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Arenas exempted from jail time for gun charge

Gilbert Arenas, All-Star guard for the NBA\’s Washington Wizards, departs after being sentenced to two years\’ probation on firearms charges for bringing guns into the team\’s locker room, at Superior Court in Washington, March 26, 2010. Arenas and team mate Javaris Crittenton brought guns to the team\’s arena after a dispute during a flight home from a game in December. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo)

NBA star Gilbert Arenas avoided from jail term for taking guns into the Wizards locker room, a judge instead sentencing him to 30 days in a halfway house on Friday.

District of Columbia Superior Court Judge Robert E. Morin sentenced Arenas, who had pleaded guilty on January 15 to a felony gun charge of carrying an unlicensed pistol, a violation of the U. S. capital\’s strict gun laws.
Prosecutors had recommended that the player be sentenced to three months in jail.
In addition to the time in a halfway house, Arenas was sentenced to 400 hours of community service, which cannot be conducted at basketball clinics. He was fined 5,000 dollars and must register as a gun offender.
He is already suspended from the National Basketball Association through the remainder of the season.
Arenas, whose actions in the wake of the event irked NBA officials who felt he didn\’t take the incident seriously, apologized in court.
The charge against Arenas stemmed from a December 21 locker room incident between him and teammate Javaris Crittenton, in which Arenas brought several guns to the team\’s facility.
Crittenton, who is also suspended by the NBA, pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor gun charge and had already been sentenced to one year of unsupervised probation.
The two had argued over debt from a poker game.
Prosecutors had sought a sentence of at least three months in jail, saying Arenas lied about why his guns were in the locker room and that he knew bringing guns into the District of Columbia was illegal. He also had a prior conviction on an improperly registered gun.

James becomes youngest to score 15,000 points in NBA

Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James became the youngest to reach 15,000 points, breaking Kobe Bryant\’s record in a National Basketball Association game on Friday.
James scored the historic basket in the opening quarter of Cleveland\’s 92-85 win over the Chicago Bulls.
He broke Bryant\’s record by more than two years, reaching the mark at 25 years, 79 days while Bryant was 27 years, 136 days when he did it for the Los Angeles Lakers. He did it in his 540th game compared to 657 for Bryant.
\”I was born with a God-given gift,\” said James. \”I take full advantage of it by being able to do what I do on the basketball court. Hopefully, I can continue to stay healthy, and hopefully, I\’ll continue to break records.\”
He finished with 29 points for a career total of 15,026 and grabbed 11 rebounds for the Cavaliers, who posted their 12th win in their last 13 games.

Yao Ming shows up at Rockets-Celtics game


Yao Ming of Houston Rockets appears to cheer for Rockets during their NBA game against Boston Celtics in Houston, south United States of America, March 19, 2010. (Xinhua Photo)

James posts triple-double

Lebron James was shaky early and spectacular late.
James had 29 points, 12 rebounds and 12 assists for his fourth triple-double of the season, lifting the Cleveland Cavaliers to a 113-101 victory over the Detroit Pistons on Tuesday night in Auburn Hills, Michigan.
\”Every point, rebound and assist was needed,\” Cavs coach Mike Brown said.
The final score was relatively lopsided, but the game wasn\’t. There were 10 lead changes and 21 ties, the last one with 4:44 left.
\”The guy\’s not human,\” said Detroit\’s Will Bynum. \”When he gets rolling, you just want to try to stop his teammates and hope that\’s enough.\”
James said triple-doubles are \”absolutely\” his favorite accomplishment other than winning.
\”That means you\’re doing everything your team needs to win basketball games,\” James said. \”That is one of the best things you can have as an individual.\”
In other games, it was: Spurs 88, Heat 76; Pacers 99, Bobcats 94; Hawks 108, Nets 84; Grizzlies 104, Bulls 97; Nuggets 97, Wizards 87; Lakers 106, Kings 99; and Suns 152, Timberwolves 114.
In Miami, Manu Ginobili scored 22 points, George Hill had 16 and surging San Antonio wasted most of a 25-point, third-quarter lead before beating Miami.
Richard Jefferson added 15 points and Tim Duncan had 12 points and 11 rebounds for the Spurs, who\’ve won eight of their last nine.
In Sacramento, Kobe Bryant scored 30 points and Pau Gasol added 28 points and 11 rebounds as the Los Angeles Lakers completed a sweep of their Northern California swing with a 106-99 victory over the Kings.
In Phoenix, Jason Richardson scored 27 points and Amare Stoudemire scored 25, then sat with the rest of the Phoenix starters while the Suns\’ reserves finished off a 152-114 rout of Minnesota in the highest-scoring game by an NBA team this season.
Lou Amundson matched his career high with 20 points as Phoenix sent the Timberwolves to their 10th straight loss and 16th in the last 17 games.
The Suns, with eight players in double figures, shot 56 percent and won their ninth in 12 games.
In Denver, J.R. Smith scored 13 of his 17 points in the fourth quarter, helping Denver pull away as the Nuggets beat Washington.
Carmelo Anthony led Denver with 29 points and 12 rebounds. Nene added 16 points for Denver, which sent Washington to its ninth consecutive loss.
The game marked the return of Nuggets coach George Karl, who was back on the bench after missing four games over the past week for cancer treatments.

Cavs clinch division outright

Lebron James had 32 points, nine rebounds and nine assists as the Cleveland Cavaliers clinched consecutive outright Central Division championships and the third in team history, beating Indiana 99-94 last night.
Cleveland (54-15) is the first team this season to clinch its division.
After Cleveland\’s 18-point lead was cut to one, James had six points, two blocks, two steals and an assist in the final 4 minutes, including a dunk behind his head after catching an alley-oop pass from Anderson Varejao. Troy Murphy had 19 points and 15 rebounds, and Roy Hibbert had 20 points for Indiana.
Bobcats 100, Thunder 92
At Charlotte, Stephen Jackson scored 18 of his 20 points in the second half as the Bobcats rallied to beat Oklahoma City to give Michael Jordan a victory in his first game as Bobcats majority owner.
Hours after the NBA\’s Board of Governors approved Jordan\’s $275 million purchase, he watched his team stage a dramatic recovery from a horrible start.
Stephen Graham matched a career high with 19 points filling in for the injured Gerald Wallace, and the Bobcats won for the seventh time in eight games.
Kevin Durant had 26 points and 10 rebounds for the Thunder.
Magic 110, Spurs 84
At Orlando, Vince Carter had 24 points and eight assists as the Orlando Magic smothered San Antonio star Tim Duncan.
Duncan had two points and was 1 for 10 from the field in the worst shooting percentage game of his career.
Rashard Lewis finished with 20 points to help the Magic win for the ninth time in 10 games. Richard Jefferson had 20 points for San Antonio.
Celtics 109, Knicks 97
At Boston, Paul Pierce scored 29 points, Kevin Garnett had 22 and Boston cruised to its third straight lopsided victory at home.
The Celtics led 32-19 after the first quarter, 68-49 at halftime and 92-69 after the third. Pierce\’s basket midway through the third quarter gave Boston its biggest lead, 81-54. David Lee led New York with 29 points.
Raptors 106, Hawks 105
At Toronto, Chris Bosh scored with 2.1 seconds left as Toronto beat Atlanta to end a five-game losing streak.
Bosh was 6 of 19 from the field and finished with 14 points and 10 rebounds. He made a second-quarter layup to become the first player in franchise history to reach the 10,000-point plateau. Andrea Bargnani had 22 points and 11 rebounds for the Raptors, 2-10 in their last 12 games. Jamal Crawford had a season-high 33 points for the Hawks, who had won four straight and 10 of their last 13.
76ers 108, Nets 97
At Philadelphia, Andre Iguodala scored 20 points, Jrue Holiday added 19 points, seven rebounds and seven assists to help Philadelphia snap a five-game losing streak.
Chris Douglas-Roberts led New Jersey with 23 points. At 7-61, the Nets are in danger of breaking the 1972-73 76ers\’ record for fewest victories (9-73).

Houston Rockets vs Memphis Grizzlies


Trevor Ariza(front) of Houston Rockets breaks through during a NBA game against Memphis Grizzlies in Houston, south United States of America, March 17, 2010. (Xinhua Photo)

Jordan approved as owner of Charlotte Bobcats

Michael Jordan was unanimously approved as controlling owner of the Charlotte Bobcats team by the NBA Board of Governors on Wednesday.
\”We are pleased that Michael Jordan\’s purchase of majority ownership of the Bobcats was approved by the NBA\’s Board of Governors and closed in such a smooth and expeditious fashion,\” NBA Commissioner David Stern said in a statement.
\”We look forward to the continued growth of the Bobcats, on and off the court, under his leadership.\”
Hall of Famer Jordan was already an investor and head of basketball operations for the team, which was previously owned by Bob Johnson, who became the first African-American to own an NBA club when he bought the team in 2003.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Rockets rally to stay in playoff hunt

Don\’t tell the Houston Rockets they are out of the playoff picture just yet.
Aaron Brooks hit a jumper with 2.9 seconds left and scored 31 points to help the Rockets rally for a 125-123 victory over Denver on Monday night in Houston, snapping the Nuggets\’ six-game winning streak.
Carmelo Anthony scored 45 points for the Nuggets, but missed a 3-point try at the buzzer. Luis Scola grabbed the final rebound and finished with 23 points and 11 boards.
Houston, now five games behind Portland in the race for the last Western Conference playoff spot, has won three in a row for the first time since mid-December.
\”We don\’t have much room for error,\” said Scola, who was coming off a career-high, 44-point game. \”It\’s only like a month away, the end of the season, so we need to win games.\”
Scola converted a key three-point play with 41 seconds remaining to put Houston ahead 122-121.
Brooks split two free throws before Anthony drove past Shane Battier for a layup to tie it at 123. Brooks then dribbled around Anthony Carterand hit the go-ahead shot from the right of the free throw line.
\”I wanted to get some space first,\” Brooks said. \”I knew it wasn\’t going to be all the way to the rim. I thought it would probably be a floater before I got to the rim. I tried to get open and get a shot off.\”
Kevin Martin scored 29 points for Houston. Chauncey Billups added 17 points for the Nuggets.
The Nuggets led 104-93 with 10 minutes left in the game after trailing by as much as 16 in the first half. Battier\’s corner 3 with 8:05 left capped a 7-0 spurt to draw the Rockets within four.
Anthony was concerned with how the Nuggets played down the stretch.
\”I don\’t think we\’ll be able to get away with that, come playoff time,\” he said. \”That\’s something that\’s fixable and we need to do it quick.\”
In other games, it was: Celtics 119, Pistons 93; Knicks 94, 76ers 84; Jazz 112, Wizards 89; Lakers 124, Warriors 121; and Hornets 108, Clippers 100.
In Boston, Paul Pierce, Ray Allen and Michael Finley scored 15 points apiece, and Kevin Garnett had 14 points and eight rebounds to help the Boston Celtics coast to a 119-93 victory over the Detroit Pistons.
Boston rested its starters in the fourth quarter while beating a non-contender for the second straight home game.
In Oakland, Kobe Bryant scored 29 points and Pau Gasol added 26 as the Los Angeles Lakers won.

Bogut, Roy named NBA Players of the Week

The Milwaukee Bucks\’ Andrew Bogut and the Portland Trail Blazers\’ Brandon Roy were named on Monday the Eastern and Western Conference Players of the Week, respectively, for games played March 8-14.
Bogut led Milwaukee to a 3-0 week, which included wins over the Celtics and Jazz. Bogut led the league in blocks of 3.67 and was second in rebounding of 13.7, while scoring 19.3 points per game.
With a point-rebound double-double in each game, Bogut now has 32 double-doubles on the season, placing him eighth in the NBA.
The Trail Blazers posted a 4-0 week behind Roy, who scored 27.0 points on 56.7 percentage of shooting. Roy\’s 41-point effort on March 11, in a win at Golden State marked his third 40-plus point effort of the season.
With his two three-point makes against the Kings on March 12, Roy moved into ninth place on the Trail Blazers\’ all-time three- point field goals list.

Healthy James leads Cavs in charge past Celtics

LeBron James scored 24 of his game-high 30 points in the second half to propel the Cleveland Cavaliers to a 104-93 victory over their Eastern Conference rival Boston Celtics on Sunday.

Cleveland Cavaliers LeBron James (23) reaches out to put a shot up past Paul Pierce of the Boston Celtics during the fourth quarter of their NBA basketball game in Cleveland, March 14, 2010. [Agencies] 

In his second game back from an ankle injury, James shook off a scoreless second quarter and also added eight rebounds and seven assists.
The Cavaliers pulled away from the Celtics in the third quarter with the score tied at 68-68, Cleveland ended the period with a 12-4 run and led by as many as 17 in the fourth.
Ray Allen scored 20 points while Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett both added 18 points for the Celtics (41-24).