Apr

9

Riley Says He’d Re-Sign Davis Under Certain Conditions

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A few years ago (actually it might have been a number of years ago) there was a play named “I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change.” The “Miami Herald” Wednesday reported that Miami Heat Team President and head coach Pat Riley feels pretty much those sentiments about Heat forward Ricky Davis.? Davis came to Miami in a deal made on the eve of the regular season, which was pretty much made so Riley could part company with?another player he had grown tired of Antoine Walker who was banished to the Minnesota Timberwolves. Davis is an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season. Riley?told reporters Tuesday under certain conditions he would like to have Davis return. Riley said he would want the veteran back if Davis is willing to play the ?kind of role we would expect him to play next year. For the last four or five years [he] has been a playmaker in his mind, a go-to guy. In our exit meeting, I will give him a series of numbers to show why he might have to adapt his game with us.”

Pat what you have basically said is you love everything about Davis as a player, except for the way he plays the game! Back in February, Riley did all this posturing about possibly wanting to re-sign Davis and Jason Williams rather than trade them to get some young player of value. Back then, I wrote here on Slam Dunk Central?that Davis was the antithesis of a Pat Riley player. Davis would rather be the best player on a bad team, than a role player on a Champion. He is in his tenth year in the Association and has made the playoffs twice, with Boston in 2003-2004, and 2004-2005. That’s it, why, because he would rather be a gunner on a bad team. That’s Ricky Davis Pat, and at 29 years old and going into his eleventh season in the NBA you will not get him to change!

? Copyright 2008 thesackattack.com

Apr

9

Love & Collison To Declare For NBA Draft

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The Los Angeles Times has reported that UCLA center Kevin Love, and guard Darren Collison will declare themselves eligible for the NBA Draft in June. Love is a freshman who led UCLA in scoring and rebounds, averaging 17.5 ppg, and 10.6 boards per game. Love who was a first-team All-American, and was named the Pac-10 player of the year is projected to be chosen mid first round. Collison a junior guard, averaged 14.5 points, 3.8 assists, per game this past season. The report says both players will hire agents, which then would eliminate any chance of returning to the program.

? Copyright 2008 thesackattack.com

Apr

9

Reports Say LBJ Will Play VS Nets

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The Associated Press reported Wednesday that Cleveland Cavaliers All-Star forward LeBron James will play Wednesday night against the New Jersey Nets. LBJ had been bothered by back spasms, and sat out practice with the team Monday and Tuesday. Tuesday Cavaliers coach Mike Brown said that if James back did not improve he would not see action Wednesday. Cleveland is in the process of trying to lock up the number four seed in the NBA Eastern Conference, something that looked like no problem a couple of weeks ago. However the Cavaliers have gone 2-5 in their?last 7 games, leaving them 2 games ahead of fifth place Washington with five games to play.?

? Copyright 2008 thesackattack.com

Apr

9

Slam Dunk Central Presents: ESPN NBA Daily Dime: April 9th

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Apr

9

Boston Sweats Out Overtime Win Against Bucks 107-104

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Boston Celtics head coach Doc Rivers?decided to live or die with his bench bunch, as he saw his reserves blow a 15 point half time lead, to come back and beat the Milwaukee Bucks 107-104 Tuesday night. Rivers told his players at the beginning of the game that starters would play only early in the game, and he held to his vow. Kevin Garnett led Boston with 21 points.

With the number one seed clinched in the NBA Eastern Conference Playoffs, Rivers has made a commitment to keep his starters rested, and his reserves battle tested, This game definitely helped the evolution of the latter.?Rivers was willing to lose the battle to win the war. In a perfect world Rivers will use a 9 man rotation in the playoffs, Garnett, Allen, and Pierce, playing as minutes as necessary. But as the commercial says life isn’t perfect; injuries happen, fatigue sets in. So Rivers knew in his heart of hearts he could not bring back in the “Elite Three” even though they were begging to, while the lead dissipated.

Boston?had a slight lead at the end of the first quarter as both teams shot well, the Green Team led 32-29. The Celtics pulled away in the second quarter and were ahead 60-45 as the game reached the half. Milwaukee actually cut the lead by 1 point at the end of three, but they were still looking up at the Celtics on the wrong side of a 80-66 score. But the Bucks erased the deficit in the fourth and at the end of regulation the two teams were deadlocked at 99-99. Milwaukee took their last lead of the game as Royal Ivey hit a 24 foot trey with 1:45 left in the?extra period. Those would also be the last points?the Bucks would?score for the game.

K.G. scored 21 points, 3 steals, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, Tony Allen was?a key contributor off the bench as he scored 17?points, 3 assists, 1 rebound.? James Posey scored 16 points, 9 boards, 2 assists, 2 steals, 1 block. Pierce scored 14 points, 4 assists, 2 rebounds, 1 steal, Leon Powe also had 14 off the bench, 4 rebounds, 1 assist. Ray? Allen scored 11 points, 3 assists, 1 steal.

Michael Redd led Milwaukee with a game high 25 points, 6 assists, 1 steal, 1 rebound, Andrew Bogut had a double-double 15 points, 15 boards, 5 assists, 4 blocks, 2 steals.? Desmond Mason scored 14 points, 5 rebounds, 3 steals, 1 assist, Ramon Sessions scored 13 points, 7 assists, 6 rebounds, 3 steals.? Bobby Simmons also scored 13 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal, Royal Ivey scored 12 points, 1 steal, 1 assist, 1 rebound. Boston has now won 7 in a row and are at 62-15, the Bucks record is now 26-51.

? Copyright 2008 thesackattack.com?

Apr

9

Warriors Remain Alive In Playoff Race, Beat Kings 140-132

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The Golden State Warriors, if they expect to visit the postseason, will for all intents and purposes need to win the majority, if not all, of their games.? Tuesday night’s game against the Sacramento Kings was no different in that aspect.? As one would expect, the Warriors put on an offensive performance, while good for the regular season, will not get them far should they participate in the playoffs.? But regardless, their offense tonight was good enough as Baron Davis and Stephen Jackson combined for 53 points, leading Golden State to a key 140-132 victory over Sacramento at Oracle Arena.? The Warriors win keeps them tied with Denver for the #8 spot in the Western Conference playoff race.

Golden State, in addition to putting up 77 points in the first half, dominated Sacramento in most important stats - rebounds (48-31) and assists (28-21); besides the first half lead that they enjoyed, the Warriors managed to maintain the lead throughout the second half as the Kings couldn’t mount a serious challenge.? Golden State had 6 players in double-digits, led by Davis with 33 points, including 4 treys, 5 rebounds, 9 assists, 3 steals, a block but 5 turnovers.? Jackson scored 20 with a rebound, 3 assists and a steal while Andris Biedrins and Al Harrington added 17 each - with Biedrins grabbing 17 rebounds, dishing out an assist, with a steal and 3 blocks while Harrington grabbed 7 rebounds, dished out 3 assists and had 5 steals.? Monta Ellis chipped in with 16 along with 4 rebounds, 7 assists and a steal.

Sacramento was led by Fernando Garcia from off the bench with 31 points, 2 assists, 4 steals and a block while Kevin Martin scored 29 with 7 rebounds, 4 assists and a steal; John Salmons added 22 with 6 rebounds and 3 assists while reserve Quincy Douby chipped in?with 15 along with a rebound and 2 assists.? Golden State (47-31) look to stay in the playoff hunt as they remain home to host the Denver Nuggets in a very important matchup on Thursday while Sacramento (36-42) returns to Arco Arena to host the Portland Trail Blazers on Friday.?

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Apr

9

Three Trail Blazers Score 20+ Points, End Lakers’ Win Streak 112-103

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If the Portland Trail Blazers were in the Eastern Conference, they would no doubt be in the thick of the playoff chase; unfortunately for them, having a winning record in the Western Conference does them no favors.? But there was a game to be played Tuesday, and the Blazers’ opponent was the Los Angeles Lakers.? Judging from tonight’s performance, one would think that the Lakers were the team with nothing to play for as three Blazers scored at least 22 points, giving Portland a huge 112-103 over Los Angeles at Rose Garden.

The Blazers led all of the first half, going up 49-40 on LaMarcus Aldridge’s jumper with 2:23 left in the half; they would extend their lead to 56-45 on Jarrett Jack’s 2 free throws with 42 seconds left.? As a result, Portland led going into halftime 58-47.? The Blazers went up 77-61 thanks to a 3-pointer by Steve Blake; however, Los Angeles responded with a 10-0 run led by Kobe Bryant that closed the Blazers’ lead to 77-71.? The Lakers’ Lamar Odom was called for a technical foul after a hard foul on Portland’s Brandon Roy while driving to the basket with 30 seconds left in the third quarter; Roy made both free throws, giving the Blazers an 87-71 lead.? Roy would go to the locker room and would return with about 10 minutes left in the game.

The Lakers would pull to within 102-93 with 3:39 left in the game on Vladimir Radmanovic’s trey; free throws by Sasha Vujacic and Pau Gasol would narrow the gap to 102-96.? After a layup by the Blazers’ Travis Outlaw, Radmanovic drained a 3-pointer to make it 104-99 Portland.? Bryant’s layup? got the Lakers to within 3 points, but Roy answered with a layup and free throw with 44 seconds left to put Portland up for good, 106-101.? Portland’s leading scorer was Roy with 23 points, 2 rebounds and 12 assists while Channing Frye and Aldridge scored 22 each - with Frye grabbing 11 rebounds, dishing out 2 assists and making 3 steals while Aldridge grabbed 16 rebounds, dished out an assist and blocked a shot.? Jack added 15 with 3 rebounds and 3 assists.

Los Angeles was led by Bryant with 34 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists, a steal and a block while Pau Gasol scored 21 with 13 rebounds and 4 assists; Radmanovic added 17, including 5 three-pointers, 6 rebounds and?an assist.? Portland (39-39) will now travel south to Sacramento to take on the Kings Friday while Los Angeles (53-25) returns home to host the Los Angeles Clippers on Thursday.

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