Wizards knock off Bulls
Yes, Washington, basketball life does exist beyond the first round of the playoffs.
For the first time since 1982, the franchise is headed there.
Confetti flooded the MCI Center floor Friday night as the Wizards broke a 23-year drought without winning a playoff series by defeating the Chicago Bulls 94-91 behind 19 points from each of their Big Three and a fluke turnover that led to the go-ahead basket.
With 36 seconds remaining and the scored tied at 91 – where it had been since Antawn Jamison’s jumper with 2:08 remaining – the Bulls called time out. But Chris Duhon turned his back just as Kirk Hinrich threw him an inbounds pass, and the ball bounced off Duhon’s back and was scooped up by Jared Jeffries, who raced downcourt for a dunk with 33 seconds remaining.
The Bulls had two more possessions, but Jannero Pargo missed badly with a jumper, and, after Washington’s Juan Dixon made 1 of 2 free throws, Andres Nocioni missed a 3-pointer. Tyson Chandler rebounded but shot an ill-advised 2-point attempt with his team needing a 3 to tie.
Gilbert Arenas rebounded and tossed the ball into the crowd, the final 2 seconds ticking off the clock as the ball was airborne.
Jamison, Larry Hughes and Arenas scored 19 apiece as the Wizards won the series 4-2, taking the final four games to advance for the first time since the Bullets’ 2-0 sweep of New Jersey in 1982, back when the first round was best-of-3.
This was the ninth time in NBA history that a team recovered from an 0-2 deficit to advance.
The Wizards aren’t getting much of a break to enjoy their success. They open at top-seeded Miami on Sunday in the Eastern Conference semifinals.
Sources say Nash has won MVP award
Steve Nash of the Phoenix Suns has won the NBA’s Most Valuable Player award, sources told the Associated Press.
The award will be announced Sunday, and the league office has been silent regarding any details of the announcement. Two sources close to Nash, speaking on condition of anonymity, said they had been notified that the Canadian star had won.
Nash would become the first Canadian MVP and only the sixth guard in league history to win the award, joining Bob Cousy, Oscar Robertson, Magic Johnson, Allen Iverson and Michael Jordan. Nash’s selection as MVP was first reported by ESPN.com.
The 31-year-old guard, who joined the Suns last summer as a free agent after spending six seasons with the Dallas Mavericks, led Phoenix to a league-best 62-20 record while averaging an NBA-high 11.5 assists.
The Suns, who were 29-53 last season, were only the second team in NBA history to win 60 games after losing 50. They swept the Memphis Grizzlies in the first round of the playoffs and are awaiting the outcome of the Dallas-Houston series to learn their next opponent.
“It’s exciting to be mentioned, (but) the game is so important for us on Monday that it’s a hard time of year to get excited about MVP,” Nash said after practice.
Nash becomes the first player since Dave Cowens of the Boston Celtics in 1972-73 to win the MVP award without leading his team in scoring. The only others to accomplish that feat were Wes Unseld, Bill Russell and Cousy.
According to a poll conducted by the Arizona Republic, Nash and Shaquille O’Neal were locked in a near dead heat. The newspaper surveyed 106 of the 127 writers and broadcasters who voted for the league’s 50th MVP award and found that Nash had 53 first-place votes while O’Neal had 51.
Wolves should have coach within a month
Minnesota Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor isn’t in a rush to fill the team’s first coaching vacancy in almost 10 years.
Taylor said he expects to name a new coach within the next month, and all three Timberwolves assistants have applied for the job. But Taylor is willing to wait if an NBA assistant he covets is on a team that is still in the playoffs.
“It’s an important selection, so to wait another couple of weeks isn’t going to make a difference to us,” Taylor told the AP after appearing as a guest speaker at a University of St. Thomas luncheon.
Knicks still hope to attract Jackson
Knicks president Isiah Thomas still hopes to lure Phil Jackson back to New York, but he is interviewing other coaching candidates.
Thomas has talked to former Golden State coach and current San Antonio assistant P.J. Carlesimo, as well as Flip Saunders – fired by Minnesota in February. He also plans to contact other coaches still involved in the playoffs, all as fallbacks to Jackson.
“We have a lot of people that we’re talking to, but when you look at the resume, there’s no one that has (Jackson’s) body of work,” Thomas said Thursday. “I don’t think anyone who’s coaching today, other than Larry Brown, can really talk about being at that level. Everyone else is good.”
Jackson met with Thomas in Los Angeles on April 25 to discuss a return to the team that as a player he helped win the 1973 championship. But Jackson also led the Los Angeles Lakers to three titles as coach, leaving after the 2003-04 season.
Lakers owner Jerry Buss has made it known that Jackson is on a short list of candidates to replace interim coach Frank Hamblen.
“Wherever he decided to go, he’ll put all his energy into it,” Thomas said. “The Lakers didn’t make the playoffs. We didn’t make the playoffs. It’s going to be dirty work either place.”