Rivers: Garnett to play Game 3 despite hip injury
Rivers: Garnett to play Game 3 despite hip injury
BOSTON — Kevin Garnett walked over to the Boston bench, nursing a sore hip and Celtics coach Doc Rivers asked repeatedly if his big man needed a break.
It was going to take more than that to knock Garnett out of the playoffs.
“He’s good. He’s good to go,” Rivers said Wednesday during a conference call with reporters. “He’ll practice tomorrow, and he’ll play on Friday.”
Garnett appeared to clutch his stomach while going for a rebound early in the fourth quarter, but he wouldn’t let Rivers take him out of the game.
“He got hit in the hip, very similar to having a hip pointer in football. It’s affecting him. I was concerned he was grabbing something else,” Rivers said. “In a couple timeouts, I was asking if he was OK.”
Nets’ Johnson might miss Game 3 with foot injury
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Brooklyn Nets guard Joe Johnson might miss Game 3 against Chicago because of a foot injury.
Johnson said Wednesday that he was hurt in the first quarter of the Bulls’ 90-82 win Monday that tied the first-round series 1-1. Johnson did not practice Wednesday. Game 3 is Thursday in Chicago.
Johnson scored 17 points on 6-of-18 shooting in 39 minutes in Game 2.
“It’s sore, but there’s no excuse,” he said Wednesday. “I have to find a way to get through it. It’s the part of the season where I can’t have this happen. We’ve fought so hard to get to this point.”
Johnson missed several games during the regular season with a heel injury.
“Mentally, I think I could play if the game was today, but physically, I honestly don’t know,” he said. “We’ll have to see.”
Ex-wife wants Dodger divorce settlement tossed
LOS ANGELES — Former Los Angeles Dodgers CEO Jamie McCourt isn’t entitled to the more than $131 million she received in a divorce settlement because she agreed to the terms and her most recent claims aren’t credible, an attorney for her ex-husband argued Wednesday in court.
Jamie McCourt wants the agreement thrown out because she believes she was misled about the value of the Dodgers that was later sold for $2 billion.
But Robert Sacks, a lawyer for former Dodger owner Frank McCourt, said his client’s ex-wife was provided the team’s financial documents prior to the settlement being reached in October 2011.
“There is not a scintilla of evidence to support Jamie’s ever-changing claims,” Sacks said during closing arguments of a non-jury trial. “It lacks credibility.”
Jamie McCourt said her ex-husband committed fraud by misrepresenting the Dodger assets as worth less than $300 million during their divorce and he knew all along what the true value was but didn’t tell her. Her attorneys believe she was short-changed roughly $770 million.
She received $131 million tax-free and several luxurious homes.
Syracuse’s C.J. Fair returning for senior season
SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Syracuse’s C.J. Fair is returning for his senior season.
The Orange’s leading scorer and rebounder last season announced his decision Wednesday, saying another year of college basketball and graduating were in his best interests.
“I’m excited about working hard with my teammates to put together another great season, and graduating has also been a goal of mine,” said Fair, a 6-foot-8 forward from Baltimore. “It definitely was a tough decision because I wanted it to be the right decision.”
The return of Fair, who averaged 14.5 points and 6.9 rebounds last season, gives coach Jim Boeheim a nice boost as Syracuse transitions from the Big East to the Atlantic Coast Conference in July.
Syracuse has some big holes to fill from last season’s squad, which made the Final Four. Seniors Brandon Triche and James Southerland are graduating and sophomore Michael-Carter Williams is entering the NBA draft. They were the second, third and fourth-leading scorers on the team behind Fair.
Hamlin not cleared to race Saturday at Richmond
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Denny Hamlin hasn’t been cleared to race at his home track in Richmond as he had hoped.
Hamlin sustained a compression fracture of a vertebra in his lower back in a last-lap accident at California on March 24. Doctors said he’d miss at least five races, but Hamlin hoped to return early to race at Richmond, where he’s a two-time winner.
But Hamlin wasn’t cleared Wednesday to race after visits to Dr. Jerry Petty of Carolina Neurosurgery and Spine Associates, and apparently consultations with others.
Hamlin has missed three races so far, two of which were won by Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Kyle Busch and Matt Kenseth.
Brian Vickers will drive the No. 11 Toyota for him Saturday night at Richmond.
Hamlin also will miss his annual Denny Hamlin Short Track Showdown, the race he hosts at Richmond International Raceway to benefit the Denny Hamlin Cystic Fibrosis Research Lab at the Children’s Hospital of Richmond at VCU.
Wozniacki loses in first round at Stuttgart
STUTTGART, Germany — Caroline Wozniacki lost in the first round of the Porsche Grand Prix on Wednesday, falling to Carla Suarez Navarro of Spain 7-6 (6), 6-1.
The former top-ranked Dane squandered a 3-0 lead in the first set and never recovered after losing the tiebreaker.
Also, fifth-seeded Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic beat wild-card entry Annika Beck of Germany 7-5, 6-7 (0), 6-3. She broke serve for the second time in the final set for a 5-2 lead.
Lucie Safarova of the Czech Republic beat Mona Barthel of Germany 6-4, 6-1.
Barthel said she was fatigued after helping Germany defeat Serbia in the Fed Cup playoffs for a place in the World Group.
Julia Goerges of Germany, who beat Wozniacki for the 2011 title in Stuttgart, advanced to the second round when Kirsten Flipkens of Belgium retired with stomach problems. Goerges was leading 6-2, 2-1.
Kings’ Dustin Brown suspended two games
NEW YORK — Los Angeles Kings captain Dustin Brown was suspended for two games without pay by the NHL on Wednesday for elbowing Minnesota forward Jason Pominville on Tuesday night.
No penalty was assessed on second-period hit to the head in the Kings’ 2-1 loss at Minnesota. Brown hit Pominville in the jaw, knocking him on his back.
The suspension will cost Brown $34,324. He will miss the final two regular-season games.
From wire sources