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No. 1 GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS (67-15, 4-0) vs. No. 5 UTAH JAZZ (51-31, 4-3)

Season series: Warriors, 2-1.

Story line: The rested Warriors, after a first-round sweep, face a Utah team that won the only series that went the distance in the first round. It’s a clash of styles between Golden State, the highest-scoring team in the NBA at 115.9 points per game, and a Jazz squad that allowed the fewest points per game during the regular season (96.8).

Key Matchup: Andre Iguodala vs. Joe Johnson. The veterans begin the game on the benches but will probably be on the floor down the stretch. Johnson, who had a great series against the Clippers, will be one of keys if the Jazz are able to keep the tempo at the slower pace they want and need to have a chance.

Prediction: Warriors in 5.

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Compiled by AP Basketball Writer Brian Mahoney

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More AP NBA: apnews.com/tag/NBAbasketball

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With four days before their next game against the Atlanta Hawks on Sunday night, the Nets essentially are giving Johnson five days to rest his heel and get better.

“We’re just concerned with the four (games) in five (days) and a little bit of the mentality that we had going to the All-Star break,” Nets interim coach P.J. Carlesimo said. “You have four days (off), so you’re tempted to say we hold him out one more it’ll give him five days to get healthy.”

Johnson missed three games because of the sore left heel before returning for the team’s last six. During that span, he averaged 13 points on 47.1 percent shooting in 33.6 minutes.

He had 20 points in 37 minutes on 8-of-11 shooting in Monday night’s loss to the Philadelphia 76ers.

Johnson had hoped the injury wouldn’t linger on when he returned, but it has.

In 61 games, the 31-year-old veteran is averaging 16.6 points on 42.7 percent shooting.

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“I’m just trying to stay out of the way and focus on what’s in front of me and not worry about anything else,” Smith said at the team’s shootaround Wednesday.

Smith denied having any conversations in the past 24 hours with his agent or with a Hawks front office led by general manager Danny Ferry, who made waves this past offseason by trading Joe Johnson to the Brooklyn Nets. Smith insists he’s concentrating on Wednesday night’s game against the Miami Heat, which could be his last game playing for the team that drafted him.

Selected out of high school at No. 17 overall in the 2004 draft, Smith has become a star in Atlanta. He is averaging 17.4 points, 8.6 rebounds and 4.1 assists in 48 games this season.

Sources told ESPN on Tuesday that the Nets, Milwaukee Bucks and Boston Celtics are three teams known to be in talks with Atlanta about the athletic forward ahead of Thursday’s 3 p.m. ET trade deadline.

In conversations with the Bucks, the Hawks’ interest is believed to start with Monta Ellis, sources told ESPN on Tuesday, at least in part because Ellis could play next to point guard Jeff Teague.

Barring a deal that featured three or more teams, Boston likely would need to part with Paul Pierce to acquire Smith, which could well rule the Celtics out of the chase for Atlanta’s versatile forward, ESPN.com’s Marc Stein reported.

Sources told ESPN that the Phoenix Suns, who had shown interest in Smith, are not out of the running.

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Prior to Wednesday night’s 105-85 loss to the Heat, Evans dismissed the Heat’s title, telling the New York Daily News: “It doesn’t prove nothing. That was a lockout season.”

“Well, I didn’t say it didn’t prove anything. Those were not my exact words,” Evans said during an interview on SiriusXM radio’s “Off the Dribble” show. “I just said they won a championship in a lockout season. That’s what I said. So I never downplayed it or nothing, I just said they won a championship. That was really about it. I guess people just took it out of proportion.”

Evans later said: “One thing about me is like when I’m gonna talk about you, I’m pretty much gonna say it in your face. I’m not gonna go in the media and say it to the media. It was kind of hilarious to me because I think it was blown out of proportion because that’s not my DNA. I don’t throw jabs through Twitter or social media. I don’t do that type of work. It’s cool. I’m not dwelling over it. I just think it was taken way out of proportion and stuff like that.”

Evans also told the Daily News that defending superstar small forward LeBron James was no different than defending Joe Johnson or Andray Blatche. James then proceeded to score 24 points, grab nine rebounds and dish out seven assists, and ripped the Nets power forward, who went scoreless.

“You can’t just come out and say something like that versus a champion,” James said after the game. “No one knows what it takes unless you’ve done it. You can’t sit here and judge and talk about a team winning a championship unless you’ve done it. (Evans) hasn’t done it.”

James later said: “I’m not going to sit here and give Reggie Evans a lot of press, because that is what is going to happen for the next couple days.”

Evans left Barclays Center before he could be questioned about the game by reporters.

James said earlier Wednesday that he wasn’t too impressed by the Nets despite their recent turnaround under interim coach P.J. Carlesimo.

“(The Nets) just picked up the intensity level,” James said. “You can tell that they like to play for P.J. … It sucks that Avery (Johnson) had to take the hit of them not wanting to play at a high level.”

Johnson went 14-14 this season as Nets coach before being fired in late December.

Wednesday’s loss dropped the Nets to 13-5 under Carlesimo.

“That’s his opinion, so I’m not knocking it,” Evans said. “If that’s how he feels, cool.”

The post Reggie Evans talks Heat, LeBron appeared first on IdealCapper.

“It doesn’t prove nothing. That was a lockout season,” Evans told the New York Daily News on Wednesday when asked whether beating the defending champs would prove something to the rest of the NBA.

The Nets and Heat face one another for the third and final time on Wednesday night at Barclays Center. Miami won the first two meetings between the two teams by a combined 43 points.

For his part, James isn’t too impressed by the Nets, despite their recent turnaround under interim coach P.J. Carlesimo.

“Their offense hasn’t changed, their defense,” James said of the Nets on Wednesday. “They just picked up the intensity level. You can tell that they like to play for P.J.”

“It sucks that Avery (Johnson) had to take the hit of them not wanting to play at a high level,” James added.

Johnson went 14-14 this season as Nets coach before being fired in late December.

Carlesimo, who has gone 13-4 since taking over in Brooklyn, called James “unguardable” on Tuesday. But it sounds as though Evans disagrees.

“Our team is defending the Miami Heat. If our team has to defend one person, LeBron isn’t going to score nothing. LeBron is no different from Joe Johnson or Andray Blatche. No different,” Evans told the Daily News. “People need help (on defense). Some people don’t need help. Everybody has to be double-teamed, it doesn’t matter who you are. You just have to stop LeBron in transition.

“He’s quick in transition. If you look at Joe Johnson — Joe Johnson has two or three people trying to stop him. Whoever is guarding him.”

James went 6-10 in his first 16 games against the Nets’ franchise, but has gone 16-0 since. He has scored at least 20 points in his last 19 games against the Nets, according to ESPN Stats & Information.

James said Tuesday he “wasn’t losing any sleep” over playing in Brooklyn for the first time, according to The Miami Herald. But Evans’ comments could make him more motivated to have a big night.

The post Reggie Evans scoffs at Heat’s title appeared first on IdealCapper.

Brooklyn At Minnesota
When: 8:00 PM ET, Wednesday, January 23, 2013
Where: Target Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota
TV: 8 p.m. ET, YES (Brooklyn), Fox Sports North (Minnesota)
Prediction: Nets 95, Timberwolves 93

Oddsmakers currently have the Nets listed as 6-point favorites versus the Timberwolves, while the game’s total is sitting at 186.

Joe Johnson has started to take over the role that Brooklyn envisioned when it acquired him in a splashy offseason trade with Atlanta. There were questions about the ability of Johnson and point guard Deron Williams to co-exist in the backcourt while the Nets were in a swoon last month, but Johnson buried the winning jumper with 22 seconds to play in Monday’s win over the Knicks. Johnson finished with a team-high 25 points and connected on 5 of 8 3-point attempts, matching his season high in that category

In their last action, Brooklyn was an 88-85 winner on the road against the Knicks. They covered the 3-point spread as underdogs, while the combined score (173) was profitable news for UNDER bettors.

Team record: 25-16 SU, 19-20-2 ATS
Current streak: won 2 straight games.
is 9-1 SU in its last 10 games
is 4-1 SU in its last 5 games on the road
The total has gone OVER in 4 of last 5 games on the road
The total has gone OVER in 4 of last 5 games when playing Minnesota
When playing on Wednesday are 4-6
Before playing Memphis are 5-5
After playing New York are 3-7
After a win are 8-2

Minnesota had appeared to given up on second-year forward Derrick Williams, despite his selection as the No. 2 overall pick in the 2011 draft. The rash of injuries forced the Timberwolves to use Williams and he has responded by scoring in double digits in three consecutive starts. Although he has struggled with his shooting overall, Williams scored 17 points – his third-highest total of the season – in Monday’s game and has reach double digits in six of his last 10 games.

Minnesota was a 104-96 loser in its last match on the road against the Hawks. They earned a push of the 8-point spread as underdogs, while the total score of 200 sent OVER bettors to the payout window.

Team record: 17-21 SU, 18-19-1 ATS

is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games when playing at home against Brooklyn
is 7-0-1 ATS in its last 8 games when playing at home against Brooklyn
is 6-1 SU in its last 7 games when playing Brooklyn
The total has gone OVER in 4 of last 5 games when playing Brooklyn

When playing on Wednesday are 2-8
Before playing Washington are 3-7
After playing Atlanta are 4-6
After a loss are 5-5

The post Brooklyn Nets vs. Minnesota Timberwolves Free Betting Pick & Matchup appeared first on IdealCapper.

The Nets squandered a 23-point lead and allowed Oklahoma City to tie it at 85 before ripping off a 23-8 run to seize control. Durant was ejected near the end of the surge, arguing with Danny Crawford after the referee already had issued a technical foul against Kendrick Perkins.

Durant scored 27 points and Russell Westbrook had 26 points and 10 assists for Oklahoma City, which lost for only the third time at home this season.

Durant, the three-time scoring champion, never had before been ejected in his six NBA seasons but got tossed after Brooklyn rallied largely from the foul line. The Nets made 11 free throws in a span of just more than 5 minutes, pulling away after Oklahoma City finally had fought all the way back.

Brook Lopez added 25 points as Brooklyn ended a seven-game losing streak in the series and got a win for interim coach P.J. Carlesimo against the team that fired him back in 2008.

The Thunder clamped down after trailing by 16 at halftime, rallying to pull within 71-68 when Westbrook finished off a 12-3 burst with a jumper from the left elbow with 3:47 left in the third quarter. Lopez powered his way in for a two-handed slam to stem the tide for Brooklyn, but Oklahoma City kept coming.

Durant and Kevin Martin connected on consecutive 3-pointers to finally even it up at 85 with 7:11 to play, only for Johnson to answer with a runner at the other end to put the Nets right back ahead and start the clinching run.

The Nets managed to get Carlesimo a rare win in Oklahoma City — something that proved difficult during his brief stretch on the Thunder sidelines.

Carlesimo was the coach when Oklahoma City got its franchise, leading the SuperSonics for their final season in Seattle and then going 1-12 in charge of the Thunder. He was fired and replaced — then on an interim basis — by Scott Brooks, who has overseen the team’s rise into a championship contender.

Back when Carlesimo was in charge, Durant was starting his second year in the NBA and Westbrook was a rookie who had yet to break into the starting lineup. Now, they’re both established All-Stars.

“For it to come together as quickly as it has, I think people believed that this was going to be a good team, with the nucleus they had and even starting out, the pieces,” Carlesimo said beforehand. “Russell, of course, was a huge addition the first year here and ever since then, there’s been good moves and they’ve tweaked it.”

Carlesimo also singled out the additions of Thabo Sefolosha and Perkins — both after he was fired — as key steps in the franchise’s rise.

“It’s a team I feel closer to than a lot of other teams. Hopefully, we helped KD and Nick (Collison) a little bit and Russell a tiny bit that first year, but I think it’s safe to say they’ve gone on and overcome whatever coaching they got from me,” Carlesimo said, drawing laughs.

At the start, it looked like Carlesimo’s new squad would run away with it against the Thunder, who started the day with the league’s best record.

Johnson and Lopez combined to go 9 for 9 from the field to propel the Nets to a quick 27-11 lead, and Brooklyn tried to keep the hammer down by re-inserting Williams after they had committed three turnovers in a span of five possessions without him to start the second quarter.

Upon returning, Williams immediately set up Keith Bogans for a 3-pointer, then used a behind-the-back, bounce pass for an assist on Kris Humphries’ jumper before nailing a 3-pointer of his own to push the lead out to 45-24. Brooklyn led by as much as 23 twice — including at 55-32 after Johnson drilled a 3-pointer off a touch pass from Gerald Wallace — before Westbrook and Serge Ibaka teamed up to score nine straight points to breathe some life into Oklahoma City.

Game notes
Carlesimo’s only win with the Thunder — after the SuperSonics had relocated from Seattle — came at home on Nov. 2, 2008, against Minnesota. … The Thunder’s largest previous deficit of the season was 16 in a loss at home against Memphis. … Oklahoma City got a delay of game warning for failing to get onto the court in time for tip-off, as part of the NBA’s emphasis on allowing teams 90 seconds between the end of introductions and the tip-off. … Nets reserve Jerry Stackhouse sat out with a sore right hamstring.

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