The Larry Sanders Show has been panned by the NBA. The forward of the Milwaukee Bucks was suspended two games without pay and Indiana Pacers forwards David West and Danny Granger were fined $25,000 apiece by the NBA on Friday for their roles in a skirmish in Thursday’s game. Sanders was suspended for Saturday’s game vs. New Jersey and Monday’s game vs. Toronto. The ban is for initiating an altercation, failing to leave the court in a timely manner and actions following
As the season winds down with the playoffs set to begin one week from tomorrow, players and teams are starting to feel more tension and desperation. It showed on a Thursday night that featured 11 technical fouls, five flagrant fouls and three ejections in three games with teams jockeying for playoff positioning. We start with the Miami Heat, who extended their winning streak to five games as they beat the league-leading Chicago Bulls 83-72. Despite missing Chris Bosh and Derrick Rose, the game
Every time it looks like the Minnesota Timberwolves are no longer part of the Western Conference playoff race, Kevin Love takes over a game, leads them to a win and keeps them in the hunt. The Wolves have no right chasing a postseason berth. They were 100 games under .500 over the last two seasons. Their prized rookie point lived up to the hype, then went down with a torn ACL. Their center, a double-double revelation in his own right, also
In a nationally-televised game, sophomore Evan Turner scored 24 points and grabbed 15 rebounds to help the 76ers beat New York. Lou Williams poured in 28 in as many minutes. Can a bench player be a keeper in a 12-team league? Carmelo Anthony led the Knicks with 22 and Tyson Chandler returned, but Amare Stoudemire was quiet and Jeremy Lin off-target. The Garden crowd did not sound happy. Elsewhere MIL @ TOR: An ankle injury to Jose Calderon made Jerryd Bayless (16 & 6) the starting
The Hornets are 0-9 this season when allowing 100 or more points, and the Pacers got their first win when allowing 100 or more points. David West finally faced off against his former team, where he played from 2003-2011. Mario Chalmers scored 20 points in the Heat’s win over the Kings, tying a career-high with six three-pointers. The Heat scored 120 points, and all seven Heat players with at least six field goal attempts shot at least 50.0 percent from the floor. At
Sunday night’s best game starts after the football is over and has the surprising Indiana Pacers visiting the Los Angeles Lakers, who are in a favorable stretch of their schedule and have an opportunity to fix some of their issues on offense. The first issue is scoring. Despite having the NBA’s leading scorer in Kobe Bryant, the Lakers are just 21st in offense at 92.1 points and dead last in the NBA in 3-point percentage at 25.7 percent. Derek Fisher is 7-of-29,
Russell Westbrook was under the microscope earlier this season, and rightfully so. Like many players who have been recent All-Stars, he needed to step up his game. As a player with a seemingly limitless ceiling, Westbrook was coming off a pair of firsts – his first All-Star berth and first deep playoff run, which made the Oklahoma City Thunder look like legitimate championship contenders entering this season. Westbrook was also coming off his first major controversy, having bickered with superstar teammate Kevin
Highlight Performances: Monta Ellis, GS– If you spent an early round selection on Monta Ellis, well then, feel free to brag. Ellis scored 38 points tonight, along with 7 assists. But the key here is with Stephen Curry out indefinitely after re-injuring his ankle, Ellis figures to see a heavy dose of scoring opportunities until further notice. Move him up on your cheat sheets, and consider 25 points a game a distinct possibility. Jrue Holiday, PHI– Holiday scored 23 points in Wednesday