NBA – Page 6 – North Platte Post Archive

East gets by Durant, Griffin to Win All-Star Game

Posted on February 17, 2014

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Carmelo Anthony made an All-Star record eight 3-pointers and scored 30 points, and the Eastern Conference overcame Kevin Durant, Blake Griffin and the Western Conference for a 163-155 victory Sunday night.

Durant and Griffin each finished with 38 points, four shy of the NBA All-Star game record. But the East scored the final 10 points to pull out a game they trailed by 18.

Kyrie Irving had 31 points and 14 assists and was voted the game’s MVP for the East, which snapped a three-game losing streak. LeBron James had 22 points, seven rebounds and seven assists.

Griffin shot 19 of 23, while Durant finished with 10 rebounds and six assists.

Wall Leads East to All-Star Dunk Triumph

Posted on February 15, 2014

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The Eastern Conference trio of Toronto’s Terrence Ross, Indiana’s Paul George and Washington’s John Wall won the NBA All-Star Saturday night slam dunk contest.

Wall capped the triumph by leaping over a Wizards mascot while grabbing the ball from in front of the mascot’s head, then throwing down a double-pump, reverse, two-handed jam. The dunk eliminated Sacramento’s Ben McLemore, the last hope for the Western Conference. Wall was named “dunker of the night.”

For the first time, the dunk contest was a competition between conferences. Along with McLemore, the West was represented by Portland’s Damian Lillard, Golden State’s Harrison Barnes.

Earlier, San Antonio’s Marco Belinelli won the 3-point contest, the , the tandem of Portland’s Damian Lillard and Utah’s Trey Burke won the skills challenge, while Team Bosh, consisting of Miami’s Chris Bosh, former NBA star Dominique Wilkins and WNBA player Swin Cash, won the shooting stars event.

Belinelli Wins All-Star 3-Point Contest

Posted on February 15, 2014

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — San Antonio’s Marco Belinelli won the 3-point contest at NBA All-Star Saturday night.

The Italian, who previously played for New Orleans, needed to win a tiebreaker round in the final to beat Bradley Beal.

The Washington All-Star had made his final six shots, including two “money balls” worth two points each, to tie Belinelli’s initial final-round score of 19.

Belinelli then racked up an event-high score of 24 for the win.

There were four shooters from each conference.

Belinelli had a score of 19 to win the West, beating Damian Lillard’s 18. Beal had a score of 21 to win the East, easily eclipsing defending champ Kyrie Irving’s total of 16.

Earlier, the tandem of Portland’s Damian Lillard and Utah’s Trey Burke won the skills challenge, while Team Bosh, consisting of Miami’s Chris Bosh, former NBA star Dominique Wilkins and WNBA player Swin Cash, won the shooting stars event.

Drummond’s 30-25 Wins Rising Stars Challenge

Posted on February 14, 2014

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Andre Drummond had 30 points and a Rising Stars Challenge-record 25 rebounds, leading Team Hill to a 142-136 victory over Team Webber on Friday night.

Besides an impressive tally of dunks and rebounds, Drummond even managed to make his free throws while winning MVP honors. A 41 percent shooter during the regular season, the Detroit forward went 6 for 8, including a pair with 29 seconds left after chasing down Bradley Beal’s missed free throw to give his team a five-point lead.

Cleveland’s Dion Waiters had 31 points, mostly coming during a 1-on-1 duel with New York’s Tim Hardaway Jr. in the second half. Beal finished with 21 for Team Hill, picked by former NBA star Grant Hill.

Hardaway scored 36 points and made seven 3-pointers for fellow former Michigan star Chris Webber’s squad. Philadelphia rookie Michael Carter-Williams had 17 points, nine assists and six rebounds.

Kevin Hart Cedes Celeb MVP to Education Secretary

Posted on February 14, 2014

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Film star Kevin Hart’s reign as the best celebrity basketball player of NBA All-Star weekend has come to a humbling end, even if the fans in attendance thought otherwise.

The 5-foot-2 Hart had seven points and four assists for the West team in a 60-56 loss to the East squad, but fans voted him the game MVP for a third straight year.

Rather than accept the trophy, Hart insisted it go to U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan, who had 20 points, 11 rebounds and six assists for the East. The 6-5 Duncan played at Harvard.

Hart says he had to be “a humble loser,” but the comedian adds that on the bright side, his new movie, “About Last Night,” is in theaters this weekend.

Lillard Competing in 3 All-Star Saturday Events

Posted on February 7, 2014February 7, 2014

NEW YORK (AP) — Portland’s Damian Lillard will become the first player to compete in three events during All-Star Saturday night in New Orleans, including a slam dunk contest that features three All-Stars for the first time in 26 years.

Indiana’s Paul George and Washington’s John Wall also will take part in the night’s marquee event Feb. 15. There haven’t been three All-Stars in the dunk contest since the famed 1988 duel, when Michael Jordan beat Dominique Wilkins on his home floor in Chicago, in a field that also included Clyde Drexler.

Lillard, the reigning Rookie of the Year, will play in the Rising Stars Challenge on Friday night before defending his Skills Challenge title and competing in the 3-point contest.

The remainder of the dunk field is defending champion Terrence Ross of Toronto, Golden State’s Harrison Barnes and rookie Ben McLemore of Sacramento.

Silver Replaces Stern as NBA Commissioner

Posted on February 1, 2014February 1, 2014

NEW YORK (AP) — Adam Silver has become the NBA’s fifth commissioner.

The NBA posted a picture on its Twitter account Saturday of Silver holding a basketball and shaking hands with outgoing commissioner David Stern.

“It’s official: Adam Silver succeeds David Stern as NBA Commissioner” the caption read.

Stern retired after exactly 30 years in charge.

Silver joined the NBA as his assistant in 1992 and has been the deputy commissioner since 2006.

Blazers, Rockets Each Get 2 NBA All-Star Reserves

Posted on January 31, 2014January 31, 2014

NEW YORK (AP) — The Portland Trail Blazers and Houston Rockets each had two players picked as reserves for the NBA All-Star game, while the Indiana Pacers had to settle for just Roy Hibbert despite the league’s best record.

LaMarcus Aldridge and Damian Lillard made it from the Trail Blazers, who have been among the Western Conference leaders all season.

Dwight Howard, who was passed late in fan voting for a starting spot, was chosen Thursday along with Houston teammate James Harden.

Old reliables Chris Paul, Tony Parker and Dirk Nowitzki round out the West reserves for the Feb. 16 game in New Orleans.

The rest of the East reserves are: Miami’s Chris Bosh, Washington’s John Wall, Toronto’s DeMar DeRozan, Brooklyn’s Joe Johnson, Chicago’s Joakim Noah and Atlanta’s Paul Millsap.

4 First-Timers Voted to Start NBA All-Star Game

Posted on January 24, 2014

NEW YORK (AP) — Stephen Curry, Kevin Love, Paul George and Kyrie Irving have all been voted NBA All-Stars, putting four first-time starters in the Feb. 16 game in New Orleans.

Kobe Bryant was elected by fans to his 16th All-Star game, second-most in NBA history, but this one is shaping up as a kids’ game.

Curry, perhaps the biggest snub last season, will join him in the Western Conference backcourt. Love passed Dwight Howard in the final days of voting and will start in the frontcourt along with Oklahoma City’s Kevin Durant and the Clippers’ Blake Griffin.

LeBron James was the leading vote-getter with 1.4 million votes and Miami teammate Dwyane Wade was also voted in Thursday. George, who has led Indiana to the league’s best record, and New York’s Carmelo Anthony are the other East forwards, and Irving will start at guard.

NBA, NBPA Made Second Donation to Philippines Aid

Posted on November 11, 2013

NEW YORK (AP) — The NBA and the NBA Players Association have made a second $250,000 donation toward relief efforts in the Philippines, this time to World Vision.

World Vision said it sent a flight Monday to Manila that included 5,000 blankets and 3,000 tarpaulins to be used to help survivors build temporary shelters following Typhoon Haiyan, which may have left thousands dead. World Vision, a Christian humanitarian organization, said there are nearly 400,000 people affected by the disaster.

The league has been working with the organization in various efforts in the region since 2009.

The NBA and the union made a joint $250,000 donation to UNICEF on Sunday.

Further information is available at http://www.worldvision.org/.