Pistons: McDyess battling the flu
Coach Flip Saunders told the Detroit News that Antonio McDyess is battling the flu, which may have been part of the reason for McDyess' poor performance in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals. McDyess scored just two points on 1-for-5 shooting.
NBA Today
SCOREBOARD
Thursday, May 24
Cleveland at Detroit (8 p.m. EDT). The Pistons look to go up 2-0 on the Cavs.
STARS
Tuesday
-Tony Parker and Tim Duncan, Spurs. Parker had 17 points and a career-high 14 assists and Duncan added 26 points and 14 rebounds and San Antonio beat Utah 105-96.
WE'RE NO.1
With just a 5.3 percent chance of winning the No. 1 pick, the Portland Trail Blazers won the NBA's draft lottery Tuesday night, earning the right to draft a potential franchise player from what's considered to be a deep class. Seattle vaulted into the No. 2 spot and Atlanta was third. Memphis and Boston, which had the worst records in the league and the best chance of landing in the top two, slipped to fourth and fifth, respectively.
TEXAS TWO-STEP
San Antonio beat Utah 105-96 on Tuesday night, taking a 2-0 lead in the Western Conference Finals. The Spurs shot 55.4 percent for the game and were 13-of-26 on 3-pointers, and led by as many as 22 points, in moving halfway to the NBA finals for the third time in five years. Only two of the previous 57 teams to lose the first two games of a conference finals have advanced.
HIRED
The Houston Rockets hired Rick Adelman on Tuesday night to replace Jeff Van Gundy. Adelman, 60, has been out of coaching since the Sacramento Kings chose not to renew his contract after the 2005-06 season. Adelman has a 752-481 record in 16 seasons and is 70-68 in the playoffs.
NEW DEAL
NBA coach of the year Sam Mitchell has been rewarded by the Toronto Raptors with a new contract. Mitchell agreed Tuesday to a three-year deal with a team option for a fourth year. Financial terms were not disclosed. Mitchell led the Raptors to a 47-35 record and the team's first Atlantic Division title in his third season as coach. The Raptors lost to New Jersey in the first round of the playoffs.
FINED
The San Antonio Spurs were fined $50,000 by the NBA on Tuesday for failing to make the full team available for interviews the previous day. The Spurs already had been warned for doing something similar earlier this postseason, but team officials were willing to risk a fine to let players rest Monday.
STREAKS
Tim Duncan had 26 points and 14 rebounds to lead San Antonio to a 105-96 victory over Utah Tuesday night. Duncan had 20 points and 10 rebounds for the 11th straight game and the Spurs have won 18 straight home games over the Jazz.
STRONG IN DEFEAT
Carlos Boozer led Utah with 33 points and 15 rebounds, and Deron Williams had another strong game with 26 points and 10 assists, but the Jazz lost to San Antonio 105-96 on Tuesday night.
SPEAKING
``I think I said, 'Rebound more,' something really magical like that probably.'' - Spurs coach Gregg Popovich after San Antonio's 105-96 win over Utah on Tuesday night. The Spurs outrebounded the Jazz 44-35 and shot 55.4 percent from the field.