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New York Knicks forward Tim Thomas left Tuesday's 144-127 loss to the Golden State Warriors with a sore left groin.
Thomas scored four points and added four rebounds in 9 1/2 minutes during the first half, but did not return to the floor after halftime. The 11-year veteran is averaging 9.9 points and 3.5 rebounds in 43 games between the Knicks and Los Angeles Clippers this season.
Thomas hopes to be back in the lineup Wednesday when New York visits the Clippers.
Ben Gordon converted the go-ahead four-point play, Derrick Rose and Tyrus Thomas made strong contributions late, and the Chicago Bulls rallied to beat the Detroit Pistons 107-102 on Tuesday night. Playing their first home game since Jan. 23, the Bulls trailed 100-90 with about 3 1/2 minutes. But with Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen watching, they showed some of their old mettle and finished on a 17-2 run. The Pistons were without the Allen Iverson, who had the flu. Even so, they appeared to be in good shape.
Then, the Bulls scored nine straight to make it a one-point game before Rasheed Wallace buried two free throws with a minute left, making it 102-99. But Chicago scored the final eight points. Rose drove for a layup to pull the Bulls back within one with 46 seconds left. After Wallace had to force a wild corner jumper to beat the shot clock, the Bulls grabbed the lead. The Pistons blocked a drive by Rose, but Gordon wound up with the ball in the corner and buried the go-ahead 3-pointer as Rodney Stuckey fouled him. Both players got knocked to the court. While Gordon popped up and buried the free throw to make it 105-102 with 16.7 seconds left, Stuckey left the game. The Pistons' Richard Hamilton then drove along the right side and tried to dish off to Antonio McDyess underneath, but he couldn't handle the pass, resulting in a turnover. Andres Nocioni then hit two free throws for Chicago with 9.9 seconds left for the final score, and Joakim Noah then stole Arron Afflalo's pass.
Rose, who finished with 23 points, scored nine in the final 4 minutes and started that 9-0 run with two free throws. Thomas, who finished with 22 points and 10 rebounds, added a put-back basket and blocked a layup by Stuckey during that spurt. And Nocioni added 14 points for the Bulls, who pulled out the dramatic win after a 4-3 trip. The loss was the 12th in 18 games for the Pistons, who got 30 points from Hamilton and 20 from Wallace. Switched to a reserve role last month after returning from a groin injury, Hamilton said he still feels some pain. It's tough to tell, given how he's played lately. He set a team record for a reserve by scoring 38 points against Milwaukee on Saturday and followed that with 27 against Phoenix on Sunday. Against the Bulls, he had 17 in the first half, carrying the Pistons to a 51-50 lead.
Notes:@ The Bulls unveiled a statue of Johnny Kerr holding a microphone that will be displayed in the concourse during an emotional ceremony that included a video tribute, taped messages from President Obama and commissioner David Stern, and speeches by Pippen and Jordan. Pippen said Kerr "makes Chicago Bulls basketball what it is," while Jordan called him "an inspiration to me as a basketball player and as a person." A Chicago native who coached the Bulls to the playoffs in their inaugural 1966-67 season and has spent more than 30 years calling their games, Kerr also received a photo collage from Bulls GM John Paxson and the Basketball Hall of Fame's John W. Bunn Lifetime Achievement Award from Jerry Colangelo. "I want to thank everybody here in the audience who has seen the Bulls play not because of Red Kerr but because of Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen and all the other people in the organization," said a choked up Kerr, who is battling prostate cancer. ... Bulls C Drew Gooden, sidelined since Jan. 19 by a strained left groin, said he will not return before the All-Star break. He also said he might have a sports hernia that would require surgery.
Washington Wizards center Darius Songaila left Tuesday's game against the Atlanta Hawks with an elbow injury.
Songaila left the game in the second quarter after injuring his left elbow and was not expected to return.
Songaila, who got the start at center for the Wizards, is averaging 6.2 points and 2.6 rebounds.
Bulls rally past Pistons
A 15-point lead with eight minutes left? Not good enough. A 10-point lead with 3:30 left? Nope. Not good enough. The Pistons were outscored 15-4 in the final 3:30, allowing the Bulls to get away with a 107-102 victory at United Center on Tuesday night. Ben Gordon (24 points) won it with a four-point play with 16.7 seconds left. Derrick Rose, who triggered the comeback, rebounded his missed layup and kicked the ball out to Gordon in the corner. He drained the 3-pointer and was fouled by Rodney Stuckey. The Pistons turned the ball over on their final two possessions. The Pistons were without a flu-stricken Allen Iverson, but they got 30 points from Richard Hamilton and 20 from Rasheed Wallace. But closing out games remains an adventure for the Pistons. Here's how the collapse went: They led by 15 points after a three-point play Stuckey with 8:09 left, but the Pistons couldn't keep the pedal down. The lead was down to eight when Tayshaun Prince (16 points) made a nice spin move and layup with 5:50 left. The lead was still 10 with 3:30 left. But Rose hit two free throws. Tyrus Thomas converted an offensive rebound into the face of a stationary Rasheed Wallace. Then, after a Hamilton miss, Ben Gordon beat everybody down the court and was fouled.
His two free thows made it 100-96 with 2:27 left. Stuckey had his layup attempt blocked by Thomas. Rose made one of two free throws and with less than two minutes left it was a three-point game. Another miss by Hamilton and a virtually uncontested jumper by Rose and the Bulls were within a point, 100-99, with 1:14 left. After a timeout, the Pistons got the ball into Wallace against Joakim Noah. Wallace converted both free throws to extend the lead back to three with exactly 60 seconds left. Rose answered again, beating Stuckey off the dribble and scoring unmolested at the basket. The Pistons went back to Wallace, but this time Noah deflected the pass into the corner. Wallace retrieved it with 15 seconds still on the shot clock, but he rushed a shot from the corner and missed badly. The Bulls had the ball, down by a point, with 28.7 seconds left, setting the stage for Gordon's heroics. Wallace put the Pistons on his back in the third and carried them to a 14-point lead. Taking advantage of smaller Bulls' forward Thomas, Wallace scored 15 points, including nine straight in one stretch. He hit six of seven shots and also had two steals in the quarter, helping the Pistons to a 34-point quarter. But with the Pistons, no lead is ever safe.
Rose finished with 23 points, while Thomas had 22. The first half was a microcosm of the team's erratic play over the first 50 games. The Pistons jumped out to a 14-5 lead and gave it back in a little more than two minutes. The Pistons made six turnovers in that first quarter. Twice they turned it over trying to in-bound the ball after a Bulls' score. The Bulls turned those miscues into 10 points, and they closed the quarter on a 24-8 run. The Pistons fell behind by eight points in the second quarter before they found another spark. Hamilton (17 points in the half) and Prince (10) triggered a 19-10 run and the Pistons looked like they would get out of the half with a 51-48 lead. But, with five seconds left in the half, they lost Ben Gordon and he hit a jumper to make it a one-point game. The Pistons have now lost five straight at the United Center The Bulls paid tribute to longtime Bulls player, coach and broadcaster Johnny Red Kerr at halftime. Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen were both on hand for the ceremony.
Roe scored 11 of his season-high 14 points in the first half and finished one short of his career best with 10 rebounds, helping No. 9 Michigan State earn a cushion that paved the way for a 54-42 win over Michigan on Tuesday night.
When Roe's offense cooled in the second half because he didn't get the ball much and shot just two times, Kalin Lucas made up for it with 13 of his 15 points after halftime.
"We just couldn't get over the hump," said DeShawn Sims, who scored 18 for the Wolverines.
Jodie Meeks scored 23 points, including a fade-away 3-pointer with under five seconds left, as Kentucky snapped a three-game losing streak with a critical 68-65 victory over Florida on Tuesday night.
The loss spoiled a huge night for Calathes, who scored a career-high 33 points and joined the career 1,000-point club -- the eighth-fastest Gator to do so.
Kentucky (17-7, 6-3) pulled into a tie with Florida (19-5, 6-3) atop the SEC East.
Reynolds scored 27 points, Corey Fisher had 21 and No. 13 Villanova continued its dominant Big East run with a 102-84 win over Marquette (No. 12 ESPN/USA Today, No. 10 AP) on Tuesday night.
Dante Cunningham had 15 points and Shane Clark had 16 to help the Wildcats reach the 20-win mark for the fifth straight season.
Jerel McNeal scored 23 points and set Marquette's career scoring record, breaking George Thompson's 40-year-old mark. McNeal entered the season 22nd on the team's career list, and his eighth straight game of 20-plus points gives him 1,776 points and a spot atop the list.
"It seems to drain them," Tigers center Raymond Sykes said Tuesday night after Oglesby hit six 3-pointers, scoring 18 of his 21 points in the second half to lead Clemson (No. 11 ESPN/USA Today, No. 12 AP) to an 87-77 victory over Boston College.
Trevor Booker had 21 points and 13 rebounds, K.C. Rivers added 17 points and Sykes scored 12 with nine rebounds for the Tigers (20-3, 6-3 Atlantic Coast Conference). Oglesby went 6-for-10 from 3-point range, including a four-point play with 11:54 left to put Clemson ahead for good at 61-57.
Rakim Sanders scored 23 with eight rebounds for BC (18-8, 6-5) and Tyrese Rice scored 17 as the Eagles dropped to 1-4 against ranked teams with Duke (No. 5 ESPN/USA Today, No. 6 AP) up next on Sunday. BC beat then-No. 1 North Carolina last month, then lost to Harvard in the next game.
Chicago Bulls forward Drew Gooden will rest his strained left groin until at least the All-Star break.
Gooden, who has missed the past nine games with the ailing groin, will decide after the break whether to have surgery.
The 27-year-old is averaging 13.1 points and 8.6 rebounds this season, his seventh in the NBA.
Reynolds scored 27 points, Corey Fisher had 21 and No. 13 Villanova continued its dominant Big East run with a 102-84 win over Marquette (No. 12 ESPN/USA Today, No. 10 AP) on Tuesday night.
Dante Cunningham had 15 points and Shane Clark had 16 to help the Wildcats reach the 20-win mark for the fifth straight season.
Jerel McNeal scored 23 points and set Marquette's career scoring record, breaking George Thompson's 40-year-old mark. McNeal entered the season 22nd on the team's career list, and his eighth straight game of 20-plus points gives him 1,776 points and a spot atop the list.
Just when it looked like Red Kerr Night would end in disappointment, the Chicago Bulls got up off the mat for one last push. Ben Gordon's four-point play with 17 seconds left capped a late comeback and propelled the Bulls to a 107-102 victory over the Detroit Pistons on Tuesday. Gordon finished with 24 points to lead the way and Derrick Rose added 23 for the Bulls, who honored legendary announcer Johnny "Red" Kerr at halftime. "Watching the ceremony at halftime, I knew we had to win this game for (Kerr)," Gordon said.Chicago trailed, 100-90, with 3:33 remaining before a 9-0 run brought it back to within one with 1:14 to play. "During the fourth quarter, we just turned it up and we were able to impose our will on them," Gordon said. Rasheed Wallace hit a pair of free throws to push the lead back to 102-99 before Rose hit a layup and Wallace missed a 3-pointer at the other end, providing the Bulls with their opening.
Rose drove the lane and had his layup attempt hit the rim, but the rookie standout grabbed his own miss and found Gordon in the corner. The sharpshooter nailed the shot and was fouled, draining the free throw to give Chicago the lead for good. "I was just trying to hit a shot and he fouled me, so then I had to make the free throw to finish it off," Gordon said. "I looked at the scoreboard after I shot because I didn't know if it went in." "I thought we were very tentative in the first three quarters, then we really turned it on in the fourth quarter," Bulls coach Vinny Del Negro said. "We never really got into an offensive rhythm all night, but we kept attacking. A good win for us." Richard Hamilton scored 30 points for the Pistons but turned the ball over with 10 seconds left to squander his team's last opportunity. "It's really hard to discuss what happened because it hurts so much," Hamilton said. "I thought we played good most of the game, but losing the lead like that and being dominated at the end of the game is something we can't do."
Chicago got strong contributions from frontcourt mates Tyrus Thomas and Joakim Noah, who combined for 34 points and 26 rebounds. "We were down and we turned it on in the fourth quarter, everyone just wanted to win and we played solid defense to comeback," Thomas said. Rose injured himself on the final play when he ran into a screen face-first. He was taken to the locker room as Andres Nocioni was knocking down two free throws to provide the winning margin. "I think Derrick Rose is all right," Del Negro said. "He just has a little bit of a headache. It wasn't his best performance, he got into foul trouble early and was tentative. The fourth quarter, I told him to start attacking the basket and make things happen." Detroit took an 85-71 lead into the fourth quarter due to a strong third period by Hamilton and Wallace, who combined for 24 points in the frame. Wallace finished with 20 points and 10 rebounds for the Pistons, who have dropped back-to-back games while allowing a combined 60 fourth-quarter points. "We made a lot of mistakes at the end of the game," Detroit coach Michael Curry said. "A couple of times we got lost on pick and rolls."
TAKE FIVE : A five-point dissection of near point-guard perfection : 1. Distraught in Detroit – Rasheed Wallace caught and shot a 3-pointer from the corner with Joakim Noah’s hand in his face. The shot didn’t touch rim. He had hit that kind of turnaround, H-O-R-S-E shot before, but not this time. Ben Gordon caught and shot a 3-pointer from the corner – and drained it, with Rodney Stuckey’s hand and everything else barreling into him, knocking both players into the Pistons bench. Gordon’s go-ahead four-point play with 16.7 seconds left capped a stunning comeback for the Bulls. And Wallace’s rushed misfire with 30 seconds left – followed by two Detroit turnovers, bobbled catches both – sealed one of the Pistons’ most disappointing losses of the season. “It hurts,” said Rip Hamilton, struggling for words, his head in his hands for minutes after the locker room opened to media. “It’s kind of silly. I thought we played well, for most of the game. We defended, shared the ball and playing together and then… pssh, losing the lead is something we just can’t do.” The Pistons could do no wrong in the third quarter – especially Wallace, who scored 15 of his 20 points in a magnificent stretch of basketball, helping the Pistons extend a 51-50 halftime lead into a 14-point advantage heading into the fourth quarter. Wallace’s hot shooting was contagious as the Pistons scored 34 points in the third on 64 percent field-goal shooting – all without All-Star Allen Iverson, who missed the game with flu-like symptoms and remained at the team’s hotel. Arron Afflalo started in Iverson’s place, leaving Hamilton to once again come off the bench to shoot the lights out. Hamilton scored 12 of his game-high 30 in the second quarter. The victory appeared to be in hand after the third. The Pistons were leading by eight with three minutes left and still up 102-99 at the 1:00 mark. “It’s really hard to point out right now because it hurts so much,” said Hamilton, when asked to explain the collapse. “We got to see how it happened. They made a run and that’s it.” Rodney Stuckey and Tayshaun Prince had 16 points and five assists each. Gordon scored a team-high 24 for Chicago, and point guard Derrick Rose scored nine of his 23 in the fourth.
TEAM COLORS : 2. White Hot – Wallace shot just three times in the first half, for two points. But against second-year center Noah and third-year forward Tyrus Thomas to start the third quarter, Wallace wasn’t about to let his mismatch go to waste in the third. He hit his first two jumpers from about 10 feet, and after his second 3-pointer, the Pistons began setting up Wallace on isolation plays. He made two free throws, followed by two more 15-foot jumpers. He made his first six shots of the quarter, his only miss on a last-possession 3-pointer – which was tipped in by McDyess (on his second try) at the buzzer to give Detroit an 85-71 lead.Perhaps that sense of being in the zone compelled Wallace to attempt his ill-fated triple in the final minute. He corralled the ball in the corner after Noah tipped Stuckey’s entry pass. There were still 14 seconds on the shot clock, and a score on that possession would have made it a two-possession game. “When Sheed shot it, that bad shot down the stretch, [he] shot it too early on the shot clock, so unfortunately we’ve got to be better than that, especially down the stretch,” Pistons coach Michael Curry said. 3. BLUE COLLAR – Johnny “Red” Kerr did not play Tuesday, but for many fans at the United Center, he will figure largely in their memories of the night. Kerr, who once held the NBA record for consecutive games played at 844 and later became the Bulls first head coach, has been the George Blaha of Chicago, serving as a Bulls broadcaster for 34 seasons. In an extended halftime ceremony that included Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen as speakers and a video message of congratulations from President Barack Obama, Kerr received the Bunn Lifetime Achievement Award from Jerry Colangelo. Longtime Pistons scout and Detroit sports icon, the late Will Robinson, received the Bunn Award in 1992. It is the most prestigious award bestowed by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame outside of enshrinement.
4. RED FLAG – It’s fitting the Bulls went ahead on Gordon’s four-point play – it was the result of an offensive rebound after Wallace blocked a Derrick Rose layup. The Bulls had just three second-chance points in the first half, but were able to weather the Pistons’ flurry of jumpers in the third quarter by scoring four times on five offensive rebounds. Chicago’s tenacity was even more pronounced during the fourth-quarter comeback, as several offensive rebounds did not net the points they could have. All told, the Bulls had a 16-2 advantage in second-chance points after halftime. “When we missed shots, we didn’t come up with rebounds. Unless I saw something different, I saw possession after possession down the stretch where we didn’t come up with the rebound,” Curry said. “The 3-pointer that Gordon hit with the foul on Stuckey, we got a block on it and didn’t come up with the rebound.” THE LAST CALL : A little perspective on Detroit’s turnovers: 5. – After Gordon’s four-point play, the Pistons had two more possessions. Both ended in unforced turnovers. Rip Hamilton drove to the rim and dished across the paint to Antonio McDyess, who was not expecting the pass, which went off his fingers out of bounds. Wallace then bobbled an in-bounds pass from Afflalo after two Chicago free throws. For a team regarded as one of the least turnover-prone in the league – in fact, they averaged a league-low 12.1 turnovers entering Tuesday’s game – recent sloppiness has hurt them. “The last past week we’ve turned the ball over more. And we’ve just to do a better job. And then it’s when we’ve been making our turnovers that has been a big key,” Curry said. “We’ve been making them in stretches early, a lot of them early in the first half were unforced, and then we made a couple down the stretch.” Four of Detroit’s six turnovers in the first quarter happened before the ball crossed midcourt, leading to quick scoring chances for Chicago. Employing modest full-court pressure, the Bulls scored 10 of their 30 first-quarter points off the miscues.
Joe Johnson scored 22 points and the Hawks led from start to finish, erasing the memory off a dismal blowout by the Los Angeles Clippers with a 111-90 rout of the undermanned Wizards on Tuesday night.
Caron Butler scored 22 points, but the last-place Wizards were outmanned, as they are on most nights without Gilbert Arenas, Brendan Haywood and Etan Thomas.
Zaza Pachulia grabbed 12 rebounds for the Hawks, including three on one especially persistent sequence under the boards. He missed his first three attempts before finally tapping it in while the Wizards stood around helplessly.
Bryant showed no lingering effects from being sick two days earlier, scoring 34 points in the Los Angeles Lakers' surprisingly narrow 105-98 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Tuesday night.
Pau Gasol had 22 points and 14 rebounds, and Lamar Odom had 12 points and a season-high 18 boards for the Lakers, just back from a 6-0 trip they concluded with wins against Boston and Cleveland.
Kevin Durant scored 31 points, his fifth 30-point game in a row, and had 10 rebounds in the loss. Russell Westbrook had 17 points and nine rebounds.
Stephen Jackson had a season-high 35 points, 10 assists and six rebounds, and Jamal Crawford added 21 points against his former team in the Warriors' third straight home victory, 144-127 over the defenseless Knicks on Tuesday night.
Kelenna Azubuike had 22 points and 10 rebounds as the Warriors obliterated their previous season high for points and surpassed Orlando's previous NBA-high 139 points. Despite Harrington's 22 first-half points and the Knicks' own prolific offense, Golden State faced almost no opposition.
David Lee had 27 points and 11 rebounds, and Nate Robinson scored 30 points for the Knicks, whose defensive inadequacies were made even worse by a rash of injuries.
After James scored 47 points and almost single-handedly rallied the Cavaliers to force overtime, the unthinkable happened. James, the NBA's No. 2 scorer, drew a foul with 0.2 seconds left, and Danny Granger made 1-of-2 free throws to seal an improbable 96-95 victory that sent James to the locker room in disgust and the usually composed Brown into a tirade.
Troy Murphy scored 18 to lead Indiana, while Granger, playing on a sore right knee, added 16. Indiana was also missing three key contributors -- Marquis Daniels, Mike Dunleavy and Jeff Foster -- but got key plays late from backups like Travis Diener and Brandon Rush.
Newly named All-Star Mo Williams had 15 points and six rebounds for Cleveland.
Chauncey Billups scored 13 of his 23 points in the fourth quarter, Carmelo Anthony finished with 19 points and nine rebounds, and the Nuggets swept the series with Miami for the fourth consecutive year, beating the Heat 99-82 on Tuesday night.
Kenyon Martin had 18 points and 10 rebounds, while J.R. Smith scored 10 for Denver, which wasted much of a 20-point first-half lead and still defeated Miami for the eighth straight time. It was the Nuggets' first game since Saturday's 44-point drubbing at New Jersey, and clearly, there was no Denver hangover.
Dwyane Wade scored 33 points on 12-for-22 shooting for Miami, which has lost five of its last seven games. Shawn Marion scored 14 and Mario Chalmers added 10 for Miami.
Bonner scored 13 of his 22 points in the opening 5 minutes of the third quarter to help break the game open and the Spurs posted a 108-93 victory over New Jersey on Tuesday night, beating the Nets for the 13th straight time.
Parker added 20 points and Bruce Bowen came off the bench in the third quarter to help cool off a hot Vince Carter, who led the Nets with 25 points.
Devin Harris added 21 points for New Jersey, which lost its second straight game after winning a season-high four straight. Brook Lopez added 18 points.
The two-time defending 3-point contest champion scored 18 points on 7-of-10 shooting as a reserve to rally the Toronto Raptors to a 110-102 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Tuesday night.
Randy Foye had a career-high 33 points and eight rebounds for the Wolves, who played the first game of the rest of the season without center Al Jefferson. And that future looks grim.
Jermaine O'Neal had 22 points and eight rebounds and Joey Graham scored 24 for the Raptors, who rallied from 13 down in the third quarter in their third straight game without Bosh.