News from April 22. Aaron Brooks (Hou) was named as the Most Improved Player. Brooks received 62 of 123 possible 1st place media votes. Total position votes Player Points 1st 2nd 3rd Aaron Brooks (Hou) ....... 403 62 27 12 Kevin Durant (OKC) ....... 101 17 5 1 Marc Gasol (Mem) ......... 101 9 13 17 George Hill (SA) ......... 101 7 17 15 Andrew Bogut (Mil) ....... 93 7 17 7 Russell Westbrook (OKC) .. 67 5 11 9 Joakim Noah (Chi) ........ 64 7 8 5 Gerald Wallace (Cha) ..... 29 3 4 2 Corey Brewer (Min) ....... 19 0 3 10 Brook Lopez (NJ) ......... 19 1 3 5 Carl Landry (Sac) ........ 18 0 4 6 Andray Blatche (Was) ..... 12 1 2 1 Rajon Rondo (Bos) ........ 12 2 0 2 Channing Frye (Pho) ...... 10 1 0 5 Danilo Gallinari (NY) .... 10 0 1 7 Josh Smith (Atl) ......... 8 0 2 2 David Lee (NY) ........... 7 0 0 7 Dwight Howard (Orl) ...... 5 1 0 0 Ersan Ilyasova (Mil) ..... 4 0 1 1 Chris Kaman (LAC) ........ 4 0 1 1 J.J. Reddick (Orl) ....... 4 0 1 1 Chris Douglas-Roberts (NJ) 3 0 1 0 Paul Millsap (Uta) ....... 3 0 1 0 Nene (Den) ............... 3 0 1 0 Robin Lopez (Pho) ........ 2 0 0 2 Monta Ellis (GS) ......... 1 0 0 1 J.J. Hickson (Cle) ....... 1 0 0 1 Zach Randolph (Mem) ...... 1 0 0 1 John Salmons (Mil) ....... 1 0 0 1 Ben Wallace (Det) ........ 1 0 0 1 The NBA fined Rasheed Wallace (Bos) $35,000 for criticizing the refs on Monday (no game). The NBA fined Stan Van Gundy (Orl) and Matt Barnes (Orl) $35,000 each for criticizing the refs following Wednesday's Orl-Cha game. Chi 108, Cle 106 at Chi Luol Deng (Chi) had 20 points. Joakim Noah (Chi) had 10 points, 15 rebounds, and 5 assists. Derrick Rose (Chi) had 31 points and 7 assists. Kirk Hinrich (Chi) had 27 points including 9-12 FG and 4-4 3-pointers, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists. LeBron James (Cle) had 39 points including 7-13 FT, 10 rebounds, 8 assists, 3 blocks, and 5 turnovers. Antawn Jamison (Cle) had 19 points and 11 rebounds. Maurice Williams (Cle) had 21 points including 5-11 3-pointers. Cle leads the series 2-1. OKC 101, LAL 96 at OKC Kevin Durant (OKC) had 29 points on 8-24 FG and 12-13 FT and 19 rebounds. Russell Westbrook (OKC) had 27 points and 8 rebounds. James Harden (OKC) had 18 points including 3-4 3-pointers and 5 rebounds. Pau Gasol (LAL) had 17 points, 15 rebounds, and 6 assists. Kobe Bryant (LAL) had 24 points including 4-11 3-pointers and 8 assists. LAL leads the series 2-1. Pho 108, Por 89 at Por Amare Stoudemire (Pho) had 20 points. Steve Nash (Pho) had 13 points, 10 assists, and 5 turnovers. Jason Richardson (Pho) had 42 points on 13-19 FG, 8-12 3-pointers, and 8-10 FT, 8 rebounds, and 3 steals. LaMarcus Aldridge (Por) had 17 points on 5-14 FG and 7-10 FT and 7 rebounds. Martell Webster (Por) had 14 points, 8 rebounds, and 4 steals. Pho leads the series 2-1. Playoff Standings 1st Round 2nd Round 3rd Round Finals (Best of 7) (Best of 7) (Best of 7) (Best of 7) 1 LA Lakers (2) _ 8 Oklahoma City (1) |_ _____________ _ _ _____________ | 4 Denver (1) ________| |_ _____________ _ 5 Utah (1) _ _____________ | | | 2 Dallas (1) ___ | | 7 San Antonio (1) |_ _____________ _| | _ _____________ | 3 Phoenix (2) ______| | 6 Portland (1) |_ ___________ _ ___________ | 1 Cleveland (2) _____ | 8 Chicago (1) |_ _____________ _ | _ _____________ | | 4 Boston (2) ________| | | 5 Miami (0) |_ _____________ _| _ _____________ 2 Orlando (2) _____ | 7 Charlotte (0) |_ _____________ _| _ _____________ 3 Atlanta (2) _____| 6 Milwaukee (0) First Round (all time Central) *if necessary Friday, April 23 Game 3 Boston at Miami 6:00 pm ESPN Game 3 Dallas at San Antonio 8:30 pm ESPN Game 3 Denver at Utah 9:30 pm ESPN2 Saturday, April 24 Game 3 Orlando at Charlotte 1:00 pm TNT Game 4 Phoenix at Portland 3:30 pm TNT Game 3 Atlanta at Milwaukee 6:00 pm ESPN Game 4 LA Lakers at Oklahoma City 8:30 pm ESPN Sunday, April 25 Game 4 Boston at Miami 12:00 pm ABC Game 4 Cleveland at Chicago 2:30 pm ABC Game 4 Dallas at San Antonio 6:00 pm TNT Game 4 Denver at Utah 8:30 pm TNT Monday, April 26 Game 4 Orlando at Charlotte 7:00 pm TNT Game 4 Atlanta at Milwaukee 7:30 pm NBATV Game 5 Portland at Phoenix 9:30 pm TNT Tuesday, April 27 *Game 5 Miami at Boston TBD Game 5 Chicago at Cleveland TBD Game 5 San Antonio at Dallas TBD Game 5 Oklahoma City at LA Lakers TBD Wednesday, April 28 *Game 5 Milwaukee at Atlanta TBD *Game 5 Charlotte at Orlando TBD Game 5 Utah at Denver TBD Thursday, April 29 *Game 6 Boston at Miami TBD *Game 6 Cleveland at Chicago TBD *Game 6 Phoenix at Portland TBD *Game 6 Dallas at San Antonio TBD Friday, April 30 *Game 6 Atlanta at Milwaukee TBD *Game 6 Orlando at Charlotte TBD *Game 6 Denver at Utah TBD *Game 6 LA Lakers at Oklahoma City TBD Saturday, May 1 *Game 7 Miami at Boston TBD *Game 7 Chicago at Cleveland TBD *Game 7 San Antonio at Dallas TBD Sunday, May 2 *Game 7 Charlotte at Orlando TBD *Game 7 Milwaukee at Atlanta TBD *Game 7 Utah at Denver TBD *Game 7 Portland at Phoenix TBD *Game 7 Oklahoma City at LA Lakers TBD ---- 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