ATLANTA -- Jason Williams had 21 points and eight assists, and the Miami Heat beat the Atlanta Hawks 91-83 Wednesday night for their 10th victory in 11 games.
Josh Smith scored 27 points for Atlanta, which had its five-game home winning streak snapped.
Williams had eight of Miami's last 12 points, including a 19-footer he banked in against Josh Childress that pushed the lead to 85-80 with 1:03 left.
Exactly one month earlier, Riley's team lost Dwyane Wade with a dislocated shoulder that leaves the guard's return in question and left the Heat's immediate future murky.
In discussing how his team not only had endured but thrived amid Wade's absence, Riley pointed to the resurgent play of center Shaquille O'Neal.
Wednesday, though, pushed the Heat to Plan C.
ATLANTA, Ga. Jason Williams scored 21 points and dished out eight assists to lead the Miami Heat over the Atlanta Hawks, 91-83, at Philips Arena.
Williams hit a key jumper and a pair of free throws down the stretch for the Heat, who nearly blew a double-digit fourth-quarter lead but managed to hold on for their 10th win in 11 outings.
Eddie Jones added 14 points and Shaquille O'Neal had 12 points, six assists and just three rebounds for Miami, which remained a half-game behind Washington for the top spot in the Southeast Division. The Wizards beat Seattle later Wednesday night.
This week, Anita Thomaston plans to drop off $200 to the Clayton County Humane Society, most of it collected in increments of $1 or less.
It comes from the children of Kilpatrick Elementary School in Jonesboro, who donated everything from Christmas dollars to ice cream money to help a one-time stray dog live.
It started shortly before the winter break, when Adrienne Gauthier and her mother, Anita Thomaston, who both work at the school, discovered that a stray dog that had been hanging around the building had given birth to seven puppies. Some of the school staff had been feeding the small terrier mix and had fixed up a small shelter for her and her pups. But with the school break coming up, it had been decided that animal control should be called.
For late NBA stories, visit www.theledger.com on the Internet, click on Sports, then click on Latest AP News.
TORONTO - Chris Bosh had 34 points and 16 rebounds in outplaying fellow All-Star big man Dwight Howard in the Toronto Raptors' 92-85 victory over the Orlando Magic on Wednesday night.
Grant Hill had 24 points and Howard had 17 points and 12 rebounds for the Magic, who haven't won consecutive games since Jan. 31 and Feb. 2.
MAYBE I'M MISSING something, but the Dallas Mavericks are clearly the best team in the NBA.
Perhaps the Phoenix Suns could make the Mavericks sweat a bit, but on paper Dallas has the inside track on the 2007 Larry O'Brien Trophy.
So you wonder why the NBA trade deadline passed yesterday with a whimper rather than some predicted bangs.
ST. LOUIS -- Once upon a time, there was a college basketball powerhouse located within minutes of the Las Vegas strip.Coach Jerry Tarkanian's Runnin' Rebels were as synonymous with Las Vegas as Wayne Newton, blackjack and slots.But after UNLV won the national title in 1990 with future NBA players Larry Johnson, Stacey Augmon and Greg Anthony, and lost to Duke in the Final Four the next year, the program fell on hard times, rocked by NCAA violations.A new era of basketball success has emerged at...
THEY SAY IN sports that there are no tomorrows, but that is a cliché of contending teams. When your team is near the bottom in the NBA, when you are jockeying for a new homegrown superstar to replace the homegrown superstar shipped miles away, tomorrow keeps happening, every day after every day after day.
When your team is near the bottom in the NBA, tomorrow is the best you can hope for today.
You've heard of do-or-die? Well, for the Sixers the next 3 weeks are more like do-and-die. Friday is Groundhog Day, which rather appropriately begins a seven-game homestand that has every Greg Oden-lusting-fan on edge.
ATLANTA – One quest was put on hold and another dream was revived Wednesday night when the Heat faced the Atlanta Hawks at Philips Arena.
Just 14 points shy of breaking the franchise's all-time scoring record, center Alonzo Mourning was sidelined by tendinitis in his right knee, after being kicked during Sunday's loss to Orlando.
LocalLinks
ATLANTA (AP) -- Jason Williams had 21 points and eight assists, and the Miami Heat beat the Atlanta Hawks 91-83 Wednesday night for their 10th victory in 11 games.
Josh Smith scored 27 points for Atlanta, which had its five-game home winning streak snapped.
Williams had eight of Miami's last 12 points, including a 19-footer he banked in against Josh Childress that pushed the lead to 85-80 with 1:03 remaining.
ATLANTA - Miami has endured so much adversity this season that the Heat's dwindling lead hardly concerned Jason Williams.
"It seems like someone has been out for us all year long," Williams said. "So we just have to keep doing what we have to do to win."
Williams had 21 points and eight assists, and the Heat beat the Atlanta Hawks 91-83 Wednesday night for their 10th victory in 11 games.
ST. LOUIS - Something about the NBA just didn't work well for Lon Kruger, who gave up a flourishing college coaching career in 2000 to take a stab with the Atlanta Hawks.
After three seasons with the Hawks, Kruger - also a former Florida Gators coach - ultimately found his way back to the level of basketball that has served him best. He landed on his feet at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas, which survived the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament to earn a trip to St. Louis for the Midwest Regional.
The regional has a diverse four-team field, headlined by defending national champion Florida, complemented by a pair of mid-majors in UNLV and Butler, and balanced with Pacific 10 tournament champion Oregon.
In the end, the kids are the big winners. And really, isn't that what matters?
Greg Oden and Kevin Durant have matured by playing college basketball this year. NBA commissioner David Stern's rule, basically requiring a year of college before being eligible for the NBA, was about altruism, about helping to prepare young men better for their lives, about ...
I'm sorry, but that's as far as I can take Stern's b.s. This NCAA tournament is working out almost perfectly for the NBA. It makes things so clear about why Stern wanted the rule at all.
Josh Childress scored a season-high 25 points and Zaza Pachulia made a career-high 11 field goals on just 12 attempts for 23 points.Tuesday, March 20, 2007
College Hoops Madness: Brackets, news, polls and more!
Atlanta, GA (Sports Network) - Josh Childress scored a season-high 25 points and Zaza Pachulia made a career-high 11 field goals on just 12 attempts for 23 points as the Atlanta Hawks pounded the Sacramento Kings, 99-76.
ATLANTA -- Josh Childress scored a season-high 25 points and Zaza Pachulia had 23 to help the Atlanta Hawks to their biggest romp this season, 99-76 over the Sacramento Kings on Monday night.
Atlanta extended its home winning streak to five games. Sacramento, led by Corliss Williamson's 14 points, dropped to 1-6 since ending a four-game winning streak on March 6 against Indiana.
The Kings led 13-12 on Mike Bibby's 3-pointer midway through the first quarter, but they faded quickly. Sacramento trailed by 28 late in the third quarter, failing to score a third-quarter field goal until Ronnie Price's jumper with 2:33 left.
ATLANTA -- Josh Childress wishes the Atlanta Hawks could flip some proverbial switch and turn their season around.
"We really need to try to duplicate this the next game," Childress said. "We had 32 assists, which was amazing. It made us so hard to guard."
Childress scored a season-high 25 points and Zaza Pachulia had 23 to help the Atlanta Hawks to their biggest romp this season, 99-76 over the Sacramento Kings on Monday night.
ATLANTA — It was one of those nights when anyone with an ounce of curiosity wanted to be a fly on the wall of the Sacramento Kings' locker room.
Anyone who had seen a team supposedly fighting for a playoff spot take a knockout punch from the 14-games-under-.500 Atlanta Hawks midway through the third quarter in a 99-76 debacle at Philips Arena on Monday night.
Anyone who saw Ron Artest glaring at coach Eric Musselman with one minute left in a third quarter in which the Kings set a season low with eight points, when the small forward was the only Kings starter still playing as the Hawks led by as many as 30 points.
"We really need to try to duplicate this the next game," Childress said. "We had 32 assists, which was amazing. It made us so hard to guard."
Childress scored a season-high 25 points and Zaza Pachulia had 23 to help the Atlanta Hawks to their biggest romp this season, 99-76 over the Sacramento Kings on Monday night.
Atlanta extended its home winning streak to five games. Sacramento, led by Corliss Williamson's 14 points, dropped to 1-6 since ending a four-game winning streak on March 6 against Indiana.
ATLANTA -- Josh Childress scored a season-high 25 points and Zaza Pachulia had 23 to help the Atlanta Hawks to their biggest romp this season, 99-76 over the Sacramento Kings on Monday night.
Atlanta extended its home winning streak to five games. Sacramento, led by Corliss Williamson's 14 points, dropped to 1-6 since ending a four-game winning streak on March 6 against Indiana.
The Kings led 13-12 on Mike Bibby's 3-pointer midway through the first quarter, but they faded quickly. Sacramento trailed by 28 late in the third quarter, failing to score a third-quarter field goal until Ronnie Price's jumper with 2:33 left.
ATLANTA e_SEmD Josh Childress scored a season-high 25 points and Zaza Pachulia had 23 to help the Atlanta Hawks to their biggest romp this season, as the Hawks beat the Sacramento Kings 99-76 on Monday night.
They fold in third quarter against lowly Hawks, end trip 1-4
ATLANTA -- It was one of those nights when anyone with an ounce of curiosity wanted to be a fly on the wall of the Kings' locker room.
Anyone who had seen a team supposedly fighting for a playoff spot take a knockout punch from the 14-games-under-.500 Atlanta Hawks midway through the third quarter in a 99-76 debacle at Philips Arena on Monday night.
The Sacramento Kings wrap up a five-game road trip, as they visit the Atlanta Hawks tonight at Philips Arena.
Sacramento is 1-3 on the current swing. On Saturday, Kevin Martin scored 20 points, as the Kings rallied for a 95-83 victory over the Orlando Magic at Amway Arena.
Ron Artest scored 19 points in the win over Orlando for the Kings, who snapped a five-game losing streak. Mike Bibby scored 16 points, while John Salmons netted 13 and Brad Miller pulled down 12 rebounds for Sacramento, which is just 11-23 on the road this season.
Atlanta Hawks forward Marvin Williams and Sacramento Kings guard Kevin Martin go after a rebound during the first quarter in Atlanta on Monday. The Hawks won the game, 99-76.
(Sports Network) - The Sacramento Kings are just 29-37, but are still very much alive in the Western Conference playoff race. They are two games behind the No. 8 Golden State Warriors for the eighth and final playoff spot in the West.
The Kings have qualified for the postseason eight straight years. They are scheduled to play nine of their final 16 games at home. Sacramento will host the Warriors on April 13th at ARCO Arena. Golden State is 2-1 against the Kings this season.
Sacramento wraps up a five-game road trip, as the Kings visit the Atlanta Hawks on Monday at Philips Arena. It is the second and final meeting of the season between the squads. On December 10th, Brad Miller scored 19 points and Corliss Williamson netted 18 to lead Sacramento past Atlanta, 117-92, at ARCO Arena.
(Sports Network) - The Sacramento Kings wrap up a five-game road trip, as they visit the Atlanta Hawks tonight at Philips Arena.
Sacramento is 1-3 on the current swing. On Saturday, Kevin Martin scored 20 points, as the Kings rallied for a 95-83 victory over the Orlando Magic at Amway Arena.
Ron Artest scored 19 points in the win over Orlando for the Kings, who snapped a five-game losing streak. Mike Bibby scored 16 points, while John Salmons netted 13 and Brad Miller pulled down 12 rebounds for Sacramento, which is just 11-23 on the road this season.
Jocks & Jills Sports Grill, the popular Atlanta eatery founded 20 years ago by a couple of Atlanta Hawks and a local sports announcer, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Monday.
The company, which in the past few years has moved to expand its sports bar brand outside the metro area into Colorado and North Carolina, blamed the bankruptcy petition on its obligation of a recent $2 million-plus verdict for sexual and racial harassment. The company has asked for a stay, but it has not been granted.
In its Monday filing in U.S. District Court, the company said it was seeking bankruptcy help because the payment would "impair" its operations.
ATLANTA - Josh Childress wishes the Atlanta Hawks could flip some proverbial switch and turn their season around.
"We really need to try to duplicate this the next game," Childress said. "We had 32 assists, which was amazing. It made us so hard to guard."
Childress scored a season-high 25 points and Zaza Pachulia had 23 to help the Atlanta Hawks to their biggest romp this season, 99-76 over the Sacramento Kings on Monday night.
ATLANTA Josh Childress scored 25 points and the Atlanta Hawks dominated the third quarter of a 99-to-76 rout of Sacramento.The Hawks outscored the Kings 25-to-8 in the third period to take a 28-point lead. Childress provided 16 points in the quarter after scoring just seven in the first half.Zaza Pachulia (pah-CHOO'-lee-uh) finished with 23 points on 11-of-12 shooting. Marvin Williams added 13 points and eleven rebounds to the win.The Kings shot under 38 percent from the field, including a 3-for...
Not only does this give kids a creative outlet and help them get out
their frustrations, but this program also helps keep them out of
trouble, he said.
It was nearly impossible to catch Lon Kruger without a smile on his face Sunday afternoon.
Tougher still was to get the former Illinois coach to reflect on his brief stint as a head coach in the NBA, which ended four years ago with not so much as a whimper.
"The league? You mean the Mountain West Conference?" Kruger quipped. "I have to say, it feels pretty good right now."
Chicago - Nevada-Las Vegas coach Lon Kruger and his son Kevin have turned a year-long family reunion into a sweet celebration.
They are heading to the Sweet 16.
"It's special, it really is," Lon said, looking over at Kevin on Sunday during interviews after a 74-68 upset victory by the seventh-seeded Rebels that bounced No. 2 seed Wisconsin out of the NCAA Tournament in the second round.
EAST LANSING -- If Michigan State women's coach Joanne P. McCallie had her way, basketball would be the only topic under discussion right now.
But it's not, as unanswered questions fester around McCallie.
And that will continue, even though fifth-seeded MSU defeated 12th-seeded Delaware 69-58 on Sunday in the first round of the NCAA Tournament at the Breslin Center.
Chicago ?- If we ever wondered why it is we pay rapt attention to this silly little tournament, the answer could be found in Lon Kruger's eyes. Normally the stoic's stoic, Kruger was listening to his son describe how it felt to lead Dad's latest team to an improbable berth in the Sweet 16, and suddenly Dad's eyes were all misty.
And there it was yet again, the reason we keep watching games at this time of year, a reason that goes beyond which teams we like and which others we happened to pick in the office pool. We watch the NCAA tournament because we get to see strong men cry.
"It's a basketball game," said Lon Kruger after his son Kevin had scored 16 points and UNLV had toppled Wisconsin, a No. 2 seed, here Sunday, "and it's quickly forgotten by most people. But those who went through it, they'll remember it, and they'll remember it with a smile."
Editor's note: some games were unavailable before press times. For the stories, visit www.theledger.com on the Internet, click on Sports, then click on Latest AP News.
INDIANAPOLIS - Troy Murphy scored 22 points and Mike Dunleavy added 21 to help the Indiana Pacers beat the Atlanta Hawks, 113-90, on Saturday night to snap their 11-game losing streak.
Another loss for the Pacers would have tied a franchise record for consecutive defeats last reached in the 1988-89 season.
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. Troy Murphy scored 22 points, one short of a career high, and the Indiana Pacers ended an 11-game losing skid with a 113-90 rout of the Atlanta Hawks.
Mike Dunleavy scored 21 points for the Pacers, who pulled back into a tie with the Orlando Magic for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. Danny Granger finished with 19 points, and Ike Diogu had 15 points for the Pacers.
Josh Smith scored 16 points and grabbed 11 rebounds for the Hawks, who have lost their last two. Zaza Pachulia also scored 16, raking in seven boards, while Josh Childress finished with 11 points, 10 boards, and five assists.
CHICAGO (AP) -- Lon Kruger has changed zip codes a few times, adapted to climate and cultural changes and savored a coaching journey that has landed him on a select list.
He's one of only five Division I coaches to take four different programs to the NCAA tournament, joining Lefty Driesell, Jim Harrick, Rick Pitino and Eddie Sutton.
Kruger has taken Kansas State, Florida - which he took to the 1994 Final Four - Illinois and now UNLV to the NCAAs.
INDIANAPOLIS - The losing streak is over. Now, the Indiana Pacers are willing to talk playoffs again.The Pacers snapped their 11-game skid with a resounding 113-90 win over the Atlanta Hawks on Saturday night.Another loss for the Pacers would have tied a franchise record for consecutive defeats last reached in the 1988-89 season. As the streak progressed, the players wouldn't even mention the playoffs, saying they needed to get a win first. The Pacers are fighting with Orlando and New York for t...
INDIANAPOLIS ? Troy Murphy scored 22 points and Mike Dunleavy added 21 to help the Indiana Pacers beat the Atlanta Hawks 113-90 on Saturday night to snap their 11-game losing streak.
Another loss for the Pacers would have tied a franchise record for consecutive defeats last reached in the 1988-89 season.
Danny Granger scored 19 points, Ike Diogu scored 15 and Jamaal Tinsley had 14 assists and no turnovers for Indiana.
Delonte West had 23 points, Al Jefferson added 20 points and 12 rebounds and Rajon Rondo grabbed 14 rebounds during the Celtics’ St. Patrick’s Day matchup.
Tony Parker led the Spurs with 30 points. Tim Duncan added 20 points and 16 rebounds and Michael Finley had 10 points.
The Celtics last beat the Spurs in San Antonio on Feb. 14, 1990. The Spurs had won 18 straight against the Celtics and 15 straight at home.
He arguably was a unique basketball player in the annals of hardwood history, a flashy showman whose ball-handling wizardry defied expectation and coaching convention. He could fire a behind-the-back, through-the-legs dish on the fast break as easily as most athletes could execute a standard chest or bounce pass. He successfully launched 25- to 30-footers before the advent of the three-point line, leaving many an opponent dumbfounded. In only three seasons, he set collegiate scoring records that...
In his prime, Maravich was more than a professional athlete; he was a cultural icon. This legend tragically and ironically died at the age of 40 in 1988, after playing a game of pickup basketball. Two new biographies examine his life and career. Mark Kriegel's Pistol: The Life of Pete Maravich delves deeply into the complex familial relationship between Pete and his father Press, who coached the younger Maravich at Louisiana State University. Kriegel explains how Press a fine basketball player...
Last we heard from UNLV basketball, it was Jerry Tarkanian and the Runnin' Rebels blending the Vegas Strip with a college campus. It was the rush of this wild basketball team playing crazy and winning in one of our wildest and craziest cities.
And then, as if we couldn't have seen it coming, it was the picture of a handful of players in a hot tub with a sports fixer. And that was that.
Now, Vegas is re-emerging and will play Georgia Tech today in the NCAA tournament at the United Center.
Lon Kruger is the UNLV head coach. His Runnin' Rebels are playing in the NCAA tournament in Illinois, where he once coached at the state's flagship university. And their first-round opponent is Georgia Tech, located in the same city where Kruger once coached an NBA team, the Atlanta Hawks.
"It's kind of a weird triangle, living in Atlanta for two years where Tech is, playing in Chicago two hours from where I grew up for part of my life," said Kevin Kruger, the coach's son and the Rebels' point guard. "It is like everything is coming together, really."
Kruger is in his third season in Vegas, four years removed from his tenure with the Hawks and seven from his days at Illinois. UNLV is the fourth school whose teams Kruger has guided to the NCAA tournament -- Illinois, Florida and Kansas State being the others.
Novartis and the National Basketball Retired Players Association (NBRPA) recently launched ?Shooting for Healthy BP,? a campaign to educate people, particularly African Americans who are disproportionately affected by high blood pressure, of the associated health risks of high blood pressure and to motivate them to manage their condition.
NBA legends Spencer Haywood, Dominique Wilkins, and Darryl Dawkins will reveal their high blood pressure stories to help motivate and inspire people to get their blood pressure controlled.
?Like a lot of other people, when I was diagnosed with high blood pressure, I denied it,? said Darryl Dawkins, former Philadelphia 76ers and New Jersey Nets center. ?I just didn?t want to hear it. And maintaining a healthy diet and getting exercise was not enough to manage my condition. My doctor recommended that I take a medication to get me closer to goal. I tried other prescription treatments that did not work for me.
ORLANDO -- Dwight Howard had 31 points and 15 rebounds and the Orlando Magic ended a three-game losing streak Wednesday night with a 101-90 victory over the Utah Jazz.
Howard also won the battle of the boards against Carlos Boozer, who is right behind the Magic star in the league rebounding statistics. Both are among the NBA's top four -- Howard third with 12 per game, Boozer tied for fourth with Charlotte's Emeka Okafor averaging 11.7.
Boozer had seven rebounds to go with 29 points, while Mehmet Okur had 21 points and 12 rebounds. Derek Fisher scored 13 points and Deron Williams had 14 points and had 11 assists. The Jazz fell to 21-4 when the second-year point guard hits double digits in assists.
BOSTON - Paul Pierce's halftime speech warned Boston to not let another lead slip away.
Al Jefferson had 23 points to lift the Celtics to a 109-88 victory over the Atlanta Hawks on Wednesday night.
"Paul huddled everybody together before we came out of the locker room and was pretty vocal about what he wanted," Celtics coach Doc Rivers said. "He said if we came out strong defensively in the first four minutes, we could put them away."
BOSTON Al Jefferson had 23 points to lift the Boston Celtics to a 109-to-88 victory over the Atlanta Hawks.Boston has won five of its last seven home games despite a 9-and-23 overall home mark. Paul Pierce had 17 points for Boston.Josh Smith led the Hawks with 19.
MEMPHIS, Tenn. - LeBron James recovered from a back injury to score 29 points, leading seven Cavaliers in double figures to help Cleveland win its seventh straight, 118-96 over Memphis.
James, who sat out Cleveland's 124-100 victory over Sacramento on Tuesday night with back spasms, connected on 11 of 17 shots from the field. In the third quarter, James hit his first five shots, helping Cleveland build the lead to 33.
Rockets 109, Clippers 105
If given the same opportunity this week against UNLV, Morrow would try a shot similar to the one that bounced around the rim and fell to the floor on the final play of Georgia Tech's double-overtime loss to Wake Forest last week.
"It felt right," Morrow said Tuesday. "It looked good going up, so I take a lot from that game personally. We showed a lot of character by fighting back."
Returning to the NCAA tournament for the third time four years, the Yellow Jackets (20-11) left Wednesday night for Chicago, where they will play UNLV (28-6) on Friday.
If given the same opportunity this week against Nevada-Las Vegas, Morrow would try a shot similar to the one that bounced around the rim and fell to the floor on the final play of Georgia Tech's double overtime loss to Wake Forest last week.
"It felt right," Morrow said Tuesday. "It looked good going up, so I take a lot from that game personally. We showed a lot of character by fighting back."
Returning to the NCAA tournament for the third time four years, the Yellow Jackets (20-11) will leave Wednesday night for Chicago, where they will play UNLV (28-6) on Friday.
LAS VEGAS -- UNLV has had more than its share of issues with the NCAA over the years, so it wasn't surprising there was some grumbling about town when a team hotter than the clubs on the glittering Las Vegas Strip managed only a No. 7 seed in the Midwest Regional.
The Runnin' Rebels deserved better, but their diplomatic coach and his equally diplomatic point guard weren't going to cry about it in public. Not when their team still has a chance to do what no UNLV team has done in 16 years: win a game in the NCAA tournament.
Not when there's still precious time left in a magical season for both a father and his son.
MILWAUKEE Milwaukee Bucks center Andrew Bogut (BOH'-giht) has been fined 25-thousand dollars by the N-B-A for directing an obscene gesture toward fans.Bogut's outburst came near the end of Milwaukee's 108-to-93 home loss to Toronto on Monday. The number-one overall pick in the 2005 draft was ejected after committing a flagrant foul against Toronto's Chris Bosh with 49 seconds remaining, then made an obscene hand gesture toward the stands as he left the court.Bogut apologized to fans yesterday, b...
INDIANAPOLIS —Jermaine O'Neal returned to Indiana's lineup Wednesday, starting at home against the Washington Wizards as the Pacers tried to break a 10-game losing streak.
O'Neal, averaging 19.7 points, 10 rebounds and 2.9 blocks, had missed three games since an MRI last week revealed a sprain in his left knee. O'Neal traveled to Los Angeles for a second opinion on Monday and got similar results.
"There's no additional damage," said Deddrick Faison, O'Neal's business manager and spokesman. "He'll come back when he can after the swelling goes down and he gains more mobility and strength."
clasificaciones de la jornada de la liga profesional de baloncesto
de la NBA correspondiente a la temporada regular 2006-07.
Martes, 13 de marzo