Riley Doesn’t Expect Shaq To Return Until Next Week

MINNEAPOLIS, Jan. 8 (AP) -- The Miami Heat won't get Shaquille O'Neal back for at least a week while he receives treatment for a hip injury that has sidelined him for six games.

Coach Pat Riley said after Tuesday morning's shootaround that O'Neal is still in Los Angeles, but they are encouraged by the treatment there and "hope he'll be back by next week.''

O'Neal bruised his left hip on Dec. 22 against Utah while diving for a loose ball and crashing into the scorer's table. The injury flared up on Dec. 26 against Philadelphia.

Miami has lost seven in a row to fall to 8-26, the worst record in the Eastern Conference, heading into Tuesday night's game against the Minnesota Timberwolves.

While injuries have resulted in the worst statistical season of O'Neal's 16-year career - 14 points and 7.8 rebounds per game - the Heat sorely miss his presence in the paint on both ends of the court.

The once-proud defensive team hasn't given up fewer than 94 points in a game since Dec. 17, and opponents have shot better than 50 percent in four of the past 10 games.

LeBron James, Iverson Named Players Of The Week

NEW YORK, Jan. 7, 2008 – The Cleveland Cavaliers’ LeBron James and the Denver Nuggets’ Allen Iverson today were named the Eastern and Western Conference Players of the Week, respectively, for games played Monday, Dec. 31 through Sunday, Jan. 6.
James led Cleveland to a 3-0 week, averaging 33.0 points, 8.0 rebounds, 8.3 assists and 2.3 steals. James set a franchise record for points in a quarter, tallying 24 in the fourth on Jan. 6 at Toronto in Cleveland’s 93-90 win. James finished the game with 39 points, his second 30-plus point effort of the week. James posted two double-doubles on the week and recorded five steals in Cleveland’s 97-93 win over the Kings on Jan. 4. For the season, James owns averages of 29.2 points, 7.2 rebounds and 7.7 assists.

Iverson also led his team to a 3-0 week, as the Nuggets defeated the Spurs, Timberwolves and 76ers. Averaging 33.3 points over that stretch, Iverson shot .531 from the field, .471 from distance and .923 from the foul line, while logging 43.6 minutes per game. The signature performance for the Denver guard came in a Jan. 6 win against his former team, as Iverson tallied 38 points and eight assists in a 109-96 win over the 76ers at Pepsi Center.

Here is a closer look at the week for James and Iverson:

LeBron James, Cleveland Cavaliers
Jan. 2 vs. Atlanta: Tallied 36 points, five rebounds, six assists, two steals and one block in Cleveland’s 98-94 win over the Hawks.
Jan. 4 vs. Sacramento: Posted a double-double with 24 points and 10 assists and added eight rebounds, five steals and one block as the Cavaliers bested the Kings 97-93.
Jan. 6 @ Toronto: Poured in 39 points while adding 11 rebounds and eight assists in Cleveland’s 93-90 win in Toronto.

Allen Iverson, Denver Nuggets
Jan. 3 vs. San Antonio: Scored 29 points on 10-of-18 shooting and added three assists in Denver’s 80-77 win over the Spurs.
Jan. 4 at Minnesota: Tallied 33 points, three rebounds and four assists as the Nuggets posted a 118-107 win over the Timberwolves.
Jan. 6 vs. Philadelphia: Poured in 38 points and dished out eight assists in a 109-96 win over the 76ers.

Other nominees for Eastern and Western Conference Players of the Week were Boston’s Paul Pierce, Chicago’s Ben Gordon, Dallas’ Dirk Nowitzki, Detroit’s Richard Hamilton, Memphis’ Pau Gasol and Mike Miller, New Jersey’s Jason Kidd, New Orleans’ Chris Paul, Phoenix's Amare Stoudemire, Portland’s LaMarcus Aldridge and Washington’s Caron Butler and Antawn Jamison.

Parker Named European Player Of The Year

ROME (AFP) — Frenchman Tony Parker of the San Antonio Spurs was Friday named European Player of the Year for 2007.

The award is given by Italian sports newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport, which named Parker as its 29th winner, succeeding Germany's Dirk Nowitzki, winner for the previous five years.

Point guard Parker finished with 128 points to 111 for Dallas Mavericks forward Nowitzki with Russia's Andrei Kirilenko of the Utah Jazz third on 85 points.

The jury is made up of 100 writers, coaches and players from 28 different countries.

In the women's category Latvia's Aneta Jekabsone beat Belgium's Ann Wauters to the title with last year's winner Maria Stepanova of Russia in third.

Pierce Driving Force As Celtics Cruise Past Lakers

Boston 110, L.A. Lakers 91

LOS ANGELES, Dec. 30 (AP) -- Paul Pierce scored 33 points and Kevin Garnett had 22 points, 12 rebounds and six assists Sunday night to lead the Boston Celtics to a 110-91 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers.

Boston took the lead in the first quarter and never relinquished it. Each time the Lakers threatened, the Celtics would pull away again.

Kobe Bryant scored 22 for Los Angeles, going just 6-of-25 from the floor. Lamar Odom had 14 points and 10 rebounds.

The victory in the final of two meetings between the teams this season ran Boston's NBA-best record to 26-3 and extended its winning streak to six straight. It also ended a four-game winning streak by the Lakers, who still have won 10 of their last 13.

The Celtics prevented Lakers coach Phil Jackson from moving ahead of Boston Hall of Fame coach Red Auerbach on the career wins ladder. Jackson remained tied with Auerbach for seventh on the all-time list with 938 victories.

Ray Allen added 19 points for Boston and Tony Allen, filling in for Rajon Rondo, had 16.

There obviously was a lot of emotion during the game -- and a lot of jawing at the referees, who called seven technical fouls over the course of the game: on the Celtics' Garnett, Kendrick Perkins, Ray Allen and coach Doc Rivers; and the Lakers' Bryant, Trevor Ariza and Kwame Brown.

Odom also was called for a flagrant foul late in the game, with Ray Allen drawing his technical on the same play.

Garnett left the game briefly in the second quarter to get two stitches above his right eye.

Los Angeles, which trailed by double digits much of the game, narrowed the gap to 72-66 with 3:17 left in the third quarter, but Pierce scored 10 points in a row to give the Celtics an 82-66 lead at the end of the period.

Boston was up 53-45 at halftime, with Los Angeles narrowing the gap after falling behind by 17, at 45-28, early in the second quarter.

Pierce had 16 points for the Celtics and Bryant 16 for the Lakers at the break. Bryant made just three of his 15 shots from the floor, but 10 of 11 from the free throw line.

Tony Allen scored 13 first-half points on 4-of-5 shooting while playing in place of Rondo, who sat out because of tightness in his right hamstring.

The Lakers wore throwback, short shorts in the first half, particularly odd-looking in contrast to the Celtics' knee-length, today look.

Garnett and Pierce scored eight points apiece to help the Celtics to a 32-23 lead at the end of the first quarter. Bryant scored nine for the Lakers, but went just 2-of-8 from the floor.

source : NBA.com

Duncan, Spurs Cruise Past Grizzlies

San Antonio 111, Memphis 87 (F)
SAN ANTONIO, Dec. 30 (AP) -- The San Antonio Spurs were outrebounded and outplayed in the first quarter by the Memphis Grizzlies. And for a team that prides itself on defense, that was not a good thing.

Down by as many as 12 points early, the Spurs turned things around when it counted, beating Memphis 111-87 on Sunday and handing the Grizzlies their fifth straight loss.

"Our group did a good job defensively tonight. After the first quarter they really bore down and allowed 55 points in the last three quarters and for us that's always our fuel,'' said Spurs coach Gregg Popovich. "We're a good basketball team when we play defense and back it up with rebounding. Everything else flows from that.''

San Antonio finished with a 46-32 advantage off the glass after the sluggish Spurs were outrebounded 10-7 in an opening quarter where the Grizzlies also hit 75 percent from the field.

"Our defense besides the first quarter was really good. First quarter was terrible,'' said Tony Parker, who along with Tim Duncan scored 24 points. "When you play good defense, it creates easy offense, you create fast-break transition and wide-open 3s.''

And just as Parker said, the Spurs did OK in the scoring department, too. Michael Finley scored a season-high 22 points, including five 3-pointers, for the Spurs.

"Every shot I take, I hope it goes in,'' Finley said. "Tonight it was just going in a lot more for me and I think I just had a good rhythm offensively.''

Duncan also grabbed 17 rebounds and Parker had nine assists.

Pau Gasol led the Grizzlies with 19 points and Rudy Gay, whose buzzer-beating 3-pointer earlier this month gave Memphis its only win over the Spurs this season, added 16.

The Spurs secured a 3-1 series advantage over the Grizzlies; the teams will not meet again during the regular season.

The Grizzlies have now lost eight of their last 10 games.

"When we have a lead we think things are going to be easy. I think when you're losing you cannot give up,'' said Darko Milicic, who scored 11 points for Memphis. "We have to get together as a team and play much better defense.''

Rookie guard Mike Conley reappeared for the Grizzlies after sitting out 20 games with the injured right shoulder he got in November. Conley logged 20 minutes and scored six points.

"I was pretty much up to speed. I had to be able to guard a quick guard like Tony Parker. I thought I did pretty well,'' Conley said. "I'm not all the way back, you know, with my wind and things like that. But I think I'm getting there.''

Juan Carlos Navarro contributed 10 points for the Grizzlies.

Matt Bonner added 18 points for the Spurs.

The Grizzlies jumped out to a 32-22 lead after the first quarter before the Spurs started chipping away at the margin in the second quarter with the help of 11 points from Bonner.

After drawing within four points with 3:10 left in the half, the Spurs began a 24-6 run that straddled the second and third quarters and gave them the lead for good. Bonner hit the go-ahead basket for San Antonio, a 3-pointer with 15.5 seconds on the clock in the half that gave the Spurs a 48-46 advantage.

"We let them back in the game in the second half with those 3s of Bonner,'' said Gasol. "We cannot afford to have any letdowns like that.''

Finley's fourth 3 of the evening capped the Spurs' burst, making it 62-48 with 7:38 left in the third. The Grizzlies were able to keep pace late in the quarter by trading baskets with San Antonio, but with the Spurs alternately up by either 20 or 22, it didn't make much of a difference.

The Spurs took an 86-64 lead into the final 12 minutes after outscoring Memphis 38-18 in the third.

Mike Miller's fast-break layup brought Memphis within 15 with 8:14 left in the game, but consecutive baskets by Duncan, followed by his block of Conley's layup attempt, quickly put an end to the Grizzlies' modest surge. The Spurs soon went back up by more than 20.

source : NBA.com

Suns Own Best Road Record In West

Phoenix 117, Sacramento 102
SACRAMENTO, Calif., Dec. 30 (AP) -- Even with an abundance of road games in the first two months of the season, the Phoenix Suns are right where they expected, on top of the Pacific Division standings.

Amare Stoudemire scored 31 points and grabbed 17 rebounds to help the Suns beat the Sacramento Kings 117-102 on Sunday night.

"We've had a tough schedule and after some of those losses it's been emotional in our locker room after games where we have made it sound like desperate times, but it's really not,'' said Raja Bell, who had nine fourth-quarter points.

The Suns have seemingly recovered from a stretch earlier this month where they lost five of eight games, concluding with a loss to the Lakers on Dec. 25. They beat the Clippers in back-to-back games earlier this week and were in control practically the entire game against the Kings.

It was another successful game away from home for Phoenix, which has the most road victories (13) in the Western Conference. The Suns have played 19 of their first 31 games on the road. Five of their next six games are at home, starting Jan. 3 against Seattle.

"We've been a good road team the past few years and this was a tough month for us,'' Suns coach Mike D'Antoni said. "We had a lot of away games and were 10-5 (overall), but it only means something later if we take care of our home court.''

Shawn Marion made five 3-pointers and had 25 points, Leandro Barbosa scored 22 points, Steve Nash had 12 points and 15 assists, Grant Hill contributed 12 points and Bell added 11.

After the Kings cut the lead to 99-96 on a basket by Dahntay Jones, Stoudemire followed with a dunk, igniting a 12-0 run by the Suns who went ahead 111-96 with 2:12 left.

Prior to the game, the Kings learned Ron Artest could face possible surgery this week to remove chipped bone fragments in his right elbow. The Kings are 2-8 without Artest in the lineup and went winless in their four-game homestand.

"They are thinking it might be two or three weeks (Artest) will be out, but they are not sure yet,'' Kings coach Reggie Theus said. "I didn't know that he wasn't going to go tonight. I actually thought he was planning on trying (to play). I haven't officially talked to him or anybody about what's exactly going to happen.''

The depleted Kings have also been without leading scorer Kevin Martin (strained groin) the last 12 games and injured point guard Mike Bibby has yet to play this season.

Francisco Garcia scored 30 points for the Kings, who have lost five of six at home where they are now 8-8 this season.

"For some reason Francisco Garcia goes off against us and he had another good game tonight,'' said Stoudemire, who made his first six shots and scored 14 first quarter points. "We wanted to get that win, that's what got us going at the end. But we need to do that consistently.''

John Salmons added 23 points and Mikki Moore had 20 points and 12 rebounds. Brad Miller added nine points, seven rebounds and seven assists.

"We are just going to put this one behind us, we can't get frustrated because we are losing games,'' Garcia said. "We've gotta start making a run.''

Marion hit four 3-pointers and had 16 points in the third quarter when Phoenix led 93-86. He had a quiet opening half with three points.

Barbosa scored 20 points and Stoudemire had 19 to help the Suns build a 64-55 halftime lead.

source : NBA.com

Nuggets’ Seven-Game Win Streak Snapped

Golden State 105, Denver 95
DENVER, Dec. 30 (AP) -- The Golden State Warriors were focused on playing better defense against Denver and it paid off.

Baron Davis scored 28 points and Stephen Jackson added 23 to help Golden State beat the Nuggets 105-95 on Sunday night, ending a seven-game losing streak in Denver.

It was a far cry from the last meeting between the teams which Denver won 124-120 on Friday night.

"We just played better defense,'' Davis said. "We scored fewer points, but we gave up less as well. I'd say that if you do that and it comes with a win, it's more important.''

Carmelo Anthony had 26 points and 10 rebounds for the Nuggets. Linas Kleiza and J.R. Smith added 15 points each for the Nuggets, who saw their season-high seven-game winning streak snapped.

The Warriors limited Denver to 35 percent shooting. They also made a slight tweak in their defense putting Davis on Allen Iverson after having Jackson assigned to him on Friday.

"Jackson doesn't do as well with smaller guards so we went to Davis,'' Golden State coach Don Nelson said. "It helped that Allen wasn't feeling all that well.''

The result was Iverson had only 13 points on 2-for-12 shooting after having 39 points off Jackson.

"Every time I tried to penetrate they would bring a lot of people to me to make me give up the ball,'' Iverson said. "I just missed a couple of shots and struggled the whole night.''

Golden State last won in Denver on Feb. 24, 2003.

The Warriors took a 75-72 lead into the fourth quarter and extended it to 83-73 with 9:23 left. While the Nuggets managed only a free throw by Nene and 0-for-7 shooting, Jackson had a jumper and Davis and Monta Ellis converted layups off steals.

The Nuggets got within 87-83 with 6:27 remaining, but Matt Barnes hit a 3-pointer to begin a 10-4 spurt to put the game away.

The Warriors led 55-51 at the break on a 3-pointer by Al Harrington and free throws by Davis in the last 45 seconds. Denver had used a 9-0 run midway through the second quarter to erase a six-point deficit.

Jackson's two free throws provided Golden State with a 63-57 cushion early in the third, but Denver tied it at 63 with layup by Anthony Carter off a deep rebound ahead of two jumpers from Anthony with 6:51 left. The lead changed hands twice before Golden State pulled ahead 75-68 when Jackson hit a 3-pointer and two baskets.

Denver reduced the lead to 75-72 with four free throws in the final 1:36.

"We consider ourselves lucky,'' Nelson said. "I don't know if you could say it was all of our defense, but we did mix our zone up pretty good.''

source : NBA.com