Oh boy, this changes things almost entirely. Cleveland has to be as happy as you can get. Kevin Garnett will not be in the playoffs. He has a knee injury that will not heal.

Celtics coach Doc Rivers said Thursday that Garnett will not be ready for Game 1 against the Chicago Bulls and possibly won’t be back at all.

“It’s not official that he’s out for the entire playoffs, but it’s official as far as I’m concerned,” Rivers said before practice at the team’s workout facility. “I just don’t see how. I hope I’m wrong, but I just don’t see it.”

Garnett has been the Celtics’ inspirational leader since joining them in a 2007 trade that completed the new Big Three and propelled the franchise to its record 17th NBA title. He averaged 15.8 and 8.5 rebounds per game for the defending champions this season.

“I’m devastated for him,” Celtics guard Ray Allen said. “This is the time of year you’ve been waiting for.”

source

Kevin is not too happy about being injured

Without Kevin Garnett, the Boston Celtics are not a serious threat to win the Conference playoffs, let alone the NBA title. The real shame of the matter is that the 3 Celtic stars are getting older by the minute. If they want 1 more title, they do not have a lot of time left.

Photo source Newscom

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Shaun Livingston takes a bite out of crime

Shaun Livingston played for the Clippers and destroyed his knee. The Clippers eventually renounced their rights to Shaun. Now Shaun is trying to latch onto another team as a free agent.

Livingston worked out in Portland on Friday, and two league sources believed the Blazers are the favorites to sign the ex-Los Angeles Clippers guard. Still, it is unclear whether Portland general manager Kevin Pritchard has been convinced enough to add yet another guaranteed contract to his roster.

Minnesota executives Jim Stack, Fred Hoiberg and coach Randy Wittman traveled to Chicago on Thursday to watch Livingston at Tim Grover’s Attack Athletics facility. The Wolves, sources said, were sold on the workout and want to sign him.

The Miami Heat are also still in strong contention for Livingston, a 6-foot-7 point guard. Livingston is planning to work out for Heat president Pat Riley early this week in Miami.

source

Shaun Livingston is young and has a lot of potential. He was drafted straight out of high school and is only 23 years old.

If Livingston gets back to full strength, then some team is getting a steal. The Heat appear to be the favorites at this time.

photo source newscom

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Six years and 111 million bucks.

But Gilbert Arenas took less.

The Wizards offered Arenas a max contract — $127 million over six years — leaving it up to the unpredictable Agent Zero to decide whether he would live up to his previous statement that he would take a lesser amount if it would help the team sign other players and improve the prospects of contending for an NBA title. Arenas negotiated the deal without an agent while traveling in China on a promotional tour for a shoe company.

source

The Wizards have resigned Antawn Jamison and now have enough money to add one more player.

Could it be Gilbert Arenas wants to win? Even more than posting stats?

Check out this YouTube on Arenas and what he has been thinking.

Now that you know his thoughts, watch his scoring ability in this mix.

Gilbert just seems to be able to walk right through defenses for layup after layup.

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Can Paul Pierce take his injured knee and guard Kobe Bryant and still score points?

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Doc Rivers is cautiously optimistic about his two injured starters.

Pierce (sprained right knee) and Perkins (sprained left ankle) spent much of the media-access portion of practice riding stationary bikes, and coach Doc Rivers indicated he was more optimistic about Pierce’s chances of playing against the Lakers than he was about Perkins’s, even though the fifth-year center said he figured to be about 75-80 percent.

“There’s still aching in it right now, but it’s all right,” Perkins said of his ankle.

As for Pierce? “The swelling is down a little,” he said, after showing up at a news conference wearing a multilayered sleeve on his knee. “Still some stiffness, can’t quite all the way bend it like I want to, but it’s definitely a step forward.”
source

In a classic, don’t say what you want to say comment, Derek Fisher of the Lakers had this to say about Paul Pierce.

“It obviously changes their personnel,” said Lakers guard Derek Fisher. “Paul is a very talented player. He’s their go-to guy in a lot of situations, so, for whatever reason, if he doesn’t play, then a lot of things change. It doesn’t mean that they’re any worse.

“I mean, they went on a 6-0 run while he was out, so I was pretty happy to see him come back,” Fisher added. “We played them pretty even after that, but that 6-point difference after he left continued to change the momentum of the game.”

If either Perkins of Pierce are missing for game two, the Celtics are a considerably weaker team. The pressure would be on Kevin Garnett, big time, to score and rebound. Who would guard Kobe Bryant? Sam Posey? Who would keep Gasol off the boards?

Even if they do come back, how effective will Paul Pierce and Kendrick Perkins be?

Coach Rivers will remain cautiously optimistic!

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Without Chauncey Billups there will be more pressure on Rip Hamilton

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Chauncey Billups plays or does not play. He plays well or does not play well. Why, some even think he should not play.

What?

Not play? What are you talking about?

The Pistons can beat the Magic in a best-of-seven series without a fully effective Billups, but they’ll have no chance against Boston or Cleveland in the next round unless he performs at close to 100%.

And if Billups comes back too soon, allowing a nagging injury to derail the Pistons before they reach their championship destination, it will worsen the sting of the last two seasons, when playoff runs were halted in the conference finals.

Opportunities wasted are opportunities lost.

source

Now your intrepid author does not pretend to know everything, but it seems to me that too many fans are taking the Orlando Magic and Dwight Howard a little too lightly. Victory over the Magic without Chauncey Billups is anything but insured, in fact, it may mean certain doom. Sorry Rodney Stuckey, but Chauncey is special to this team.

Will Chauncey even play at 5pm today?

All the work has paid off, to a degree. Billups said his strained muscle felt “a little better” Friday, and he planned to test it a bit on the court with some light shooting. The team won’t make a decision about his playing status until close to game time today.

The trainer Arnie Kander had this to say.

But Kander said the fact Billups felt better — especially at the 10:30 a.m. practice — was a big step toward getting back on the court.

“Any time you feel better in the first 24 or 36 hours, that’s your worst time,” Kander said. “That’s where all the chemical reactions occur for muscle strains. And early morning. As you know, all of our bodies don’t feel great first thing in the morning.”

But Kander wasn’t shocked that Billups didn’t share his optimism. “If he was chirpy or happy, I’d wonder how he is that way,” Kander said. “He’s frustrated, he’s irritated. But at the same time, he’ll be OK.”

If Chauncey Billups does not play, then the Magic will be working more against Rip Hamilton and Tayshaun Prince offensive sets. They will be ready for that.

If Billups is missing today an awful lot will be told about this series and the Pistons.

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Least they forget who has ruled the Pacific Division in recent years; Phoenix brought their ‘A’ game.

The Phoenix Suns have won the Pacific Division title in each of the last three seasons, due in part to their success against the Los Angeles Lakers.

With the Lakers in the midst of their longest winning streak in nearly four years, though, the Suns’ dominance suddenly appears to be in jeopardy. source

Could Chris Weber soon be a Laker?

It was, of course, a game without Andrew Bynum, but this is not the time for excuses, since Phoenix plays without a true center all the time anyway.

LA and Kobe have been red hot lately and fully expected to win this game.

Phoenix outshot the Lakers 51.9 percent to 37.9 percent and that was pretty much the story. If you allow the Suns to shoot over 50 percent, you are in deep trouble.

Leandro Barbosa scored 22 points, Shawn Marion added 20 points and 16 rebounds, and the Phoenix Suns beat the Los Angeles Lakers 106-98 on Thursday night to regain the Western Conference lead.

Boris Diaw scored 19 points, Amare Stoudemire and Raja Bell added 16 each, and Steve Nash had 13 points and a season-high 20 assists for the Suns (27-12), who won for the eighth time in 11 games to move a half-game ahead of the Lakers. source

20 assists? Just a thought here, but is Steve Nash puts up 20 dishes for hoops, you are going down! 20 assists? Unreal!

The Bynum-less Lakers

The Lakers without Bynum looked out of rhythm to start the game and later Kwame Brown, the Bynum replacement, looked terrible and drew the fans catcalls.

In fact, they looked like a group of guys who just met for a pickup game at the park, rather than the cohesive unit that had won seven in a row. Their confidence was absent and their momentum was lost in a maze of unsteady play.

Shots clanged off the rim and backboard.

Passes missed their mark.

Rebounds went unclaimed.

Defensive plans crumbled. source

Chris Weber

There was speculation that Chris Weber might soon be signing with the Lakers to fill in for Andrew Bynum. Don’t forget Chris Mihm is also out with an injury for at least a couple of more weeks.

Webber told a Sacramento television station Monday that he expects to sign with an NBA team within two weeks. He said he has received plenty of offers, but is determined to take his time and find the best fit.

“I have three teams in my head (but) I don’t want to (name them),” Webber said, “but I know I’ll be back.”

In fact, the 34-year-old Webber might fit nicely in the Lakers’ high-tempo offense. He was a shooter, passer, rebounder and defender of some renown during a well-traveled 14-year career. He has not played since last spring, however. source

Other players mentioned are P.J. Brown and DJ Mbenga.

The Lakers need to find some solution as the schedule get a whole lot harder right now with a series of winning teams coming up.

NBA Basketball Fan Question Will Weber sign with the Lakers?

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Greg Oden was supposed to turn the Portland franchise around. Instead he finds himself sitting at home for the upcoming season.

He was with his mother at home when he found out how serious it was.

“I kinda looked at my mom and said, ‘I’m out for the season? You kidding me?’ ” he said.

Oden will be on crutches for six more weeks. Full recovery likely will take six to 12 months. He has started swimming, and a machine gently bends his knee for six hours a day. source

Next year, if Greg is fully recovered from micro fracture surgery, you will see the true power that he displayed at Ohio State.

But for now he sits.

He had spoken to Jason Kidd and Kenyon Martin, who have had micro fracture surgery and they warned him not to rush back.

Oden averaged 15.7 points and 9.6 rebounds last season as a freshman at Ohio State, despite being hampered by a wrist injury. He led the Buckeyes to the national championship game, scoring 25 points and grabbing 12 rebounds in the loss to Florida.

Greg, as usual, is trying to keep a level head and concentrate on getting ready for next year.

The NBA will have to wait as well.

NBA Fan Question Have you witnessed the power of the Oden?

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Elton Brand’s injury is going to keep him out for a while which will hurt the team badly.

Achilles tendon injuries typically sideline NBA players for at least a year, which would theoretically threaten Brand’s availability for all of the 2007-08 season.

But ESPN.com’s Marc Stein reports that the Clippers have received a preliminary medical indication that Brand will be sidelined only six months. If so, Brand would be in line for a comeback in February.

ESPN 8/3/07

I’m sure this isn’t exactly the kind of news veteran Sam Cassell wanted to hear. After that wonderful season where the Clippers made the playoffs after so long and even advanced past the first round, they failed to repeat last season. With Brand out for a long time, it will be a very hard playoff run this coming season. Sam Cassell, Cuttino Mobley, Corey Maggette, Tim Thomas and Chris Kaman will have to pick up the slack for their star player’s absence. Perhaps more will also be expected from rookie Al Thornton who could play Brand’s spot of power forward as well as the small forward.

This is totally an unfortunate piece of news especially for those fans who want very much for the Clippers to succeed as they did just two seasons ago. What’s done is done so what the team needs to do is adjust and hope that Brand will be back as soon as possible playing 100%. I hate news of players getting injured very much because it deprives them from doing the thing they love the best. That’s why I wish Elton a speedy recovery from this injury.

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Smith and the unidentified passenger were ejected from the SUV in the crash, which occurred around 5:30 p.m. on Stagecoach Road in Millstone Township, said Sgt. Stephen Jones, a state police spokesman.

The passenger — who had serious head wounds — was airlifted to Jersey Shore University Hospital in Neptune, while Smith was taken there via ambulance.

There’s still no word about how serious Smith’s injuries really are but I sure hope that his life is not in danger. If it’s not life threatening, the injuries might still be so serious his basketball career might be on the line. Right now we don’t know and this is a sad day for the Smiths and for the Denver Nuggets. I sure hope his life and his career aren’t on the line with this accident especially since he’s had a great new start with the Nuggets this season.

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“That team had a chance to contend, and to lose their most crucial guy at the most pivotal time … it really destroys the whole season, everything they did,” Heat coach Pat Riley said before his team’s game at Cleveland.

ESPN 4/5/07

Now is the true test of that team’s depth. With Arenas and Butler out, the others will have to step forward and be more than just role players. they have to step up their game and play even more as a team if they hope to achieve anything worthwhile in the remaining games in the regular season and especially during the playoffs. Jamison will have to be their star and others like Songaila, Thomas and Daniels should bring their A game every single night. If they manage to pull off something spectacular without their two stars then we can say that the bench is indeed deep. But history is against them. Lat year they had Arenas and Butler but they still couldn’t get past the first round. What more this year without them?

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