Amare Stoudemire suffered no ligament or tendon damage in his left hand after punching a glass-enclosed fire extinguisher Monday night at American Airlines Arena, but he still won’t be able to play in Game 3 Thursday night in New York and is likely out for the rest of the series against the Heat, the New York Daily News’ Frank Isola reports via Twitter.
The incident occurred after the Knicks’ lost to the Heat, 104-94, in Game 2 to go down 2-0 in the first-round playoff series.
That Stoudemire probably won’t be able to return during the series was the expected news.
"I am so mad at myself right now," Stoudemire wrote on Twitter. "I want to apologize to the fans and my team, not proud of my actions. headed home for a new start."
Knicks center Tyson Chandler told Yahoo! Sports, "He’s probably going to be out. … Amare’s is a huge part of this team. Without him, it’ll make it more difficult. We already lost one player in the starting lineup (Iman Shumpert). That’s two players out of the starting lineup.”
But Carmelo Anthony refuses to concede that the series is over.
“It’s far from over,” Anthony said, per the Daily News, “We believe that and I believe that.”
5.01.2012
Spurs’ Gregg Popovich wins NBA coach of the year award
SAN ANTONIO — Gregg Popovich was selected as the NBA's Coach of the Year on Tuesday after leading the San Antonio Spurs to 50 wins and the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference in the lockout-shortened season.
Popovich also won the award in 2003 when San Antonio won its second of four championships, and he might be headed for a fifth ring if the Spurs keep this up. No longer able to simply lean on Tim Duncan and defense, Popovich has nonetheless molded another contender with a surprising supporting cast of rookies and former NBA no-names.
Sporting News’ Sean Deveney had Popovich first on his ballot and wrote last week that the 16th-year Spurs coach “plugged in parts like Danny Green, Gary Neal, Kawhi Leonard, Tiago Splitter, Patty Mills, Stephen Jackson and Boris Diaw to help overcome the aging of Duncan and an injury to Manu Ginobili, keeping the Spurs at the top of the West.” After a bumpy 12-9 start, the Spurs lost only seven more games the rest of the season.
"If you can draft David Robinson and follow that up with Tim Duncan, that's a couple of decades of very, very possible success unless you just screw it up," Popovich said. "So it's hard to take credit when circumstances have gone your way so consistently."
Popovich received 77 first-place votes. Chicago coach Tom Thibodeau was second (27), Indiana coach Frank Vogel was third (7) and Memphis coach Lionel Hollins was fourth (6). Boston's Doc Rivers and Denver's George Karl each received a vote.
The season loomed as one of Popovich's toughest projects yet. Besides Duncan and Manu Ginobili growing another year older, the Spurs started the year with much of the same roster that fell in the first round to the up-and-coming Grizzlies last spring.
But Popovich, who is also team president, looked in unlikely places to keep San Antonio's championship window from shutting just yet. Rookie forward Kawhi Leonard became a starter by midseason, as did swingman Danny Green.
"Pop has done a terrific job molding a mix of experience and inexperience," Spurs general manager R.C. Buford said.
Popovich also steered the Spurs through what has typically been a death-knell for them in recent years: injuries to their Big Three. Ginobili missed nearly half the season after breaking his hand, yet San Antonio still kept winning without their playmaking guard.
Popovich was aggressive as ever in keeping his stars healthy. He willingly surrendered 11-game winning streaks twice to avoid wear and tear on Duncan, Ginobili and Tony Parker, keeping them on the bench or home altogether four times this year.
Duncan has called this Popovich's best season between managing minutes and integrating the newcomers despite the condensed schedule.
"Timmy just wants to get minutes," Popovich said. "He's just trying to ingratiate himself."
Popovich also won the award in 2003 when San Antonio won its second of four championships, and he might be headed for a fifth ring if the Spurs keep this up. No longer able to simply lean on Tim Duncan and defense, Popovich has nonetheless molded another contender with a surprising supporting cast of rookies and former NBA no-names.
Sporting News’ Sean Deveney had Popovich first on his ballot and wrote last week that the 16th-year Spurs coach “plugged in parts like Danny Green, Gary Neal, Kawhi Leonard, Tiago Splitter, Patty Mills, Stephen Jackson and Boris Diaw to help overcome the aging of Duncan and an injury to Manu Ginobili, keeping the Spurs at the top of the West.” After a bumpy 12-9 start, the Spurs lost only seven more games the rest of the season.
"If you can draft David Robinson and follow that up with Tim Duncan, that's a couple of decades of very, very possible success unless you just screw it up," Popovich said. "So it's hard to take credit when circumstances have gone your way so consistently."
Popovich received 77 first-place votes. Chicago coach Tom Thibodeau was second (27), Indiana coach Frank Vogel was third (7) and Memphis coach Lionel Hollins was fourth (6). Boston's Doc Rivers and Denver's George Karl each received a vote.
The season loomed as one of Popovich's toughest projects yet. Besides Duncan and Manu Ginobili growing another year older, the Spurs started the year with much of the same roster that fell in the first round to the up-and-coming Grizzlies last spring.
But Popovich, who is also team president, looked in unlikely places to keep San Antonio's championship window from shutting just yet. Rookie forward Kawhi Leonard became a starter by midseason, as did swingman Danny Green.
"Pop has done a terrific job molding a mix of experience and inexperience," Spurs general manager R.C. Buford said.
Popovich also steered the Spurs through what has typically been a death-knell for them in recent years: injuries to their Big Three. Ginobili missed nearly half the season after breaking his hand, yet San Antonio still kept winning without their playmaking guard.
Popovich was aggressive as ever in keeping his stars healthy. He willingly surrendered 11-game winning streaks twice to avoid wear and tear on Duncan, Ginobili and Tony Parker, keeping them on the bench or home altogether four times this year.
Duncan has called this Popovich's best season between managing minutes and integrating the newcomers despite the condensed schedule.
"Timmy just wants to get minutes," Popovich said. "He's just trying to ingratiate himself."
Only the Heat stand between the Heat and the NBA Finals … really
The Miami Heat’s opponents for the remainder of the Eastern Conference playoffs are as follows: Boredom, Complacency, Expectations.
Beat them down, and LeBron James and Co. are back in the NBA Finals. Because that trio will put up a more competitive fight than the actual other East teams.
Maybe LeBron can revise his infamous remarks from the welcome-to-Miami celebration two summers ago. Instead of counting potential championships with “Not two, not three, not four …” he can rattle off one-time potential threats to a Finals return trip that suddenly aren’t as threatening.
“Not Orlando, not Boston, not Chicago …”
Not New York, that’s for sure. But isn’t it fitting now that the Knicks, perceived to be capable of throwing a mild scare into the Heat in their first-round series, are either imploding physically (Iman Shumpert’s knee) or mentally (Amare)? New York is only the latest Eastern Conference opponent to have doom visit in some form—and as it turns out only the latest to inflict it on itself.
It has to be karma … and, truthfully, it was the Heat’s turn to get the benefit of it themselves. With their actions and antics last season—The Decision, the introduction party, the premature celebrations, the fake-coughs—they brought their eventual demise on themselves. However, the public’s overwhelming desire to see the Heat fall might just be turning the cosmic tables; they might have wanted to see the Big Three go down in flames again a little too much.
The result? Every team in the East that could delay the inevitability of Miami’s returning to the Finals is crumbling before our eyes.
How do you want them listed? Chronologically, or in order of impact on the fate of the conference playoffs? Let’s try the latter, because putting Derrick Rose’s blown ACL anywhere but at the top of any such list is an injustice to him and the ripple effects of the injury.
The Bulls aren’t going to beat Miami without Rose, period. The franchise is putting on a brave face. On Monday, the day before the Bulls’ Game 2 in Chicago against the 76ers, the players talked about overcoming the odds and proving doubters wrong and circling the wagons and, basically, win without Rose.
The Bulls have done it so often, it might just work … until they play Miami. And then, the only way it works is if the Heat lose their most indispensable player, too.
As for Boston, playing Tuesday in Atlanta down 1-0 and without ref-bumping Rajon Rondo? Here is another team that would have had a chance to grind past Miami if everyone on the aging roster held together physically.
If it can’t hold it together mentally? No way.
Orlando, meanwhile, had little chance to even extend the Heat to a long series with Dwight Howard. But his back gave out on the eve of the playoffs. Cross them off the list, too.
Now, for the defending conference champions and reigning heirs apparent … who is left to give them a stiff fight?
Themselves.
Miami now has to guard against the aforementioned self-imposed obstacles. The Heat can’t just roll the ball out onto the court at Madison Square Garden this week to finish off the first round. They can’t presume they can coast past either Indiana or Dwight-less Orlando without either team pushing back hard. They can’t just mark time waiting for an inevitable East finals showdown against either Boston or Chicago, both of whom they controlled with surprising ease last spring.
More important is the opposite: no freezing up in the moment. No buckling under the weight of expectations that got infinitely heavier within the playoffs’ first three days. To lose anywhere short of the Finals would be devastating, and nobody involved would ever hear the end of it. It’s considered that much of a walkover now that a loss would be a bigger taint than the one last June to the Mavericks.
Take that effect, multiply it by about a million, and that’s what the effect on LeBron will be if it happens.
Thus, all he and the Heat have to do is not let any of that bother them. Certainly, nobody else in the East will.
Beat them down, and LeBron James and Co. are back in the NBA Finals. Because that trio will put up a more competitive fight than the actual other East teams.
Maybe LeBron can revise his infamous remarks from the welcome-to-Miami celebration two summers ago. Instead of counting potential championships with “Not two, not three, not four …” he can rattle off one-time potential threats to a Finals return trip that suddenly aren’t as threatening.
“Not Orlando, not Boston, not Chicago …”
Not New York, that’s for sure. But isn’t it fitting now that the Knicks, perceived to be capable of throwing a mild scare into the Heat in their first-round series, are either imploding physically (Iman Shumpert’s knee) or mentally (Amare)? New York is only the latest Eastern Conference opponent to have doom visit in some form—and as it turns out only the latest to inflict it on itself.
It has to be karma … and, truthfully, it was the Heat’s turn to get the benefit of it themselves. With their actions and antics last season—The Decision, the introduction party, the premature celebrations, the fake-coughs—they brought their eventual demise on themselves. However, the public’s overwhelming desire to see the Heat fall might just be turning the cosmic tables; they might have wanted to see the Big Three go down in flames again a little too much.
The result? Every team in the East that could delay the inevitability of Miami’s returning to the Finals is crumbling before our eyes.
How do you want them listed? Chronologically, or in order of impact on the fate of the conference playoffs? Let’s try the latter, because putting Derrick Rose’s blown ACL anywhere but at the top of any such list is an injustice to him and the ripple effects of the injury.
The Bulls aren’t going to beat Miami without Rose, period. The franchise is putting on a brave face. On Monday, the day before the Bulls’ Game 2 in Chicago against the 76ers, the players talked about overcoming the odds and proving doubters wrong and circling the wagons and, basically, win without Rose.
The Bulls have done it so often, it might just work … until they play Miami. And then, the only way it works is if the Heat lose their most indispensable player, too.
As for Boston, playing Tuesday in Atlanta down 1-0 and without ref-bumping Rajon Rondo? Here is another team that would have had a chance to grind past Miami if everyone on the aging roster held together physically.
If it can’t hold it together mentally? No way.
Orlando, meanwhile, had little chance to even extend the Heat to a long series with Dwight Howard. But his back gave out on the eve of the playoffs. Cross them off the list, too.
Now, for the defending conference champions and reigning heirs apparent … who is left to give them a stiff fight?
Themselves.
Miami now has to guard against the aforementioned self-imposed obstacles. The Heat can’t just roll the ball out onto the court at Madison Square Garden this week to finish off the first round. They can’t presume they can coast past either Indiana or Dwight-less Orlando without either team pushing back hard. They can’t just mark time waiting for an inevitable East finals showdown against either Boston or Chicago, both of whom they controlled with surprising ease last spring.
More important is the opposite: no freezing up in the moment. No buckling under the weight of expectations that got infinitely heavier within the playoffs’ first three days. To lose anywhere short of the Finals would be devastating, and nobody involved would ever hear the end of it. It’s considered that much of a walkover now that a loss would be a bigger taint than the one last June to the Mavericks.
Take that effect, multiply it by about a million, and that’s what the effect on LeBron will be if it happens.
Thus, all he and the Heat have to do is not let any of that bother them. Certainly, nobody else in the East will.
With no championship in sight, Amare Stoudemire’s on-court frustration boils over
On Monday, after his New York Knicks fell behind the Miami Heat, 2-0, in their first-round playoff series, Amare Stoudemire put his hand through the glass of an enclosed fire extinguisher. The extinguisher won the bout—Stoudemire left American Airlines Arena with his left arm in a sling, having suffered lacerations on his hand that will jeopardize his availability for the already reeling Knicks.
Stoudemire did not speak to the media after the game—apparently busy getting treated by paramedics—but he did address the injury on Twitter Monday night. “I am so mad at myself right now,” Stoudemire tweeted. “I want to apologize to the fans and my team, not proud of my actions, headed home for a new start.”
There has been much outrage in New York in the hours since the extinguisher dust-up—about the selfishness of Stoudemire’s act, about the damage he has done to his team, about how he has cost his Knicks a chance to upset the Heat. That, however, is mostly bunk. No doubt, punching a plate of glass out of frustration is a pointless exercise, but this wasn’t some premeditated act by Stoudemire designed to bring attention to himself. This was, rather, the eighth straight loss of his postseason life, a loss in which, after being blitzed by Miami in Game 1, the Knicks were slowly drubbed into submission in Game 2.
Anyone who can’t see why Stoudemire might be feeling some frustration lately hasn’t been paying attention. Put aside, even, the death of his brother in a car accident in February. For strictly basketball reasons alone, the last few months have brought home a reality that scares the Knicks, the team’s fans and Stoudemire himself, even more than cuts on his hand—Stoudemire just might not be able to do it anymore.
MORE: Divergent paths for Stoudemire, Ovechkin
Remember, this is the time of year when Stoudemire first made his name. In his third season in the league, 2004-05, Stoudemire proved himself an NBA star of the highest order, one of the elites. He had a 40-point, 16-rebound effort in Game 1 of the Western Conference semifinals against Dallas, 37 points with 14 rebounds in Game 3, and 33 and 18 in Game 5. Against the Spurs in the conference finals, the Suns went out in five games, but that series still belonged to the 22-year-old Stoudemire—he averaged 37.0 points, shot 55.0 percent, got to the free-throw line 10.2 times per game and shot 84.3 percent on his foul shots. Heading into the ’05-06 season, on Sporting News’ annual Top 50 list, Stoudemire ranked fifth, just ahead of LeBron James and Dwyane Wade.
But Stoudemire suffered a knee injury that required microfracture surgery the following year, and though he has since returned to All-Star level, there has always been a sense that the knee would catch up with him. It was, in part, why Phoenix would not give him a long-term contract extension before he left the Suns in 2010, and why his Knicks contract is uninsured. It’s also pretty clearly why Stoudemire has never regained the form that made him look like a future Hall of Famer and MVP in the '05 playoffs.
And then this year happened. Stoudemire was one of many NBA stars who came out of the gates slowly following the lockout, but unlike other star players, he never raised his level. He averaged 17.5 points, his lowest output in since his rookie year, other than the '05-06 season in which he played just three games He shot 48.3 percent, lowest since his second season. His explosiveness had been on the decline in recent years, but this year, it just didn’t seem to be there at all. In March, Mike D’Antoni, the coach whose system helped make Stoudemire a star in those early years in Phoenix, was fired—Stoudemire could not carry the load in D’Antoni’s offense anymore, and the team needed a system that better emphasized small forward Carmelo Anthony.
The Knicks, according the NBA’s advanced stats site, were a better team without Stoudemire on the floor. In fact, Stoudemire was one of only four Knicks regulars (Mike Bibby, Bill Walker and Toney Douglas were the others) who rated negatively in “Net Rating,” a measure of the team’s scoring margin per 100 possessions. Stoudemire was -2.7, worst on the team.
He opened the playoffs in Game 1 against the Heat with nine points on 2-for-7 shooting, and though he was better on Monday (18 points, 6-for-9 shooting), the frustration of still not having won a playoff game with the Knicks—he was to be this franchise’s savior when he signed in '10, after all—had to be building for Stoudemire.
“It is playoff basketball,” NBA TV analyst Brent Barry said. “We are seeing the frustration on the court with the coaches, you see it with players and officials. You have got to be able to control that part of the game and it is very difficult to do. You want your players to be invested, you want them to be all in.”
Stoudemire is all in, maybe a little too much. That doesn’t necessarily excuse Stoudemire for doing something he should not have done.
He should have curbed his emotions. But what has happened to Stoudemire’s game in the last few months does, at least, make his outburst more understandable. He wants badly to be the player he was in ’05, he wants to be the marquee guy the Knicks thought they were getting in ’10. He has been neither—in fact, his team has been better with him not on the floor, and with or without him, the Knicks probably have no chance against Miami.
Stoudemire is only 29, but his game is in decline. The playoffs, once his springboard to fame and fortune, are now crystallizing that reality, and there has to be some part of Stoudemire that knows it. He was once considered a star ahead of Miami leaders James and Wade. Now, as those guys run circles around Stoudemire and his team, it should be no surprise there was a well of frustration gathering. He shouldn’t have taken it out on a fire extinguisher. But it’s easy to see why he did.
Stoudemire did not speak to the media after the game—apparently busy getting treated by paramedics—but he did address the injury on Twitter Monday night. “I am so mad at myself right now,” Stoudemire tweeted. “I want to apologize to the fans and my team, not proud of my actions, headed home for a new start.”
There has been much outrage in New York in the hours since the extinguisher dust-up—about the selfishness of Stoudemire’s act, about the damage he has done to his team, about how he has cost his Knicks a chance to upset the Heat. That, however, is mostly bunk. No doubt, punching a plate of glass out of frustration is a pointless exercise, but this wasn’t some premeditated act by Stoudemire designed to bring attention to himself. This was, rather, the eighth straight loss of his postseason life, a loss in which, after being blitzed by Miami in Game 1, the Knicks were slowly drubbed into submission in Game 2.
Anyone who can’t see why Stoudemire might be feeling some frustration lately hasn’t been paying attention. Put aside, even, the death of his brother in a car accident in February. For strictly basketball reasons alone, the last few months have brought home a reality that scares the Knicks, the team’s fans and Stoudemire himself, even more than cuts on his hand—Stoudemire just might not be able to do it anymore.
MORE: Divergent paths for Stoudemire, Ovechkin
Remember, this is the time of year when Stoudemire first made his name. In his third season in the league, 2004-05, Stoudemire proved himself an NBA star of the highest order, one of the elites. He had a 40-point, 16-rebound effort in Game 1 of the Western Conference semifinals against Dallas, 37 points with 14 rebounds in Game 3, and 33 and 18 in Game 5. Against the Spurs in the conference finals, the Suns went out in five games, but that series still belonged to the 22-year-old Stoudemire—he averaged 37.0 points, shot 55.0 percent, got to the free-throw line 10.2 times per game and shot 84.3 percent on his foul shots. Heading into the ’05-06 season, on Sporting News’ annual Top 50 list, Stoudemire ranked fifth, just ahead of LeBron James and Dwyane Wade.
But Stoudemire suffered a knee injury that required microfracture surgery the following year, and though he has since returned to All-Star level, there has always been a sense that the knee would catch up with him. It was, in part, why Phoenix would not give him a long-term contract extension before he left the Suns in 2010, and why his Knicks contract is uninsured. It’s also pretty clearly why Stoudemire has never regained the form that made him look like a future Hall of Famer and MVP in the '05 playoffs.
And then this year happened. Stoudemire was one of many NBA stars who came out of the gates slowly following the lockout, but unlike other star players, he never raised his level. He averaged 17.5 points, his lowest output in since his rookie year, other than the '05-06 season in which he played just three games He shot 48.3 percent, lowest since his second season. His explosiveness had been on the decline in recent years, but this year, it just didn’t seem to be there at all. In March, Mike D’Antoni, the coach whose system helped make Stoudemire a star in those early years in Phoenix, was fired—Stoudemire could not carry the load in D’Antoni’s offense anymore, and the team needed a system that better emphasized small forward Carmelo Anthony.
The Knicks, according the NBA’s advanced stats site, were a better team without Stoudemire on the floor. In fact, Stoudemire was one of only four Knicks regulars (Mike Bibby, Bill Walker and Toney Douglas were the others) who rated negatively in “Net Rating,” a measure of the team’s scoring margin per 100 possessions. Stoudemire was -2.7, worst on the team.
He opened the playoffs in Game 1 against the Heat with nine points on 2-for-7 shooting, and though he was better on Monday (18 points, 6-for-9 shooting), the frustration of still not having won a playoff game with the Knicks—he was to be this franchise’s savior when he signed in '10, after all—had to be building for Stoudemire.
“It is playoff basketball,” NBA TV analyst Brent Barry said. “We are seeing the frustration on the court with the coaches, you see it with players and officials. You have got to be able to control that part of the game and it is very difficult to do. You want your players to be invested, you want them to be all in.”
Stoudemire is all in, maybe a little too much. That doesn’t necessarily excuse Stoudemire for doing something he should not have done.
He should have curbed his emotions. But what has happened to Stoudemire’s game in the last few months does, at least, make his outburst more understandable. He wants badly to be the player he was in ’05, he wants to be the marquee guy the Knicks thought they were getting in ’10. He has been neither—in fact, his team has been better with him not on the floor, and with or without him, the Knicks probably have no chance against Miami.
Stoudemire is only 29, but his game is in decline. The playoffs, once his springboard to fame and fortune, are now crystallizing that reality, and there has to be some part of Stoudemire that knows it. He was once considered a star ahead of Miami leaders James and Wade. Now, as those guys run circles around Stoudemire and his team, it should be no surprise there was a well of frustration gathering. He shouldn’t have taken it out on a fire extinguisher. But it’s easy to see why he did.
Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle asks Thunder to cut the 'cheap,' 'dirty' play
Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle, after Dallas lost in Oklahoma City, 102-99, Tuesday night, accused the Thunder of ‘cheap’ and ‘dirty’ play. The Thunder lead the first-round playoff series, 2-0. Game 3 is Thursday night in Dallas.
Game 2 on Monday night was chippy. About midway through the first quarter, Thunder forward Serge Ibaka hit Mavs forward Dirk Nowitzki in the face on a Nowitzki shot attempt. No foul was called, and Nowitzki shoved Ibaka on the way back down the court. A few possessions later, center Kendrick Perkins and Nowitzki were each handed technical fouls after an exchange of pleasantries. Perkins was called for a loose ball foul for giving Nowitzki a forearm to the back, and Nowitzki then turned around and laid his shoulder into Perkins’ chest. Perkins then shoved back.
Said Nowitzki, "That play was nothing. He tried to bully me and I bullied back a little bit. We talked about some stuff and moved on. I don't think that play was anything special. It's just the playoffs, two teams going at it. It was just a hard play."
"It's playoff basketball. It's physical," Carlisle said, according to ESPNDallas.com. "I mean, we don't like the cheap shots when they give them, and they don't like them if we give them. That's the nature of competition.
"Hey, I love hard play, clean, competitive playoff series. You throw the ball up and may the best team win, but the dirty bull---- has got to stop. We don't want anybody getting hurt out there either way."
"It's just playoff basketball," Perkins said. "I mean, just grown men out here playing basketball and teams trying to advance. You know, you're just out here playing. There's nothing to hurt nobody or nothing like that. Neither side is going to bow down. They're not, we're not, so we're just out here playing and competing on a high level."
Carlisle’s complaints actually started after Saturday's Game 1, and Thunder coach Scott Brooks told reporters that they should have seen them coming.
“Just go back to your quotes in 2011. He said the same thing then,” Brooks said, per The Oklahoman.
Carlisle responded, “If there’s been a memo issued saying that if you elbow a guy in the throat it’s legal, I would appreciate that memo being passed along.”
Carlisle and Brooks were roommates when they played in the CBA together.
The first two games of the series have been close, with Oklahoma City squeaking
Game 2 on Monday night was chippy. About midway through the first quarter, Thunder forward Serge Ibaka hit Mavs forward Dirk Nowitzki in the face on a Nowitzki shot attempt. No foul was called, and Nowitzki shoved Ibaka on the way back down the court. A few possessions later, center Kendrick Perkins and Nowitzki were each handed technical fouls after an exchange of pleasantries. Perkins was called for a loose ball foul for giving Nowitzki a forearm to the back, and Nowitzki then turned around and laid his shoulder into Perkins’ chest. Perkins then shoved back.
Said Nowitzki, "That play was nothing. He tried to bully me and I bullied back a little bit. We talked about some stuff and moved on. I don't think that play was anything special. It's just the playoffs, two teams going at it. It was just a hard play."
"It's playoff basketball. It's physical," Carlisle said, according to ESPNDallas.com. "I mean, we don't like the cheap shots when they give them, and they don't like them if we give them. That's the nature of competition.
"Hey, I love hard play, clean, competitive playoff series. You throw the ball up and may the best team win, but the dirty bull---- has got to stop. We don't want anybody getting hurt out there either way."
"It's just playoff basketball," Perkins said. "I mean, just grown men out here playing basketball and teams trying to advance. You know, you're just out here playing. There's nothing to hurt nobody or nothing like that. Neither side is going to bow down. They're not, we're not, so we're just out here playing and competing on a high level."
Carlisle’s complaints actually started after Saturday's Game 1, and Thunder coach Scott Brooks told reporters that they should have seen them coming.
“Just go back to your quotes in 2011. He said the same thing then,” Brooks said, per The Oklahoman.
Carlisle responded, “If there’s been a memo issued saying that if you elbow a guy in the throat it’s legal, I would appreciate that memo being passed along.”
Carlisle and Brooks were roommates when they played in the CBA together.
The first two games of the series have been close, with Oklahoma City squeaking
4.30.2012
Tyson Chandler ready for Game 2; Melo, Stoudemire arrange private Knicks workout
Tyson Chandler, who’s been sick with the flu, will play in Game 2 of the New York Knicks-Miami Heat first-round playoff series Monday night, as he’s feeling better and his fever is down, Yahoo! Sports’ Marc Spears reports via Twitter.
Chandler played just 21 minutes in Game 1 and wasn’t very productive—he had no points and no blocks, as well as just three rebounds and two steals. Reports yesterday said that even if he plays in Game 2, he’d again be limited.
Point guard Baron Davis, whose back stiffened up in Game 1, is a game-time decision but says he’ll play tonight. Iman Shumpert tore his ACL on Saturday and is out for several months.
Meanwhile, after the Knicks suffered a huge, 100-67 loss in Game 1, star forwards and co-captains Carmelo Anthony and Amare Stoudemire got their teammates together for a private workout at a Miami gym Sunday night, the New York Post reports.
“We’re definitely not at a low,” Anthony said, per The Post. “We’re definitely still a confident team. We felt we didn’t play our game (Saturday) and we want to correct that. (Today’s) a new day. (Today’s) Game 2 and Round 2.”
Anthony had just 11 points on 3-for-15 shooting on Saturday but says he doesn’t have to have a huge offensive game for the Knicks to win.
“We’re all going to have to do it," Anthony said, according to The Post. “Everyone’s going to have to do a lot more due to the lack of players we’re going to have. We don’t know who is going to play. Everyone’s going to have to do a little more than what they’re doing right now."
Chandler played just 21 minutes in Game 1 and wasn’t very productive—he had no points and no blocks, as well as just three rebounds and two steals. Reports yesterday said that even if he plays in Game 2, he’d again be limited.
Point guard Baron Davis, whose back stiffened up in Game 1, is a game-time decision but says he’ll play tonight. Iman Shumpert tore his ACL on Saturday and is out for several months.
Meanwhile, after the Knicks suffered a huge, 100-67 loss in Game 1, star forwards and co-captains Carmelo Anthony and Amare Stoudemire got their teammates together for a private workout at a Miami gym Sunday night, the New York Post reports.
“We’re definitely not at a low,” Anthony said, per The Post. “We’re definitely still a confident team. We felt we didn’t play our game (Saturday) and we want to correct that. (Today’s) a new day. (Today’s) Game 2 and Round 2.”
Anthony had just 11 points on 3-for-15 shooting on Saturday but says he doesn’t have to have a huge offensive game for the Knicks to win.
“We’re all going to have to do it," Anthony said, according to The Post. “Everyone’s going to have to do a lot more due to the lack of players we’re going to have. We don’t know who is going to play. Everyone’s going to have to do a little more than what they’re doing right now."
Floyd Mayweather $1.8 million bet wager Clippers grizzlies Game 1
As the Los Angeles Clippers made their historic comeback against the Memphis Grizzlies in Game 1 of their first-round playoff series, there was no one cheering harder than boxer Floyd Mayweather. That’s because Mayweather allegedly wagered $1.8 million on the Clippers, a six-point underdog.
According to a tweet cited by various websites, including Black Sports Online, Mayweather’s personal handicapper confirmed that the fighter made $1.8 million worth of bets on the Clippers across seven different sports books.
The Clippers trailed by 21 after the third quarter. They closed the gap to six, 96-90, on a Nick Young 3-pointer with 2:15 left in the game. Young hit another 3-pointer with 1:47 remaining to make the score 96-93. Mayweather was winning his bet at that point, and the Clippers went onto win the game outright, 99-98.
According to a tweet cited by various websites, including Black Sports Online, Mayweather’s personal handicapper confirmed that the fighter made $1.8 million worth of bets on the Clippers across seven different sports books.
The Clippers trailed by 21 after the third quarter. They closed the gap to six, 96-90, on a Nick Young 3-pointer with 2:15 left in the game. Young hit another 3-pointer with 1:47 remaining to make the score 96-93. Mayweather was winning his bet at that point, and the Clippers went onto win the game outright, 99-98.
订阅：
博文 (Atom)