Nelson Blames Himself For Firing

NBA

Don Nelson accepted all the blame for his firing, calling himself an old-school coach who made a mistake trying to change an “inflexible” New York Knicks team.

“It’s nobody’s fault other than my own,” he said in New York Monday in his first public comments since his dismissal last Friday. “When I look back at everything, it may be as simple as I was the wrong guy for the job. I don’t disagree with that.

“I also agree 100 percent with their decision to make the move early if they were not going to keep me next year. The team has a chance to regroup, gets its energy back, get its passion back.”

Nelson, speaking at a news conference at a Manhattan restaurant, said he will take a few months to “as the players say, chill out.”

He hasn’t decided whether to retire, but if he does return, he admits he’ll have to adapt to today’s NBA players.

“Evidently, I don’t deal as well as I should with the modern-day player,” said Nelson, 55. “I’m from the old school. Today’s players worry about statistics, but the only statistic that matters is winning, and I wish I could convince the modern-day ballplayer of that.”

Pistons 100, Clippers 90

Auburn Hills, Mich.

Grant Hill scored 31 points and added 10 rebounds, leading surging Detroit to a victory over Los Angeles.

Clippers coach Bill Fitch was ejected by Ron Olesiak with 3:25 left in the second quarter after arguing a non-call.

Detroit led 54-45 at the half, and looked like it had the game put away with a strong start to the third period. The Pistons pulled away steadily throughout the quarter, and when Theo Ratliff slammed home a missed 3-pointer, it was 75-57 with 3:28 left in the period.

L.A. Clippers (90) - Williams 6-15 4-4 16, Vaught 3-9 2-4 8, Rogers 6-11 1-2 14, Barry 5-7 0-0 12, Richardson 3-6 1-2 8, Dehere 3-9 1-1 8, Murray 0-2 0-0 0, Roberts 2-3 0-0 4, Outlaw 0-0 0-0 0, Sealy 6-10 5-6 18, Piatkowski 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 35-74 14-19 90.

Detroit (100) - Hill 9-16 13-15 31, Thorpe 9-14 2-2 20, Reid 0-0 0-0 0, Dumars 7-11 2-4 22, Houston 4-12 3-3 13, Ratliff 2-2 0-0 4, Hunter 1-5 0-0 2, Curry 2-3 0-0 5, Mills 1-3 0-0 3. Totals 35-66 20-24 100.

L.A. Clippers 23 22 26 19 - 90

Detroit 27 27 25 21 - 100

3-Point goals-Los Angeles 6-16 (Barry 2-2, Richardson 1-1, Sealy 1-2, Rogers 1-4, Dehere 1-4, Piatkowski 0-1, Murray 0-2), Detroit 10-16 (Dumars 6-9, Houston 2-4, Curry 1-1, Mills 1-2). Fouled out-None. Rebounds-Los Angeles 40 (Williams 10), Detroit 39 (Hill 10). Assists-Los Angeles 22 (Dehere 9), Detroit 22 (Hill, Houston 7). Total fouls-Los Angeles 19, Detroit 21. Technicals-Los Angeles coach Fitch 2, Sealy, Detroit illegal defense. Ejection-Los Angeles coach Fitch. A-15,490 (21,454).

Kings 92, Grizzlies 88 Sacramento, Calif.

Tyus Edney scored four points in the final 26 seconds as Sacramento defeated Vancouver.

Edney’s 17-footer from the baseline with 26 seconds remaining snapped an 88-88 tie, then he added two free throws with 7.4 seconds left to put the Kings ahead by four points.

There were eight lead changes in the final 4 minutes.

Vancouver (88) - Wilkins 0-4 0-0 0, Amaya 3-6 2-2 8, Reeves 10-21 6-6 26, B.Edwards 4-8 2-2 11, Murdock 7-14 3-3 18, King 0-2 0-0 0, Avent 0-5 4-4 4, Moten 1-2 0-0 2, Manning 3-5 0-0 6, Scott 2-6 8-8 13. Totals 30-73 25-25 88.

Sacramento (92) - Owens 6-13 1-4 13, Grant 3-8 2-2 8, Polynice 5-10 0-2 10, Richmond 10-18 4-4 29, Hurley 2-4 1-2 5, Edney 4-9 4-4 14, Causwell 1-1 0-0 2, Williamson 2-8 1-1 5, Smith 0-1 0-0 0, Gamble 3-3 0-0 6. Totals 36-75 13-19 92.

Vancouver 26 15 21 26 - 88

Sacramento 30 20 20 22 - 92

3-Point goals-Vancouver 3-11 (B.Edwards 1-3, Murdock 1-3, Scott 1-3, Wilkins 0-1, King 0-1), Sacramento 7-11 (Richmond 5-6, Edney 2-4, Hurley 0-1). Fouled out-None. Rebounds-Vancouver 35 (Reeves 12), Sacramento 53 (Polynice 12). Assists-Vancouver 17 (Murdock 7), Sacramento 29 (Owens 8). Total fouls-Vancouver 19, Sacramento 21. A-17,317 (17,317).