The N.B.A. Today

A few things on the docket today. I'll discuss last night's games along with some talk about ESPN going all-access inside the Charlotte Bobcats today before their televised game against Orlando.

-The Heat are now 2-7 at home this season after their 104-91 loss to the Gilbert Arenas-less Wizards. Miami coach Pat Riley is very disappointed in his team as he should be. It's already been a while since Dwayne Wade returned from injury and they're still 6-16 and in last place in the Southeast. Meanwhile Washington sits at 12-10 despite being without their best player and on a 3 game winning streak. A lot of that can be attributed to Wizards coach Eddie Jordan, along with the improved play of Antawn Jamison, Caron Butler, and DeShawn Stevenson who had 26 against the Heat last night. And why isn't Riley taking any heat (no pun intended) for Miami's struggles. Meanwhile, Stan Van Gundy (the guy Riley forced out because he wanted to coach) leads the 16-7 Orlando Magic that is up there among the elite teams in the eastern conference. Put Pat Riley on the hot seat.
-What does the Lakers 102-97 win over San Antonio mean? The Spurs were without both Tim Duncan and Tony Parker last night but still held a21 point lead going into the 4th quarter. It shows that San Antonio's bench can step up when their big dogs are hurt, but what's possibly a bigger story is that they were outplayed by the Lakers bench. Jordan Farmar, Sasha Vujacic, Ronny Turiaf, Trevor Ariza and Vladimir Radmanovic shot 14-26 last night in there win, and Kobe Bryant said that he was (gasp) happy! The Lakers are playing some good basketball right now, but we'll have to wait until later in the season to see whether they're at "Spurs" level.
-ESPN all day today is going inside the Charlotte Bobcats as they prepare for tonight's ESPN broadcasted game against Orlando. They went inside the meetings, the shootarounds, and some people will be mic'd up during the contest.
"Great for fans to see behind the scenes stuff." Said ESPN analyst David Thorpe. Especially for those younger fans, they'll get to see what goes on and what their favorite stars do to prepare for the games. Hopefully this will be a good distraction from all the steroids talk in baseball. The Bobcats are struggling a bit right now in their quest for a playoff spot, but I was able to ask star forward Gerald Wallace on what he thought his team had to do to reach the postseason:
"We have to stay consistent. That's the main thing. We have to pay attention to detail and focus every game. "
Charlotte definitely has some young talent, but first year coach Sam Vincent will have to be patient with his team in order to attain their goals.
-The Lakers will be playing in the 2nd game of the ESPN twinbill tonight at Golden State. The Warriors are at 12-10 despite playing little to no defense during games. It's hard to win games when you give up 107 points per contest, but Golden State has been pulling it off. It'll be interesting to see how they fare against Los Angeles especially with the momentum that the Lakers have right now.

That's your NBA Today.

NBA Today

Scores, news, and notes today in the NBA.

The NBA Europe tour went to Spain yesterday, and Darko Milicic had 13 points and 7 rebounds as Memphis defeated MMT Estudiantes. Real Madrid pulled off a 104-103 upset of the Raptors, despite 23 and 7 from Andrea Bargnani. At a silent Madison Square Garden, the Knicks routed Macabi Tel Aviv, as New York had 7 players in double figures. There was no reaction to Isiah Thomas, though that should change during the regular season. Houston hammered Greek power Panathinaikos as Yao scored 21 and grabbed 8 boards. Atlanta edged Charlotte 109-104 as Joe Johnson led all scorers with 25. Detroit and Cleveland went to OT, but the Pistons came away with the 96-90 win despite 17 from LeBron James. Phoenix won at Sacramento 110-99 as disgruntled Shawn Marion scored 18, and new Sun Grant Hill scored 17. Kevin Martin and Quincy Douby led the Kings with 17 each. The Warriors beat the Lakers 119-106 as former D-Leaguer Kelenna Azubuike scored 22.

-Lakers owner Jerry Buss is now open to offers for Kobe Bryant. It would've been better if he admitted this before, because it's now unlikely that teams will make deals until December at the earliest.
-Wizards Center and Syracuse alum Etan Thomas underwent open heart surgery in Minnesota and should be OK. Meanwhile, Washington might look for a big man such as PJ Brown, but Coach Eddie Jordan says that he's satisfied with his frontcourt according to the Washington Post.
-According to all New York papers, it will be tough for Allen Houston to make the Knicks roster. He starts his comeback today.
-This is a make or break year for Carlos Delfino, according to the Detroit Free Press.

N.B.A. Thursday

What in the world is going on in The Association? The big story, news and notes, and rumors. Get your N.B.A. "fix" right now.

Tim Donaghy
These two words would've meant nothing to you a week ago, but now this name threatens to ruin the image of professional basketball, if it hasn't done so already. The FBI is investigating the now fired referee for betting on games in 05/06 and 06/07 including in games where he officiated. This opens up hundreds of questions about betting in the league including 10 listed by ESPN's Chris Sheridan. (http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/columns/story?columnist=sheridan_chris&id=2948746) Wayne Drehs said in a recent article that the games in which Donaghy refereed were so far off from Vegas averages that something fishy had to have been going on. He said that a Vegas insider told him that there's a 1 in 1,000 chance for such discrepencies to happen in games that Donaghy did. Keep it right here at SOS for the latest in this ongoing story.

News and Notes
Monday
Anyone longing back to the glory days of the Vancouver Grizzlies? For those 2 people who said yes, basketball is coming back to Vancouver. Steve Nash will be in his home country on October 26 as his Suns go to the GM Place to take on Kevin Durant and the Sonics in preseason play. Travis Diener signed a contract with the Pacers, Detroit extended the contract of Antonio McDyess for 2 years, and Desmond Mason is returning to Milwaukee with a 2 year pact. New Jersey gave a multiyear contract extension to their head coach Lawrence Frank. New Orleans signed free agent Morris Peterson to a contract.
Tuesday
Troy Hudson is trying to reacha buyout agreement with Minnesota. Detroit signed their 2nd round pick Sammy Mejia. Washington hired Randy Ayers as an assistant coach. Memphis signed G Casey Jacobson and Phoenix inked Sean Marks to a 1 year deal.
Wednesday, Thursday
In N.B.A. criminal news, Former NBA player Ron Mercer surrendered to police on Wednesday to face a misdemeanor assault charge stemming from a scuffle in a strip club in April, police said.
His friend was involved in the same incident for stabbing a club bouncer. Hornets owner George Shinn has sold 25% of the team to local investors, proof that Shinn wants the club to be a New Orleans fixture for the long term.

Rumors
- Washington has until the end of next week to sign or trade Juan Carlos Navarro. (Washington Post)
- The Wolves and Hudson are still speaking about a buyout. (St Paul Pioneer Press)
- Charlie Bell is the next in line to sign for the Bucks. The Bucks are still optimistic about signing Yi Jianlian. (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)
- Brandon Bass is close to signing a 2 year deal with Dallas. (Fort Worth Star-Telegram)