Grizzlies forward Shane Battier says Memphis is electric, and he sees no problem with his teammates rebounding from Wednesday night's 110-103 overtime loss in San Antonio. They are trying to become the fourth No. 8 seed in NBA history to beat a top seed to win a playoff series, holding a 3-2 lead going into Friday night's game.
"Ah, pressure, shmessure," Battier said. "We're playing with house money. I still contend that. We've proven we can come in here, and we've played well. So we want to win because we want to win, and we want to play well because we want to play well. Bottom line."
His teammates say they can't wait for Game 6 and would've tipped at noon Thursday if they could. Neither can their fans. Tickets went on sale Thursday morning, and the franchise notched its fastest sellout ever less than an hour.
Grizzlies guard Mike Conley said they aren't dwelling over Gary Neal's dagger of a 3-pointer with 1.7 seconds left to force overtime or that the Spurs avoided elimination by outscoring them 13-6 in the extra period.
"We're ready to play," Conley said. "After we lost (Wednesday) night, we can't wait to get back in front of the fans and put on a show for them and get a win."
Memphis fans would welcome a series-clinching victory Friday night. Neal's shot dredged up painful memories of Mario Chalmers' three-pointer for Kansas at the end of regulation against the Tigers in the 2008 NCAA national championship game. The Tigers, Memphis' first basketball love, let a title-clinching lead dwindle away with Chalmers' three-pointer forcing OT where Kansas finished off the victory and the title.
Making it even worse those Tigers lost in San Antonio.
The Game 5 loss was so bad for Grizzlies forward Zach Randolph that he barely slept. He scored 18 of his 26 points in the fourth quarter and overtime but couldn't help Memphis hold on for the win. Randolph said the Grizzlies know they were supposed to have won that game but also understand Neal hit a tough shot.
Now the Grizzlies face a must-win.
"We don't want to go back" to San Antonio, Randolph said.
That might sound odd considering only eight NBA teams have ever rallied from a 3-1 deficit to win a series. Then again Memphis had never even won a playoff game before this year, let alone a series.
If any team is capable of such a rally, it could be the Spurs. They won 61 games in the regular season and have Tim Duncan trying to add a fifth NBA title to his resume — with help from veterans Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili.
The Spurs weren't available Thursday, but Ginobili said wininng in Memphis will be hard. He sees the Grizzlies playing with an edge, made even more dangerous by a packed arena eager to watch the Western Conference's No. 1 seed go out.
"It's going to be wild and rough," Ginobili said. "We've got to be smart, just don't give them the ball and let them run and make silly mistakes. Just use our experience. That age that everybody talk about we have to use it smart."
The Spurs lived to play another game thanks to Neal's shot and Ginobili's own long jumper. But Duncan had only six points in his last game in Memphis. Parker's shooting touch has come, and mostly gone, in this series. Ginobili keeps battling with a fat brace protecting his sore right elbow.
Ginobili said he didn't think the Spurs showed the heart of a champion and just got lucky with two key shots.
"We were very close to being on vacation now," Ginobili said.
That leaves the Spurs trying to keep feeding off the energy from Neal's shot, which helped them finish off overtime.
"Like a new life," Parker said. "It gives us a lot of energy. I was so happy."
Memphis coach Lionel Hollins is brushing this off as just a tough loss. The Grizzlies had their share in the regular season, including one to Sacramento where Tyreke Evans hit a half-court buzzer beater in late December. Memphis wound up clinching its first playoff berth in five years against that same team in April.
"If you play cards, you lose a hand, you don't stop playing," Hollins said. "You keep competing, and the next night you go out and compete again."
ATLANTA (AP) — A new season. A much different result. The Atlanta Hawks are moving on in the playoffs, knocking out the team that beat them so badly a year ago.
Joe Johnson scored 23 points and came up with a huge offensive rebound, leading Atlanta past Orlando 84-81 in Game 6 Thursday night to finish off the Magic in the opening round.
The Hawks, who won the series 4-2, advanced to the second round for the third straight year, this time against the top-seeded Bulls. Game 1 is Monday night in Chicago.
What a difference a year makes. In 2010, the Magic routed the Hawks in four straight games, winning by an average of more than 25 points. It was the most lopsided sweep in NBA playoff history.
"What better redemption than to play them again?" said Jamal Crawford, who hit two big free throws after Johnson swatted him the ball. "We were up to the challenge."
Orlando heads into an uncertain offseason after its earliest playoff ouster since 2007. Who knows what the future holds for the Magic's best player, Dwight Howard?
The big man can become a free agent after next season but may be angling to get out earlier, now that the Magic appear to be heading in the wrong direction. Orlando made the final two years ago, the conference finals last season.
"Let's not even talk about it. There's no need to bring it up," Howard said. "Right now, I'll figure out how can I get myself better for next season, not figure out what team I want to play for. But right now I'm with the Magic. So all the speculation can stop. There's no need to talk about it."
As if the Hawks needed any additional motivation, Magic guard Jameer Nelson provided it. After a close loss to Chicago at the end of the regular season, Nelson whispered to Bulls star Derrick Rose, "See you in the second round."
A TV microphone picked it up. Everyone in Atlanta was clearly listening.
"They never give us a chance," Josh Smith said. "They never talk about the Hawks. They talk about Orlando, Chicago, Boston and Miami. We're always sneaking under the radar."
With Atlanta clinging to a one-point lead and the clock running down, Marvin Williams missed a clinching 3-pointer. But Johnson swatted the ball to Crawford, who was fouled and made both free throws with 8.2 seconds left.
"I just wanted to make a play," said Johnson, who bounced back from a dismal 5-point effort in Game 5. "The play was a pick-and-roll for Al (Horford) and Jamal, but we didn't come up with what we wanted. I just crashed the glass and tried to somehow get a hand on it. I did."
The Magic had two chances to force overtime. J.J. Redick missed an open 3, then Jason Richardson had a desperation shot from the corner blocked by Smith.
"A team that fights as hard as our guys did, and I couldn't get them over the hump to win this series, that really is disappointing to me and the job that I did as a coach," Orlando's Stan Van Gundy said, choking up a bit. "I'm just disappointed not to be able to get my team over the hump."
Redick came off a screen for a clear view of the basket, a play that couldn't have been drawn up any better. The shot rimmed out, though it went out of bounds off an Atlanta player to provide the Magic with one more shot. After his team called another timeout, Redick walked to the bench with his hands on his head.
That would be their last chance to extend the series. Orlando inbounded from the baseline to Richardson, but he didn't have much room to work in the corner. Smith extended a hand to finish off the Magic.
Hedo Turkoglu kicked the ball off the scoreboard hanging above the court in frustration as streamers fell from the ceiling, the sellout crowd celebrating the series winner.
The Magic was beaten off the glass 38-31, giving up 14 boards at the offensive end.
"The biggest thing was the rebounding," Van Gundy said. "It's sort of fitting we couldn't get a rebound on the last stop."
After not having much of an impact in Orlando's 25-point, series-extending win in Game 5, Howard led the Magic with 25 points and 15 rebounds. But, falling into a familiar pattern from the first four games, he didn't get much help from his teammates.
Turkoglu had 15 points on 5-of-13 shooting. Nelson was the only other Orlando player in double figures with 11.
Crawford scored 19 points, including consecutive 3s that gave Atlanta its biggest lead, 71-59, with just over 9 minutes left. The Magic fought back with an 8-0 spurt, and Ryan Anderson had a chance to give the Magic their first lead since the opening minutes with an open look from outside the stripe.
He missed, and the Magic never caught up with Atlanta after playing from behind nearly the entire game. Williams gave Atlanta's struggling offense a boost with 10 points, hitting a couple of big 3s.
Kirk Hinrich scored on a drive with just over 3 minutes to go, somehow getting the shot over Howard. But the Atlanta guard went up so high, he came down awkwardly on his right knee. He struggled back down the court, but collapsed after Gilbert Arenas was clobbered on a drive to the basket.
Hinrich was carried to the locker room, his arms draped around two Atlanta trainers so he didn't put any pressure on his leg. The Hawks said he had a strained hamstring and would undergo an MRI on Friday to determine to extent of the injury.
The Hawks were up 42-36 at halftime, but the lead should have been a lot bigger. Smith was 3 of 12 shooting with three turnovers. Crawford hit only 3 of 11, Johnson just 4 of 12. The home finished just 39 percent from the field (31 of 79).
"It wasn't perfect. It wasn't pretty," Horford said. "But we just willed ourselves to victory. Sometimes you have to do that."
Atlanta certainly worked much harder at the defensive end, especially around the arc. After giving up 11 3-pointers in Game 5, they held the Magic to just 5 of 19 from long range.
Things got rough in the third quarter, the desperation apparent for both teams. Orlando was trying to keep its season going. The Hawks had no desire to return to Florida for a decisive Game 7.
Turkoglu was whistled for a flagrant foul when he wrapped up Zaza Pachulia before he could get off a shot under the hoop. On the ensuing possession, Howard had the ball in close and was hacked by Pachulia, who received a flagrant violation as well.
Notes: Hinrich kept dropping back to double-team Howard in the first half, stripping the ball away twice and tying him up another time, setting up quite a mismatch on the jump ball. Howard is 6-foot-11 and 265 pounds — 7 inches taller and 75 pounds heavier than Hinrich. The Atlanta guard didn't even bother jumping, and Howard tipped the ball to an Atlanta player. ... The Hawks won seven out of 10 against the Magic this season. ... Orlando hasn't been sent home this early since a four-game sweep by Detroit in the opening round in 2007.
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Andrew Bynum used his massive frame to own the lane, Kobe Bryant made timely shots that silenced a hostile crowd, and the Los Angeles Lakers started to look a lot more like a team trying to win a third straight NBA title.
Bryant scored 22 of his 24 points in the first three quarters, then let his teammates take over in a dominant 98-80 victory over the New Orleans Hornets on Thursday night that wrapped up a first-round playoff series triumph for Los Angeles in six games.
The performance left coach Phil Jackson saying his current squad has the "potential to be as good as any team I've coached with the Lakers."
He might have sounded silly saying that after Game 4, when Chris Paul's triple-double helped the Hornets tie the series at two, but it's not like championship Lakers teams have never started slow before.
They split their first four playoff games with Oklahoma City last season before winning that series 4-2 and moving on to eventually win the franchise's 16th NBA title. This time, they turned in convincing double-digit victories in the last two games, winning by 16 on Tuesday night and leading by as much as 21 in the fourth quarter of the series clincher.
"We're good at making adjustments and learning," Bryant said. "So the more a series goes on, the more we learn. That comes from our coaching staff. That comes from us and the amount of experience we have, being able to pick teams apart the later we go in a series."
The Lakers move on to the second round, facing the Dallas Mavericks, who eliminated Portland in six games. Game 1 will be Monday at Staples Center.
The 7-foot, 285-pound Bynum had 18 points and 12 rebounds, drawing groans from the New Orleans crowd with each of his eight offensive rebounds. His ability to clean up teammates' misses and extend possessions helped Los Angeles gain a lopsided 21-4 advantage in second-chance points.
"Every time he got an offensive rebound, it was deflating," Hornets coach Monty Williams said. "You don't really realize how good he is until you face him in a series. Kobe's Kobe, but I thought Bynum decided the series. He was that good."
Pau Gasol chipped in 16 points and Lamar Odom 14 for the Lakers, whose overpowering fourth quarter provided an anticlimactic ending to what had initially been a more exciting series than many expected — particularly with the Hornets having lost leading scorer David West to a season-ending injury in late March.
Paul, who helped the Hornets split the first four games with two sensational performances, wasn't able to deliver a third victory. He had only seven points before hitting a 3-pointer with 4:02 to go and finished with 10 points, 11 assists and eight rebounds.
"Once we started missing shots, the lane became filled with Laker jerseys, and to ask Chris to bail us out of a game like that is unfair," Williams said. "They're the champs and they know how to put the pedal to the medal — and they did."
As they did in Game 5, the Lakers again controlled the paint, outrebounding New Orleans 43-30, including 14 offensive rebounds.
"We just lost to a really, really good team. It's obvious why they're the two-time defending champs," Paul said. "They did a really good job of closing the lane down. ... I still tried to find my spots, but the lane was packed."
The Lakers led by double digits throughout the fourth quarter, and Williams finally conceded the game with about a minute to go when he removed the starters, who received an appreciative standing ovation from the sellout crowd in the New Orleans Arena.
Carl Landry had 19 points for the Hornets, who have not won a playoff series since the first round in 2008, but who did better than expected this season after Williams took his first head coaching job last summer with a team that had missed the playoffs last season. Trevor Ariza scored 12 points for New Orleans and Marco Belinelli 11.
After falling behind by as many as 12 points in the middle of the third quarter, New Orleans was as close as 54-48 when Jason Smith hit a jumper. But Bryant and Gasol each hit a pair of free throws to get Los Angeles' lead back to 10, and each time the Hornets tried to claw back after that, the Lakers had an answer.
When Willie Green hit a 3 to make it 60-53, Bryant came right back with a 3 of his own and put his finger to his lips as the crowd quieted again.
Then late in the quarter, Paul lost the ball under his own basket when he bumped into Ron Artest and tumbled over the baseline, hoping to draw a foul. Instead, Artest put in an easy layup and flexed both biceps while the crowd booed the officials in frustration.
The boos continued when Smith fouled Bryant hard on a drive and was called for a flagrant foul. After conspicuously applauding the call, to the annoyance of Hornets fans, Bryant made both free throws, giving the Lakers a 69-57 lead heading into the final quarter.
The Hornets needed a strong start to the fourth quarter and it appeared they might make one more run when Paul promptly found Smith for an open jumper to make it 69-59. Yet the Lakers again denied the Hornets any momentum as Odom responded with a 3 and Bynum scored inside on a possession kept alive by an offensive rebound. That ignited a 9-0 run that made it 78-59 with 8:28 left.
The game was never in doubt after that.
"The size and depth of our team wore them down in the end," Jackson said. "It took us a little time to figure out this team."
Notes: The Lakers hit 25 of 26 free throws. ... The Hornets are 1-4 in Game 6s, including 1-2 when they are elimination games. ... The Hornets have never won a best-of-seven series that went at least six games. ... The Lakers are 73-29 in best-of-seven series. ... Bryant has scored in double figures in 155 straight playoff games.
MIAMI (AP) — Long before the playoffs began, even before this season started, the Miami Heat and Boston Celtics both suspected the same thing.
A postseason matchup was inevitable. Sure enough, they were absolutely correct.
"It's finally here," Celtics forward Paul Pierce said.
Want drama? This Eastern Conference semifinal series will have it in bunches.
Miami's Big 3 vs. Boston's Big 3. Dwyane Wade getting a chance to end Boston's season, after the Celtics knocked the Heat out in 2010's opening round and sparked last summer's whirlwind of Miami roster changes. LeBron James trying to avoid being eliminated by the Celtics for the third time in four years. Shaquille O'Neal potentially derailing the title hopes of a Heat franchise that he helped carry to the crown in 2006. Pierce, Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett perhaps girding up for one more championship run.
"This is going to be a real series," Celtics forward Glen Davis said Thursday. "I don't think no laughing will be going on. ... It's going to be a fight."
The best-of-seven starts Sunday in Miami.
They danced around the topic for days, neither the Heat nor the Celtics wanting to say they were hoping to face off in the Eastern Conference semifinals, and certainly not saying it before Miami finished off its first-round series with the Philadelphia 76ers.
No need for caution anymore. The matchup the Heat, the Celtics — and probably most of the NBA — wanted is going to happen.
"I think we always felt it would happen at some point," James said. "We didn't know if it was going to be first round, second round, Eastern Conference finals. But we always felt that at some point we would have to go through Boston and play Boston to get where we want to get. So it's here now."
Celtics coach Doc Rivers echoed those sentiments.
"We assumed, when they put this team together, at some point that if we wanted to put another banner up that we were probably going to have to go through them," Rivers said.
Boston won three of the four regular-season meetings, though only one wound up being decided by double digits — that being Miami's 100-77 home win over the Celtics on April 10. Two of the matchups came in the season's first two weeks, when the Heat were still in the earliest processes of jelling.
So it seems fitting — their seasons started against one another in Boston on Oct. 26, and in one case, will end against the other.
"This is what we came here for," said Heat forward Chris Bosh, who'll make his second-round debut in this series. "We're still on our journey. And we know that we have a long way to go. And the reward is a battle with Boston. That's going to be a long, long series. We have to start the process ... and just keep our heads in it, start getting mentally prepared for them."
For Wade, ousting Philadelphia on Wednesday and winning the first-round series in five games was particularly sweet.
The last time he won a playoff series was 2006, the NBA finals against Dallas, and he famously sat down in Boston's arena last spring to vow that he would not be part of another first-round defeat "for a while."
On that front, so far, so good. He and James shook hands Wednesday night when Wade recalled that story, Wade saying "Appreciate it," and James responding with, "You're welcome."
Of course, just getting into the second round won't suffice, either.
"As a player, it seems like an eternity to think back to '06," Wade said. "We're in '11 now. I pulled things from that, as in, moments in games and understanding what it takes, but I don't really look back too much and reference too much from that. It's a different time, different players, different moment."
In Boston's case, it's mostly the same players — and a familiar moment.
Pierce, Allen, Garnett and Rajon Rondo were part of the Boston team that won a title in 2008 and nearly did it again in 2010, losing a road Game 7 to the Los Angeles Lakers in a memorable finals. They understand the stakes, and point to experience as a potential edge in this series.
"They're the (higher) seed, so I don't see them being the underdog," Rivers said. "I don't see us being the underdog. And I don't care, honestly. It's two good teams and let's play."
Ibaka's impact hidden bonus in Thunder's big trade
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — When the Oklahoma City Thunder brought Serge Ibaka to the United States, all they asked of him was to play defense and provide energy off the bench.
Now, he's giving them so much more.
The hidden bonus of Oklahoma City's deal for Kendrick Perkins at the trade deadline was sliding Ibaka into Jeff Green's vacated spot at power forward. He has excelled, becoming even more of a shot-blocking force and developing some scoring punch, too.
In a sensational first-round series against Denver, Ibaka provided three double-doubles, scored a career-high 22 points in his first road playoff start and then punctuated his performance with a franchise postseason record nine blocks in the clinching Game 5 win.
"There's really nobody in the league that can affect the game like that, get nine blocks like that and do the stuff that he can do offensively, too," said Nick Collison, the veteran forward who's now his backup.
While Kevin Durant was stealing the show with a final offensive flurry, Ibaka played just as crucial a role at the other end to help Oklahoma City eliminate a nine-point deficit in the final 4 minutes and send the Nuggets home.
The Thunder had fallen behind 91-82 by allowing Denver a series of layups and free throws that were earned by getting to the rim. Once Ibaka returned, the Nuggets got only one basket in the last 4 minutes, and even that came on a tip-in of a miss.
The most important of his blocks — two more than any Seattle or Oklahoma City player had ever had in the playoffs — came on a dunk attempt by Nene that would have given Denver the lead with 35 seconds left.
"We love Serge," coach Scott Brooks said. "Our guys get excited about what he does. Our team is about work and Serge is a worker. He works every day.
"He doesn't want anything, and he wouldn't take it. He wants to earn it."
Ibaka was the 24th pick in the 2008 draft — when All-Star point guard Russell Westbrook also joined the team as the No. 4 pick — but he stayed in Europe to keep developing for an extra year. He joined Oklahoma City last season as a reserve center and spent most of this season in that role before the Thunder added Perkins and fellow center Nazr Mohammed in February.
That allowed Ibaka to move into a more natural position, where he was averaging 3.3 blocks from March to the end of the regular season. He blocked 24 shots in the five games against Denver.
Ibaka's work on offense was on display last week, when he engaged in a competition against guard James Harden after the main part of a playoff practice was over.
Harden stood a step behind the 3-point line and Ibaka was one step inside, and the two set off on an alternate version of "Around the World." Ibaka would take a long jumper and Harden would fire a 3-pointer. If both made it, or missed it, they'd shoot again. If one connected and the other didn't, there was a winner.
Moving along the arc from one corner to the other, Ibaka — better known as the NBA's leader in blocks this season, and a competitor in the dunk contest — got the best of Harden.
Ibaka's broadened game proved crucial when he hit jumper after jumper in his 22-point performance in Denver that provided Oklahoma City a commanding 3-0 series lead.
"People just knew me before as Serge Ibaka, an energy player," he said. "Now, people are surprised at how I shoot the ball."
It's only fitting that Ibaka has become such a multitalented player. He's speaks Spanish and is learning English — doing interviews in both languages after Game 5 — and is also fluent in French and a language native to his homeland, the Republic of Congo.
He even has the most nicknames on the team: "I-block-a" and "Serge Protector," for his shot-blocking prowess, and "Air Congo," to go along with his post-dunk habit of stretching his arms out like wings.
There's no question he can fly. The winner of a European dunk title, the 6-foot-10 Ibaka took off from the foul line for one of his slams in this year's dunk contest during All-Star weekend.
Denver coach George Karl said he used to compare Ibaka to Shawn Kemp, the six-time All-Star who helped Seattle to the NBA finals in the 1990s but "he's shooting a lot of jump shots now and he's making them."
So, what makes Ibaka so special?
"Speed and power," Karl said. "You usually have one or the other. You usually don't have both."
After Denver's last-second attempt at a 3-pointer to tie Game 5 was off target, Ibaka went bounding across the court, thumping his chest and giving out celebratory hugs.
There could be many more ahead for the 21-year-old just wrapping up his second season in the NBA.
"It's work and confidence," Ibaka said. "I have confidence in my teammates, my coaches and I try to work every day to do my best possible.
"I will keep just working every day, and we'll see the future."
WALTHAM, Mass. (AP) — The Boston Celtics hope to have Shaquille O'Neal back at practice on Friday. Celtics coach Doc Rivers said O'Neal would do a "skeleton" workout on Thursday and "hopefully" join the team on Friday for its final workout before Sunday's Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinals against the Miami Heat.
O'Neal has played a total of 5 minutes, 29 seconds since Feb. 1 because of problems with his right calf and Achilles tendon. The Celtics didn't need him in the first round, when they swept the New York Knicks in four games.
DENVER (AP) — The Denver Nuggets did just fine without Carmelo Anthony and Chauncey Billups to finish off the regular season, hardly missing the All-Star duo in the wake of their blockbuster deal with the New York Knicks.
They sure could've used them in the playoffs, though. The Nuggets lacked a go-to guy such as Anthony in crunch time and they sorely missed Billups' trustworthy free throw shooting.
They watched as another elite scorer, Kevin Durant, took over in Game 5 — for most of the series, really — and carried the Oklahoma City Thunder to a 100-97 win Wednesday night, scoring 41 points to send the Nuggets to another first-round exit.
The Nuggets looked almost unsure of what to do in the waning moments Wednesday, Arron Afflalo finally launching an off-balance shot that bounded harmlessly off the rim at the buzzer.
Such big moments were usually reserved for Anthony over the last seven-plus seasons.
Denver can also pin its early exodus on streaky free throw shooting, hitting just 71 percent in the series where they lost twice by three points.
And that was Billups' forte, a nearly 90 percent shooter at the line in the playoffs over his career. He also was painfully missed by his new team as the Knicks were swept by Boston with Billups sitting out the final three games with a strained left knee.
Nonetheless, the Nuggets are in far better shape heading into the offseason than they would have been had they held onto Anthony and then lost him in free agency without compensation like the Cleveland Cavaliers did when LeBron James bolted to Miami last summer.
The swap set the foundation for the future, with the Nuggets acquiring forwards Wilson Chandler and Danilo Gallinari, guard Raymond Felton and centers Timofey Mozgov and Kosta Koufos (from Minnesota).
The team bonded immediately, going 18-7 with coach George Karl employing a heavy dose of the pick and roll and rotating fresh bodies from a roster that suddenly lacked egos and was hard for opponents to decode.
The Nuggets post-Melo were dramatically better on defense, too, and despite their early exit, Karl, who signed a three-year extension this spring, was enthusiastic about the future.
"I don't know what adjective you'd use to describe this season — scary, amazing, crazy," Karl said Thursday as players scattered for an uncertain offseason. "It had so many different personalities from injuries to trades to gossip, innuendo. There seemed to be so many different things you had to persevere through physically and mentally.
"Not many teams would've made it through this year."
Karl had to adjust on the fly, especially with a string of late injuries, including Afflalo's balky left hamstring that sidelined him for the first two games of the playoffs.
Then again, nothing came all that easy for Karl and the Nuggets this season.
In his return from throat cancer, Karl was thrown into a chaotic situation, a cloud constantly hanging over the team as new executives Josh Kroenke and Masai Ujiri tried to pull the strings on a deal for Anthony.
After nearly six months, the Nuggets reinvented themselves.
"There was good chemistry, which is something you hope for with a big trade like that," Ujiri said. "It's about building a winning culture. And I can happily say that we're a little bit on our way to getting there."
Whenever the Nuggets reconvene — labor strife looms for the NBA — they'll have a strong nucleus but must make tough decisions on several players, including streaky 3-point shooter J.R. Smith and bruiser Kenyon Martin.
After a bad game in the playoffs, Smith suggested he would sign with another team this summer but later backed off, saying he was just expressing frustration over a benching in a Game 2 blowout.
On Thursday, he sounded as though it was up to the Nuggets to bring him back and welcomed a return.
"Been voicing that since Day 1," Smith said. "I've always wanted to be here, always wanted to play here. Just a matter of people wanting me to be here."
Martin gave the Nuggets an inside toughness and meanness — when he was able to play. Plagued by balky knees throughout his seven seasons in Denver, Martin missed the first 26 games this season as he recovered from yet another operation, then finished strong, taking on a leadership role following Anthony's departure.
Chandler and Afflalo are restricted free agents and center Nene could opt out of the final year of his deal.
"I have no problem with basically the crew we have coming back and seeing what we could do in the last 25 games of the year, see if we could do that over 82 games," Karl said.
Notes: Karl said he was awakened at 7 a.m. Thursday by a police officer serving him with a summons for a pending court case involving a robbery at a building he owns in Wisconsin. He said he has to appear June 21. ... Karl said he would like to use both diminutive guards Ty Lawson and Felton together in the backcourt again in 2011-12. "I still think that is one of our most powerful weapons," he said.
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — On the day the Philadelphia 76ers hired Doug Collins, his boss was blunt about his expectations.
"Doug Collins is a coach that can make an immediate impact," chairman Ed Snider said.
In that category, consider the hire a success.
The Sixers matter again, and they can thank Collins for turning the fallen franchise into winners a year after they won 27 games and fired Eddie Jordan. Collins was rewarded for his faith in a young nucleus that included Jrue Holiday and Jodie Meeks, and he coaxed solid seasons out of demoralized veterans such as Andre Iguodala and Elton Brand.
On Thursday, it was Collins' turn to issue the lofty edict. It's time for the Sixers to become one of the NBA's elite teams.
This year, the Sixers won 41 games and stretched the Miami Heat to a five-game playoff series before losing Wednesday night. Collins refused to let a 3-13 start turn into another lost season, instead guiding them a seventh-place finish.
"Getting to 41 wins is a great step," Collins said. "Getting into the elite is bigger. To do that, we're going to have to keep adding."
Team president Rod Thorn, in his first full summer in charge, general manager Ed Stefanski and Collins agree about the need for a center. Trading Samuel Dalembert last summer relieved the Sixers of a headache in the locker room, but they failed to replace him with a dominant shot blocker to pair with Brand.
"The beauty of it is, we all see what we have to do to get better," Collins said. "It's not like there's any conflicting thing about it."
From there, it's about adding the right pieces around the core: Holiday, Evan Turner, Thaddeus Young and Lou Williams. Toss in Meeks, Brand and Iguodala and the Sixers have every reason to feel pumped for the future.
They started four players under 24: Turner (22), Spencer Hawes (22), Meeks (23) and Holiday (20). It's a promising nucleus that the Sixers expect to grow into a contender — with or without Iguodala.
Iguodala was still the go-to shooter in closing time, but otherwise tried to fit in with a more team-oriented style that he learned playing for Team USA at last year's world championships.
He had three triple-doubles, was again one of the NBA's top defenders and was more successful at working his teammates into the offense early for confidence-boosting buckets.
The 27-year-old Iguodala has just never turned into the franchise player that was expected of him once they traded Allen Iverson. He has three years left on an $80-million, six-year contract and hits yet another offseason stuffed with trade speculation.
Iguodala, the ninth overall pick in the 2004 NBA draft, plans to take an extended break after dealing with various knee, ankle and wrist injuries during the season. Collins said Iguodala will need two months of rest before he is completely recovered.
While Iguodala has never made a public trade demand, he did express his unhappiness on Thursday. A person familiar with the situation told the Associated Press that Iguodala did not show up for his exit meetings with team officials. The person spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because the meetings were private.
"I never said I didn't want to be here," Iguodala said.
Do you want to be here?
"Like I said, I just want to compete for titles. We made a lot of strides this year. I think we're heading in the right direction."
In a league where superstars and super teams rule, the Sixers proved 12 talented players working hard and working together can win.
Collins' preseason proclamation that Holiday would be one of the top-five point guards in the league next season is a safe bet. Turner, the 2010 No. 2 overall pick, had more downs than ups this year until he came alive in the postseason and played with the guts and big-shot confidence expected out him over a full season. Young, a restricted free agent, and Williams were perhaps the most potent 1-2 bench tandem in the league.
Young's revival as one of the league's top sixth men proved just how badly he was misused by Jordan. In fact, the 27-to-41 leap showed that Collins' arrival was a year too late.
"We left it on the court each and every night. Last year, I didn't feel that way," Young said. "I felt like, OK, we're just going through the motions. It was just an unfortunate season. This year, I feel we built something."
Collins may win the coach of the year award. At the very least, he can take pride in instilling passion for the game and accountability into a wide-eyed roster.
"He made everyone take their roles and use them to the fullest. That was the greatest thing that could have been done for us," Williams said. "He made everybody accountable for what they brought to the table. He expected those guys to do that. I think that was something we lacked in the past and it worked for us this year.'
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Displaying the positive attitude that energized the Indiana players and fans, interim coach Frank Vogel explained why he believes he should be the next head coach.
Vogel took over for Jim O'Brien at midseason, went 20-18 and led the team to its first playoff berth since 2006. The Pacers were competitive in losing their first-round series to the Chicago Bulls.
"One thing I learned the last three months is that I can do this," he said. "I'm confident in my leadership abilities, my management abilities, my coaching abilities. It's been an honor to coach the last few months, it would be an honor to coach in the future."
Team president Larry Bird was impressed with Vogel's performance. He said the 37-year-old would get the first interview for the head coaching position.
"I think Frank did an excellent job, stepping in without the experience of a head coaching job," Bird said. "The way he conducted himself, he brought positive energy to this team. We won more games than we lost. We did it with a young team, a team that's trying to grow."
The mood around the team quickly changed when Vogel stepped in. Early in his tenure, he claimed that Eastern Conference powers Boston, Miami and Orlando wouldn't want to play the Pacers when — not if — they make the playoffs. He said the talent to win big already existed on the roster, and he told leery Pacers fans to hop on the bandwagon.
That confidence earned the respect of the players. Guard Dahntay Jones hopes Vogel returns.
"It would be a breath of fresh air to know we have some stability and some consistency," Jones said. "Frank's done an excellent job in the interim. When he's coaching us, the focus is on the positive, helping us get better, helping us find a niche. He's done a great job with us."
Forward Tyler Hansbrough's minutes increased dramatically under Vogel.
"Frank's done a good job," Hansbrough said. "I don't know what they're going to do. I'm not a part of that process. But he's done a good job."
Vogel accomplished what he said he would, yet he felt he could have done more.
"I was hopeful it would work better, to be honest with you," he said. "I thought we could have made a serious run this year. This group has a high ceiling. A high ceiling for what they can achieve in the future."
Vogel said he understands that the decision on his future could take some time. It's uncertain if Bird will return as team president because he's in the final year of his contract. Either way, Vogel said he'll be patient.
"It's really up to Larry and the front office," he said. "Anytime you're making a decision as important as this, you never want to rush into it. Whatever timetable they decide is fine with me."
Vogel introduced "smashmouth" basketball, an approach that focused on driving to the basket to put pressure on defenses rather than on shooting a lot of 3-pointers. He moved Hansbrough, a second-year player, and Paul George, a rookie, into the starting lineup and restored third-year center Roy Hibbert's confidence.
"I believed in the young guys we have on the team, and that if we went with them, the way we utilized them and the way we changed our style of play, that it would work," Vogel said. "I think it did work."
Vogel said the day he was hired that he would tighten the playing rotation.
"Earlier in the season, guys didn't know it they were dressing or if they were sitting out or if they were going to play," Bird said. "Under Frank, we sort of knew the three guys who weren't going to dress. They knew their roles. There's a lot more communication. I think the last 25, 30 games, Frank did a good job of letting the players know where they stood."
Once roles became clear, the locker-room environment improved.
"We came together as a team," Vogel said. "That doesn't always happen, where guys really pull for each other and genuinely care for each other, fight for each other, work for each other and really just come together as a team in the true sense of the word. That's what I'm most proud of with this team."
The Pacers won seven of their first 10 under Vogel, then hit a stretch in which they dropped 8 of 9. Indiana rallied to win 10 of its next 15 and clinch a postseason berth.
"My message at that point was that competition has a way of raising the level of your play, and it worked out that way," Vogel said.
Bird likes the way the Pacers finished the season.
"At the end of the season, he got them back," he said. "We probably performed as well in the playoffs than at any part of the season. That's a good sign."
CHICAGO (AP) — The Chicago Sky will host the Chinese national women's basketball team in a preseason game next month.
The Sky and China will play on May 23 at Trinity College in Deerfield. The International Basketball Federation currently ranks the Chinese team eighth in the world.
Sky coach Pokey Chatman expects China's team to showcase a challenging style of play and says it'll be a good preparation for Chicago's upcoming season.
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