'Nasty News - Traversing Time & Space' Vol: 31

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Nuggets forward Linas Kleiza was fined $25,000 for verbal abuse of officials after the Nuggets' 116-105 victory over the Wizards.

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Raptors guard Marcus Banks had season-ending surgery on his right foot. The Raptors signed guard Quincy Douby to a 10-day contract.

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The Rockets have signed guard James White to a multiyear contract.

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http://www.detroitnews.com/article/2009 ... ut+of+line

Stan Van Gundy's Knicks comments way out of line
So where does Magic coach Stan Van Gundy get off trying to tell Knicks president Donnie Walsh how to handle his business? You would think he has enough on his own plate trying to figure a way to steal a playoff series from either Boston or Cleveland (not going to happen). But no, there he was Monday railing on the Knicks for refusing to consider Patrick Ewing for a coaching job last summer before they hired Mike D'Antoni. "I'm a cynical person," Van Gundy told the New York Daily News. "If they feel he's one of the greatest players in franchise history and they've hired a lot of other prominent players, why won't they even give him an interview? But on a night like tonight, they'll want him to help (them) sell out the building."

Oh, yeah, Van Grumpy made his comments on a night the Knicks were welcoming back some former franchise legends like Ewing, Willis Reed, Walt Frazier, Bernard King and Richie Guerin. Nice timing, huh? "I'm not trying to needle anybody or tell them their business," Van Gundy said. "But they honor the guy every year and what's amazing to me is that while they have a lot of ex-players in their organization, they hadn't made any move to try to hire him. "This is a guy who is not only the face of the franchise and their best player ever and who works as hard as he does, and they say great things about him. But when it comes time to put up or shut up, they don't do anything."

Listen, I get that Ewing is presently Van Gundy's assistant in Orlando. I get that Ewing was responsible for getting Van Gundy's brother, Jeff, the permanent coaching job in New York in the late 1990s. I get that Van Gundy wants to publicly stick up for Ewing, given the Knicks have given organizational jobs to several former players (Frazier, John Starks, Allan Houston, Herb Williams and Hubert Davis) over the years and won't grant him an interview. But to make that the story on such a celebratory night, to upstage the other Knicks legends, seems kind of tactless -- at least to me, and probably to Walsh, as well.

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http://www.detroitnews.com/article/2009 ... ut+of+line

Earning raves
Former Pistons coach Flip Saunders has spent a good chunk of the last three months touring various colleges and spending time with coaches such as Tubby Smith , Tom Izzo and others.

It's hard to tell if he's been the advisor or the advisee -- probably a little bit of both -- but he was in attendance last weekend during first-round NCAA Tournament games in Minneapolis.

Saunders, and many other pro scouts, came away impressed by Kansas' 6-foot-10 sophomore Cole Aldrich , who had 36 points and 33 rebounds in two games. Saunders said he would be a top-10 pick in the NBA if he came out this year. "He's going to help somebody," Saunders told the St. Paul Pioneer Press.

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http://www.detroitnews.com/article/2009 ... ut+of+line

By the numbers
6-22 The Grizzlies' record since Lionel Hollins took over in January
43-22 The Nuggets' record since acquiring Chauncey Billups
2,064 Points scored by Dwyane Wade, a new Heat season record

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http://www.detroitnews.com/article/2009 ... ut+of+line

Above the rim
The slam dunk is one of basketball's most exciting plays, but so is rejecting a dunk. A look at the best in the NBA in both categories:

Most dunks No.
1. Denver 446
2. Phoenix 381
3. Oklahoma City 373
4. L.A. Lakers 370
5. Philadelphia 364

Fewest allowed No.
1. San Antonio 185
2. Orlando 189
3. Detroit 197
4. Milwaukee 214
5. Boston 219
Source: 82games.com

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http://www.detroitnews.com/article/2009 ... ut+of+line

Chris' top five
• 1. L.A. Lakers: Still trail Cavaliers for NBA's best record; still the better team.
• 2. Cleveland: By any measure, LeBron is the lock to win the MVP.
• 3. Boston: With Garnett back, Celtics about to get things right.
• 4. Orlando: Rashard Lewis is finally fighting out of his slump.
• 5. Houston: It's amazing! Rockets are 16-4 since T-Mac went down.

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Chris' bottom five
• 26. Washington: Might be getting Gilbert Arenas back Saturday vs. Pistons.
• 27. Memphis: Only victory in last 10 games came over the Pistons.
• 28. Minnesota: It can't end soon enough -- five consecutive losses.
• 29. Sacramento: Impressive ... now a lusty 1-29 vs. the Eastern Conference.
• 30. L.A. Clippers: What can I say; Clippers have lost 18 games by 20 or more.

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Scoring machines
Balance is important in any sport, but especially in the NBA when it comes to starters and bench scoring. The leaders:

Starters Pts. Bench Pts.
1. Phoenix 79.6 1. Dallas 37.5
2. Orlando 78.6 2. Portland 34.5
3. L.A. Lakers 78 3. Golden State 34.4
4. Indiana 75.3 4. New York 33.6
5. Cleveland 75.1 5. Milwaukee 32.6

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http://www.detroitnews.com/article/2009 ... out+of+gas

Pistons' subs run out of gas
Injuries take their toll as Bulls move to within one game for seventh playoff spot in East. It's becoming obvious that the longer the Pistons have to keep trotting out this B-team, the closer they are going to get to falling out of the playoffs. They took another step in that direction Tuesday. Again without Richard Hamilton, Rasheed Wallace and Allen Iverson, the Pistons lost to the eighth-place Chicago Bulls, 99-91 at the United Center. "You can't help but be frustrated," Antonio McDyess said. "Just being without all our guys, that's frustrating right there. We need to get everybody back and try to make a run for it." The Pistons (34-36) have lost six of eight and are now just one game up on the Bulls (34-38). "Right now we need every little bit of help we can get," McDyess said. "We aren't trying to get up to the sixth or fifth spot, we are on the brink of being out." The game was not nearly as close as the score would indicate. The Bulls, playing without starting point guard Derrick Rose (sprained right wrist), led by as many as 19 in the fourth quarter. Kirk Hinrich stepped up for Rose and scored 24 points. Tyrus Thomas had 18 points and 12 rebounds, and Ben Gordon scored 19. "We really need our guys back," said Tayshaun Prince, who scored 20. "The situation we are in, we almost have to play a perfect game to come out with the win."

The strain of having to carry the load is starting to show on McDyess and Prince, not to mention the rest of the support players. Prince had some uncharacteristic turnovers, especially in the fourth quarter. McDyess was solid but struggled to keep pace with the Bulls' young athletic forwards Thomas and Joakim Noah (15 points, 10 rebounds). "My body feels good, but tonight I just felt a step slow," McDyess said. "I just wonder if playing all these minutes is going to catch up to me later. It could hit me all of a sudden, you know? I hope it don't, but I am afraid it might." The Pistons stayed in the game until the nine-minute mark of the third quarter. Their one-point lead was vanquished after three straight turnovers triggered a 10-0 Bulls run from which the Pistons never recovered. They were absolutely brutal early in the fourth quarter. Careless turnovers, a 24-second violation, tardy defensive rotations -- lifeless. Had it not been for Will Bynum, the Pistons wouldn't have hung around for as long as they did. Back in his hometown, he posted 20 points -- a few on spectacular drives -- with nine assists. He had six points and two steals late in the fourth that helped make the score more respectable. "These are crucial games for us and we have to play a whole lot better," Bynum said. "We just have to figure out a way." Thing is, Bynum is not going to save the Pistons. Prince and McDyess can't possibly do more than they have been.

If the Pistons are going to right themselves, solidify the seventh spot or challenge for the sixth, they are going to need reinforcements -- soon. "Our focus is to keep on grinding," coach Michael Curry said. "We just have to stay the course and control the things we can control. We still control our fate as far as the teams that are behind us."Wallace (eight games down because of a sore left calf) and Iverson (14 games down because of a sore back) aren't expected to be back Thursday when the Pistons host the Lakers. Hamilton (five games out because of a strained left groin) has a slim chance of being ready. "The problem is, we didn't get them on the court (for practice Monday)," Curry said. "They did a lot of work with Arnie (Kander, physical therapist), but they didn't do anything on the court. It's going to take a couple of days on the court to see where they are." Neither Wallace nor Hamilton has as much as tried to run or cut on their injured legs. Hamilton said he's feeling a lot better; Wallace still says he's day-to-day and there's no real change. Both are expected to test their injuries at practice today. "You don't get frustrated because guys are injured," Curry said. "You understand that's part of the game."

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http://www.detroitnews.com/article/2009 ... out+of+gas

Iverson got more bad news Tuesday. Iverson must pay $260,000 for standing idly by and watching his bodyguard beat up another man in a 2005 bar fight, a federal appeals court ruled Tuesday. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit rejected his attempt to throw out the verdict decided by a jury in 2007.

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Final Score: Chicago 99, Detroit 91
Derrick Rose's bruised wrist allowed Kirk Hinrich to shine, as the normally back-up guard scored 24 points with eight assists to just two turnovers, as Chicago scored a playoff-improving 99-91 victory over Detroit at the United Center. Rose's injury is apparently not serious, as x-rays and an MRI on Monday showed no structural damage. He missed his first game, but Hinrich more than picked up the slack, setting up John Salmons and the rest of the Bulls starters. Each starter scored at least 15 points as the Bulls moved two games clear of idle Charlotte and 2 1/2 games clear of Milwaukee for the Eastern Conference's eighth playoff seed and trimmed the deficit for the seventh spot to just one game with Detroit. Ben Gordon notched 19 points, Tyrus Thomas added 18 and 12 rebounds, Salmons added 16 points and six boards, while Joakim Noah donated 15 points and 10 rebounds. "Right now we're in the playoffs. A month ago we weren't," said Gordon. "We just have to keep this up, keep playing well, especially at home, trying to improve our seeding if we can."

Will Bynum and Tayshaun Prince led Detroit with 20 points apiece, while Bynum also found his teammates to the tune of nine assists. Antonio McDyess added 16 points and eight rebounds, while Kwame Brown recorded five points and 11 boards. The Pistons have lost five of six. "Offensively for most of the night we were pretty good," said Pistons coach Michael Curry. "We got in trouble a lot of times where I thought we got to the point where we couldn't score and they got out in transition. The game kind of got away from us at that time." Chicago got into a groove on both ends of the floor in the opening period. An 8-2 burst allowed the Bulls to double up the visitors, 22-11, after Gordon flared off the top of the circle and buried a jumper. The Pistons righted the ship with the period's final seven points thanks to a three-point play from Prince, a Bynum driving layup and a McDyess jumper with 45 seconds to play. Detroit finally got over the hump, tying and taking the lead on Stuckey's three-point play for a 39-38 margin with 2:14 to play in the first half. The edge exchanged hands several more times, and Thomas' thunderous slam off a cut in the lane knotted the contest at 43 after 24 minutes of play.

The Bulls sprinted out to a 60-51 lead midway through the third quarter on the heels on 10 consecutive points -- and defensive play that directly led to several run-out buckets. Thomas made a pair of transition short jumpers, Hinrich scored from in close and Noah and Gordon each sank two free throws. The lead hovered near 10 points late in the period before Herrmann's three- pointer with 21 ticks to go cut the deficit to 75-68. The Bulls quickly ran out to their biggest lead of the game, however, with the fourth quarter's first five points. Thomas' two free throws and Hinrich's triple made the score 80-65. Moments later, Salmons got into the act from long distance, burying a wide open three from the right wing for an 86-71 lead. Salmons spotted up and connected again from long distance and Hinrich's layup totaled a 17-5 scoring stretch to start the period for a 92-73 lead. The Bulls cruised to victory from there.

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Game Notes : The Bulls improved to 22-12 at home this season, while the Pistons dropped to 16-18 on the road...Detroit has dropped six straight at the United Center...The Bulls made 44 percent of their shots, while the Pistons made 48.2 percent from the floor.

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Pistons' slide continues with loss at Chicago
The last time the Detroit Pistons were at the United Center, they lost after blowing a 15-point lead in the fourth quarter. There would be no late-game meltdown this time. But the end result was the same as the Bulls took over in the third quarter and only got stronger in defeating the Pistons 99-91. Detroit (34-36) has now lost five of its past six games. To making matters worse, Chicago (33-38) closed to within a game of Detroit (34-36) for the No. 7 playoff spot in the Eastern Conference."Right now, we're on the brink of being out (of the playoffs)," said Pistons forward Antonio McDyess. "Not just making eighth seed or seventh seed. We got (12) games left to play, and everyone ... all these teams we got coming up are going to be tough."

Tuesday's game was yet another in which the Pistons were short-handed: Richard Hamilton (left groin), Rasheed Wallace (left calf) and Allen Iverson (sore back) remain out indefinitely. Their replacements did a solid job in the first half, which ended with the score tied at 43. But it only took the Bulls 83 seconds at the start of the third quarter to take control with a 5-0 spurt. And five minutes later, that five-point lead was doubled following a 3-point play by Joakim Noah that gave the Bulls a 63-53 lead with 5:32 to play in the third. "Most of the night, we were pretty good," said Pistons coach Michael Curry. "We got in trouble a lot of times when we got to the point where we couldn't score, and they got out in transition, a few turnovers and got out and scored, and the game kind of got away from us at that time."

The Bulls were also short-handed, with Luol Deng (stress fracture, right shin) and Derrick Rose (right wrist contusion) both out. Their replacements, John Salmons and Kirk Hinrich, played pivotal roles for the Bulls. Salmons had 16 points and six rebounds while Hinrich led all scorers with 24 points to go with eight assists. Detroit guard Will Bynum continues to make the most of his opportunity to play in place of injured teammates. The Chicago native had 20 points and a career-high nine assists. "It was good to play in front of my family, but I'd rather score two points and win than how I played today and lost," Bynum said. Tayshaun Prince did his part to keep the Pistons in the game early on with seven first-quarter points. He finished with 20 points. With each loss, the Pistons come closer to finding themselves on the outside of the playoff race, looking in. "We still control where we're going to finish, as far as anybody that's behind us," Curry said.

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Tayshaun Prince, Antonio McDyess logging big minutes for injury-depleted Pistons
Tayshaun Prince played 41 minutes in Tuesday's 99-91 loss to the Chicago Bulls. Antonio McDyess wasn't too far behind with 38 minutes. They scored. They rebounded. They defended. And once again, it wasn't enough. With many of their key players out with injuries, Detroit is struggling.

Rasheed Wallace (left calf strain), Richard Hamilton (groin) and Allen Iverson (sore back) are out indefinitely. That has forced the Pistons to lean heavily upon Prince and McDyess. "We really need those guys back," Prince said. " In the situation we have, we almost have to play perfect basketball to come out with a win." Even with all the injuries, the Pistons still should finish with enough victories to get into the playoffs.

But once the playoffs begin, there's a good chance that Prince and McDyess will be worn down to where they won't be able to perform at the level they have while Wallace and company have been out. McDyess said he's feeling pretty good right now, but is concerned that the wear and tear of this season will take its toll on him in the playoffs. "That's what I'm afraid of. You never know when it's going to hit you," McDyess said. "It could hit me any day, and it may not. But when you're playing this much, eventually you think it's going to catch up with you."

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Bynum's homecoming
Chicago native Will Bynum was a busy man before Tuesday's game, trying to secure as many tickets as possible for family and friends.

He said he handed out 30 tickets for family and friends, with dozens more paying their way into the United Center. "It's definitely special to be playing in Chicago," Bynum said. "I have a lot of people that love me and care for me here."

Bynum gave them something to cheer about with 20 points and a career-high nine assists.

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Brown blossoms
The injuries have allowed backups like Kwame Brown to play a more prominent role. Brown has started the past four games for Wallace.

In those games, Brown has averaged 8.8 points and 8.5 rebounds. He had five points and 11 rebounds against the Bulls.

"It's bittersweet because we're not winning," Brown said. "Although I'm playing well, it's better to win. I want to win. I want to get to the playoffs. That's why I came here. That's what this organization is about, winning. They don't care who is doing what on certain nights; they just want to win."

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Hinrich leads Bulls over Pistons, 99-91
Just in case anyone forgot, Kirk Hinrich showed he's not a bad point guard, either.Hinrich scored 24 points filling in for injured phenom Derrick Rose, and the Chicago Bulls beat Detroit 99-91 Tuesday night to pull within a game of the seventh-place Pistons in the Eastern Conference. "By no means is Kirk a backup point guard," Chicago's John Salmons said. "But we've got the best backup point guard in the league." This hasn't been an easy season for Hinrich, but he was at his best on a night when his team needed it. With Rose sidelined, the veteran delivered a performance that brought back memories of his first five years, when he was the starter and the Bulls made three straight playoffs. Of course, everything changed after last season's free fall. Hinrich lost his job when the Bulls drafted Rose with the No. 1 pick, then sustained a thumb injury early on that knocked him out for 30 games. "It's been challenging at times, just trying to stay with it," he said. "I feel like I've been playing well lately in somewhat limited minutes. I'm just trying to stay in and do whatever I can to help the team make the playoffs." Consider this performance one big assist from Hinrich, who actually distributed eight. He had plenty of help from the rest of the starters - all of whom scored in double figures while playing at least 29 minutes.

Ben Gordon scored 19, Tyrus Thomas had 18 points and 12 rebounds, Joakim Noah scored 15 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, and John Salmons added 16 points as the Bulls earned their fifth win in six games. More importantly, they now lead Charlotte by two games and Milwaukee by 2 1/2 in the race for the Eastern Conference's final playoff spot and are right behind seventh-place Detroit, which has lost five of six. Tayshaun Prince and Will Bynum scored 20 each for the Pistons, who clearly miss injured stars Allen Iverson, Rasheed Wallace and Richard Hamilton. Bynum also had nine assists while Antonio McDyess scored 16, but the Bulls simply pulled away in the second half. "We really need those guys back," Prince said. "But at the same time, while they're not here, we've got to figure out a way in the situation we have. We almost have to play perfect basketball to come out with a win." Trailing by one early in the third, Chicago scored 10 straight to go ahead for good, 60-51, and broke it open early in the fourth. An off-balance Thomas started the final quarter by banking a short transition jumper and buried the free throw, and Hinrich followed with a jumper that made it 80-68. Another layup by Hinrich midway through the quarter made it 92-73, and while he certainly didn't make anyone forget about Rose, the veteran did an admirable job filling in for the star rookie. His only failure was at the end, when he missed the second of two free throws and denied fans the free Big Macs that come when the Bulls score 100. They let him hear it then and during a postgame interview. Otherwise, he gave them plenty to cheer. "I've got a thicker skin than that," a grinning Hinrich said.

Tuesday's game was the first of two remaining between these old rivals, who are jockeying for playoff positioning while dealing with injuries. Rose's absence was a mild surprise for the Bulls, considering he wound up playing 39 minutes at Washington the previous night despite injuring the wrist on a dunk attempt in the second quarter. X-rays and an MRI showed no damage. Even so, he was in too much pain to play on Tuesday. The Pistons, meanwhile, have their injury issues. Iverson missed his 14th game in a row with a sore back, while Wallace (strained left calf) and Hamilton (strained left groin) missed their eighth and fifth straight, respectively. Clearly, the Pistons miss their stars. Then again, they weren't exactly rolling when they were healthy. They dropped eight in a row before Iverson went down, and after a four-game win streak, the losses started piling up again. "We need to stay the course and try to control what we can control," Pistons coach Michael Curry said.

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http://stats.mlive.com/nba/recap.asp?g= ... me=4&vis=8

Notes: Curry said Hamilton might be ready for Thursday's game against the Los Angeles Lakers, but Wallace's return appeared unlikely. Iverson might not return until the end of the month. ... The Bulls have won six straight at home against the Pistons. ... The Bulls used just eight players, and the only reserve to log more than five minutes was Brad Miller with just under 24. F Tim Thomas and G Linsey Hunter each played less than five.