Sophs school Rookies
LAS VEGAS – David Lee still sports the remnants of a black eye, sustained in a recent game while trying to prevent a dunk. He found things much easier Friday night.
The NBA’s leading shooter had a field day in a game with no defense, going 14 of 14 from the field and scoring 30 points to lead the Sophomores to a 155-114 victory over the Rookies in the Rookie Challenge.
“I don’t think there was going to be any flagrant fouls or anything by either team tonight,” Lee said. “It was a pretty wide-open game.”
Monta Ellis of Golden State added 28 points on a number of dunks as the Sophomores set a game scoring record, surpassing the 142 points they scored in 2004. They shot 74.7 percent (68 of 91) and have won the last five games.
Lee, who leads the NBA in field-goal percentage at 61.2, was voted the game’s MVP. Chris Paul, the reigning Rookie of the Year, added 16 points, 17 assists and nine steals.
Rudy Gay of Memphis and Utah’s Paul Millsap each scored 22 points for the rookies, who never led and trailed by as many as 43 points.
“Next year, when we come back, we’re not going to be as happy to be here,” Portland’s Brandon Roy said. “We’re going to be ready. They caught us off-guard.”
Lee played sparingly as a rookie, but has developed into perhaps the hardest-working and most popular player on the Knicks. He averages 11.2 points and 10.6 rebounds, and could be a candidate for either the most improved player or sixth man award.
Lee scored the first four points, and the game really wasn’t close after that.
The rookies looked helpless later in the half, when Ellis had five alley-oop dunks in a span of less than 3 1/2 minutes, pushing the lead to 31 points on his final one.
Adam Morrison of Charlotte, the former Gonzaga star, finished with 16 points for the rookies. Andrea Bargnani of Toronto, the No. 1 pick, had 12.
“I had a lot of fun, but I wish we would have competed a little better,” Morrison said. “Hopefully, I’m back here with the sophomores team, and then I can do that to the rookie team.”
15 finalists for hall of fame
Phil Jackson, Chris Mullin and Dick Vitale led the list of 15 finalists for induction into the Basketball Hall of Fame.
They were joined by former players Adrian Dantley and Richie Guerin; coaches Roy Williams, Eddie Sutton and Bob Hurley Sr.; owner Bill Davidson; and the 1966 Texas Western men’s NCAA championship team.
Referee Mendy Rudolph, Yugoslavian coach Mirko Novosel, Spanish coach Pedro Ferrandiz and former U.S. women’s basketball coaches Van Chancellor and Harley Redin also were selected by the four screening committees that nominate finalists.
The 2007 class will be announced April 2 at the Final Four in Atlanta, with induction Sept. 7.
Kidd’s wife responds
Jason Kidd’s estranged wife has charged in Newark, N.J., that the Nets’ star physically abused her and cheated on her throughout a 10-year marriage.
In responding to divorce papers Jason Kidd filed last month, Joumana Kidd asserted her husband’s “numerous liaisons and perpetual physical and emotional abuse” led to the breakdown of their marriage.
Jason Kidd’s lawyer said the “bizarre allegations will be proven false.”