Posts Tagged ‘NBA basketball

The Cleveland Cavaliers finished the NBA’s regular season with the league’s best record, and LeBron James won the Most Valuable Player award in the process. Despite this success, the Cavs will be watching the rest of the NBA playoffs on TV. Cleveland was eliminated by the Boston Celtics on Thursday night, losing game six by a final score of 94-85.

Carmello Anthony scored 41 points and the Denver Nuggets used a second half comeback to give the Portland Trailblazers a rare 97-94 loss at their Rose Garden Arena home venue on Thursday night. The Blazers held a 67-62 lead heading into the final quarter but for the second time in as many games had trouble putting their opponent away. Brandon Roy led Portland with 30 points, and Greg Oden was the high rebounder for the home team with 9 boards. Portland is now 1-1 on the young NBA season, while Denver improved to 2-0.

The New Orleans Hornets got some good news regarding injured point guard Chris Paul on Wednesday. Paul will undergo arthroscopic surgery on his left knee on Thursday, and the diagnosis is favorable for a return before the playoffs. Paul suffered a partially torn meniscus in a game against Golden State last week. Preliminary diagnoses suggested that he’d be out of action one to two months.

Allen Iverson is one of the most high profile NBA free agents left on the market, though his future plans may be determined in the next 48 hours. On Wednesday, Iverson sent a Twitter update indicating that the Memphis Grizzlies had made him an offer. Later that night, that information was confirmed by Memphis GM Chris Wallace.

Veteran point guard Jason Williams”nicknamed White Chocolate earlier in his career for his flamboyant play”is returning to the NBA after a season away from basketball. Williams announced that hes re-entering the league this season, and will do so in an Orlando Magic uniform.

The NBA All Star game was played without a couple of high profile participants this year as the Los Angeles Lakers’ Kobe Bryant and Philadelphia 76ers’ Allen Iverson would not play due to injury. Kobe and ‘AI’ were the latest in a string of injuries to All Star players that also claimed Portland’s Brandon Roy and New Orleans’ Chris Paul.

In one of the stranger front office shakeups in recent NBA history, the Los Angeles Clippers have ‘relieved’ Mike Dunleavy of his head coaching duties effective immediately. He’ll remain on board as the Clippers’ general manager, and both he and the team cited the demands of the forthcoming trade deadline and free agent market as a catalyst for the change. Dunleavy leaves as the most successful head coach in the team’s less than distinguished history. With the Clippers, however, that’s not saying a whole lot.

The Portland Trailblazers have needed a big inside presence ever since starting center Greg Oden and backup Joel Pryzbilla went down with season ending injuries. They finally found one on Tuesday as they acquired veteran Marcus Camby from the Los Angeles Clippers. Camby is expected to make his debut in a Blazers’ uniform on Friday when Portland hosts the Boston Celtics.

After some tense moments during a ‘communication breakdown’, both Lamar Odom and the Los Angeles Lakers got what they really wanted all along. The Lakers retained the services of their valuable sixth man, and Odom will return to the team after an intense recruiting pitch from the Miami Heat.