News from April 18. New York fired head coach Isiah Thomas. The NBA Board of Governors approved the move of the Seattle Supersonics to Oklahoma City by a vote of 28-2 (with Dallas and Portland voting against). The team hopes to move in time for the 07-08 season, but the move is dependent on a court trial regarding the last 2 years of their lease with the Key Arena in Seattle (the team wants to buyout the last 2 years and the city is trying to enforce the lease in having the Sonics remain in Seattle) - the trial is scheduled for June 16. The move of the team comes with a fee of $30 million to the NBA. Luc Richard Mbah a Moute (junior, UCLA, forward) and Chris Douglas-Roberts (junior, Memphis, guard) declared themselves eligible for the NBA draft. The deadline for underclassmen to declare themselves eligible for the draft is April 27. The NBA held the tiebreakers (random drawing) for the 8 teams that finished with the same record to determine the draft order and lottery chances. Minnesota won the tiebreaker with Memphis (22-60 - 3rd worst record) and, thus, Minnesota will have 138 lottery chances and Memphis will have 137 lottery chances - if neither wins the lottery (#1, #2, #3 draft picks determined by the lottery), Minnesota will draft before Memphis. New York won the tiebreaker with the LA Clippers (23-59 - 5th worst record) and, thus, New York will have 76 lottery chances and the LA Clippers will have 75 lottery chances - if neither wins the lottery, New York will draft before the Clippers. Phoenix won the tiebreaker with Houston (55-27) and, thus, Seattle (which owns Phoenix's pick via the Kurt Thomas trade) will draft #24 and Houston will draft #25. San Antonio won the tiebreaker with New Orleans and, thus, San Antonio will draft #26 and New Orleans will draft #27. 2008 Draft Lottery Chances and Order Lottery Chances Team Chances (out of 1,000) Miami 250 Seattle 199 Minnesota 138 Memphis 137 New York 76 LA Clippers 75 Milwaukee 43 Charlotte 28 Chicago 17 New Jersey 11 Indiana 8 Sacramento 7 Portland 6 Golden State 5 First Round Order 15. Phoenix (from Atlanta) 16. Philadelphia 17. Toronto 18. Washington 19. Cleveland 20. Denver 21. New Jersey (from Dallas) 22. Orlando 23. Utah 24. Seattle (from Phoenix) 25. Houston 26. San Antonio 27. New Orleans 28. Memphis (from LA Lakers) 29. Detroit 30. Boston Second Round 31. Minnesota (from Miami via Boston) 32. Seattle 33/34. Portland (from Memphis) 33/34. Minnesota (may go to Detroit) 35/36. LA Clippers 35/36. Portland (from New York) 37. Milwaukee 38. Charlotte 39. Chicago 40. New Jersey 41. Indiana 42. Sacramento 43. Seattle (from Portland via Boston) 44. Golden State 45. Sacramento (from Atlanta) 46. Utah (from Philadelphia) 47. San Antonio (from Toronto) 48. Washington 49. Phoenix (from Cleveland) 50. Seattle (from Denver) 51. Dallas 52. Miami (from Orlando) 53. Utah 54. Houston 55. Portland (from Phoenix via Indiana) 56. Seattle (from New Orleans via Houston) 57. San Antonio 58. LA Lakers 59. Detroit 60. Boston Playoff Standings 1st Round 2nd Round 3rd Round Finals (Best of 7) (Best of 7) (Best of 7) (Best of 7) 1 LA Lakers (0) _ __ 8 Denver (0) |_ __ _ | 4 Utah (0) ______| |_ __ 5 Houston (0) _ | | | 2 New Orleans (0) __ | | 7 Dallas (0) |_ __| | _ | 3 San Antonio (0) __| | 6 Phoenix (0) |_ _ | 1 Boston (0) ______ | 8 Atlanta (0) |_ __ | _ | | 4 Cleveland (0) ___| | | 5 Washington (0) |_ __| _ 2 Detroit (0) _ | 7 Philadelphia (0) |_ __| _ 3 Orlando (0) ______| 6 Toronto (0) First Round (Central times) *if necessary Saturday, April 19 Game 1: Washington at Cleveland 11:30 am ESPN Game 1: Phoenix at San Antonio 2:00 pm ABC Game 1: Dallas at New Orleans 6:00 pm ESPN Game 1: Utah at Houston 8:30 pm ESPN Sunday, April 20 Game 1: Toronto at Orlando 11:30 am TNT Game 1: Denver at LA Lakers 2:00 pm ABC Game 1: Philadelphia at Detroit 5:00 pm TNT Game 1: Atlanta at Boston 7:30 pm TNT Monday, April 21 Game 2: Washington at Cleveland 6:00 pm TNT Game 2: Utah at Houston 8:30 pm TNT Tuesday, April 22 Game 2: Dallas at New Orleans 6:00 pm TNT Game 2: Toronto at Orlando 6:30 pm NBATV Game 2: Phoenix at San Antonio 8:30 pm TNT Wednesday, April 23 Game 2: Philadelphia at Detroit 6:30 pm NBATV Game 2: Atlanta at Boston 7:00 pm TNT Game 2: Denver at LA Lakers 9:30 pm TNT Thursday, April 24 Game 3: Orlando at Toronto 6:30 pm NBATV Game 3: Cleveland at Washington 7:00 pm TNT Game 3: Houston at Utah 9:30 pm TNT Friday, April 25 Game 3: Detroit at Philadelphia 6:00 pm ESPN2 Game 3: New Orleans at Dallas 7:00 pm ESPN Game 3: San Antonio at Phoenix 9:30 pm ESPN Saturday, April 26 Game 4: Orlando at Toronto 2:00 pm TNT Game 3: LA Lakers at Denver 4:30 pm TNT Game 3: Boston at Atlanta 7:00 pm ESPN Game 4: Houston at Utah 9:30 pm ESPN Sunday, April 27 Game 4: Cleveland at Washington 12:00 pm ABC Game 4: San Antonio at Phoenix 2:30 pm ABC Game 4: Detroit at Philadelphia 6:00 pm TNT Game 4: New Orleans at Dallas 8:30 pm TNT Monday, April 28 *Game 5: Toronto at Orlando 6:30 pm NBATV Game 4: Boston at Atlanta 7:00 pm TNT Game 4: LA Lakers at Denver 9:30 pm TNT Tuesday, April 29 *Game 5: Dallas at New Orleans TBA *Game 5: Phoenix at San Antonio TBA *Game 5: Utah at Houston TBA *Game 5: Philadelphia at Detroit TBA Wednesday, April 30 *Game 5: Denver at LA Lakers TBA *Game 5: Atlanta at Boston TBA *Game 5: Washington at Cleveland TBA Thursday, May 1 *Game 6: New Orleans at Dallas TBA *Game 6: San Antonio at Phoenix TBA *Game 6: Detroit at Philadelphia TBA *Game 6: Orlando at Toronto TBA Friday, May 2 *Game 6: LA Lakers at Denver TBA *Game 6: Houston at Utah TBA *Game 6: Boston at Atlanta TBA *Game 6: Cleveland at Washington TBA Saturday, May 3 *Game 7: Dallas at New Orleans TBA *Game 7: Phoenix at San Antonio TBA *Game 7: Philadelphia at Detroit TBA *Game 7: Toronto at Orlando TBA Sunday, May 4 *Game 7: Denver at LA Lakers TBA *Game 7: Utah at Houston TBA *Game 7: Atlanta at Boston TBA *Game 7: Washington at Cleveland TBA ---- Patricia Bender pbender@eskimo.com For NBA stuff: http://www.eskimo.com/~pbender/index.html For Mavs stuff: http://www.eskimo.com/~pbender/mavs.html