back into the air and firing a pass to Carlos Boozer. Rose appear to injured his left leg when he came down on it and before he jumped back into the air. He fell the court near the baseline and remained there as Sixers coach Doug Collins waved for Bulls athletic trainers onto the floor. Rose was writhing in obvious pain and clutching his left knee before being helped off the court by trainer Fred Tedeschi and assistant trainer Jeff Tanaka and taken directly to the training room. Chicago Sun-Times
NOTES
- Marc J. Spears: Blazers G Jamal Crawford will opt-out of his contract paying $5.25 million next season, source tells @YahooSports. The move will allow him to become an unrestricted free agent for the second year in a row. Crawford has a June 15 deadline to opt-out of the final year of his contract and is expected to exercise it soon. Sulia
- Jeremy Lin played one-on-one Saturday afternoon, an indication that he is ahead of schedule in his recovery from knee surgery. But his availability for the Knicks’ first-round playoff series against the Miami Heat remains uncertain. Lin was running, cutting and moving laterally on the American Airlines Arena court three hours before Game 1. He also played one-on-one against the assistant coach Kenny Atkinson. Lin had surgery on April 2 to repair a small meniscal tear in his left knee. Until recently, he had been limited to jogging in a straight line. New York Times
RUMORS
- In an excerpt from an interview with ESPNBoston.com columnist Jackie MacMullan, 34-year-old Celtics forward Paul Pierce ponders his future. Would he consider retiring after his 14th season in Boston despite having another two years and more than $30 million left on his deal? “It’s crossed my mind,” Pierce told MacMullan. “I’ve played a lot of years, ran a lot of miles. You just gotta wait and see what’s going to happen this year. You never know what direction this team is going to head in. You don’t know what Kevin is going to do, don’t know what Ray is going to do. ESPN.com