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Warriors Moving to San Francisco
The Golden State Warriors are ready to move back to San Francisco.
The NBA team, Commissioner David Stern and San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee scheduled a news conference Tuesday to announce the decision to leave Oakland. The earliest the team could move would be 2017, when it can escape its lease at Oracle Arena.
The Warriors hope to build an arena at the waterfront site near the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge and just blocks from the Giants’ ballpark.
Joe Lacob and Peter Guber have been working to return the team to the City by the Bay since buying the Warriors for a league-record $450 million in 2010. The Warriors played in San Francisco from 1962 to 1971.
(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
AP Source: Knicks, Woodson could agree this week
A person with knowledge of the situation says the New York Knicks and coach Mike Woodson are finalizing a multiyear deal that could be announced this week.
Woodson led the Knicks to an 18-6 record and a first-round playoff loss to Miami as the interim coach after replacing Mike D’Antoni on March 14. The Knicks’ victory in Game 4 of the series snapped an NBA-record, 13-game postseason losing streak that dated to 2001.
Top players Carmelo Anthony, Amare Stoudemire and Tyson Chandler all endorsed Woodson’s return and will get their wish, the person tells The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the contract is not finished yet. The New York Post reported Tuesday that the sides were committed to getting the deal done before the Memorial Day weekend.
(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
R&B singer Usher claims ex-wife spit at girlfriend
R&B singer Usher Raymond is locked in a legal battle with his ex-wife arising from a custody fight over their two sons.
The 33-year-old testified in court on Tuesday that Tameka Foster Raymond spit at and tried to fight his girlfriend during one visit. He alleged that his ex-wife hit him during the dispute, but that he didn’t press charges because “I didn’t want the boys to know that their father put their mother in jail.”
Tameka Raymond’s attorney claims that Usher provoked her client and that his account is exaggerated.
The two were married in 2007 and divorced two years later. Tameka Raymond has since fought for full custody of their two sons while Usher Raymond wants more visitation rights.
(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
Pearl Jam, Skrillex to perform at Philly festival
Pearl Jam, Skrillex and D’Angelo are among the performers scheduled to take the stage at the Made In America music festival Jay-Z is curating in Philadelphia in September.
Jay-Z will also perform, as will Janelle Monae, Passion Pit, Odd Future, Santigold, Afrojack, Calvin Harris and Rick Ross and his Maybach Music group.
The festival will feature 28 acts over Labor Day weekend. Tickets for the two-day festival are to go on sale Wednesday.
Jay-Z announced plans for the event last week atop the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Proceeds will benefit the United Way of Greater Philadelphia and Southern New Jersey.
More performers will be announced later.
(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
8 hurt in Oklahoma City shooting after NBA playoff
Oklahoma City police say a fight and shooting that wounded eight people — one critically — was not related to the Oklahoma City Thunder-Los Angeles Lakers NBA playoff game that had just ended.
Police Capt. Dexter Nelson said Tuesday that there have been no arrests in the Monday night shooting.
Nelson says witnesses reported seeing a group of females in an altercation with a group of males just before the shooting about 11:30 p.m. Monday.
Nelson says one person is hospitalized in critical condition and the other seven are in good condition.
The Thunder released a statement saying the team will work with police to review security and crowd control.
(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
Irving unanimous pick to NBA All-Rookie team
Rookie of the Year Kyrie Irving of Cleveland is the lone unanimous choice to the NBA’s All-Rookie team.
Irving received 58 points Tuesday in voting done by the league’s 30 head coaches, who could not vote for their own player. Joining him on the first team were Minnesota’s Ricky Rubio (49 points); Denver’s Kenneth Faried (46); Golden State’s Klay Thompson (43); and New York’s Iman Shumpert, San Antonio’s Kawhi Leonard and Detroit’s Brandon Knight, who all had 40 points.
Irving, the No. 1 pick in the draft, became one of only six rookies to average at least 18.0 points, 5.0 assists and 1.0 steal while shooting at least 45 percent from the field, a list that includes Michael Jordan and Magic Johnson.
(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
Knicks coach says Lin won’t return in this round
Interim coach Mike Woodson says Jeremy Lin will not play in the Knicks’ first-round series against Miami, even if they avoid elimination Wednesday.
The Knicks trail the Heat 3-1 and have lost guards Baron Davis and Iman Shumpert to knee injuries during the series. They hoped Lin would be able to return from his April 2 surgery to repair torn cartilage in his left knee, but Woodson says Tuesday that Lin is out.
“Speaking with medical and Jeremy, he will not play in this series,” Woodson said after practice.
The Knicks said Lin was expected to miss six weeks after the surgery, but he has been working out at practice. Woodson says Lin shot around Tuesday “but he’s just not physically ready to play.”
Veteran Mike Bibby will start Wednesday.
(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
‘Avengers’ ups dollar power with $207.4M opening
“The Avengers” has extended its box-office superpowers with a record $207.4 million opening weekend domestically, an even bigger start than originally projected.
Final figures from distributor Disney on Monday put the film’s debut $7.1 million higher than the studio estimated a day earlier.
With a superstar cast, great reviews and glowing word of mouth from fans, “The Avengers” bounded past the previous record of $169.2 million set by last year’s “Harry Potter” finale.
The Marvel Comics adaptation also has taken in $447.4 million overseas since it started rolling out in international markets a week earlier. That brings its worldwide total to $654.8 million in just 12 days.
(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
Baron Davis out a year with severe knee injury
Baron Davis has torn the anterior cruciate and medial collateral ligaments in his right knee, a potentially career-threatening injury for the Knicks’ 33-year-old point guard.
The Knicks said Davis was expected to be out a year after an MRI on Monday also revealed a partial tear of the patella tendon.
Davis was hurt Sunday in the Knicks’ 89-87 victory over Miami, crumbling to the court when his knee gave out as he dribbled upcourt on a fast break in the third quarter. Some players looked away as replays of the gruesome injury were shown on the overhead video board.
Davis has battled injuries in recent years and said he wasn’t sure if he would play again after a herniated disk in his back last year kept him out until February.
(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
CP3 leads Clips past Grizz in OT to 3-1 lead
The Los Angeles Clippers’ 10-point lead late in regulation had evaporated, and Blake Griffin stood helplessly at their bench with hands on hips after fouling out in overtime. A building full of red-shirted fans sat nervously, dreading another disaster for a franchise with more than its share.
Except Chris Paul wasn’t around for any of the Clippers’ bad times.
While everybody else worried, he calmly shepherded his club out of another perilous spot and onto the brink of something big.
Paul scored eight of his 27 points in a dynamic overtime performance, and the Clippers moved to the verge of their second playoff series victory in 36 years with a 101-97 win over the Memphis Grizzlies on Monday night, taking a 3-1 series lead.
“It’s fun, it’s exciting,” said Paul, who atoned for his inability to score at the regulation buzzer.
“The worst mistake I probably made in the game was not getting the shot at the end of regulation,” he added. “If I was at home watching it on TV, I’d be talking so bad about me. But you’ve got to get through it. The (best) thing about it is that I have teammates that have confidence in me. Everything that we do is a team win.”
Maybe so, but the Clippers were ever so grateful to rely on their All-Star point guard.
Griffin had 30 points and seven assists before fouling out with 2:26 left in overtime for the Clippers, who blew an 84-74 lead over the final 41/2 minutes of regulation before Paul took charge in the overtime. He played with the same intensity he showed late in regulation, heedlessly flinging himself over the front row of chairs in an attempt to save a loose ball.
“He’s a great player, and that’s what great players do,” Memphis coach Lionel Hollins said.
Game 5 is Wednesday night in Memphis, with Game 6 back at Staples Center on Friday if necessary.
After Paul hit consecutive jumpers to put the Clippers ahead 99-93 with 44 seconds left, Mike Conley’s layup with 8.1 seconds left trimmed the Clippers’ lead back to two points. But after Mo Williams hit two free throws with 7.2 seconds left and Rudy Gay missed a meaningless 3-pointer, Griffin and Paul embraced while another frenzied sellout crowd of long-suffering Clippers fans roared.
“Chris is always intense,” Clippers coach Vinny Del Negro said. “That’s what makes him special. Chris is so good, not only at making plays for himself, but making the right play. That’s what makes him a star.”
Conley scored a career playoff-high 25 points and Gay had 23 on 8-of-25 shooting for the Grizzlies, who couldn’t match Paul’s late-game poise in another thrilling chapter of a highly entertaining series with four games decided by a total of 15 points.
“It’s good TV, man, get the ratings up,” Paul said. “We don’t want any blowouts. There’s a reason we finished 4-5 (in the Western Conference standings) with one game between us. We have a lot of competitive guys that don’t give up in this series. We have two teams that are going to fight until the end.”
In their breakthrough season since pairing Paul with Griffin, the Clippers need one more victory to win their second playoff series since the erstwhile Buffalo Braves moved to California. Los Angeles beat Denver in the first round in 2006, but hadn’t been back to the postseason until this spring.
Caron Butler, playing with a broken bone in his left hand, scored 14 points for the Clippers, who still can’t be comfortable after getting outrebounded 47-36 and giving away a big late lead.
After the Clippers rallied from big fourth-quarter deficits in their first two victories, Memphis rallied to 85-83 on Zach Randolph’s jumper with 1:25 left. Gay hit the tying jumper in the final minute of regulation, and Paul drove for the go-ahead layup — his only points of the fourth quarter — before Randolph coolly hit two tying free throws with 20.4 seconds left.
Paul couldn’t get a shot on the final possession of regulation, with Tony Allen and Gay swarming him — but he didn’t quit.
“It’s Chris Paul. He made his name off doing that,” Gay said. “He’s a tough guard. We can try and make it tougher on him, but still he’s going to make plays and make his teammates better. That’s what he’s been doing.”
The Clippers led 95-89 when Griffin fouled out, and the Grizzlies trimmed it to two points on jumpers by Conley and Gay. Paul went to work, shaking loose from defenders and hitting back-to-back jumpers sandwiching a turnover by Conley.
“Defensively in the overtime, we got three stops in a row, and Chris came down and hit big shot after big shot,” Griffin said. “We keep telling ourselves, and we’ve said this all year, it starts on defense for us.”
Fans filled Staples Center well before tipoff, donning their giveaway red T-shirts and standing to cheer on the majority of Los Angeles’ possessions. They raised Staples Center’s intensity to a level it hadn’t seen since … well, Sunday, when the Los Angeles Kings’ fans roared throughout their second-round NHL clincher over St. Louis.
The tone was set in the first quarter: In a scintillating 21/2-minute stretch, the teams combined for six 3-pointers, an alley-oop from Paul to DeAndre Jordan and a technical foul for Gay. Butler, who broke his hand in the opener and sat out Game 2 before surprisingly returning for Game 3, scored 11 points and checked out to a standing ovation in the first quarter.
Memphis kept constant pressure on Griffin, forcing the two-time All-Star to be resourceful while keeping his temper in check. Randolph got a technical foul in the second quarter when he fouled Griffin roughly on the shoulder and then chest-bumped him, but Griffin only chuckled while Randolph, the former Clippers big man, was pulled away from him.
The Grizzlies got tough, but the NBA’s leaders in steals didn’t get a single steal in the first half.
Notes: Paul picked up his second technical foul of the series, a double T with Dante Cunningham. The Clippers have seven technical fouls in the series to the Grizzlies’ six. … The NBA finalized the start time for Game 5 in Memphis. It will begin at 9:30 p.m. EDT. … After going 13 for 30 on free throws in Game 3, the Clippers made 10 straight to open Game 4, but finished 28 of 40.
(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
