Game Two: Los Angeles vs Denver

Game Two

The Lakers won the first game of the series, hopefully they can win again tonight.

First Quarter

• No scores in the first minute after Fisher hoists a desperation three off the dribble over Kenyon Martin as the Lakers possession comes to a miserable end.
• Chauncey Billups dribbles upcourt and hits a 22 footer on the right wing
• Nice drive by Bryant along the baseline, threads the pass beautifully for Bynum for the dunk
• Ariza tries to create off the bounce, loses his dribble twice, the Lakers possession bottoms out again — Kobe goes one on one and forces a long jump shot to beat the shot clock, hits it.

Wolves Hire Kahn As GM

USA Today reports

The Minnesota Timberwolves hired former Indiana Pacers executive David Kahn to run their basketball operations, four days after being rejected by Portland assistant general manager Tom Penn.

The move was confirmed to the Associated Press by a person with knowledge of the hire. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because an announcement wasn’t planned until Friday.

Wow … that’s an underwhelming signing.

It’ll be interesting to see whether he’s the head honcho, or just the cap specialist.

Past Wolves GM Posts

Three posts:

• Lindsey pulls his name out of the running — click here

Sammy Gets His Start

RealGM has the press release

Washington Wizards President Ernie Grunfeld announced today that the team has named Randy Wittman and Sam Cassell as assistant coaches on the staff of Head Coach Flip Saunders.  Per team policy, terms of the contracts were not released.

“Randy and Sam will be excellent additions to our coaching staff, and both will be instrumental in helping us achieve our goals,” said Saunders. 

Game One: Cleveland vs Orlando

Game One

Cleveland’s rust is a major factor to watch tonight. Hopefully they can give a good performance.

First Quarter

• Cleveland win the tip, Dwight roaming off of Varejao, Varejao cuts to the rim from the opposite side of the court, layup. Nice pass over the top by James.
• Lewis misses a quick three pointer from the left wing
• Beautiful pass once again to Varejao, he’s fouled on the reverse layup. Nice threaded pass along the baseline. Cleveland lead 4-0 after a minute.
• LeBron James is on Rafer Alston, and he’ll roam defensively, try to wreck some havoc defensively.

Playoff Previews: Cleveland vs Orlando

Regular Season Standings

• Cleveland Cavaliers — 66 wins and 16 losses
• Orlando Magic — 59 wins and 23 losses

Regular Season Matchups

• Orlando won the season series 2-1
  • The Magic won the first game comfortably. LeBron had a shocker (23 points on 27 shot attempts, and the Cavs were also without West and Ilgauskas.
  • Cleveland won the second game in impressive fashion, led by a superb LeBron James performance. The Magic got a very poor performance from Rashard Lewis, and a poor offensive performance from Dwight Howard on the night. Still, several of Orlando’s supporting cast stepped up and had big games, and in the end they only lost by four points.
  • The Magic routed the Cavs in early April, winning

Game One: Los Angeles vs Denver

Game One

I can’t even feign my interest in this series. Hopefully LA will win, and win quick.

First Quarter

I missed the first five minutes of the game, I got distracted by the lottery, by the way, Congratulations to the Clippers!

The Nuggets lead 16-6 after a Martin bucket

• Melo and Bryant trade jump shots. Anthony is 4-4 from the field for 9 points already.

Clippers Win Lottery

Team by Team reviews after the jump + Mock Draft

RealGM reports the results

1. Los Angeles Clippers

2. Memphis Grizzlies

3. Oklahoma City Thunder

4. Sacramento Kings

5. Washington Wizards

6. Minnesota Timberwolves

7. Golden State Warriors

Playoff Previews: Los Angeles vs Denver

Regular Season Standings

• Los Angeles Lakers — 65 wins and 17 wins
• Denver Nuggets — 54 wins and 28 losses

Regular Season Matchups

• The Lakers swept the season series 4-0 — none of the games were competitive. They were routs.
• The Lakers swept the Nuggets in the first round last season, but that was a hugely different Denver team so not much to draw from there.

Nuggets Outlook

Hollinger Made The Best Case

ESPN’s John Hollinger wrote the most convincing case for a strong Nuggets performance that I’ve seen so far

Tiago Splitter + San Antonio

This is old news but it’s worth repeating …. 48 Minutes of Hell (Spurs site) does a great job breaking down the story

During the course of the aforementioned thread something else is suggested that should catch your attention. A board member named Bruno, a SpursTalk regular and trusted friend of this writer, cites section Article VIII, Section 2 of the CBA and notes that the Spurs are capable of signing Splitter for an amount greater than the rookie scale beginning next summer (2010). The section in question reads:

Wolves Lose Another Top GM Candidate (Penn)

ESPN is reporting

Make that three candidates to withdraw from the Minnesota Timberwolves’ search for a new head of basketball operations.

Portland Trail Blazers assistant general manager Tom Penn on Monday took his name out of the running for the position after receiving a promotion from the Blazers.

Penn’s pullout, on the eve of the NBA draft lottery, follows the withdrawals of initial top candidate Dennis Lindsey of the San Antonio Spurs and former Miami Heat general manager Randy Pfund.