24plusnews.com

LBJ pleased with old team’s stunner over the Lakers The Los Angeles Lakers’ loss Wednesday nightto Cleveland sent reverberations across the NBA as the defending two-time NBA champions finished their Grammy Road Trip with a three-game losing streak.LeBron James, who reveled in his team’s misfortune during its 55-point loss to the Lakers in his noted karma is a b tweet last month, was more conciliatory after learning about his old team’s surprising victory Wednesday night.Good for the Cavs, James told ESPN.com’s Heat Watch. You definitely didn’t expect the Lakers to have another letdown in Cleveland. But I’ve played with a few of those guys in Cleveland and they want to win.Ben Rohrbachof WEEI.com reports that one of the most shocked was former Laker Sasha Vujacic, who learned about his old team’s loss after his team was beaten by the Celtics.Cleveland beat the Lakers You’re kidding, right, Vujacic said. I guess miracles do happen.The loss was historical in nature. The EliasSports Bureau reports that the Cavaliers’ victory marked the first time in NBA history that prior to the All-Star break a team at least 30 games below .500 defeated a team 20 or more games above .500.Elias reports there were 14 previous NBA games before the All-Star break matching one team 30 or more games below .500 faced another Cheap Kobe Shoes team 20+ games above .500.The All-Star break can’t come quickly enough for the Lakers, who stumble into the weekend after three straight losses. Jordan’s love letter shows rare tender side Basketball fans, I can feel your pain.The lockout has begun and we’re learning more about the CBA(the collective bargaining agreement) than what we ever knew about the old basketball league.It’s going to be like this for awhile. How about a daily brightener that shows an unexpected side of one of the game’s greatest icons.Michael Jordan once was like high-school students everywhere. Instead of studying about polymers andaqueous solutions in his chemistry class at Emsley A. Laney High School in Wilmington, N.C., he wrote a letter to his girlfriend at the time, a young lady named Laquette.The wonderful web site Letters of Note.com has the transcript of a note that Jordan wrote to his Dearest Arquette. (Hat tip to Ball Don’t Lie.com). It once was sold at an auction for $5,100.66.Here’s a transcript of his missive:My Dearest Laquette:How are you and your family doing, fine I hope. I am in my Adv. Chemistry class writing you a letter, so that tell you how much I care for you. I decide to write you because I felt that I made you look pretty rotten after the last night. I want to tell you that I am sorry, and hope that you except my apologie. I know that you feelings was hurt whenever I loss my necklace or had it stolen.I was

really happy when you gave me my honest earn money that I won off the bet. I want to thank you for letting me hold your annual. I show it to everyone at school. Everyone think you are a very pretty young lady and I had to agree because it is very true. Please don’t let this go to your head. (smile) I sorry to say that I can’t go to the game on my birthday because my father is taking the whole basketball team out to eat on my birthday. Please don’t be mad because I am trying get down there a week from Feb. 14. If I do get the chance to come please have some activity for us to do together.I want you to know that my feeling for you has not change yet. (joke) I am finally getting use to going with a girl much smaller than I. I hope you my hint. Well I have spent my time very wisely by write to you. I hope you write back soon. Well I must go, the period is almost over. See you next time around, which I hope comes soon.With my Best LoveMichael J. JordanThe handwriting seems to match with one from his high school annual, so it looks legitimate.It’s a little hard to matchy these mushy feelings with the greatest competitor in the history of the NBA. Can we really put these feelings with the same person who once punched out teammate Steve Kerr in a fight during a practiceThe sweet, adorable Michael Jordan.It just doesn’t seem to match his basketball image, does it Notes on a scorecard: Can the Spurs’ perimeter shooting carry them in the playoffs The Spurs finished up their home regular season schedule Saturday with the kind of game that has marked their season.Their 57.7 percent shooting percentage was one of their best efforts of the season as they hit for eight 3-pointers en route to a 111-102 victory over Utah.The Spurs already have broken the previous team record for 3-pointers, set in 2008-09 with 625 3-pointers. They currently have 671 for the season.If they maintain their current pace of about eight 3-pointers a game in their final two games of the season, they will finish among the top 21 teams in NBA history in terms of total 3-pointers made.And that’s the rub. None of those teams have won a championship. wholesale kobe shoes The high for an NBA championship team was Houston in 1994-95 with 646 3-pointers.Those long jumpers sometimes miss, leading to easy transition buckets on long rebounds by the other team. The Spurs have seen that happen occasionally this season.It will be interesting to see if Gregg Popovich dials back the perimeter game and tries to win with a more balanced attack in the playoffs.Past history shows that some

kind of transformation will be necessary to be able to win a championship.But can this team change its stripes in the playoffs We’ll have to wait and see, beginning next weekend.Here are a few other notes and tidbits after the Spurs’ fourth straight victory after their season-worst six-game losing streak.The Spurs featured seven players in double figures and almost had two more as George Hill (nine points) and Matt Bonner (seven points) just missed. The Spurs are now 3-0 when seven Spurs score in double figures and 2-1 in games where eight players reach double figures.Richard Jeffersonled the team with 20 points. It was his first 20-point effort since scoring 22 points against the Los Angeles Clippers on Nov. 10. Jefferson notched three 20-point efforts in the first seven games of the season and then produced a high of 19 over the next 72 games before Saturday night.Jefferson also continued a recent shooting binge. He’s averaging 10.8 points in his last six games. And he’s shooting 61.5 percent fromthe field and 64.3 percent from 3-point range during the Spurs’ four-game winning streak.Tiago Splitter finished with 13 points and eight rebounds with 10 points and six rebounds in 12 minutes in the fourth quarter. It was Splitter’s fourth-highest scoring game of the season and tied for fifth in rebounds. His 18 minutes, 56 seconds of playing time was his most since making his last start against Portland on March 28 in a game where he produced 14 points and nine rebounds. In his previous four games beforeSaturday, Splitterwas averaging 2.8 points and 2.0 rebounds and three times in those four games he played 4:12 or less.Tony Parker played 29:15 against the Jazz, marking the third time in four games he’s played 30 minutes or less. His 13 points and seven assists helped him continue a recent shooting surge since a 2-for-11 outing against Phoenix three games ago. Since then, Parker is averaging 18 points per game, shooting 60 percent from the field and averaging 5.7 assists per game.DeJuan Blair got his Nike Lebron 7 VII first start since March 6, and produced 12 points and seven rebounds in 24:21. It marked his second-longest playing stint since his demotion. His 12 points marked his most since scoring 14 points in back-to-back games on March 11-12. Blair hit 6-for-9 from the field in a turnaround from a recent mini-slump where he had averaged 4.8 points and shot 37.9 percent from the field in his previous six games.Manu Ginobili benefitted from some rest, playing only 27:21 to mark his third game in the last four with less than 30 minutes. Ginobili is averaging 18.3 points, shooting 58.8 percent from the field and averaging five assists in his last three games.Ginobili failed to attempt a 3-pointer. It was the first game where he has failed to attempt

a 3-pointer since Game 4 of the first round of the 2008 playoffs against Phoenix. He also notched six assists for the 36th time this season. When Ginobili has at least six assists, the Spurs are 27-9 (.750). In the rest of their games, they are 43-10 (.811).Gary Neal’s recent surge continued with 12 points, three rebounds and three assists. It marked his fourth double-figure scoring game in his last five games. During that span, he’s hitting 60.6 percent from the field and 60 percent of his 3-pointers.Tim Duncan notched 10 points, three rebounds, four assists and four blocked shots in 22:23. Before Saturday, in his five games since returning the lineup from his sprained ankle, Duncan was averaging 16.0 points and 8.8 rebounds.Duncan had four blocked shots marking among his top nine games of the season in that statistic. In games where Duncan has blocked at least three shots this season, the Spurs are 26-0. It marked the fifth time this season that he has produced at least 10 points, three rebounds, four assists and four blocked shots in the same game.Hill’s string of double-figure scoring games was snapped at three after scoring nine points. Hill had averaged 20.3 points in his previous three games, hitting 55.3 percent from the field during that span.The Spurs had limited opponents to less than 30 points in 16 quarters before allowing Utah to score 30 points in the third quarter. The last time an opponent scored more than 30 came in the second quarter of the loss at Houston last week.The Spurs hit 57.7 percent from the field after hitting 60.5 percent against Sacramento in their last game. They have hit at least 50 percent from the field in four of their last five games. In games where they have shot 50 percent or better this season, they are 26-4, including 16-0 at home.San Antonio shot 75 percent from the field in the second quarter, coming close to their season high for the second quarter of 78.6 percent against Detroit on March 9. And they shot 80 percent from the field in the third quarter, just less than the 82.6 percent they shot in the third quarter against Sacramento on Wednesday night.The Spurs allowed Utah to hit 53.8 percent from the field. It was the first time an opponent hit better than50 percent since Boston hit 54.8 percent last week. When opponents hit50 percent or etter, the Spurs are 7-13, including 4-4 at home.James Anderson and Danny Green did not play. Da’Sean Butler, Chris Quinn and Antonio McDyess were inactive.Hill led the team with a plus-minus score of plus-11. Jefferson was at plus-10. Duncan was plus-9. Splitter had the only negative score at minus-1. The San Antonio starters were plus-24. The bench was plus-21. Utah’s starters were minus-36 and the

Jazz’s bench was minus-9.