News from April 12. The NBA's proposed new rule changes for next season passed by receiving 22 yes votes from the 29 owners (needed 20 to pass). The rule changes were voted on as a package, not individually. The rules were proposed to supposedly help increase offense and ball movement. [I say they have the opposite affect and cause sloppy play and turnovers. Bad rule changes.] The new rules are: 1. Eliminate illegal defense completely. 2. New 3 second restriction for defenders in the paint. If a defender is in the paint more than 3 seconds and not within arm's length of an offensive player then it results in a technical foul. 3. Shorten the 10 second count to 8 seconds. Teams have to get the ball over half court in 8 seconds or it results in a turnover. 4. Reduce the number of touch fouls by allowing brief contact initiated by a defensive player if it does not impede the progress of the player with the ball. [The only decent change in this list.] The NBA fined Lorenzen Wright (Atl) $7,500 and suspended him for 1 game and fined Chris Gatling (Cle) $7,500 and suspended him for 1 game for their altercation in Wednesday's Cle-Atl game. Gilbert Arenas (sophomore, Arizona, guard) and Bobby Simmons (junior, DePaul, forward) declared themselves eligible for the NBA draft. Orl 101, Phi 77 - at Orl Tracy McGrady (Orl) had 31 points including 8-10 FT and 5 rebounds. Troy Hudson (Orl) had 21 points and 7 assists. Dee Brown (Orl) had 17 points including 5-8 3-pointers. Tyrone Hill (Phi) had 16 points and 6 rebounds. Matt Geiger (Phi) had 10 points on 5-14 FG and 7 rebounds. Orl shot 20-26 FT and Phi shot 9-14 FT. Cha 88, NJ 78 - at Cha Elden Campbell (Cha) had 22 points on 6-9 FG and 10-11 FT and 9 rebounds. Baron Davis (Cha) had 16 points, 6 rebounds, and 8 assists. Eddie Robinson (Cha) had 18 points, 6 rebounds, and 3 steals. Johnny Newman (NJ) had 16 points. Keith Van Horn (NJ) had 14 points including 5-14 FG and 11 rebounds. Cha shot 42.9% (30-70) FG and NJ shot 32.6% (28-86) FG. Stephen Jackson (NJ, sore right foot) did not play. Sac 107, SA 105 OT - at SA Predrag Stojakovic (Sac) had 16 points including 6-18 FG and the game winning baseline jumper with 2.4 seconds left. Chris Webber (Sac) had 26 points, 13 rebounds, and 6 assists. Vlade Divac (Sac) had 20 points and 13 rebounds. Tim Duncan (SA) had 42 points on 17-31 FG and 8-10 FT, 11 rebounds, 5 assists, and 4 blocks in 50 minutes. Derek Anderson (SA) had 14 points including 4-15 FG, 6 rebounds, and 5 turnovers. LAL 119, Min 102 - at LAL Rick Fox (LAL) had 16 points including 4-7 3-pointers and 6 rebounds. Shaquille O'Neal (LAL) had 31 points including 9-17 FG, 12 rebounds, and 6 assists. Kobe Bryant (LAL) had 30 points including 14-24 FG, 5 rebounds, and 9 assists. Kevin Garnett (Min) had 15 points, 8 rebounds, and 7 assists. Terrell Brandon (Min) had 21 points including 10-14 FG. Por 100, Van 87 - at Van Rasheed Wallace (Por) had 27 points including 9-11 FT and 6 rebounds. Damon Stoudamire (Por) had 14 points, 6 rebounds, and 5 assists. Dale Davis (Por) had 18 points including 8-11 FG and 15 rebounds. Shareef Abdur-Rahim (Van) had 14 points, 12 rebounds, and 6 assists. Mike Bibby (Van) had 24 points on 11-18 FG, 5 rebounds, and 8 assists. Por shot 13-18 FT and Van shot 6-9 FT. Por out-rebounded Van 55-33 including 19-5 offensive. Michael Dickerson (Van, left abdominal strain) and Erick Strickland (Van, strained left knee) did not play. Mil 115, Uta 93 - at Mil Scott Williams (Mil) had 15 points, 10 rebounds, and 3 steals. Ray Allen (Mil) had 43 points including 14-23 FG and 8-14 3-pointers, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists. Sam Cassell (Mil) had 18 points and 9 assists. Karl Malone (Uta) had 13 points, 8 rebounds, and 6 assists. Donyell Marshall (Uta) had 14 points and 3 blocks. Tim Thomas (Mil, right shoulder subluxation) did not play.