News from April 15. The NBA named Kevin Durant (OKC) and LeBron James (Mia) as Players of the Month for April. Durant averaged 26.8 points and 7.3 rebounds as Oklahoma City went 5-3. James averaged 28.5 points, 6.8 rebounds, and 8 assists as Miami went 6-1. DeAngelo Casto (junior, Washington State, forward) declared himself eligible for the NBA draft. The NBA held the tiebreakers (random drawing) for the 6 teams that finished with the same record to determine the draft order and lottery chances. Sacramento won the tiebreaker with New Jersey (24-58, 5th worst record) and, thus, Sacramento will have 76 lottery chances and Utah (which owns New Jersey's pick) will have 75 lottery chances - if neither wins the lottery (#1, #2, #3 draft picks determined by the lottery), Sacramento will draft before Utah. New Orleans won the tiebreaker with Memphis (46-36) and, thus, Charlotte (which owns New Orleans' pick) will draft #19 and Minnesota (which owns Memphis' pick) will draft #20. Dallas won the tiebreaker with the LA Lakers (57-25) and, thus, Dallas will draft #26 and New Jersey (which owns the Lakers' pick) will draft #27. The lottery drawing will take placed May 17 and the NBA Draft is June 23. 2011 Draft Lottery Chances and Order Lottery Chances Team Chances (out of 1,000) Minnesota 250 Cleveland 199 Toronto 156 Washington 119 Sacramento 76 Utah 75 (from New Jersey) Detroit 43 Cleveland 28 (from LA Clippers) Charlotte 17 Milwaukee 11 Golden State 8 Utah 7 Phoenix 6 Houston 5 First Round Order 15. Indiana 16. Philadelphia 17. New York 18. Washington (from Atlanta) 19. Charlotte (from New Orleans via Portland) 20. Minnesota (from Memphis via Utah) 21. Portland 22. Denver 23. Houston (from Orlando via Phoenix) 24. Oklahoma City 25. Boston 26. Dallas 27. New Jersey (from LA Lakers) 28. Chicago (from Miami via Toronto) 29. San Antonio 30. Chicago Second Round Order 31. Miami (from Minnesota) 32. Cleveland 33. Detroit (from Toronto) 34. Washington 35/36. Sacramento 35/36. New Jersey 37. LA Clippers (from Detroit) 38. Houston (from LA Clippers) 39. Charlotte 40. Milwaukee 41. LA Lakers (from Golden State via New Jersey) 42. Indiana 43/44. Chicago (from Utah via Chicago) 43/44. Golden State (from Phoenix via Chicago) 45. New Orleans (from Philadelphia) 46. LA Lakers (from New York) 47. LA Clippers (from Houston) 48. Atlanta 49. Memphis 50. Philadelphia (from New Orleans) 51. Portland (may go to Detroit via Denver) 52. Denver (may go to Portland or to Detroit) 53. Orlando 54. Cleveland (from Oklahoma City via Miami) 55. Boston 56. LA Lakers 57. Dallas 58. LA Lakers (from Miami) 59. San Antonio 60. Sacramento (from Chicago via Milwaukee) Playoff Standings 1st Round 2nd Round 3rd Round Finals (Best of 7) (Best of 7) (Best of 7) (Best of 7) 1 San Antonio (0) ___ 8 Memphis (0) |_ __ _ | 4 Oklahoma City (0) _| |_ __ 5 Denver (0) _ | | | 2 LA Lakers (0) ___ | | 7 New Orleans (0) |_ __| | _ | 3 Dallas (0) ______| | 6 Portland (0) |_ _ | 1 Chicago (0) _______ | 8 Indiana (0) |_ __ | _ | | 4 Orlando (0) _______| | | 5 Atlanta (0) |_ __| _ 2 Miami (0) __ | 7 Philadelphia (0) |_ __| _ 3 Boston (0) ______| 6 New York (0) First Round (all time Central) *if necessary Saturday, April 16 Game 1 Indiana at Chicago 12:00 pm ESPN Game 1 Philadelphia at Miami 2:30 pm ABC Game 1 Atlanta at Orlando 6:00 pm ESPN Game 1 Portland at Dallas 8:30 pm ESPN Sunday, April 17 Game 1 Memphis at San Antonio 12:00 pm TNT Game 1 New Orleans at LA Lakers 2:30 pm ABC Game 1 New York at Boston 6:00 pm TNT Game 1 Denver at Oklahoma City 8:30 pm TNT Monday, April 18 Game 2 Philadelphia at Miami 6:00 pm TNT Game 2 Indiana at Chicago 8:30 pm TNT Tuesday, April 19 Game 2 New York at Boston 6:00 pm TNT Game 2 Atlanta at Orlando 6:30 pm NBATV Game 2 Portland at Dallas 8:30 pm TNT Wednesday, April 20 Game 2 Denver at Oklahoma City 7:00 pm TNT Game 2 Memphis at San Antonio 7:30 pm NBATV Game 2 New Orleans at LA Lakers 9:30 pm TNT Thursday, April 21 Game 3 Chicago at Indiana 6:00 pm NBATV Game 3 Miami at Philadelphia 7:00 pm TNT Game 3 Dallas at Portland 9:30 pm TNT Friday, April 22 Game 3 Boston at New York 6:00 pm ESPN Game 3 Orlando at Atlanta 7:00 pm ESPN2 Game 3 LA Lakers at New Orleans 8:30 pm ESPN Saturday, April 23 Game 4 Chicago at Indiana 1:30 pm TNT Game 4 Dallas at Portland 4:00 pm TNT Game 3 San Antonio at Memphis 6:30 pm ESPN Game 3 Oklahoma City at Denver 9:00 pm ESPN Sunday, April 24 Game 4 Miami at Philadelphia 12:00 pm ABC Game 4 Boston at New York 2:30 pm ABC Game 4 Orlando at Atlanta 6:00 pm TNT Game 4 LA Lakers at New Orleans 8:30 pm TNT Monday, April 25 Game 4 Oklahoma City at Denver 9:30 pm TNT Game 4 San Antonio at Memphis TBA *Game 5 Portland at Dallas TBA Tuesday, April 26 *Game 5 New Orleans at LA Lakers TBA *Game 5 Indiana at Chicago TBA *Game 5 New York at Boston TBA *Game 5 Atlanta at Orlando TBA Wednesday, April 27 *Game 5 Memphis at San Antonio TBA *Game 5 Denver at Oklahoma City TBA *Game 5 Philadelphia at Miami TBA Thursday, April 28 *Game 6 LA Lakers at New Orleans TBA *Game 6 Dallas at Portland TBA *Game 6 Chicago at Indiana TBA *Game 6 Orlando at Atlanta TBA Friday, April 29 *Game 6 San Antonio at Memphis TBA *Game 6 Oklahoma City at Denver TBA *Game 6 Miami at Philadelphia TBA *Game 6 Boston at New York TBA Saturday, April 30 *Game 7 New Orleans at LA Lakers TBA *Game 7 Portland at Dallas TBA *Game 7 Indiana at Chicago TBA *Game 7 Atlanta at Orlando TBA Sunday, May 1 *Game 7 Memphis at San Antonio TBA *Game 7 Denver at Oklahoma City TBA *Game 7 Philadelphia at Miami TBA *Game 7 New York at Boston TBA ---- Patricia Bender pbender@eskimo.com For Trianglons puzzles: http://www.trianglons.com For NBA stuff: http://www.eskimo.com/~pbender/index.html For Mavs stuff: http://www.eskimo.com/~pbender/mavs.html