NBAFullCourt - Basketball Daily

Takedowns and menacing gestures. Double technicals and flagrant fouls. And the Boston Celtics are heading to Atlanta to try to deliver the knockout punch. Paul Pierce scored a playoff-high 22 points, and Ray Allen turned back the final Hawks' charge with three 3-pointers in a three-minute span of the third quarter on Wednesday night to help Boston beat Atlanta 110-85 and take a 3-2 lead in the...

Caron Butler whispered in LeBron James' ear, one last word in case the Washington Wizards' season was about to end. With only a few ticks of the clock left, desperate times called for desperate measures. "I was messing with LeBron before the play started," Butler said. "I told him, 'Miss this shot, make it interesting and let's take this thing back to D.C."' Seconds later, the Wizards were on their...

Celtics forward Paul Pierce, fined $25,000 for what the NBA called a "menacing gesture" during Game 3 of Boston's playoff series against Atlanta, denied that the sign was gang-related. "I 100 percent do not in any way promote gang violence or anything close to it," Pierce said in a statement issued Wednesday before Game 5 of the series.

From the start, Avery Johnson was a perfect fit as coach of the Dallas Mavericks. At the end, it was pretty obvious he wasn't. Johnson lost his job Wednesday, a move the team referred to as "relieving him of his duties." The softer tone made sense considering that in three-plus seasons Johnson guided the Mavericks to the finals for the first time and to a club-record 67 wins the following season.

Maurice Cheeks expects to hear the heckles one last time. Cheeks wants to be the one who gets the last laugh with a Game 7 victory and silence those Pistons fans who needled him the last three games in Detroit. The 76ers coach told the hecklers, "I'll be back" as the final seconds ticked off the clock in a Game 5 loss, putting Detroit up 3-2 in the first-round playoff series.

Walking through a mall, DeShawn Stevenson learned quickly he's made more than LeBron James mad. The whole city dislikes him. Stevenson has been branded Public Enemy No. 1 in Cleveland for calling James "overrated" and then committing a flagrant foul against the Cavaliers' star in Game 4 on Sunday. He also was fined $25,000 by the NBA for making a throat-slashing gesture in the first quarter of...

The expectations were there for Kevin Durant the day he first arrived in Seattle: anything less than being the best rookie in the NBA would be a disappointment. The 19-year-old didn't disappoint. Durant, the Sonics' dynamic young star, has been chosen as the NBA Rookie of the Year, The Associated Press has learned from a person with knowledge of the vote.

The Phoenix Suns' window of opportunity to win an NBA title under coach Mike D'Antoni may have slammed shut with their first-round playoff loss to San Antonio. General manager Steve Kerr acknowledged differences with the coach but insisted on Wednesday he wants D'Antoni back for a fifth season with the Suns.

It took five playoff games for the Houston Rockets to finally look like the team that won 22 straight games during the regular season. All they have to do now is play like that in Utah. Houston routed the Jazz 95-69 at the Toyota Center on Tuesday night to cut their deficit in the best-of-seven series to 3-2 and force Game 6 in Salt Lake City on Friday night.

While crisscrossing the country in job after job, Larry Brown has always placed heavy emphasis -- and criticism -- on his point guards. Raymond Felton, you're next. Brown's success or failure with the Charlotte Bobcats in his latest reclamation project rests in large part on how he's able to develop the inconsistent Felton and cultivate big man Emeka Okafor.

Tim Duncan was not all smiles after the San Antonio Spurs eliminated the Phoenix Suns yet again from the playoffs. Written on the big man's face was only one thing: relief. "Just happy we're done with them," he said. Really, was there ever any doubt? The Spurs dispatched the Suns with a 92-87 Game 5 victory Tuesday in what has become almost a postseason ritual for the defending champions.

The Houston Rockets didn't need a big fourth quarter from Tracy McGrady to stay alive in their playoff series with Utah. McGrady scored 29 points and got plenty of help, and the Rockets staved off elimination Tuesday night by routing the Jazz 95-69 in Game 5 of their first-round series. Luis Scola added 18 points and 12 rebounds, Rafer Alston scored 14 points and Dikembe Mutombo grabbed 10 rebounds...

David West stumbled toward the sideline after hitting a fadeaway as he was fouled, then turned toward the bench and slapped the extended hand of Hornets coach Byron Scott. It was an impromptu but fitting exchange between a player and coach who had plenty to celebrate on Tuesday night. On the day Scott was named NBA coach of the year for the first time, he gave fans in New Orleans another first: an...

The Detroit Pistons might have won Game 5 more than an hour before it started. Music wasn't rattling the locker room. Eyes were locked on the big-screen TV showing the previous matchup with the Philadelphia 76ers. Chauncey Billups scored 21 points, Richard Hamilton had 20 and Rasheed Wallace added 19 to lift Detroit to a 98-81 victory over Philadelphia on Tuesday night and a 3-2 lead in the...