Teams with a 3-1 lead are 32-0 in the finals, according to information provided to the league by Elias. So the Warriors don’t have to be reminded of the importance of Game 4 against Cleveland on Thursday night.

”I think we all know it’s really urgent,” guard Klay Thompson said. ”No one wants to go down 3-1.”

LeBron James has scored 40 or more in two of the three games while playing more than 47 minutes per game for an undermanned team. He appeared exhausted Wednesday, though that will be worth it if he can deliver the Cavaliers their first NBA title.

”You just try to give everything that you have to your teammates and live with the results,” James said. ”For me, I just try to put it all on the line to a point where win, lose or draw, you’re satisfied with the outcome.”

Here are things to watch in Game 4:

SHIFTING STRATEGY?: The Warriors haven’t done much double-teaming of James, but coach Steve Kerr acknowledged they may have to change their tactics with the way he is scoring.

”As far as our coverage on LeBron, yeah, you have to evaluate everything,” Kerr said. ”You have to look at your options. You have to think about if you take something away, what you’re giving up, that kind of stuff.

”We’ve lost two games in a row in the series, so we have to look at everything. It may mean we change some things. It may not.”

NEED FOR SPEED: Golden State is averaging just 11.7 fast-break points in the finals, after averaging more than 20 in every other playoff series. The Warriors’ starters had none in Game 4, as Cleveland has played a deliberate pace on offense and gotten back quickly on transition defense.

”Yeah, if you look at it, our defense has pretty much done its job. It’s just offensively for some reason we haven’t, even when we get stops and rebounds, we haven’t been successful getting a ton of fast-break points,” Warriors forward David Lee said.

”We’ve been in this same position down 2-1 at Memphis against a great veteran team in Memphis that attempted to do the same thing Cleveland is doing. That’s slow the game down, grind it out, and play to their strengths. That’s exactly what Cleveland’s trying to do. I have faith that we’re going to come out and play the right way tomorrow and then this series is right back to square one.”

WHAT’S THE SECRET? James has a secret, and not even one of his best friends in the NBA could get him to make it public.

Besides wanting to win another championship, James said earlier in the series he had another motivation he wouldn’t reveal. Not even to Dwyane Wade, who was working the Game 3 postgame show for ESPN and interviewed his former teammate.

”And he tried to get the secret motivation out of me, and I didn’t give it to him either, even though I told him (privately),” James said. ”But he won’t tell you guys, though. He won’t tell you all until hopefully after this is all over.”

DELLY’S DUTIES: Matthew Dellavedova is expected to be ready to go after needing treatment for cramping and dehydration following Game 3. He played more than 38 minutes in that one and Cavaliers coach David Blatt said the team would keep an eye on him.

”But he’ll be out there and we’ll just monitor how he’s doing,” Blatt said. ”I’m not going to come in there with a specific minute restriction, but we’ll definitely be conscious of it.”

GREEN’S GUESS: Draymond Green, expected to play after getting treatment for back spasms, was asked what to expect from the Warriors at the start of Game 4.

”Just a more spirited team. More intensity,” he said. ”I’m not saying that, hey, we’re going to come out and make every shot. Who knows? Shots may fall, they may not. But I’m willing to bet if our intensity level is higher, the shots go in.”

—

Follow Brian Mahoney on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/Briancmahoney

The post Down 2-1 to Cavs, Warriors face ‘urgent’ NBA Finals Game 4 appeared first on IdealCapper.

Cleveland At Golden State
When: 9:00 PM ET, Thursday, June 4, 2015
Where: Oracle Arena, Oakland, California
TV: 9 p.m. ET, ABC
PREDICTION: Cavaliers 112, Warriors 108
Join BetOnline and get up to $1,000 BONUS

Oddsmakers currently have the Warriors listed as 6-point favorites versus the Cavaliers, while the game’s total is sitting at 203½.

The Warriors haven’t played since dispatching the Houston Rockets in the Western Conference finals on May 27 and the Cavaliers have been resting since finishing off the Atlanta Hawks in the Eastern finals on May 26.

The finals are being billed as a clash of current MVP Stephen Curry and four-time MVP LeBron James, and both players are having strong postseasons. Curry is averaging 29.2 points and 6.4 assists and has knocked down a postseason record 73 3-pointers while James is averaging 27.6 points, 10.4 rebounds and 8.3 assists but shooting just 17.6 percent from 3-point range. The Warriors are searching for their first NBA title since 1975 while Cleveland is looking for its initial crown, and both teams are itching to finally hit the hardwood. “We’re restless,” James said at a press conference. “We don’t like this much time off.”

The lengthy break has given injured point guard Kyrie Irving a chance to heal up and his ailing left knee has improved and his right foot is no longer a problem. But despite the rest time, he won’t be 100 percent for the opener and will be still operating under the same thought process he did in the Eastern finals against Atlanta. “Just like I said before — and I’m going to keep saying it — it’s a day-by-day thing,” Irving said at a press conference. “Continue to get treatment and do what it takes.”

Team record: 65-31 SU,48-48 ATS
Current Streak: won 7 straight games.
Cleveland is 4-1 ATS in its last 5 games
Cleveland is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games
Cleveland is 5-2 ATS in its last 7 games on the road
Cleveland is 6-1 SU in its last 7 games on the road

Shooting guard Klay Thompson was a beneficiary of the long break and has been cleared to play in the opener after recovering from a concussion suffered in the finale against Houston. Thompson completed the league’s concussion protocol and resumed practicing on Monday and pronounced himself ready to go. “I think it was mild,” Thompson said a press conference. “It wasn’t really severe but I think it was perfect timing because I got a week off to get perfectly healthy.”

Team record: 79-18 SU,54-42-1 ATS
Golden State is 7-1 SU in its last 8 games
The total has gone UNDER in 10 of Golden State’s last 12 games
Golden State is 3-8 ATS in its last 11 games at home
Golden State is 24-1 SU in its last 25 games at home

The post Cleveland vs. Golden State Preview appeared first on IdealCapper.

It was time for one James to go to bed, the other to have a late-night drink and get some much-needed rest.

The NBA Finals lie ahead.

Taking his magnificent game to a higher level, James sent the Cavaliers into the finals for the second time in franchise history on Tuesday night with a 118-88 romp over the Atlanta Hawks, who couldn’t stop the four-time league MVP and were swept in four straight.

Driven by the chance to end the city’s half-century-old championship drought, James was brilliant from start to finish. He averaged 30.3 points, 11 rebounds and 9.3 assists, the first player in postseason history to put up that statistical line. He’s never been better in the playoffs.

The Cavs don’t have a finals opponent yet as Golden State and Houston still have to settle things out West. But in the East, one team stands above all the others – the one with James, who will appear in his fifth consecutive finals after going four times in a row with Miami.

He came back to Ohio to win a title for his home region, where second place has been as good as it gets since the Browns ruled the NFL in 1964. There has been heartbreak in the years since as the Indians lost two World Series, the Browns were denied in three AFC championship games by Denver’s John Elway and the Cavs were swept by San Antonio in 2007.

With four wins, James can change that.

”We all know how long it’s been since a champion has been in this city,” he said. ”We will give our best shot.”

In the delirious moments after Game 4, James stood at mid-court as adoring Cleveland fans chanted: ”N-B-A Finals (clap, clap, clap, clap, clap).” He pulled a conference championship T-shirt over his head and put on a cap before turning to teammate J.R. Smith with a simple message.

”Four more,” he said.

LONG LAYOFF: The Finals don’t start until June 4, giving the Cavaliers nearly eight full days to get healthy – or as close to healthy as possible.

James has been battling an assortment of injuries and Kyrie Irving returned to the lineup after missing Games 2 and 3 with knee tendinitis. The break will also give the Cavs a chance to recharge mentally for their toughest challenge yet.

IRVING’S ISSUES: Irving has battled knee soreness and a sprained right foot throughout the playoffs. The All-Star scored 16 and had five assists in 22 minutes in Game 4. There’s a good chance Irving won’t be fully healed until after the season, so he might be more a role player in the finals.

Sitting again wasn’t an option.

”I knew that I wasn’t gonna sit on the bench and watch our guys go through a close-out game,” he said. ”I just wanted to be out there so bad. These last four days have been kind of hell for me. Just icing, icing, icing.”

Backup Matthew Dellavedova stepped up against Atlanta, pestering the Hawks with his belly-to-belly defense and knocking down big shots.

CAST OF CHARACTERS: The Cavs don’t rely on James to do everything. Besides Dellavedova, the Cavs have gotten major contributions from several role players. Tristan Thompson has grabbed 10 or more rebounds in seven of his nine starts; J.R. Smith made eight 3-pointers in Game 1 and four in Game 4 with 10 rebounds; Timofey Mozgov had 14 points; and Iman Shumpert is the team’s best perimeter defender.

The Cavs have become selfless.

”That’s what trying to accomplish a dream is all about,” James said.

DOMINATING DEFENSE: The Cavaliers are allowing just 92.6 points per game, tied with Chicago for best among any teams in this postseason, and limiting opponents to 41.2 percent shooting. Atlanta shot just 23.4 percent from 3-point range (5 of 32 in Game 4), lowering opponents’ shooting percentage against the Cavs behind the arc to 27.8 percent.

”Cleveland’s defense was good the entire series,” Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer said.

HOT IN CLEVELAND: The Cavs will host Games 3 and 4, and if necessary Game 6, at Quicken Loans Arena, one of the league’s noisiest buildings. They have won 26 of their last 28 at the Q, including 18 by double digits.

The post Better than ever, LeBron leads Cavaliers into NBA Finals appeared first on IdealCapper.

Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook teamed up for 50 points and needed to return in the fourth quarter to hold off a Sacramento charge, and the Thunder clinched the top seed in the West by beating the Sacramento Kings 104-95 on Monday night.

It was the 60th win for the franchise, which last accomplished the feat 15 years ago in Seattle. The team hasn’t been the top seed in the West since 1996, when the SuperSonics went to the NBA Finals before losing to Michael Jordan’s Bulls.

“We’ve never done it here before, so it’s new to us,” said Durant, who scored 29. “But it feels good. It shows our progression as a franchise each and every year.”

Tyreke Evans, the Kings’ second-leading scorer, did not return after grabbing at his troublesome left knee following a drive to the basket late in the first quarter. Without him, Sacramento fell woefully behind before mounting a flurry with the Thunder’s stars on the bench.

Durant hit a 3-pointer and Westbrook set up Serge Ibaka for a two-handed slam during a string of 11 straight Thunder points midway through the third quarter that stretched the lead to 75-51.

Sacramento was able to cut the deficit to 11 early in the fourth quarter and force coach Scott Brooks to put Durant and Westbrook back in and close out the game.

“To get 60 wins is quite an accomplishment,” Brooks said. “We’ve come a long ways through the hard work our entire organization has put in.”

Westbrook didn’t make it until the very end, drawing his second technical foul of the game with 2:28 left after spiking the basketball following Travis Outlaw’s dunk that brought Sacramento within 100-88. The two technical fouls brought Westbrook’s total to 15 for the season, one short of the number that would draw him an automatic one-game suspension.

Westbrook, who had 21 points, left the arena without speaking to reporters.

It appeared as though he — along with Durant and Ibaka — wouldn’t return after Westbrook was called for a technical foul with 3:04 left in the third quarter for complaining to referee David Guthrie that he had been hit in the face with no foul called.

Westbrook continued complaining until Guthrie instructed reserve Daniel Orton to lead Westbrook to the bench with Oklahoma City leading 76-55.

But the Kings soon pieced together a 12-2 comeback late in the third quarter, and Brooks called timeout after Sacramento scored six straight points to cut the lead to 84-73 with 9½ minutes left. Durant and Westbrook returned, and Sacramento couldn’t get within double digits until Jimmer Fredette’s four-point play with 7.8 seconds to go.

“With the second-best team in the NBA, you can’t get down early,” said Isaiah Thomas, who led Sacramento with 16 points. “You can’t get down 18 to 20 points. It’s going to be a hell of a job to make a comeback. We fought, though, in that third and fourth quarter.”

Outlaw scored 15 and Cole Aldrich had a double-double for the second straight game by tying his career best with 12 points and setting a career high with 13 rebounds.

Leading scorer DeMarcus Cousins, who was allowed to play after the NBA rescinded his 16th technical foul of the season, had just seven points and six rebounds and didn’t play in the fourth quarter.

Evans, who missed 16 games from late November through early January because of left knee injuries, clutched at the front of that knee as he lay under the basket following an awkward landing. His right foot appeared to slip on the court as his left leg folded up underneath him.

Outlaw and a trainer helped him off the court and down a tunnel to the locker room with 2 minutes left in the first quarter. A team spokesman described the injury as a left quadriceps strain.

“I definitely thought it was his knee, and he thought it was his knee as well,” Smart said. “We thought maybe when he fell and he hit the floor that maybe when they fell on it that maybe his knee had thrust into the floor.

“But then once he got in the back and realized that it wasn’t the knee. It was more the quad. I think it scared him more than anything else, thinking right away it was the knee. Just happy that it was just a quad and a couple weeks of rest and he’ll be back to normal.”

Smart said he won’t let Evans, who is a restricted free agent at the end of the season, play in the team’s final game Wednesday night against the Los Angeles Clippers.

“No need for him to go out there and limp around or try to do anything else to that,” he said. “So it’ll be a fight between Tyreke and I. We’ll do it behind closed doors, but it doesn’t warrant for him to get out there and try to do something.”

The Thunder scored the first eight points of the game and didn’t relinquish the lead, despite losing Thabo Sefolosha and Hasheem Thabeet to two fouls apiece within the first 7 minutes. The Kings got as close as one and were down 20-16 after Evans’ layup.

“It shows that we’re improving every year, and it’s a big number,” Sefolosha said. “There’s not a lot of teams that can do it. To be a part of that group and just to get to that number, it’s big.”

Game notes

While Durant is trailing New York’s Carmelo Anthony in his bid to win a fourth straight NBA scoring title, Brooks thinks another feat would be equally impressive. Durant is trying to become the sixth player in league history to shoot at least 50 percent on field goals, 40 percent on 3-pointers and 90 percent on free throws for a season. The others are Reggie Miller, Mark Price, Steve Nash, Dirk Nowitzki and Larry Bird. “To be able to score as many points as he has scored and shoot that well is pretty impressive. It doesn’t happen that often,” Brooks said. Brooks actually came close in Houston’s 1993-94 championship season, making 48 percent on field goals, 38 percent on 3s and 87 percent at the foul line. … It was the second straight April that Cousins was able to play at Oklahoma City only after a technical foul was rescinded. “You want to get it to where those things are all behind us,” Smart said, “where we don’t worry about any of those things anymore, to where we can focus on just the game and focus on the opponent.”

The post Thunder dispatch Kings to seal No. 1 seed in Western Conference appeared first on IdealCapper.

X-rays were negative.

Bryant would not speculate whether he would play Friday against the Indiana Pacers, but he left Philips Arena on Wednesday walking with a limp but without the aid of crutches.

The Lakers do not practice on Thursday. Bryant’s regiment for the day? “Compression. Ice. Django. Zero Dark Thirty. This is Forty and 1 hour of sleep. #countonwill #countonhaters. On to the next,” he tweeted.

Bryant, who had 31 points, seven rebounds and five assists in the Lakers’ 96-92 loss to Atlanta, landed awkwardly after taking a baseline jumper that would have forced overtime if it had gone in with 3.9 seconds remaining.

Bryant appeared to land on Dahntay Jones’ foot and twisted his left ankle, crumpling to the court in pain. No foul was called.

After the game, Bryant said referees need to do a better job protecting shooters from defenders who go underneath them while shooting.

“As defensive players, you can contest shots, but you can’t walk underneath players,” Bryant said. “That’s dangerous for the shooter.”

Bryant later tweeted: “#dangerousplay that should have been called. Period.”

Jones responded via Twitter: “Tape doesn’t lie. Ankle was turned on the floor after the leg kick out that knocked him off balance. I would never try to hurt the man.

He later added: “Leg kick that makes contact with a defensive player is an offense foul. Period. The nba changed that rule 2 yrs ago. Stop it!”

Bryant and Jones have a history. The Hawks’ swingman was called for a flagrant foul for tripping Bryant in Game 4 of the 2009 Western Conference finals when he played for the Denver Nuggets.

The play jogged Bryant’s memory even further than that, all the way back to Game 2 of the 2000 NBA Finals when he played just seven minutes after landing on then-Indiana Pacers guard and current ESPN NBA analyst Jalen Rose’s foot.

“He Jalen Rose’d me,” Bryant said of Jones on Wednesday night.

Rose admitted on “The Jalen Rose Show,” a podcast on ESPN.com’s Grantland Network, back in September that he purposely stepped under Bryant.

“I can’t say that it was an accident,” Rose said.

A reporter asked Bryant if he felt like Jones’ play was “deliberate.”

“I don’t ever want to put that on somebody, I really don’t,” Bryant said. “I just think players need to be made conscious of it and I think officials need to protect shooters. Period.”

Deliberate or not, Bryant was upset that Wednesday likely was the Lakers’ final game against the Hawks this season.

“I can’t get my mind past the fact that I got to wait a year to get revenge,” he said.

Jodie Meeks subbed in for Bryant with 2.6 seconds left to play after he fell to the floor, at which point Bryant approached the official on the sideline.

“He instructed (Lakers trainer) Gary (Vitti) to come out onto the court and he came out there on the court, which then takes me out of the game permanently; I can’t go back in,” Bryant said. “So that was just a miscommunication I was having a conversation with the official about.”

Lakers forward Earl Clark also suffered a sprained right ankle in the first half and did not play after exiting the game early in the third quarter. X-rays on Clark’s ankle were negative, and he is day to day.

“It didn’t swell up real big,” Clark said. “I can walk, I didn’t need crutches, so it feels pretty good. I’ll be ready to go on Friday.”

The Lakers (34-32) are a half-game ahead of the Utah Jazz (33-32) for the eighth and final Western Conference playoff spot.

The post Upset Kobe Bryant has ankle sprain appeared first on IdealCapper.

Buss died at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, said Bob Steiner, his assistant.

Buss had been hospitalized for most of the past 18 months while undergoing cancer treatment, but the immediate cause of death was kidney failure, Steiner said. With his condition apparently worsening in recent weeks, several prominent former Lakers visited Buss to say goodbye.

“The NBA has lost a visionary owner whose influence on our league is incalculable and will be felt for decades to come,” NBA commissioner David Stern said. “More importantly, we have lost a dear and valued friend.”

Under Buss’ leadership since 1979, the Lakers became Southern California’s most beloved sports franchise and a worldwide extension of Hollywood glamour.

Buss acquired, nurtured and befriended a staggering array of talented players and basketball minds during his Hall of Fame tenure, from Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to Bryant, Shaquille O’Neal and Dwight Howard.

“He was a visionary, he was a trailblazer,” Johnson said during an interview on “SportsCenter” on Monday afternoon. “He did things that were, at that time, people thought wasn’t cool, wasn’t proper. He was a man who walked the walk and talked the talk. He produced championships, because he was the most competitive owner you could ever meet in your life.”

“Condolences to the Buss family,” tweeted James Worthy, the Lakers’ Hall of Fame forward. “Dr Buss was not only the greatest sports owner, but a true friend & just a really cool guy. Loved him dearly.”

Few owners in sports history can approach Buss’ accomplishments with the Lakers, who made the NBA Finals 16 times during his nearly 34 years in charge, winning 10 titles between 1980 and 2010. The Lakers easily are the NBA’s winningest franchise since he bought the club, which is now run largely by Jim Buss and Jeanie Buss, two of his six children.

“We not only have lost our cherished father, but a beloved man of our community and a person respected by the world basketball community,” the Buss family said in a statement issued by the Lakers.

“It was our father’s often-stated desire and expectation that the Lakers remain in the Buss family. The Lakers have been our lives as well, and we will honor his wish and do everything in our power to continue his unparalleled legacy.”

The Buss family owns approximately 65 percent of the Lakers, a team source told ESPNLosAngeles.com. A team spokesman reiterated the family’s intention to maintain majority ownership of the franchise.

“The future of the organization will remain unchanged,” Lakers spokesman John Black said Monday during a news conference. “Dr. Buss set it up years in advance — he planned for the team to remain with the family.

“For the past several years, Jim Buss has been running the basketball operations and working in conjunction with our general manager Mitch Kupchak, and that will continue. Jeanie Buss has been running the business operations for 15 years, and that will continue. As far as the operation and running of the team, that will be unchanged.”

Buss always referred to the Lakers as his extended family, and his players rewarded his fanlike excitement with devotion, friendship and two hands full of championship rings. Working with front-office executives Jerry West, Bill Sharman and Kupchak, Buss spent lavishly to win his titles despite lacking a huge personal fortune, often running the NBA’s highest payroll while also paying high-profile coaches Pat Riley and Phil Jackson.

Always an innovative businessman, Buss paid for the Lakers through both their wild success and his own groundbreaking moves to raise revenue. He co-founded a basic-cable sports television network and sold the naming rights to the Forum at times when both now-standard strategies were unusual, further justifying his induction to the Pro Basketball Hall of Fame in 2010.

“RIP Jerry Buss. Your encouragement and support along with your stories of staying true to yourself had an enormous impact on me,” tweeted Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban.

“Dr. Jerry Buss was a cornerstone of the Los Angeles sports community and his name will always be synonymous with his beloved Lakers,” Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said. “It was through his stewardship that the Lakers brought ‘Showtime’ basketball and numerous championship rings to this great city. Today we mourn the loss and celebrate the life of a man who helped shape the modern landscape of sports in L.A.”

Johnson and fellow Hall of Famers Abdul-Jabbar and Worthy formed lifelong bonds with Buss during the Lakers’ run to five titles in nine years in the 1980s, when the Lakers earned a reputation as basketball’s most exciting team with their flamboyant Showtime style. The buzz extended throughout the Forum, where Buss used the Laker Girls, a brass band and promotions to keep Los Angeles fans interested in all four quarters of their games.

Jackson then led O’Neal and Bryant to a three-peat from 2000 to ’02, rekindling the Lakers’ mystique, before Bryant and Pau Gasol won two more titles under Jackson in 2009 and 2010.

“Our drive to be successful was there,” Bryant said in an interview with 710 ESPN Radio in Los Angeles. “Championship or bust — that starts with Dr. Buss.”

Although Buss gained fame and fortune with the Lakers, he also was a scholar, renaissance man and bon vivant who epitomized California cool — and a certain Los Angeles lifestyle — for his entire public life.

Buss rarely appeared in public without at least one attractive, much younger woman on his arm at USC football games, boxing matches at the Forum, poker tournaments — and, of course, Lakers games from his private box at Staples Center, which was built under his watch. In failing health recently, Buss hadn’t attended a Lakers game this season.

Buss earned a Ph.D. in chemistry at age 24 and had careers in aerospace and real estate development before getting into sports. With money from his real-estate ventures and a good bit of creative accounting, Buss bought the then-struggling Lakers, the NHL’s Los Angeles Kings and both clubs’ arena — the Forum — from Jack Kent Cooke in a $67.5 million deal that was the largest sports transaction in history at the time.

The reported estimated value of the Lakers at the time of that deal was $16 million. Forbes Magazine estimated last month that the Lakers currently are worth $1 billion, second to the New York Knicks among NBA franchises.

Buss also helped change televised sports by co-founding the Prime Ticket network in 1985, receiving a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2006 for his work in television. Breaking the contemporary model of subscription services for televised sports, Buss’ Prime Ticket put beloved broadcaster Chick Hearn and the Lakers’ home games on basic cable.

Buss also sold the naming rights to the Forum in 1988 to Great Western Savings & Loan — another deal that was ahead of its time.

Born in Salt Lake City, Gerald Hatten Buss was raised in poverty in Wyoming before improving his life through education. He attended USC for graduate school, eventually becoming a chemistry professor and working as a chemist for the Bureau of Mines before his life took a turn into wealth and sports.

The former mathematician claimed his fortune grew out of a $1,000 real-estate investment in a West Los Angeles apartment building with partner Frank Mariani, an aerospace engineer and co-worker.

Buss purchased Cooke’s entire Los Angeles sports empire in 1979, including a 13,000-acre ranch in Kern County. Buss’ love of basketball was the motivation for his purchase, and he immediately worked to transform the Lakers — who had won just one NBA title since moving west from Minneapolis in 1960 — into a star-powered endeavor befitting Hollywood.

“One of the first things I tried to do when I bought the team was to make it an identification for this city, like Motown in Detroit,” he told the Los Angeles Times in 2008. “I try to keep that identification alive. I’m a real Angeleno. I want us to be part of the community.”

Buss’ plans immediately worked: Johnson, Abdul-Jabbar and coach Paul Westhead led the Lakers to the 1980 title. Johnson’s ballhandling wizardry and Abdul-Jabbar’s smooth inside game made for an attractive style of play evoking Hollywood flair and West Coast sophistication.

Riley, the former broadcaster who fit the L.A. image perfectly with his slick-backed hair and good looks, was surprisingly promoted by Buss early in the 1981-82 season after West declined to co-coach the team. Riley became one of the best coaches in NBA history, leading the Lakers to four straight NBA Finals and four titles, with Worthy, Michael Cooper, Byron Scott and A.C. Green playing major roles.

“Today, in the world of sports, we have lost a true giant,” Riley said in a statement. “Jerry Buss was more than just an owner. He was one of the great innovators that any sport has ever encountered. He was a true visionary and it was obvious with the Lakers in the 80’s that ‘Showtime’ was more than just Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. It was really the vision of a man who saw something that connected with a community.

“I was privileged to be part of that for 10 years and even more grateful for the friendship that has lasted all these many years. I have always come to realize that if it weren’t for Dr. Buss, I wouldn’t be where I am today. I owe my start in professional coaching to him, and I will always hold him and his memory in the highest of regards.”

Overall, the Lakers made the finals nine times in Buss’ first 12 seasons while rekindling the NBA’s best rivalry with the Boston Celtics, and Buss basked in the worldwide celebrity he received from his team’s achievements. His womanizing and partying became Hollywood legend, with even his players struggling to keep up with Buss’ lifestyle.

Johnson’s HIV diagnosis and retirement in 1991 staggered Buss and the Lakers, the owner recalled in 2011. The Lakers struggled through much of the 1990s, going through seven coaches and making just one conference finals appearance in an eight-year stretch despite the 1996 arrivals of O’Neal, who signed with Los Angeles as a free agent, and Bryant, the 17-year-old high schooler acquired in a draft-week trade.

O’Neal and Bryant didn’t reach their potential until Buss persuaded Jackson, a six-time NBA champion while coaching the Chicago Bulls, to take over the Lakers in 1999. Los Angeles immediately won the next three NBA titles in brand-new Staples Center, AEG’s state-of-the-art downtown arena built with the Lakers as the primary tenant.

After the Lakers traded O’Neal in 2004, they hovered in mediocrity again until acquiring Gasol in a heist of a trade with Memphis in early 2008. Los Angeles made the next three NBA Finals, winning two more titles.

Through the Lakers’ frequent successes and occasional struggles, Buss never stopped living his Hollywood dream. He was an avid poker player, frequently participating in high-stakes tournaments, and a fixture on the Los Angeles club scene well into his 70s, when a late-night drunk-driving arrest in 2007 — with a 23-year-old woman in the passenger seat of his Mercedes-Benz — prompted him to cut down on his partying.

Buss owned the NHL’s Kings from 1979 to ’87, and the WNBA’s Los Angeles Sparks also won two league titles under Buss’ ownership. He also owned Los Angeles franchises in World Team Tennis and the Major Indoor Soccer League.

Jerry Buss still served two terms as president of the NBA’s Board of Governors and was actively involved in the 2011 lockout negotiations, developing blood clots in his legs attributed to his extensive travel during that time.

The post Lakers owner Jerry Buss dies appeared first on IdealCapper.

Mike Conley had 23 points and nine assists, and Allen had nine points and four of his five rebounds in the second half on Wednesday night to lead the Memphis Grizzlies to a 93-83 victory over the Boston Celtics. It was the fourth consecutive loss for Boston, which won its 17th NBA title with Allen in 2008.

“You come back to a team that you won a championship with, and there’s no greater feeling than coming back and getting that win,” Allen said. “Put all my feelings and emotions to the side and came out and did everything that Coach Lionel (Hollins) asked me to do.”

Rudy Gay scored 19 points for Memphis, which shot 61 percent from the floor — and 62.5 percent from 3-point range — in the first half. The Grizzlies led by 18 early in the fourth quarter, then made 8 of 11 free throws down the stretch after the Celtics made it a five-point game.

“Whatever we’re doing wrong, it’s not going to get fixed in a day,” said Celtics coach Doc Rivers. “That’s what happens when things aren’t going well: You’ve got to make them go well.”

Rivers was one of the Celtics that Allen sought out for a hug as the clock wound down. Afterward, in the visitors’ locker room, Allen was showing off a blood-stained Celtics uniform that he had worn in the NBA Finals; an equipment manager gave it to him.

“This is one of my jerseys they had. It almost brought tears to my eyes,” said Allen, who had played in Boston as an opponent only once before, in 2011.

“There’s still going to be one or two of those guys … I love them to death. That’s my family; like I said, it’s a brotherhood. … From the training camps in Maine to long seasons, getting the ring, raising the banner, the ring ceremony, all that. I just told them `Thanks for everything and good luck for the rest of the season.”

Paul Pierce scored 17 for Boston, but he had just one basket in the third quarter and none in the fourth while missing seven of his last eight shots.

Rajon Rondo had 11 points and 10 assists for the Celtics, who trailed by 79-61 after the opening basket of the fourth quarter but closed the gap to 83-78 with under 5 minutes to play on back-to-back 3-pointers from Jason Terry. Boston began fouling and the Grizzlies made their shots.

“We sit in here and we talk about being positive, don’t get our heads down,” Pierce said. “It’s just like any confident person: When things don’t go your way you feel the next thing is going to go your way, and that’s how this team feels.”

Memphis led by nine at the half and took a 75-59 lead after three quarters, then Marreese Speights hit a pair of baskets at the beginning of the fourth to give the Grizzlies a 79-61 lead. But Kevin Garnett scored eight points during a 17-4 run, and Boston made it 83-78 on Terry’s 3-pointers 46 seconds apart.

It was 85-78 with under 3 minutes to play when Garnett missed a pair of free throws and then committed a foul at the other end. The Celtics big man finished with 12 points and seven rebounds.

Avery Bradley returned from injuries to both shoulders for his first appearance of the season for the Celtics. He started and scored four points in 19:31. Rondo didn’t practice on Tuesday but played in his second straight after missing a game with bruised right hip and thigh.

Game notes

The Celtics lost three straight at the end of their four-game West Coast road trip — by an average of 23 points. … Garnett played in his 1,286th game, tying him with Sam Perkins for 14th on the NBA career list. … Boston rookie Jared Sullinger picked up three fouls in three minutes in the first half…. The Grizzlies had lost three of four after winning four in a row. … Memphis has forced at least 10 turnovers in 132 straight games, the longest active streak in the NBA. … Memphis reserve Jerryd Bayless sprained his left ankle in the first half and did not return. … Celtics rookie Fab Melo was in Boston to see a doctor after receiving a concussion when he ran into a hotel door. He expects to be back in Maine on Friday.

The post Grizzlies send reeling Celtics to fourth straight loss appeared first on IdealCapper.