29 Apr 2008 14:20:29

Patricia Bender

News from April 28, 2008

News from April 28. The NBA fined Paul Pierce (Bos) $25,000 for making "menacing gestures" during Saturday's Bos-Atl game. The NBA fined DeShawn Stevenson (Was) $25,000 for making "menacing gestures" during Sunday's Was-Cle game. Pat Riley announced his resignation as head coach of Miami. He is remaining as president of the team and named assistant Erik Spoelstra as the new head coach. The deadline for underclassmen and foreign players under the age of 22 to declare themselves eligible for the NBA draft has passed. The NBA will soon release the official list of those who have declared. Those players who have declared can withdraw from the declaration list up to June 16. The NBA draft is June 26. Hedo Turkoglu (Orl) was named as the Most Improved Player. Turkoglu received 61 of 125 possible 1st place media votes. Total position votes Player Points 1st 2nd 3rd Hedo Turkoglu (Orl) ...... 380 61 22 9 Rudy Gay (Mem) ........... 167 23 14 10 LaMarcus Aldridge (Por) .. 128 9 22 17 Al Jefferson (Min) ....... 100 6 16 22 Rajon Rondo (Bos) ........ 77 6 10 17 Mike Dunleavy (Ind) ...... 51 3 9 9 Jose Calderon (Tor) ...... 45 2 10 5 Chris Paul (NO) .......... 41 5 4 4 Beno Udrih (Sac) ......... 17 1 2 6 David West (NO) .......... 15 1 2 4 Ronnie Brewer (Uta) ...... 12 1 2 1 Andrew Bynum (LAL) ....... 11 1 1 3 Chris Kaman (LAC) ........ 9 1 1 1 Louis Williams (Phi) ..... 8 1 0 3 Monta Ellis (GS) ......... 7 1 0 4 Andrew Bogut (Mil) ....... 7 0 2 1 Rafer Alston (Hou) ....... 6 1 0 1 Andre Iguodala (Phi) ..... 5 1 0 0 LeBron James (Cle) ....... 5 1 0 0 Travis Outlaw (Por) ...... 5 1 0 0 Brandon Bass (Dal) ....... 4 0 1 1 Deron Williams (Uta) ..... 4 0 1 1 Tyson Chandler (NO) ...... 3 0 1 0 Dwight Howard (Orl) ...... 3 0 1 0 Linas Kleiza (Den) ....... 3 0 1 0 Jason Maxiell (Det) ...... 3 0 1 0 Shaquille O'Neal (Pho) ... 3 0 1 0 Danny Granger (Ind) ...... 2 0 0 2 Brandon Roy (Por) ........ 2 0 0 2 Roger Mason (Was) ........ 1 0 0 1 J.R. Smith (Den) ......... 1 0 0 1 LAL 107, Den 101 at Den Lamar Odom (LAL) had 14 points and 12 rebounds including 5 offensive. Pau Gasol (LAL) had 21 points, 7 rebounds, and 4 blocks. Kobe Bryant (LAL) had 31 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists, 3 steals, and 6 turnovers. Carmelo Anthony (Den) had 21 points and 11 rebounds. Allen Iverson (Den) had 22 points. J.R. Smith (Den) had 26 points. The LA Lakers sweep the series 4-0 and advances to the 2nd round where they will face the winner of the Uta-Hou series. Orl 102, Tor 92 at Orl Rashard Lewis (Orl) had 18 points and 13 rebounds. Dwight Howard (Orl) had 21 points including 7-10 FT, 21 rebounds including 10 offensive, and 3 blocks. Jameer Nelson (Orl) had 19 points. Chris Bosh (Tor) had 16 points and 9 rebounds. T.J. Ford (Tor) had 14 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists. Orlando takes the series 3-1 and advances to the 2nd round where they will face the winner of the Det-Phi series. Atl 97, Bos 92 at Atl Josh Smith (Atl) had 28 points including 12-13 FT, 6 rebounds, and 7 blocks. Mike Bibby (Atl) had 18 points. Joe Johnson (Atl) had 35 points including 14-24 FG and 6 assists. Paul Pierce (Bos) had 18 points including 5-14 FG and 4-7 3-pointers, 7 rebounds, and 5 assists. Kevin Garnett (Bos) had 20 points, 9 rebounds, and 6 steals. Ray Allen (Bos) had 21 points including 5-8 3-pointers. Smith and Johnson scored all 32 of Atl's 4th quarter points as Atl out-scored Bos 32-17 in the 4th quarter. The series is tied 2-2. Playoff Standings 1st Round 2nd Round 3rd Round Finals (Best of 7) (Best of 7) (Best of 7) (Best of 7) 1 LA Lakers (4) _ __ 8 Denver (0) |_ 1 LA Lakers (0) _ _ | 4 Utah (3) ______| |_ __ 5 Houston (1) _ | | | 2 New Orleans (3) __ | | 7 Dallas (1) |_ __| | _ | 3 San Antonio (3) __| | 6 Phoenix (1) |_ _ | 1 Boston (2) ______ | 8 Atlanta (2) |_ __ | _ | | 4 Cleveland (3) ___| | | 5 Washington (1) |_ __| _ 2 Detroit (2) _ | 7 Philadelphia (2) |_ ___| _ 3 Orlando (0) 3 Orlando (4) ______| 6 Toronto (1) First Round (Central times) *if necessary Tuesday, April 29 Game 5: Dallas at New Orleans 6:00 pm TNT Game 5: Philadelphia at Detroit 6:00 pm NBATV Game 5: Phoenix at San Antonio 8:30 pm TNT Game 5: Utah at Houston 8:30 pm NBATV Wednesday, April 30 Game 5: Washington at Cleveland 5:00 pm TNT Game 5: Atlanta at Boston 7:30 pm TNT Thursday, May 1 Game 6: Detroit at Philadelphia 6:00 pm TBA *Game 6: San Antonio at Phoenix 9:30 pm TBA *Game 6: New Orleans at Dallas TBA Friday, May 2 Game 6: Boston at Atlanta TBA *Game 6: Houston at Utah TBA *Game 6: Cleveland at Washington TBA Saturday, May 3 *Game 7: Dallas at New Orleans TBA *Game 7: Phoenix at San Antonio TBA *Game 7: Philadelphia at Detroit TBA Sunday, May 4 *Game 7: Utah at Houston TBA *Game 7: Atlanta at Boston TBA *Game 7: Washington at Cleveland TBA -- Patricia Bender pbender@eskimo.com For NBA stuff: http://www.eskimo.com/~pbender/index.html For Mavs stuff: http://www.eskimo.com/~pbender/mavs.html