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Sunday, February 28

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Last update: 3:32 pm ET

WEEI.com has learned the Celtics are one of the teams Battie would be interested in signing with if he is bought out. According to a source familiar with the situation, Battie would eye the top three or four teams in each conference, which makes sense for a veteran player who is trying to maximize the years he has left in the NBA. WEEI.com

According to the source, Battie, 34, considers himself to be the in twilight of his career and a serviceable big man who could rebound, play tough defense, and give timely fouls. He has not, however, had any conversations with the Celtics organization. WEEI.com

The Bulls still might release a player and sign an extra big man. Monday is the deadline for released players to be eligible to participate in the playoffs for a new team, so that could conceivably serve as incentive for someone such as Devin Brown to accept a buyout. Arlington Heights Daily Herald

Thorn acknowledged the free agent scene will be more crowded. "There are now seven teams that are at least $15 million under the cap," he said. "So a lot of teams for a finite number of guys." That, he predicted will be good for "second tier guys [who] are going to be very happy because there's going to be a lot of money available." New York Post

Randolph comported himself so well that when D'Antoni recently was asked to name the one player he has coached who has pleasantly surprised him the most, he didn't hesitate. "Zach Randolph," he answered. "In the league we like to talk to each other. Everybody thought (Zach's a bad guy). And it wasn't the case with him. That's why it surprised me so much when I got to know him. He's a good guy." New York Daily News

The contract expires this season, which keeps Simmons valuable - it frees up cap space for the Nets to chase the 2010 free agent class led by superstars LeBron James and Dwyane Wade. But that's the future. And Simmons is stuck in the present. "It's very frustrating for Bobby," says Simmons' agent, Mark Bartelstein. "He really wants to play. He thinks he can really help somebody quite a bit. But unfortunately as a player your hands are tied, and you can't put yourself in the game." New York Daily News

Simmons has told Vandeweghe that for as long as he is a Net, he would do whatever it takes - even switch positions - to help the team. "That's the right way to do it and he's done it the right way," says Vandeweghe. New York Daily News

Shaquille O'Neal's thumb injury continues to appear rather serious. O'Neal and Cavaliers head team physician Richard Parker are planning a trip today to Baltimore to get another opinion on the sprained right thumb. O'Neal had an MRI late Saturday at the Cleveland Clinic, which the team said confirmed that he'd suffered a sprained ligament after being hit Thursday night during the Cavs' victory in Boston. The team is still not putting a timetable on how long it will take O'Neal to recover. It may be waiting until the course of action is settled, which may be part of the reason for the trip. Cleveland Plain Dealer

Indiana Pacers coach Jim O'Brien said he doesn't think rookie Tyler Hansbrough will return to the lineup this season. "I don't think there's been an official announcement, but it would not surprise me not to have him the rest of the year," O'Brien said. "I'm not counting on him to be back. "He's dealing with a tough situation. It's getting deep into the season. He's unable to practice and condition. He would have to get himself in condition again if he got better within the next three weeks. That's a tough situation." Indianapolis Star

Jonathan Givony: Lots of guys in our 2011 mock draft who could declare in 2010 according to rumor mill. Twitter.com

The specific formula is not yet official, but plans are far enough along to specu late with great certainty Team USA will forefront an international doubleheader at Madison Square Garden in mid-August before the World Championship that commences later that month in Turkey. China and France also are scheduled participants. The fourth national team is unknown (to me, anyway) at this time, but it's not Spain, Lithuanian or Greece because Team USA already is programmed to play exhibitions against all three en route to Turkey. New York Post

I’m still not really sure if I understand his philosophy but D’Antoni took issue with the fact that I had the audacity to question why the Knicks didn’t foul Washington’s JaVale McGee seconds before McGee set up Nick Young for a game-tying three in final seconds of Friday’s overtime win. Other than it being a reasonable point to bring up and besides the fact that it is occasionally the job of beat reporters to question why the Knicks keep losing - they’re 20-38 by the way - D’Antoni kind of agreed with the premise after Friday’s win. He said he wanted the Knicks to foul with around five seconds left as opposed to 11 seconds when the poor shooting McGee caught the inbounds pass with his back to the basket. New York Daily News

Seriously, now. D’Antoni has been treated with kid’s gloves for almost two years. Only recently have issues like his lack of communication with the players, his lack of attention to defense and the lack of wins come to the forefront. That’s why I was a little surprised that he felt the need to make a let-me-attempt-to-embarrass-the-reporter-in-front-of-his-peers remark by sarcastically saying that I was “undefeated as a coach.” (For the record, I was an assistant coach when my son’s team won the New Jersey U11 state soccer championship. Does that count? I’m guessing probably not since I was volunteering my time.) New York Daily News

Forward Al Jefferson was arrested at 3 a.m. Sunday morning for driving while impaired. Jail records state an initial court date has been set for April 23 for a fourth-degree DWI. The DWI arrest occurred after Jefferson and the Wolves were crushed by Portland Saturday night, with a score of 110-91. WCCO.com

Last update: 5:28 am ET

Thorn said he doesn’t expect any Nets being bought out by Monday, the cutoff date for a player to be eligible for another team’s playoff roster. Veteran big man Tony Battie would be a prime candidate. "I don’t have anything going on with any player right now," he said. "I have nothing at all; don’t anticipate anything either." Bergen Record

Another potential concern whether Bosh would even fit with the team’s current nucleus is available points. With Durant, Westbrook, Jeff Green and James Harden, the Thunder already has four young players capable of posting 20 points on any given night. "Bosh is a great player, an All-Star,” said Green, the incumbent power forward who would be affected most by the addition of Bosh. "You never know how he would fit in because he’s a guy who demands the ball. He’s a great player, but who knows what will happen. That’s not up to me to say that he’ll fit great here because I’m still here.” Oklahoman

Durant said he thinks Bosh would fit from a chemistry standpoint because the Thunder is filled with "likeable guys.” But despite the current difference in their statistical production, Durant said he views Green and Bosh as similar players. "Jeff is on his way to that,” Durant said of Green. "It’s only his third season, and he’s playing phenomenal for us. He’s a guy just like that with versatility to go inside and out. He causes different matchup problems and makes it easier for everybody on the floor. So that’s who we look at to be that kind of guy. "But I’m glad we have the guys we have here. And we’re all young, so I’d like to see our core grow.” Oklahoman

Sources tell ESPN Cleveland's Michael Reghi that center Zydrunas Ilgauskas will re-sign with the Cavaliers when he is eligable to do so. Ilgauskas, who was traded to Washington in a 3-team 6 player deal to acquire Antawn Jamison, reached a buyout agreement with the Wizards Thursday and is a free agent. ESPNCleveland.com

A source close to the Denver Nuggets told HOOPSWORLD early Saturday afternoon that Zydrunas Ilgauskas will not become a member of the team. The front office made a hard push for his services, but he has opted not to sign with the Nuggets. "We went after Z, but he is going to Cleveland," the source said. HoopsWorld

In talking to agents, it appears the Blazers are mostly targeting big men. The agents for Kenny Thomas, Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Brian Cook and Jake Voskuhl all said the Blazers have called. Oregonian

The only point guard mentioned is Dan Dickau, the Vancouver, Wash. native who has had two stints with the Blazers - 20 games in 2003-2004 and 50 games in 2006-2007. That's not to say there aren't more, that's only what I could uncover from talking to agents. Oregonian

I have also heard NBA Development League point guard Will Conroy, whom a Blazers source this week confirm was “on the board,” but not likely to be signed. Other point guards believed to be on the Blazers board are Antonio Daniels and Jacque Vaughn. Oregonian

Then there is Phoenix Suns forward Amare Stoudemire, who basically begged the Heat or Cavaliers to scoop him up at the trade deadline, but also now is talking about embracing his current employer, still with the ability to sign an extension by season's end. On one hand, he said he was flattered by the trade interest. "Cleveland and Miami, both situations would have been great for me," he said on Dan Patrick's syndicated radio show, adding, "I can't really make too much of a decision right now because we are doing so well or we may make the playoffs here and we may go a step further." South Florida Sun-Sentinel

Brian Mahoney: Zach Randolph (31 pts, 25 rbs) still doesn't totally understand why #Knicks traded him. "I can play with LeBron, too," he joked. Twitter.com

But what about the Nuggets crushing the defending champions 105-79 Nov. 13 in Denver? "We played them in a game in which we got in at 4 o'clock in the morning,'' Lakers coach Phil Jackson said. But what about the Nuggets winning 126-113 Feb. 5 in Los Angeles? "They were 16-of-23 (actually 15-of-22) from the three-point line in that ballgame,'' Jackson said. "That's not going to happen every night. You know that as a coach.'' FanHouse

Jackson said before the teams met for the first time this season it was not yet a rivalry. Two lopsided defeats haven't changed his mind. "I think of a rivalry as a long-term (thing),'' Jackson said. "I think of the Celtics-Lakers, maybe the Spurs and the Lakers. ... If this ends up in a playoff situation, then it it will be three consecutive years against them in the playoffs, which does get there in rivalry fashion.'' FanHouse

But, if the Nuggets are looking for the Lakers to say it's a rivalry, they're not going to get that. "No,'' said forward Pau Gasol. "It takes years to develop a rivalry. And, if we meet five straight times in the conference finals, that will be the mindset that we have something going on. But we only met them once. The year before, we met them in the first round of the playoffs. But that wasn't much of a series.'' FanHouse

"I'm playing in an offense that allows me more freedom to do what I do," said Billups, in his second season back with the Nuggets. "Last year, I came and my scoring was the same as it was in Detroit, because I was getting a feeling for it — I hadn't been in a run -and-gun system in a long time. This year, having the summer to prepare for it, to prepare my body for it, I was more ready for the opportunity. In time, if I can have the ball to make decisions and score whenever I want, that's kind of what I do." Denver Post

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Blowing the lead to the championship-contending Cavaliers was bad. Blowing the lead a team that came into the Garden with five wins was worse. “I’ve got nothing to say,” Kevin Garnett proclaimed after the game. “I feel disgusted.” WEEI.com

Rivers was so pleased by Garnett’s performance early on -- he had eight points in the first quarter alone -- that he drew up plays to find him the ball. It’s something that, in spite of Garnett’s insistent to be unselfish, he would have liked the team to do more often down the stretch. “Early, especially, I liked that he was aggressive,” Rivers said. “Kevin is so unselfish, as everyone who’s been here knows. One of the things we have talked to him about is, I know what he’s trying to do. Kevin is so one-hundred percent about the team. He’s always thinking ball movement early. “And one of the things we told him, ‘We are moving it to you, and we want you to look at it.’ And I thought he did a great job of that early on. And then I thought he went a long stretch without touching it, and that’s on us. WEEI.com

Kendrick Perkins confirmed before Saturday’s game what many observers have felt about the Celtics for a while now. They are bored with the process. “It’s different because I think guys are really anxious to get to the playoffs,” he said. “You have your veteran guys, Sheed, KG, you could tell that this regular season really don’t excite them, seriously. Even with Paul and Ray, you still have to go out here and compete, and it’s not an excuse for losing but you can just tell guys just want to get to the crunch time, get to the playoffs.” WEEI.com

“Even like the Atlanta series, when they swept us, we took it to heart but it wasn’t like a big deal like how everyone else tried to make it,” Perkins admitted. “I don’t know if that’s a bad thing but it’s just like we come into games focused and we’re not trying to lose games but you can see that sometimes maybe we do get bored with the process and we can’t do that. “That first year we kept harping on trying to get that best record so we could have home court advantage through playoffs. I think now guys are [realize] last year we won a couple of games on the road, we won a lot more on the road this year, our road record is pretty decent and guys are comfortable and guys are really like we don’t care where we fall in the playoffs let’s just play so I don’t know if that’s a bad thing or good thing. I do hate losing, whether it’s the regular season or playoffs.” WEEI.com

Perkins said there was no panic in the Celtics locker room after blowing a 13-point lead to Cleveland on Thursday night and losing by 20. “After the Cleveland game, I never got a bad vibe from the team, period,” he said. “Guys said what they had to say about why we lost but one thing about this is we’re always together. There’s never guys straying apart. Guys always stick together, whether we lose or win so that’s the good thing about our team. “We’re always consistent on how we act we with each other. We never overreact to a loss or anything somebody may write about us. We always stick together. I guess that’s where ‘Ubuntu’ comes in. WEEI.com

Carl Landry sneaks up on people. Though he stands 6-foot-8 and carries 248 pounds on a thick, muscular frame, sometimes he stares in the mirror and blinks twice, making sure that even he sees what he sees. It's me, he tells himself. It's me. "I have developed so fast the last two years that it's kind of amazing," Landry said with a grin. "From my rookie year, to today, with people talking about me being a good player in this league. I never thought I would come this far. Who knows where I'll be in another 21/2 years?" Sacramento Bee

Bucks center Andrew Bogut came to his teammate's side after Jennings put on an impressive passing display in Milwaukee's 94-71 rout of Miami on Saturday. "Brandon hasn't been shooting a high percentage and he knows that," Bogut said. "But he still helps us immensely. People are getting on him and media and fans are saying he isn't playing as well as he was earlier in the season. "I beg to differ; we're winning now. He's the starting point guard on a winning team right now, so I think he's doing a great job for us. He's been huge and Luke Ridnour has been huge. One through 12, we don't have any superstar players out there, and I think we're playing basketball together." Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel

No wonder Jennings has called his 55-point night both a curse and a blessing. "I'm not going to say I did it all, but I do play a part with this team this year," Jennings said. "Coach (Scott) Skiles actually gave me the green light since Day One to go out there and showcase my talent, so without him, none of this would be possible. "You can't overlook and try to say I'm not one of the top rookies in the NBA. I mean, look what I'm doing. The first 20 games, I put it down. I did all the scoring. "But now I've got help. Now I'm running the team and doing what I'm supposed to do." Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel

Phoenix Coach Alvin Gentry called Kevin Durant "probably the fourth-best player in the league" behind James, Kobe Bryant and Wade, adding, "He might even be ahead of one of those players. I won't tell you which one." Bryant and Wade may both now drop 60 on the Suns, just in case Gentry meant one of them. Los Angeles Times

Bill Simmons: Kudos to Aaron Goodwin for hiring a digital attack dog to go after sportswriters. So classy for a sports agency! No wonder LeBron left. Twitter.com

Tom Ziller: Then @JonesOnTheNBA criticizes Simmons, for being so thin-skinned. And that makes Nate a "digital attack dog"? Seriously, Manute Bol skin. Twitter.com

Holly McKenzie: I asked DeMar what it feels like when LeBron comes barreling down the lane into you: "It feels like a damn freight train." Twitter.com

The Grizzlies say Gasol has dropped 25 pounds and reduced his body fat by 10 percent since joining them as a 23-year-old rookie last season, and Gasol said he was toting around at least an extra 10 pounds two years earlier when he first burst onto the international basketball scene coming off the bench for the Spanish team that won the 2006 World Championship in Japan. "I didn’t know the kid that much 4-5 years ago, I didn't know if he'd become a player or not, but he has," said New York coach Mike D'Antoni, who got his first glimpse of the younger Gasol as an assistant to coach Mike Krzyzewski on the U.S. national team that finished third at the 2006 Worlds. "He's very efficient, smart. He might be the best Gasol of the two, I don't know, that's saying a lot. But he's really good. "Before he had a lot of baby fat going on, just a young body, but that's normal," D'Antoni said. "Now he’s got a great body. He’s turned into a man. He’s strong, and he's a very dominant center. He has smarts, he can pass and he's very efficient offensively." ESPN.com

While covering the 2006 World Championship in Japan, the 2007 EuroBasket in Madrid and 2008 Olympic Games in China, I got to know quite a few Spanish sports journalists, more than one of whom told me that when their NBA and FIBA careers are all said and done, Marc will go down as having been a better player than Pau. And yes, even more so than D'Antoni, they were serious. That may seem like a stretch now, but if Marc Gasol can replicate the strides he has made in the past half-decade, it is not an impossibility. ESPN.com

"When I coached Pau, it was his second year in the league. Pau is a much more skilled player, much more gifted, but with that being said, Marc is every much the competitor as Pau. He competes, he's a worker and he's tough. When you have talent and skill, you can get away with less. When you’re not as skilled, God gives us all a way to be successful, and Marc not being as skilled as Pau has given [him] a little bit more fortitude, but that doesn’t mean that Pau doesn't have all of that. It’s just not on the same level as Marc." ESPN.com

With 22 games to go, Dudley already has himself a push. He got his second dunk of the season in Friday's win against the Clippers, on a breakaway in the second half where he was all alone, and threw it down with two hands. Dudley was, of course, happy to break it down for us after the game. "I was at least 35 inches off the ground," Dudley joked. "At LEAST 35. I slowed up because I wanted to make sure the rim came down so it could be declared a technical dunk. I was on the break, I was thinking about throwing it off the glass, but I said you know what, I'm gonna relax, and I'm just going to take the two-hand." FanHouse

Terrence Williams: They want me to have an attitude cause I didn't play ha not I the captain said, I thank KIKI for making me better haha great win nets. I don't no how to feel right now. Twitter.com

Their lack of doubt wasn't so much because they had comeback before, or because the Pistons were struggling more than them. Saturday, their confidence came from a unique source. "This one was for Frankie Shouldice," coach Don Nelson said after the win, leaving him seven wins shy of becoming the NBA's all-time winningest coach. Frankie, 10, had his dream come true Saturday as part of a collaboration between the Warriors and the Make-A-Wish Foundation. A San Francisco resident and avid Warriors fans, Fankie was given a tour by injured guard Raja Bell, took part in pregame drills and sat courtside with his parents. Frankie is battling lymphoma. He isn't quite terminal and has made strides in recent months. Several players said he put some perspective right in front of their noses Saturday. Contra Costa Times

Cavaliers fans let out a collective sigh of relief after LeBron James got up from a knee-to-thigh collision with a member of the Toronto Raptors. The collision left James laying on the floor in pain in the first quarter on Friday night. For the record, James and coach Mike Brown were right there with them. After absorbing the hit, James fell on the basketball to add insult to injury. ''Not a good day for me,'' James said. ''It is sore. It's one of those things that won't go away for a while. It will be a few days before I will be 100 percent.'' Akron Beacon Journal

James missing time would have been another blow to the team, especially with center Shaquille O'Neal currently on the shelf with a sprained right thumb. ''I was concerned,'' Brown said. ''But I would be just as concerned if it was Leon Powe, or Jawad Williams or Shaquille O'Neal. ''I don't want any of my guys getting hurt.'' James said that he's not looking forward to the next couple of days dealing with the injury. ''I knew exactly what it was because I have been kneed in the thigh before,'' James said. ''It is one of the worst pains you can have as an athlete, especially when you have to run up and down the court all day.'' Akron Beacon Journal

Shaquille O'Neal got an MRI on his sprained right thumb late Saturday but the team still won't be 100 percent sure of the diagnosis until the results can been seen by the team's hand specialist. They are expecting to have a timetable by Sunday. They are hopeful the sprained ligament isn't completely torn. No matter what happens, O'Neal is going to be out for a while. Cleveland Plain Dealer

Davis objected to the suggestion that he was trying to injure O’Neal, saying the clip was taken before O’Neal hurt his thumb. I was like, ‘That’s false,’ ” Davis said. “They edited that. That was before he hurt his hand.” The timeline and replays appear to back Davis’ story. Boston Herald

The Cleveland Plain Dealer reported Friday that some Cavs were upset with Davis’ actions. Davis said players frequently do little things to irritate opponents, but his intentions weren’t malicious. “I was just messing with him,” said Davis, who is friendly with O’Neal, a fellow LSU alum. “I wasn’t trying to hurt him.” Boston Herald

Chris Bosh and his sprained left ankle weren’t on the team charter when it took off for Oklahoma City on Saturday and he won’t be with the club in Houston on Monday either. “We’re going to leave him home, let him get some treatment over the next couple of days, get some work here (in the practice gym) and he’ll be ready for Friday when we get back,” head coach Jay Triano said Saturday at practice. QMI Agency

Don't look for Sasha Vujacic to be back from his sprained right shoulder sooner than after the March 10 game at Toronto. As for Luke Walton's back problems, "We're holding him out," Jackson said. Riverside Press-Enterprise

While recording the latest installment of “The Lionel Hollins Show,” a weekly podcast on gogrizzlies.com, the Grizzlies’ head coach said Mayo and Randolph were offering constructive criticism because of the team’s on-again, off-again intensity. Memphis will host Portland on Monday with a six-game losing streak in FedExForum. “There is a lack of urgency for us to get down at home every night and have to come from behind,” Hollins said. “I’m glad somebody said it other than me. I’m sure if you went around the room and talked to other guys, they’d say the same things. “But as I’ve said many times, talk is cheap. You have to go out and do it.” Memphis Commercial Appeal

Ewing also was in Dallas at NBA All-Star Weekend to coach in the rookie-sophomore all-star game. A kid approached him and asked for his autograph. "I said, ‘Do you know who I am?'" Ewing said, laughing. "He had no idea who I was. He must have thought I was still a player or his parents sent him over. That's OK. "It's funny. Some kids now only know me from the [Snickers] commercial ["Patrick Chewing"] or from the ‘Space Jam' movie," he said. "Times change, I guess." Orlando Sentinel

Nets president Rod Thorn spoke with beat reporters for the first time since his meeting with future owner Mikhail Prokhorov in Vancouver nearly two weeks ago, but wouldn’t address his future. Thorn is in the last year of his contract and all indications are he will return, but he’s not tipping his hand. "Not a thing going on," Thorn said. "Nothing at all. We’ll just see if and when Mr. Prokhorov takes over, he’ll do whatever he’s going to do. But until, as you’ve seen me quoted, I have nothing to say about any part of ownership. Period." Bergen Record

Adrian Wojnarowski: Here's the question people in the NBA are asking today: Will ownership make Michael Jordan more or less present in Charlotte? Twitter.com

Charlotte Bobcats coach Larry Brown might change jobs a lot, but he was adamant this time about not changing bosses. He came to Charlotte for one reason - because Michael Jordan asked him to nearly two years ago. So naturally, Brown was elated Saturday to learn Jordan was buying controlling interest in the team from Bob Johnson. "It means everything. We all love him and respect him and want him involved," Brown said in the stands at the North Carolina-Wake Forest game in Winston-Salem. Charlotte Observer

Jordan hired general manager Rod Higgins and team president Fred Whitfield, in addition to Brown, and Brown was concerned a new owner would break up that mix. "He's allowed me to do my job, and I know he cares," Brown said, "so I think it's real important that we have closure on this thing and it's even more important to know that he's the head of the Bobcats." Charlotte Observer

A lawyer for former Spurs guard Alvin Robertson said Saturday his client has been wrongly linked to a sex-trafficking ring in Bexar County because of his prominence on and off the basketball court. “He's adamant that he's done nothing wrong,” said attorney Jimmy Parks Jr., who spoke with Robertson during his arrest Friday. “He's willing to get back to Bexar County as quick as he can to try to clear himself of these charges.” San Antonio Express-News

Robertson was arrested in Bentonville, Ark., where he was to attend a basketball shooting clinic over the weekend. He was one of seven people charged after a 14-year-old girl claimed she was kidnapped from an East Side home in March and forced to have sex with men for money in San Antonio and Corpus Christi. The girl escaped about a week later from the Corpus Christi home of Leslie Campbell, flagged down police and told officers he'd forced her to have sex with him for a week and dance at a strip club there. Bexar County sheriff's spokesman Ino Badillo said Friday that deputies later found the girl also had been taken to San Antonio to have sex with men for money. That opened a three-month investigation here. San Antonio Express-News

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