NBA News

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Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen made their Boston debuts, and holdover Paul Pierce scored 22 points to lead the Celtics to a 101-61 victory over the New York Knicks on Wednesday night.

Brought in to revive the sagging Celtics after their second consecutive playoff absence, Garnett had 13 points and eight rebounds, and Allen scored 14 points before sitting out the fourth quarter. The New Big Three had seven points apiece in the first quarter as Boston opened a double-digit lead.

Zach Randolph had nine points and 12 rebounds for New York, and Stephon Marbury scored nine for the Knicks, who did not have a player score in double figures. Allan Houston, attempting a comeback after two years off, missed his only shot while playing six minutes.

A 10-time All-Star acquired in an unprecedented 7-for-1 trade over the summer, Garnett teamed with second-year point guard Rajon Rondo for the former NBA MVP's first highlight in Boston. Taking an entry pass under the basket, Garnett dished it behind his back to Rondo for the layup.

The basket gave the Celtics a 7-5 lead three minutes into the game, and they never trailed again.

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A woman has accused NBA star Jason Kidd of harassing and groping her this month at a trendy Manhattan nightspot.

Kidd spokesman Scott Miranda said the accusation was "a complete fabrication and it is sad that someone would make something like this up."

The New York Police Department confirmed Wednesday the 23-year-old woman filed a complaint against another club-goer on Oct. 11, a day after she said she was harassed and groped her at the Tenjune club. The NYPD declined to discuss the case further.

A police official confirmed news reports that the woman told police Kidd approached her inside the club and, without warning, grabbed her crotch. She said when she tried to fend him off, he kept grabbing her until she was forced to leave, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation hadn't been concluded.

Investigators were reviewing security videotape and interviewing possible witnesses from the club, but had not questioned Kidd, the official added.

The Nets said they were aware of the investigation, but had no comment. There was no response to a phone message left at Tenjune.

Kidd, in the midst of a divorce, has previously denied his wife's allegations that he physically abused her and cheated on her throughout their 10-year marriage. They married in 1997 and were involved in a domestic violence matter six years ago when Kidd was playing for the Phoenix Suns. He pleaded guilty to spousal abuse, was fined $200 and ordered to take anger management training.

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Former NBA referee Tim Donaghy has forfeited $30,000 in restitution to the government under his plea deal in a basketball gambling scam.

Donaghy, who admitted to betting on games he officiated, made the payment last month, according to court records. Robert Nardoza, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's Office in Brooklyn which is prosecuting the case, confirmed the payment.

The veteran referee pleaded guilty in a Brooklyn court to felony charges for taking cash payoffs from gamblers and betting on games he officiated. He was released on $250,000 bond and is set to be sentenced Nov. 9.

Court papers say Donaghy, 40, started placing bets on NBA games in 2003. He then gave gamblers inside information, including tips on which crews would officiate games and how the various officials and players interacted.

He faces a maximum of 25 years in prison for conspiracy to engage in wire fraud and transmitting betting information through interstate commerce. He also must pay a $500,000 fine in addition to the restitution already paid.

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The Milwaukee Bucks waived Samaki Walker on Wednesday.

The 31-year-old Walker signed a free-agent contract with Milwaukee three weeks ago, but did not appear in a game during the preseason.

Walker, a 10-year veteran and former first-round pick by Dallas, has also played for San Antonio, the Los Angeles Lakers, Miami, Washington and Indiana. The 6-foot-9 forward has started 143 games and averaged 5.3 points and 4.7 rebounds in his career. He did not play professionally last season.

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Antoine Walker's turbulent time with the Miami Heat is over.

The Heat traded the three-time All-Star forward to the Minnesota Timberwolves on Wednesday in a five-player deal that came one day after Miami completed a winless preseason.

Walker, backup center Michael Doleac, oft-injured forward Wayne Simien and a conditional first-round draft pick were sent to Minnesota for former Miami swingman Ricky Davis and center Mark Blount.

The deal gives Miami the third scoring option it wanted in Davis. The Heat will try to fit him in alongside Shaquille O'Neal and Dwyane Wade -- the 2006 finals MVP who'll miss a few more weeks while recovering from knee and shoulder surgeries.

Walker helped the Heat win the 2006 NBA title but hasn't always had the easiest time dealing with Heat coach Pat Riley's strict conditioning standards. He was briefly suspended last year because his body-fat measurement wasn't within team limits, and he came to training camp this month not in the shape Riley wanted.

"It's always difficult to get traded," said Mark Bartelstein, Walker's agent. "It's well-documented there were issues between Pat and Antoine that were out there hanging over everyone's head."

Walker did not play in Miami's final two preseason games. Riley said he kept him out of Tuesday's exhibition finale because, "I know what he can do."

So he'll do it for Minnesota now -- or, perhaps, someone else.

The Timberwolves now have 18 players under contract and vice president for basketball operations Kevin McHale said another move is coming to trim the roster -- indicating not all the new pieces will actually report to Minnesota.

"We have some other stuff that we're probably going to do inside this deal," McHale said. "A lot of business going on."

The Heat planned to bring Davis and Blount in for physicals with the hope they can practice Thursday. Miami was off Wednesday and players and coaches were not available for comment.

Walker averaged career-lows of 8.5 points, 4.3 rebounds and 23.3 minutes last season for Miami, making only 15 starts. Walker came off the bench only 15 times in his first nine NBA seasons; he was a backup 126 times in 160 regular-season games with the Heat.

"He was part of that championship run, but the last year's been difficult," Bartelstein said. "There's always a lot of emotions. But it's part of the business that we're in and I think Antoine wants to have a great season. He's worked really hard."

Walker -- who did not immediately return a call Wednesday -- bristled earlier this season when his conditioning became an issue once again.


AP - Oct 24, 4:09 pm EDT
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"We'll see when the time comes. Just got to play ball," Walker said after a preseason game two weeks ago. "Until then, it's October. I'll just keep working to get better and get in the best shape possible for Nov. 1. I'll be ready to go Nov. 1."

He is owed about $18 million over the next two seasons; the Timberwolves could opt out of his contract after that.

"Hopefully he comes in and is a professional," McHale said. "I know the last three or four weeks down in Miami haven't been all that pleasant."

Davis only appeared in seven games with Miami during the 2000-01 season, his year wrecked by injuries.

But he's been a solid scorer with Cleveland, Boston and Minnesota in recent years, averaging 16.0 points per game since leaving Miami -- and is coming off a season where he hit a career-high 40 percent of his 3-point tries, another area where the Heat could use some help.

Blount, who is due about $8 million annually for the next three years, averaged 12.3 points and 6.2 rebounds last season for Minnesota.

"I think it's going to allow the emergence or the ability for the emergence for some of these guys to step up and see who has leadership ability and have an understanding of what we're talking about, that we have to have a cohesiveness in the locker room," Minnesota coach Randy Wittman said.

Doleac was Miami's third-string center behind O'Neal and Alonzo Mourning, and Simien's career has been largely derailed so far by knee injuries and a nasty bout with salmonella poisoning that kept him off the floor for most of last season.

Minnesota will get a first-round pick from Miami sometime before 2011. The pick is lottery-protected in 2008, protected through the No. 10 selection in 2009, through the No. 6 slot in 2010 and not protected thereafter.

The trade means the Timberwolves have just three players who've been with the team more than one season: Mark Madsen, Rashad McCants and Marko Jaric.

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Kevin Durant, the second overall choice in the NBA draft, left the arena using crutches and was wearing a soft boot after spraining his left ankle late in the SuperSonics' exhibition game loss to Golden State on Tuesday night.

A Sonics spokesman said in an e-mail late Tuesday that Durant will not travel to Portland for Wednesday night's game or to the team's preseason finale against Phoenix in Vancouver, British Columbia on Friday. That leaves his status in doubt for Seattle's season opener Oct. 31 at Denver.

Durant, expected to begin the season as the Sonics' starting shooting guard, appeared to injure the ankle while stealing a pass late in regulation of a game that eventually went to overtime. The 19-year-old, who was the national player of the year last season in his only season at the University of Texas, left the court with 2:10 remaining in the fourth quarter and then walked with a trainer at his side into a tunnel leading to the locker room.

He scored 21 points, above his team-leading average of 18.4 points through the first five preseason games.

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Dallas Mavericks forward Josh Howard is out with a sprained left wrist and will be re-evaluated next week.

An MRI exam Wednesday revealed the sprain after Howard injured his wrist Tuesday night in the Mavericks' final preseason game, a 96-88 victory against Chicago.

Howard will miss the first two games of the regular season anyway because of his suspension for an altercation with Sacramento center Brad Miller in an earlier preseason game. Howard hit Miller in the back of the neck with a forearm after Miller shoved Mavericks guard Devin Harris to the ground.

Dallas' first two games are on the road -- Oct. 31 at Cleveland and Nov. 2 at Atlanta.

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The preseason game between the Los Angeles Lakers and Utah Jazz scheduled for Thursday night at San Diego was canceled because of the devastation caused by wind-whipped fires that forced at least 346,000 homes in San Diego County to be evacuated.

"There is simply too much devastation in the area and too much uncertainty about what will happen in the next few days," Tim Harris, the Lakers' senior vice president of business operations, said Tuesday as the teams played at Honda Center.

"After many internal discussions about many different factors, we've concluded that this is simply the right thing to do. The people of San Diego have been very supportive of us over the years, and in turn, we want to be supportive of them in this time of crisis."

The announcement was made in a release handed out on press row just before the final horn. Before the game, Lakers coach Phil Jackson told reporters that he didn't support going to San Diego.

"It's a city that's obviously depressed and recovering, and people are limiting things they have to do," Jackson said. "They're asking people to limit their outdoor activity, and they're also talking about resources. So there are considerations there. I understand that the mayor lately has asked people to stay at home and hunker down underneath this thing until it passes."

Utah coach Jerry Sloan agreed with the decision after his team's 102-81 victory.

"We have to go along with whatever they decide to do, but we should be more concerned about those people having to worry about their homes than the cancellation of a ballgame," Sloan said. "I don't know what the situation is, so obviously it's probably better that we don't go down there and just go about our business trying to get ready to start the season."

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Amare Stoudemire announced his return to the Phoenix Suns on Tuesday night with a few thunderous dunks to the delight of several thousand fans at a public scrimmage.

"It went great. I felt good out there," he said afterward. "I felt healthy. I felt strong. I've just got to get in a little better shape and I'll be OK."

Stoudemire had not practiced since undergoing minor arthroscopic surgery on his right knee on Oct. 2. It was his left knee that was the subject of microfracture surgery, and he missed all but three games in the 2005-06 season.

With fans getting free admission to the scrimmage, Stoudemire treated them with a few of his trademark quick, powerful slams. He also had a slick pass to Shawn Marion for a basket.

Stoudemire moved into the center spot with a starting lineup of Marion, Steve Nash, Grant Hill and Raja Bell.

"You forget how physical Amare is," coach Mike D'Antoni said. "You forget the dominance physically that he does, and the quickness. You play really well but when you put him out there, all of a sudden it's a different game."

Stoudemire earned first-team All-NBA honors and was the only Suns player to appear in all 82 games last year, one season removed from his long recovery. This surgery was far less serious and Stoudemire said his knee felt fine.

"The training staff has done a great job of maintenance and rehab and making sure I maintain my strength," he said. "That's definitely been important for me, and everything's been going great so far."

He did get tired, though. After one big play, he collapsed into a courtside seat between two startled fans, placing an arm around each.

"I needed that one," Stoudemire said. "It was long enough. It was like a five-second break."

D'Antoni said Stoudemire's conditioning will determine how long he plays in the remaining two preseason games: at home against Denver on Thursday night and against Seattle in Vancouver, British Columbia, on Friday.

"I thought he looked sharp," D'Antoni said. "It's just a matter of conditioning, his timing and getting to know the guys a little bit, but other than that he looks good."

Leandro Barbosa didn't play in the scrimmage and will sit out the two preseason games because of bruised ribs. Barbosa said he was injured when someone fell on him late in the game against Charlotte in Los Angeles on Sunday.

"I went to the ground to fight for the ball and somebody jumped on me," Barbosa said. He didn't know who did it, but said, "It was a big guy."

The ribs were not broken, just severely bruised.

Barbosa plans to rest for a week and hopes to be ready for the season opener Nov. 1 at Seattle.

"It hurts, especially for me to breathe," he said, "and I cannot move. ... Yesterday it was really bad. Today I've been feeling better than yesterday. I think every day I will be better a little bit, so hopefully before the season starts I will be back."

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Former NBA player Eddie Griffin had more than three times the legal alcohol limit in his system when he crashed his sport utility vehicle into a moving train and died this summer, according to an autopsy report released Friday.

The Harris County Medical Examiner's office said the 25-year-old Griffin died of "multiple blunt force injuries." The medical examiner's office performed tests on Griffin's bile and blood from his heart and liver and determined his blood-alcohol level was 0.26. The legal limit in Texas is 0.08.

Tests found no traces of cocaine, amphetamines or any other narcotics.

The 6-foot-10 Griffin was killed about 1:20 a.m. on Aug. 17. His injuries from the fiery crash included two collapsed lungs, a lacerated liver and kidney, four broken ribs and burns over most of his body.

Griffin was born in Philadelphia and was considered one of the nation's top prospects coming out of Roman Catholic High School. He averaged 18 points, 11 rebounds and four blocks as a freshman at Seton Hall, but he got into a fight with a teammate during the 2000-01 season, a sign of the problems to come.

He was drafted seventh overall in 2001 by New Jersey, and was immediately dealt to Houston. Griffin averaged 8.7 points, 5.8 rebounds and 1.63 blocks over his first two seasons with the Rockets. In November 2003, he was charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, after a woman claiming to be his girlfriend accused him of punching her in the face and shooting a pistol at her car as she drove away.

Griffin missed practices and a team flight, and the Rockets suspended him, then cut him in December 2003. He quickly signed by the Nets, but he was soon jailed for a violation tied to the shooting incident and linked to a late-night fight at a New Jersey hotel.

Minnesota signed him for 2004-05 season. He occasionally put up big numbers with the Wolves, but also continued to find trouble off the court.

He pleaded guilty early in the 2006-07 season after hitting a parked car while out late one night in Minneapolis. He was later suspended by the NBA for five games in January for violating the anti-drug program and the Wolves cut him in March 2007.

Griffin was living in Houston at the time of his death and talked about making a professional comeback only weeks before the fatal crash.

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Forward David Lee, guard Nate Robinson, forward Renaldo Balkman and guard Mardy Collins had options exercised on their contracts by the New York Knicks.

The team announced Saturday that it has exercised the fourth-year options for Lee and Robinson and the third-year options for Balkman and Collins.

NBA rookie contracts are for two years, with team options for the third and fourth seasons.

Lee has averaged 7.7 points and Robinson 9.7 points in their first two seasons. Balkman averaged 4.9 points and Collins 4.5 points as rookies last season.

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Kevin Garnett made a statement against LeBron James and the defending Eastern Conference champions.

Garnett had 21 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists to lead the Boston Celtics to a 114-89 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers in the teams' final preseason game on Friday night.

Ray Allen scored 20 points and Paul Pierce 12 in a game that was more intense than most preseason contests.

"Obviously you're a little jacked up because its the Eastern Conference champions," Garnett said.

Allen hit a pair of 3-pointers during a 15-5 run to close the third quarter, turning a close game into a blowout. Boston led 86-73 after three.

It was the first matchup of what the Celtics hope could be a season capped with postseason games between LeBron James and Garnett.

James, who led the Cavaliers to the Eastern Conference title last season, finished with 17 points in 35 minutes. He played the entire first quarter, scoring 9 points on 3-for-7 shooting, including a crowd-pleasing driving scoop for his initial basket of the night.

After becoming one the game's elite players, James expects teams to play a little harder against him every time.

"That's been that way for a few years now," he said. "That's because of the type of player that I am. We're competitive every night."

Cleveland, which finished the preseason 1-5, hosts Dallas in its opener Wednesday. The Celtics, who were 4-3, open at home against Washington on Friday.

"The season starts Wednesday. We have to get it together or get blown out," James said.

Garnett, who played 33 minutes, threw a long pass to Eddie House for a breakaway layup that completed his triple-double with just under 7 1/2 minutes left.

Garnett, acquired from Minnesota in the offseason, hopes to lead Boston back into the playoffs. He matched James by playing the entire opening quarter, scoring 10 points.

"Overall there's not a lot to complain about. Kevin was fantastic," Boston coach Doc Rivers said. "Just the ball movement. It's hard to guard any team when the ball is moving like today."

The Celtics, who finished with the league's second-worst record last season, also picked up guard Allen on a draft-night trade with Seattle. Locally fans have called the two and Pierce "the new Big Three" -- hoping to see the success of the team's title-winning teams from the 1980s highlighted by Larry Bird, Kevin McHale and Robert Parish.

Pierce started the night with a drive and drew a foul on James. Each of the star players played over 32 minutes each.

Notes

Boston C Kendrick Perkins addressed the crowd before the game and prior to asking them for their support this season he opened with, "I'd like everybody to give it up for the Red Sox," which drew a big applause. ... Red Sox owner John Henry was seated courtside and was introduced to a standing ovation. ... Considering a pair of late nights in the local sports scene, with World Series games lasting until nearly midnight, there were a few no-shows in the sellout crowd of 18,624. ... The Cavaliers lost their final four preseason games. ... James and Pierce each took a hard fall after colliding midway into third.

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Isiah Thomas urged C. Vivian Stringer to "get the facts" about what he said during a sexual harassment trial Friday, after the Rutgers women's coach was quoted as saying his comments during a deposition were "disgusting."

A portion of the deposition was shown in court during the trial, in which a jury ruled that Thomas and Madison Square Garden sexually harassed former team employee Anucha Browne Sanders.

The tape showed Thomas saying he made a distinction between a black man calling a black woman 'bitch' and a white man doing the same thing. He was criticized for that by Al Sharpton, who threatened to lead protests at Knicks games unless Thomas explained his remarks.

Stringer weighed in on a story on ESPN.com, saying: "You want to know what I really felt? It was disgusting. What does he think? This was a woman first. He has no right to put her down, and then think it's OK for me to put her down but it's not all right for a white man to put her down. What are you talking about? She is a human being and as a female, and in particular as a black female, I took tremendous offense to that."

But Thomas has repeatedly said the portion of tape played in court misrepresented his opinion, and he urged Stringer to get that before commenting.

"I'm not sure what she said, but if she would like to hear the facts and not the edited portion of what I supposedly said, I'm not hard to find," he said after the Knicks' loss to New Jersey. "It's easy to get what I said. So don't speak from ignorance, get the facts about what I said and not the portion that was taken out of context."

The Knicks have stressed that Thomas in his deposition never said it was OK for anyone to call a woman a bitch, just that it was worse for a white male to call a black woman bitch for racial reasons.

When asked during testimony if it matters if a white man uses the term toward a black woman, Thomas responded: "That compounds the issue because now you have perceived racial undertones to that if a white male is referring to a black female using that word."

When asked if it was ever "OK in your belief for any man, no matter what his race, creed or color, to refer to a woman as a bitch?" Thomas responded: "It is never OK, it is never acceptable, and it's always inappropriate, and I said that in my deposition."

Stringer was previously forced into the issue of men using derogatory language toward women when radio host Don Imus made a racist and sexist remark about her team after it lost to Tennessee in last season's national championship game.

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Kevin Durant missed his second consecutive preseason game for the SuperSonics Friday night. The second overall pick in June's draft was back in Seattle shooting and walking on a treadmill to test his sprained left ankle.

Then Jeff Green, the fifth overall pick, sprained his left ankle during the third quarter of Friday's game with the Phoenix Suns. He went into the locker room to get treatment, returned to finish the period and general manager Sam Presti said his key rookie was fine. But then Green left back into the locker room for good at the start of the fourth quarter having scored 13 points.

Green downplayed the injury, saying it was "just a tweak."

He feels assured he will be ready for the season opener Wednesday at Denver, and probably practice on Sunday.

"I just didn't want to go out there and re-aggravate it," Green said, not wearing ice or even a wrap under his Hoyas-blue, left street sneaker as he prepared to board the team bus. "This is nothing right now."

Coach P.J. Carlesimo said he talked Durant, his rookie shooting guard who turned his ankle late in a game Tuesday, but the coach had no idea whether Durant will be ready for the opener. Doctors hope to have a better idea after the team resumes practicing on Sunday.

"Kevin feels better," Carlesimo said, though he stressed that he won't push the 19-year-old just so he can start the nationally televised opener. "He definitely needs to practice before he plays," Carlesimo said, referring to at least Monday and Tuesday. "If he doesn't practice, he won't play."

If Durant cannot play, the lineup to open the season might be the same as Friday's, with Green starting at small forward and veteran Damien Wilkins moving to shooting guard. Wally Szczerbiak would be the primary shooter off the bench and late in games.

That's all if Green can start. If he can't, Szczerbiak likely would.

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Kobe Bryant didn't practice with the Los Angeles Lakers on Saturday because of the sprained right wrist that kept him out of Friday night's final exhibition game against the Sacramento Kings in Las Vegas.

Bryant didn't travel to Las Vegas with the team and his status was day-to-day, Lakers spokesman John Black said

Coach Phil Jackson said he expected Bryant to play Tuesday night in the season opener against the Houston Rockets.

Bryant was injured after Utah center Mehmet Okur struck him Tuesday night in an exhibition game in Anaheim.