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NBA Finals Capsules: Mavs' obstacles are Nowitzki's finger, Heat's defense
MIAMI (AP) — Brian Cardinal took one look at Dirk Nowitzki's injured finger, turned to the Dallas Mavericks' trainer and recommended his treatment plan.
"Cut it at the knuckle," Cardinal said, making a scissors motion with his right hand. "Like Ronnie Lott."
Good thing "Dr." Cardinal is a backup forward whose specialty is comic relief.
Nowitzki's injury was more source of fun than concern Wednesday, starting from the moment he woke up. He expected the torn tendon at the tip of his left middle finger to be sore and throbbing and it wasn't either.
So only the devilish teasers were even considering a Lott-like amputation of his fingertip.
Nowitzki took the practice court wearing a splint to keep the finger straight and figures it'll be mostly a nuisance for the next month or two. He and shooting coach Holger Geschwindner were planning their own workout later Wednesday to see which moves Nowitzki can and can't make and to come up with ways to compensate, starting with Game 2 of the NBA Finals against the Miami Heat on Thursday night.
"Hey, (Rajon) Rondo played with one arm, so he might be able to play with nine fingers," Geschwindner said, smiling.
Nowitzki already is experimenting with different bandages. Trainer Casey Smith said, "We're going to make it as small as we can," and indeed Nowitzki's wrap at the start of practice was smaller than what he had at a news conference a few minutes before. He was down to a hard splint under the knuckle at the tip of his left middle finger, held on by strips of white tape. The bandage looped around the knuckle and tip, leaving the nail and top exposed.
Nowitzki was hurt trying to strip the ball from Chris Bosh with a little under 4 minutes left in the opener. He knew something serious was wrong because he couldn't straighten the tip. The injury is known as a "mallet finger" and generally takes six to eight weeks to heal.
With only quick, courtside treatment, Nowitzki managed to his 1 of 2 shots and all four free throws after the incident. He was 6 of 16 while healthy.
Because the problem is on Nowitzki's non-shooting hand, most of what he does will not be affected. But some of his game will be.
He likes to drive to his left, dribbling hard to get to his favorite shooting spots or taking it all the way to the rim. It also could affect him on defense; don't expect him to swipe down on the ball with the ferocity he did on the play when he was injured.
"I think once the game starts, the adrenaline starts flowing, I don't think it will really slow me down much," Nowitzki said. "I'm not really worried about it."
Maybe he should be. Because Miami knows where he's hurting, and everyone knows how much Nowitzki means to Dallas, it only makes sense that guys are going to swipe at his hands more than ever, knowing that even if they don't snatch the ball, they might rattle the splint.
"Somebody's going to swat down on it, whether they want to or not," Bosh said. "It's painful. As ballplayers, we all go through it."
Teammate Jason Terry said some shooters actually benefit from hand injuries because "it helps you lock in even more." He echoed the words of all his teammates when he emphasized how certain he was Nowitzki would still carry Dallas' offense.
"I think Dirk can shoot the ball with his eyes closed, with no hands, if he had to, especially in a game of this magnitude," Terry said.
With the Mavs joking about an injury to their best player, it's clear they aren't too uptight about losing the opener of the NBA Finals, ending a five-game road winning streak or being down in a series for the first time this postseason.
Besides, the Mavs made so many mistakes in Game 1 they figured they deserved to lose.
Their biggest concern was getting outrebounded by 10. Coach Rick Carlisle called it losing at the line of scrimmage, saying, "The guys that hit first and hit most aggressively and with the most force are going to have the most success. And they did it better than we did last night."
The Heat were especially good at chasing their own missed shots. They got 16 of them, leading to 13 more shots than Dallas.
Miami got comfortable behind the arc, hitting 11 3-pointers, three more than any Mavs foe this postseason. Some of their attempts were so uncontested "they had time to set their feet, check the temperature in the gym and then let it fly," center Brendan Haywood said.
Dallas, meanwhile, made a playoff-low 37.3 percent of its shots and got a measly 17 points from the bench. Terry scored 12, but all in the first half as he was smothered by LeBron James; it was a surprise move by Miami because the Mavs were expecting him to be the secret weapon against Nowitzki.
Despite it all, the Mavs led after the first and second quarters and were up by eight points in the third quarter. They weren't really out of it until the final five minutes, when Dwyane Wade, James and Bosh put on the kind of show their fans wanted to see.
Each superstar made plays that sent the white-clad fans to their feet, hollering and celebrating as if it was 2006 all over again — only better, because if Miami can win it all in the first season of their trio of collaborators, imagine how much better the Heat could be once the guys get more experience playing together.
People around the country are certainly interested, too.
Game 1 drew the highest overnight figures for an NBA Finals opener since the 2004 series between the Pistons and Lakers. It was up 15 percent from the start of the 2006 series between these same teams.
While everyone saw James win a Finals game for the first time in his career, and Wade dominate the second half much like he did during his MVP romp in '06, the Heat came away seeing plenty of room for improvement.
They made only 38.8 percent of their shots and didn't get rolling until the middle of the third quarter. They were slowed by Dallas' defense switching from man-to-man to zones.
"I think once we understood they were going to do that, we just said, let's just run our offense," Wade said.
The Heat felt better Wednesday about their injury concern, too. Mike Miller practiced after leaving the arena the night before with his left arm in a sling.
Heat finishing strongly and say they can improve
MIAMI (AP) — At the start, the Miami Heat couldn't finish.
That's apparently no longer the case.
Among the many trends that have popped up during Miami's five-game postseason winning streak, maybe the most notable is that the Heat have outscored opponents in the fourth quarter in each of those contests.
That includes Game 1 of the NBA Finals against Dallas. Game 2 of the series is Thursday night, when the Heat look to hold the home-court edge and move two wins away from a championship.
"We've been in a lot of these grind-out games and find a way just to stay in there, stay the course and find a way to win at the end," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said Wednesday after practice. "Again, I think the more times you're in those type of games, the less you panic or become distracted."
The Heat have been in plenty of those games by now. One of the major criticisms of the Heat in the regular season was how the team simply could not win one-possession games at the end. Even with LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh leading the way, Miami went 5-14 in games decided by five points or less in the regular season.
In the playoffs, it hasn't been a problem. Miami has trailed at the half in each of its last three games, then outscored Chicago and Dallas by a combined 29 points after halftime to win all three of those contests. And to hear LeBron James tell it, the confidence for those wins comes — ironically — from losses.
"It comes from failure throughout the season," James said. "Having games where we felt like we could or should have won games, late in games, and we just didn't execute. I said (Tuesday) night, I was used to closing out games in the last seven years. C.B. was used to closing out games and D-Wade was used to closing out games. One thing was figuring out how to do it together. We were used to doing it individually, early on in the season."
No more, they're not. When Dallas scored the first seven points of the second half to take a 51-43 lead, the Heat changed both their defensive disposition — the Mavs scored 18 points in the next 18 minutes — and their offensive tendencies. The balance was nearly perfect for Miami the rest of the way: Wade took nine shots in the final 22 minutes, Bosh took eight, James and Udonis Haslem each took seven.
The Heat didn't ask one person to carry the scoring load, and that meant the Mavericks couldn't overplay anyone. It also meant that Bosh's struggles — he was 1 for 9 in the second half, the lone make being a game-sealing dunk with about a minute left after an assist from Wade — went largely unnoticed. That was thanks in part to the Heat holding a 7-1 edge in offensive rebounds after halftime.
"They won the line of scrimmage, is really what it came down to," Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle said. "They were more physical inside. It led to 16 second-chance opportunities for them. And that just takes the ball out of our hands."
Miami's defensive numbers in Game 1 may not have been better. Against a high-powered team like the Mavs, the Heat limited them to 84 points and 37 percent shooting.
The stat sheet looked great. The film, not so much, Wade said.
"We've seen a lot of possessions on the film that we can get better defensively," he said. "We can help each other out better and try to make it a little tougher. Some of the shots they missed were open. We can't let that happen next time. We have to do a better job of contesting all of them, at least 75 percent of their shots.
"We can be way better," he added. "It's not saying the score is going to be 150-149. But there's ways we can execute better. We can get better looks and better opportunities."
Wade left practice Wednesday again insisting he was fine, and after he scored 15 of his 22 points of Game 1 in the second half, the Mavericks won't argue that fact. Heat reserve Mike Miller insisted his aching left shoulder — he grabbed it and yelled in agony after reaching with his left arm for a fourth-quarter rebound in Game 1 — won't keep him sidelined on Thursday. The stakes are simply too high to miss games now.
"Old age," Miller said.
As the season wears down, the Heat look better at the end of games now than at any point in the campaign's first 82 nights.
"We're a really good team down the stretch now," James said. "It has a lot to do with our team as far as trust, it has a lot to do with myself and D-Wade and just the position coach has put us in in late games to have us have an ability to come down the stretch and make shots for our team. I guess it's a confidence of closing games out, but it's also the trust you have for your teammates."
-- Tim Reynolds
Notebook: Miller says he'll be fine for Game 2
MIAMI (AP) — The sling and grimaces were gone when Mike Miller walked on the court Wednesday, and the Miami Heat reserve guard smiled when asked about his latest injury.
With the Heat three wins from a league championship, he'll grin and bear it.
Miller was back at practice less than 24 hours after he departed the arena with his left arm in a sling following Miami's victory over Dallas in Game 1 of the NBA Finals.
"It's a little sore, but nothing big," he said.
He did some things with only his right hand on the court, but coach Erik Spoelstra said Miller would be available for Game 2 Thursday.
"There's won't be anything stopping him from playing," Spoelstra said. "In terms of one-handed, he can probably put his guide hand up there if he needed to right now. But we're just trying to rest it."
During the second half of Game 1, Miller winced several times in pain. When asked what caused the injury, he said, "Old age."
No one would blame the 31-year-old South Dakota native for feeling a little creaky. Injuries forced him to miss 41 games during the regular season and three more in the playoffs.
But in the past three games he has averaged 8.3 points and 6.7 rebounds, and he led a strong showing by the Heat reserves in Game 1 of the finals.
Heat teammate Udonis Haslem is also playing a critical role in June after missing most of the season with an injured left foot.
"It has been tough," Haslem said. "It hasn't been what Mike and I envisioned, but sometimes you get thrown curveballs. The opportunity took longer to come than we anticipated, but it's here now."
Miller sank a pair of 3-pointers in Game 1, including one in the fourth quarter on a feed from Haslem, his former University of Florida teammate.
"It felt like the old days," Miller said. "Unfortunately for us, we haven't been able to have that at all this season."
By far Miller's most worrisome health issue has involved his newborn daughter, Jaelyn, who spent time in intensive care with four holes in her heart. She's much better now.
"It hasn't been easy, but you deal with it," Miller said. "You give it everything you've got and pray that's enough."
WOBBLY BENCH: The Dallas Mavericks' bench showed considerable balance in Game 1. Jose Barea missed from inside, and Peja Stojakovic missed from outside.
The duo combined for two points, and the Mavs' backups were outscored 27-17 by the Heat subs. That was a surprise, because Dallas had perhaps the NBA's deepest cast of reserves during the regular season.
"We just had a bad game off the bench," Barea said.
The 6-foot Barea, who averaged 9.5 points per game during the regular season, repeatedly penetrated into the paint but shot only 1 for 8 and didn't draw a foul.
"I got a couple of shots I wanted. I just missed them," he said. "I've just got to stay aggressive and keep doing what I'm doing."
Stojakovic went 0 for 3, all from 3-point range, and was shut out in points, rebounds and assists while playing 15 minutes. He averaged 8.5 points during the regular season.
"The ball just didn't go in," he said. "Hopefully Thursday will be a better day for us, and for me."
SHOOTING NON-STARS: Game 1 of the NBA Finals was far from an offensive showcase.
Miami connected on 39 percent of its shots, Dallas made 37 percent of its attempts. According to STATS LLC, the last time there was a finals game where neither team shot 40 percent from the floor was June 11, 2003.
On that night, New Jersey shot 36 percent, beating 29-percent-shooting San Antonio 77-76.
The 37 percent was Dallas' fifth-worst shooting night of the season in 98 games, counting both the regular-season and the playoffs. The Mavericks' 25 field goals were their second-fewest all season (24 against Memphis on Jan. 15), and the 67 shot attempts matched their fifth-lowest output of the year.
"A disaster," Mavs guard Jason Terry said.
The defensive-minded Heat viewed it differently. They've won the past three games despite shooting less than 43 percent in each.
"Man, there have been plenty of games like that," forward Chris Bosh said. "We're going to make this a defensive series. That's what we want to do."
FAN APPRECIATION: The Heat are 9-0 at home in the playoffs, and Dwyane Wade says the team's supporters are a big reason.
"Our fans have been great," Wade said after practice Wednesday. "Our fans are like our bench. They get a lot of flak about what they don't do. But they're pretty good."
Miami's fan base has been a target all year for critics who note the empty seats at the start of games. But the team played at more than 100 percent of capacity at home this season, and squeezed 20,003 fans for Game 1 into a building that normally can only hold 19,600 for regular-season games and significantly less than that in the playoffs, when many seats are lost to media.
"The energy that they brought (Tuesday) night was amazing," Wade said. "And we feed off that. And I think they understand that."
HERE AND THERE: Miami's victory in Game 1 was the team's 71st overall this season, a franchise record. LeBron James has been part of a franchise-record-tying 70 of those wins, tying Udonis Haslem and Damon Jones, who played in that many victories for Miami in the 2004-05 season. ... The Mavericks objected with about 7 minutes left in the fourth quarter Tuesday when the official scoring table — correctly, as replays showed — reset the shot clock after a miss by Chris Bosh. ABC analyst Jeff Van Gundy questioned it as well, even after seeing the replay. "They gave it to him because it's the home team," Van Gundy said, even while play-by-play man Mike Breen pointed out that table officials are brought in from other NBA cities to work playoff games. ... The Heat's Mike Miller regarding his 6-year-old son, Mavrick: "He wondered why his name was the bad team."
-- Steven Wine
Game 1 of Heat-Mavs draws impressive numbers
MIAMI (AP) — Game 1 of the Miami-Dallas matchup in the NBA Finals generated a 10.7 overnight rating on ABC, the most for an opening game in the league's title series since 2004.
The network said that's up 3 percent over the numbers generated by Game 1 of the Los Angeles Lakers-Boston Celtics meeting in the Finals last year, and up 15 percent over the opener of the Heat-Mavericks series in 2006.
Miami was the highest-rated metered market with a 31.9 rating, up 28 percent over Game 1 of the 2006 Finals. Dallas (29.9) was the market watching second-most, followed by West Palm Beach, San Antonio, Memphis, New Orleans and Cleveland — the city where LeBron James spent his first seven seasons.
Ratings represent the percentage of all homes with televisions tuned into a program. Overnight ratings represent the nation's largest markets.
Miller says he'll be fine for Game 2
MIAMI (AP) — Miami Heat reserve guard Mike Miller is back at practice, less than 24 hours after leaving the arena with his left arm in a sling.
Miller said Wednesday he'll be ready for Game 2 of the NBA Finals on Thursday against the Dallas Mavericks. He wore a sleeve on his arm during Game 1 and grimaced several times while managing six points and five rebounds in 20 minutes.
Miller missed much of the season with a series of injuries, but was part of a superior bench effort in the 92-84 win over Dallas. The Heat reserves outscored the Mavericks' reserves 27-17 and outrebounded them 15-8.
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McHale hired to coach Houston Rockets
HOUSTON (AP) — Kevin McHale is a Hall of Fame player who won three NBA championships with Boston, a longtime former executive for Minnesota and twice a fill-in coach for the Timberwolves.
Now the 53-year-old will take on a new challenge: coaching the Houston Rockets full time.
McHale was hired to lead the Rockets on Wednesday, where he will begin a season as an NBA coach for the first time in his career.
After several days of speculation and reports that he was taking the job, the Rockets made it official that McHale will take over for Rick Adelman, who left the team days after his fourth season in Houston.
McHale spent 15 years with the Timberwolves in his native Minnesota. He was let go in 2009 and has recently served as a TV analyst.
He will be introduced at a news conference in Houston on Friday.
McHale becomes Houston's third coach since 2003, when Rudy Tomjanovich stepped down for health reasons. Jeff Van Gundy coached the team from 2003-07, taking the Rockets to three playoff appearances.
McHale returns to coaching for the first time since posting a 20-43 record with the Timberwolves in the 2008-09 season, when he took over after Randy Wittman was fired. McHale also led Minnesota for the last 31 games of the 2004-05 season after he fired Flip Saunders, but he has never coached a full NBA season.
"As we explored the opportunity to come to Houston, it felt like the right situation for me," McHale said in a statement. "I enjoy the competitive nature of our game and I am looking forward to getting to work with the very talented roster of players that are already in place here in Houston."
Rockets owner Leslie Alexander believes McHale's impressive basketball pedigree will lead to success in Houston despite his limited coaching experience.
"Kevin McHale is a proven NBA champion (with the Boston Celtics) who has the leadership skills and basketball knowledge necessary to guide our team into the future," Alexander said. "Kevin's hard-nosed work ethic and tenacity on the court led him to a Hall of Fame career and a legacy as one of the NBA's greatest low-post players of all time. I'm looking forward to seeing Kevin share his unique basketball knowledge and experience."
Houston has failed to reach the playoffs the last two years as it dealt with injuries that have limited All-Star center Yao Ming to just five games since the 2008-09 season. In Yao's last healthy season, Houston reached the Western Conference semifinals, breaking a streak of seven consecutive first-round exits for the franchise.
The Rockets went 43-39 this season as one of the league's highest-scoring teams, averaging 105.9 points per game.
Yao's contract expires this summer, but he has said he hopes to continue playing for the Rockets when he recovers from the stress fracture to his left ankle.
McHale first joined the Timberwolves as a TV analyst and special assistant before he was promoted to assistant general manager in August 1994. He was promoted to vice president of basketball operations in 1995 and drafted Kevin Garnett with the fifth overall pick that year.
The Wolves went on a run of seven straight playoff appearances from 1997-2004 and reached the Western Conference finals in '04.
The highlight of McHale's time as an executive in Minnesota was drafting Garnett. Subsequent moves and draft picks didn't turn out as well and he became increasingly unpopular with fans.
McHale was the third overall pick in the 1980 draft, won three championships with the Celtics and was chosen in 1996 as one of the 50 greatest NBA players.
He was a seven-time All-Star in his 13 seasons with the Celtics. He won the NBA's Sixth Man award twice and averaged 17.9 points and 7.3 rebounds for his career. He was even better in the playoffs where he averaged 18.8 points and 7.4 rebounds in 169 career games.
McHale was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1999.
-- Kristie Rieken
O'Neal says on Twitter: 'I'm about to retire'
BOSTON (AP) — He was a prolific producer of rebounds and record albums. And nicknames, too, as if at 7-foot-1 and 350 pounds he was too big for the simple "Shaq" that made him an instantly recognizable, one-name star in all of his endeavors.
Shaquille O'Neal had more than 28,000 points and almost 4 million Twitter followers. He appeared in six NBA finals, three times as the MVP, and seven feature films, twice in a starring role.
A 15-time All-Star, four-time champion and the 2000 NBA Most Valuable Player, the 39-year-old O'Neal announced his retirement on Twitter on Wednesday after spending most of his 19th season on the Boston Celtics bench, in street clothes because of leg injuries.
Along with a mid-afternoon tweet saying, "im retiring," O'Neal included a link to a 16-second video of him saying, "We did it; 19 years, baby. Thank you very much. That's why I'm telling you first: I'm about to retire. Love you. Talk to you soon."
An inveterate prankster who gave himself a new nickname — or several — in each of his six NBA cities, O'Neal did not notify his latest team, leaving it wondering about his plans. He played just 37 games this season, the first of a two-year deal at the veteran's minimum salary, making just three brief appearances after Feb. 1.
"He's a giant," commissioner David Stern said Wednesday at the NBA finals in Miami. "He's physically imposing; he has an imposing smile. In the game, he imposed his will, and he has done it for quite a long time. It's been a great run, and we're going to miss him greatly. We hope we can find ways to keep him involved in the game."
O'Neal, 39, retires fifth all-time with 28,596 points, 12th with 13,099 rebounds, and a .582 field goal percentage that is second only to Artis Gilmore among players with more than 2,000 baskets. His free throw percentage of .527 — well, now is not the time to dwell on that.
"I'm a little bit sad," said Heat president Pat Riley, who also coached O'Neal when he won a title in Miami and watched Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Patrick Ewing and Alonzo Mourning when they retired. "It's been an honor to be part of coaching great, great players. And he will go down as one of the greatest of all time."
Appropriately, O'Neal's retirement became the No. 1 trending topic on the social networking site he embraced by early evening, and his former teammates and opponents took to Twitter to wish him luck.
"Shaq not only dominated the game of basketball but also dominated off the court w/ his big personality. Hes 1 of the greatest entertainers," Magic Johnson said. "Thank you Shaq for leading the Lakers to 3 titles. We loved every minute of it!"
O'Neal spent three years at Louisiana State and was the big prize when the Orlando Magic won the 1992 draft lottery and selected him first overall. He took them from the lottery to the playoffs in two years, and then led them to the NBA finals in his third year before they were swept by the Houston Rockets.
O'Neal signed with the Los Angeles Lakers in 1996 and had his greatest success there, winning three titles alongside Kobe Bryant and coach Phil Jackson. But amid tension between O'Neal and Bryant after a loss to the Detroit Pistons in the finals, O'Neal was traded to the Heat in the summer of 2004.
"I often wonder how many they would've won if he stayed," said Johnson, the Lakers Hall of Famer.
Lakers owner Jerry Buss, who decided to break up the tandem and keep Bryant, thanked O'Neal for a "long and amazing career, with a huge impact both on and off the court."
"His contributions were significant to the entire NBA, but we specifically appreciate what he did with and what he meant to the Lakers during his eight years with us," Buss said. "We have three championships that we wouldn't have won without him, and we will forever be grateful for his significant contributions to those teams."
After 3½ years in Miami, a tenure that included his fourth NBA championship, O'Neal became a veteran for hire, moving to Phoenix and then Cleveland and finally Boston. But he couldn't deliver another title for Steve Nash and Amar'e Stoudemire with the Suns, with LeBron James with the Cavaliers, or with the Celtics' Big Three of Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen.
At each stop, he endeared himself to the fans and his new teammates with his effervescent smile and playful attitude, including the habit of adopting a new nickname he felt embodied his role with his new team. In Phoenix he was the "Big Shaqtus"; in Boston, the "Big Shamroq."
"What a career for Shaq Diesel!!" James wrote on Twitter. "The most dominating force to ever play the game. Great person to be around as well. Comedy all the time!!"
O'Neal connected with more than 3.8 million followers of his Twitter account, keeping them informed of his "random acts of Shaqness" — like sitting in Harvard Square, pretending to be a statue, or going out in drag on Halloween.
But his off-court persona couldn't disguise the fact he was getting old, and while he showed he could still play with younger opponents, he couldn't manage to stay on the court with them. He missed a week in November with a bruised right knee, a week in December with a calf injury, and another in January with a sore right hip.
He returned for three games — a total of about 34 minutes — before missing the next 27 games with what the team called a sore right leg. Although the injury was originally expected to keep him out just a few games, his absence stretched to more than two months.
He returned to play in one more regular-season game, but lasted just 5 minutes, 29 seconds before reinjuring the leg and limping off the court. He missed Boston's entire first-round series against the New York Knicks and made two appearances against Miami, a total of 12 minutes, and scored two points.
In all, O'Neal averaged just 9.2 points, 4.8 rebounds and 20.3 minutes this season — all career lows.
"I'm glad that he retired. I think it was time," former guard Tim Hardaway said. "He was hurting his legacy. You don't want to see anybody hurt their legacy when they're going out. I think a lot of people are happy he didn't go through that pain of waiting too long. And I think it was tough for everybody to watch Shaq when he was playing hurt like that at the end of this season."
And that left O'Neal in the market for a new nickname.
After announcing his retirement, he asked fans to give him a nickname that befit his retirement. He reported at about 5 p.m. that "The Big 401K" was the leader.
"I know you can do better, though," he said in another video. "I'm here all day. I'm retired."
-- Jimmy Golen
Reason for hope? NBA has 'productive' labor talks
MIAMI (AP) — Commissioner David Stern felt there was progress. Union executive director Billy Hunter said he is "hopeful."
So a month before a potential lockout, there was some reason for optimism about the NBA's labor situation. Representatives of the league's owners and players met for about four hours Wednesday and will get together twice next week in Dallas as they try to negotiate a new collective bargaining agreement to replace the one that expires June 30.
"I'm hopeful, and we know that the pressure's building, and if anything's going to happen, it's got to happen between now and (June) 30," Hunter said. "And so we're really going to make every effort to see if we can reach a deal."
Hunter previously said he was "99 percent" sure of a work stoppage, but said there was a productive exchange of ideas in Wednesday's session.
"I think we now know each other, and the question is what kind of compromise the sides are prepared to make," Stern said. "It may not be enough on either side, but we're going to give it a shot."
Hunter wouldn't say if the owners showed any willingness to move off their desire for a hard salary cap, which the players have called a nonstarter. That's only one of numerous changes owners want to the league's salary structure, and the union has resisted most of them, saying the current system has largely worked.
"I guess on paper we're quite far apart. The question is whether we may be closer than we say we are, or we can get closer than we say we are," Stern said.
The Miami Heat's hopes of a long championship reign could depend on it.
If owners were to get everything they want — either through avoiding or after enduring a lockout — it could come at the expense of teams like the Heat, who have significant money committed to a few top players.
A hard cap would limit their ability to fill out a roster around LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh — or in an extreme case, even force them to trade one of their Big Three.
"That's nothing I want to focus on mentally at this time of the year," Wade said. "I'll have more comments on that when the season is over."
The current salary cap system allows for certain exceptions that permit teams to exceed it, such as to re-sign their own free agents. They wouldn't have that luxury under a hard cap system, potentially forcing teams to make some difficult decisions to stay below the threshold.
The league's initial proposal called for an immediate hard cap, though its subsequent proposal backed off implementing that next season and instead phasing it in over three seasons. Though not known where the number would fall, it would be likely be well below this season's $58 million.
James, Wade and Bosh are all scheduled to earn more than $20 million in 2014-15, when the Heat would have only six players under contract at about $71 million — though the league's proposals also call for salaries to be rolled back to conform to the requirements of a new CBA.
Stern couldn't guarantee the Heat would be able to stay together during his annual finals news conference Tuesday, saying "that's part of the negotiation," though later he said he hoped that would be the case.
The Heat have been good for NBA business, with their Game 1 victory over Dallas earning the highest TV ratings for a series opener since 2004. Both sides realize how damaging a work stoppage immediately after their first season would be, so players executive Keyon Dooling of the Milwaukee Bucks said the fact there was good dialogue Wednesday means "you've got a chance."
"But at the same time," he said, "we're far away and we realize that and we've got to try to find some middle ground so we can find balance."
-- Brian Mahoney
AP Source: Rubio agrees to terms with Timberwolves
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Ricky Rubio is coming to Minnesota after all.
The Spanish point guard has agreed to join the Timberwolves next season, ending a drawn-out, delicate, two-year negotiation with the team that had many league observers believing he did not want to play in Minnesota.
A person with knowledge of the agreement confirmed to The Associated Press on Wednesday night that Rubio will be here next season, given the woebegone Timberwolves a much-needed dose of good news. The person requested anonymity because neither Rubio nor the Timberwolves planned to make an official announcement while he continues to play for Regal Barcelona in the Spanish league playoffs.
The Timberwolves drafted Rubio fifth overall two years ago despite a buyout of his Spanish contract that topped $6 million. The enormity of the buyout caused Rubio to stay overseas rather than immediately come to the NBA, and there was talk that the precocious teenager did not want to play in Minnesota.
The current labor uncertainty complicated the negotiations. But Rubio ultimately decided he was ready to come over now.
Timberwolves spokesman Mike Cristaldi said the team was declining comment.
"As of now, we have nothing new to report," Cristaldi said.
The news marks the successful end to a long, and often winding, daliance between the Timberwolves and Rubio. With help from owner Glen Taylor, coach Kurt Rambis and assistant GM Tony Ronzone, Wolves President David Kahn spent almost two years working to convince Rubio to realize his dream of playing in the NBA in Minnesota.
The Wolves were careful not to put too much pressure on the youngster yet still emphasizing how much the team was looking forward to bringing the slick-passer to the United States.
Kahn called Rubio "a virtuoso and somebody special" after drafting him in 2009. He and agent Dan Fegan came to agreement to bring Rubio over to the NBA that summer, but Rubio pulled out at the last minute after deciding he did not want to pay a buyout that topped $6 million out of his own pocket.
That led to speculation that Rubio did not want to play in cold, small-market Minnesota and was hoping to force a trade to a bigger, more desirable market. But Rubio never expressed that himself, and the team remained confident through thick and thin that Rubio would one day join them.
"Ricky Rubio, huh?" Timberwolves All-Star Kevin Love tweeted late Wednesday night. "I'll believe it when I see it..."
His tweets continued: "Just thinking about pick and rolls...goodnight.
"Pick....N....Rolls."
Under current NBA rules, the Timberwolves can only contribute $500,000 to Rubio's buyout from Regal Barcelona. But by staying in Spain for another two years, Rubio's buyout has now dropped to a more manageable $1.4 million.
A person with knowledge of the negotiations said the Timberwolves have been woking with several local companies on some endorsement opportunities that would help pay that bill.
The negotiations reached a deadline of sorts on Tuesday, when Rubio needed to sign a contract in order to be put under the current rookie salary wage scale.
He was faced with a difficult decision — sign with the Wolves and lock himself into the guaranteed money of that rookie contract while risking losing games of his first NBA season to a potential lockout, or wait to see what unfolds with the league's uncertain labor situation.
Waiting, however, could have cost him money in the long run if the owners are successful in their bid to gain major wage concessions from the players, or if Rubio's on-court production continued to slip like it did this season, thereby hurting his negotiating leverage.
Rubio averaged a modest 6.5 points per game on 39 percent shooting while dealing with a foot injury. With Rubio coming off the bench, Regal Barcelona has reached the Spanish League finals, meaning it will likely be mid to late June before he can be introduced by the Timberwolves, who think he will flourish in the more wide-open NBA, where guards are allowed much more freedom on the perimeter.
"He's gotten bigger and he plays outstanding defense, and because he's a pass-first guard — he's going to be liked by everybody who plays with him," Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said last year. Krzyzewski also coached Team USA against Rubio and Spain in Beijing.
Rubio dominated the junior circuit in Europe and turned professional at 14. His flashy style and baby face made him an instant sensation in Europe and, even though his stock has dipped some this year, the Wolves are as enamored as ever.
"He's a special player and a very good point guard," Lakers forward and fellow Spainiard Pau Gasol said earlier this season. "Very unselfish. He's got great size, great length. He knows how to play the game very well. He's got a great feel for the game. He's just a guy that will get the team going and do what he needs to do."
The news was a much-needed jolt to a struggling franchise. The Timberwolves finished with the worst record in the league last season, and their history of bad lottery luck continued when the Cavaliers leap-frogged them for the first pick in the draft.
The team has won just 32 games in the last two years and desperately needs a capable point guard to feed the ball to Kevin Love and Michael Beasley.
With Rubio now in the mix, the first of many needs can be scratched off the list.
It was also a bit of vindication for Kahn, who endured an avalanche of criticism for drafting Rubio at No. 5 and another point guard, Jonny Flynn, sixth overall. The doubters said Rubio would never play in Minnesota, but Kahn stayed quiet and patient and got his man in the end.
-- Jon Krawczynski
Pistons sale officially complete
Investor Tom Gores is officially the owner of the Detroit Pistons.
The team said the sale of Palace Sports and Entertainment and the Pistons to Gores and his investment firm, Platinum Equity, was formally completed Wednesday, one day after NBA Commissioner David Stern said the league's Board of Governors had approved Gores' purchase of the franchise.
Gores takes over following a drawn-out sale by owner Karen Davidson that stretched back before the season. The team announced in April that Gores had agreed to buy the Pistons.
"I am very excited at the opportunity to lead this great franchise into the future," Gores said in a statement Wednesday. "The passion and commitment of Pistons fans is legendary, and our goal is to meet every one of their expectations. That starts with the hard work and values necessary to compete for championships. It also includes being a real partner in the community, and we intend to do that as well."
Gores figures to have a busy first month in charge. The Pistons have missed the playoffs two straight seasons, and coach John Kuester's future is very much in doubt.
Karen Davidson transferred control to Gores after nearly 37 years of ownership by the Davidson family. Bill Davidson, her husband, became the club's majority owner in 1974. He died in 2009.
"Throughout this process, my goal was to find the right owner to lead Palace Sports and Entertainment into the future and I am certain that Tom Gores is that person," Davidson said. "He is an astute businessman, works hard and will bring a passion to this organization — that same passion that Bill had for so many years."
Gores is the chairman and CEO of Beverly Hills, Calif.-based Platinum Equity. He founded Platinum Equity in 1995, and in its 2010 list of the 400 richest people in America, Forbes put him in a tie for 153rd with a net worth of $2.4 billion. The 46-year-old Gores is a Flint native and has a degree from Michigan State University. He lives in California with his wife and three children.
"I have a tremendous amount of respect for the Davidson family and what has been built here. Palace Sports and Entertainment and the Detroit Pistons have enjoyed a great tradition of success and have been committed to being a positive influence in the community," Gores said. "Our mission is to continue that legacy and do it the right way."
Terms of the sale weren't announced. Michael Layne, a spokesman for Karen Davidson, said her family is expected to retain a minority stake.
Detroit won its third NBA championship in 2004, part of a six-year streak in which the team reached at least the conference finals, but the Pistons went 27-55 in 2009-10 and 30-52 this past season. Empty seats were common at home games, and that, coupled with feuding between coaches and players, only added to a sense of gloom.
Shortly after agreeing to buy the team, Gores showed up to watch Detroit's home finale. The Pistons lost to lowly Cleveland, and forward Charlie Villanueva was ejected following a fourth-quarter scuffle.
-- Noah Trister
Triano out as Raptors coach
TORONTO (AP) — Jay Triano will not return as Toronto Raptors coach next season.
The Raptors announced Wednesday they will not exercise their option on Triano's contract. He will be retained as a consultant and a special assistant to president and general manager Bryan Colangelo.
"We've decided that it was time to change the voice, change the leader at the helm," Colangelo said on a conference call Wednesday evening.
Triano, an Ontario native, guided the Raptors to a record of 87-142 in his three seasons as coach. He served as an assistant to three coaches before being named interim head coach in December 2008 following the dismissal of Sam Mitchell. The interim tag was later removed and Triano signed a three-year deal in May 2009.
Colangelo said he and Triano recently met to talk about the season and the future of the team.
"All of the factors that were discussed were weighed," Colangelo said. "It led to the conclusion that now was the right time to make a coaching change and we've decided to do that."
The search for a new coach will begin immediately and there is no firm deadline in place. Colangelo did not mention names but said he'd be interested in someone with a "defensive-minded perspective."
"I think tenure, experience, success, rate of success, those will all be factored in," Colangelo said.
The Raptors finished 22-60 this season, last in the Atlantic Division.
The announcement came two weeks after Colangelo agreed to a multiyear contract extension. He has spent five years at the helm of Canada's lone NBA team.
Colangelo said P.J. Carlesimo — the only assistant coach who remains under contract for next season — is not a candidate to replace Triano at this time.
NBA Draft
Ex-BYU star Fredette working to improve defense
RENO, Nev. (AP) — Former BYU star Jimmer Fredette said Wednesday that people have been telling him his whole life he's not a good defensive player but he thinks he's on his way to proving them wrong as he works out for a series of NBA teams.
The 6-foot-2 point guard, who averaged 28.9 points per game last season and was named The Associated Press player of the year, had his first workout on Tuesday with the Indiana Pacers. He plans another with the New York Knicks on Thursday and future workouts at Sacramento, Utah and Phoenix.
"I think they all are pretty interested," Fredette said Wednesday.
"I think they know I can play offense at the level of an NBA-caliber player. The biggest thing they are concerned about is the defensive end and being able to defend NBA point guards," he said. "My goal is to show that I can. I think I did a good job of that (Tuesday). I think I'll do a good job of that the rest of the time."
Fredette was speaking to reporters on a teleconference call to promote the American Century Celebrity Golf Championship, which he is scheduled to play in July 15-17 at Lake Tahoe. He said the knock on his defensive play is nothing new.
"I think everyone has a criticism of someone for something. That is just my criticism I have gotten for my entire life, basically. I am used to it. I realize I have to continue to work on defense. I think a lot of people have to work on defense. It's a tough thing — not being able to hand check and everything," he said.
Fredette, who led BYU to the NCAA tournament round of 16 for the first time in 30 years this season, said he thinks there is a good chance the NBA will lock out its players next season but that is not affecting his preparation for this month's draft.
"They think there is going to be a lockout. That is what a lot of people are saying and they really believe that is going to happen this year," Fredette said. "No one knows how long it is going to take to resolve it. .... As of right now, I'm not doing anything different because the draft process is the same so far."
-- Scott Sonner
WNBA
Seattle thinking repeat as 2011 WNBA season begins
SEATTLE (AP) — Along with now being a two-time WNBA champion and continued recognition as arguably the best women's player in the world, something else changed for Lauren Jackson in the offseason. She grew one inch.
Actually, Jackson's always been 6-foot-6, or so she says. Now 30 years old, she finally feels comfortable admitting she's really 6-6 and not 6-5 as was always listed — not that she needed the extra inch.
"I've been 6-foot-6 my whole life. I tried to shorten me. I'm a good 6-6. My mum would always say to me, 'Say 6-6,' I would say, 'Nope.'" Jackson said. "I didn't want to be 6-6. I thought I was freakishly tall enough. I'm definitely 6-foot-6 and have been since I was a good 17 years old."
Jackson is back for her 11th season playing in the U.S., but no longer carrying the stigma of playing for arguably the most talented team in the WNBA that continually failed when the playoffs arrived.
That label departed last September when Seattle swept the Atlanta Dream in three games to win the Storm's second WNBA title. When Seattle won its first title in 2004, with Jackson and Sue Bird still in the early stages of their professional careers, it was expected that Seattle would become a mainstay among the league's elite.
It took a half-dozen years, but Seattle finally reached that pinnacle again. And unlike that first time when the Storm overhauled much of its roster after title No. 1, it's many of the same faces looking to become the league's first back-to-back champs since the Los Angeles Sparks in 2000 and 2001.
"A lot of teams that are trying to repeat can get caught up in that. You can get caught up in 'Oh, what's going to happen the first time we lose at home,' if it happens. Is it the end of the world? No," Bird said. "There have been plenty of championship teams that have lost at home. I can go down the list of things we accomplished last year .... The beauty of this team, you saw it last year, we're very mature, in part because of our age, but also the experiences we've all had individually and also as a team. With that does come some sense of maturity."
That doesn't mean coach Brian Agler didn't do some tweaking in the offseason. Most notably, he pulled together a three-team trade to get reunited with Katie Smith and bring Seattle possibly one of the most versatile veterans in the league.
Smith and Agler first were together in the ABL in the late 1990s in Columbus, where Smith was a college star at Ohio State. It took help from Washington and Indiana, but the duo are again together with Smith looking for the third title of her WNBA career.
"She still has that same passion to compete and wants to win. Now, it's a little different. You don't have such a heavy load. We have so many weapons that are out there," Seattle forward Swin Cash said. "She can come do her thing and if you forget, she's going to burn you for 20. I think that's what makes people scared about this team, is having her here."
While Jackson is always the focal point, Bird, Cash and Smith will get plenty of attention as well and be important in carrying at least some of the load. So, too, is the continued improvement of guard Tanisha Wright and forward Camille Little, especially with the loss of Svetlana Abrosimova and Jana Vesla.
There's also a bit of urgency, knowing that next year Jackson will not be around for more than half the season as she trains with the Australian national team in the hopes of finally capturing Olympic gold. Bird is also likely to face Olympic distractions in 2012.
"We had a lot of lessons last year. Obviously, we saw that if we work together and stick to the game plan, and everyone plays their role within our system, it works, and it can produce a championship at the end," Cash said. "Hopefully, we're individually a little bit better and that will translate into collectively as a team. The core is still here, but five, six players don't make up a team. We need everyone to fill in those voids. ... We have the people here who can do that."
-- Tim Booth
Sparks trade Wisdom-Hylton to Chicago
LOS ANGELES (AP) — The Los Angeles Sparks traded forward Lindsay Wisdom-Hylton to the Chicago Sky in exchange for a second round pick in the 2012 WNBA draft.
The deal announced Wednesday sends Wisdom-Hylton back to her hometown after two seasons with the Sparks. She is from suburban Naperville, Ill., the hometown of Sparks star Candace Parker.
Wisdom-Hylton averaged 3.5 points and 2.5 rebounds in 61 career regular-season games with the Sparks after being drafted by the team in 2009.
With the acquisition of the Sky's second round selection, Los Angeles now holds five picks in the 2012 draft. In February, the Sparks received a second round choice from the Tulsa Shock in exchange for guard Andrea Riley.
The Sparks open the season on Friday against Minnesota.
Lynx team to help with tornado cleanup
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The Minnesota Lynx are gathering to help with tornado relief efforts on the north side of Minneapolis.
The entire Lynx team, including stars Seimone Augustus, Maya Moore and Lindsay Whalen, is scheduled Wednesday afternoon to pack food and serve meals to residents affected by the storm on May 22. Preliminary assessments found the tornado caused at least $166 million in damage, and more than 100 homes were deemed uninhabitable. The players will be volunteering at Shiloh Temple Church on West Broadway Avenue in Minneapolis.
The Lynx start the regular season Friday night at Los Angeles. They host the Sparks Sunday afternoon for their home opener.
Shock cut two to finalize roster
TULSA, Okla. (AP) — The Tulsa Shock waived Rashanda McCants and Darxia Morris on Wednesday to reduce their roster to 11 players prior to the start of the WNBA season.
McCants averaged 5.8 points in six games, including four starts, for Tulsa last season after coming over in a trade with Minnesota. Morris was trying to make the team after attending an open tryout last month. The Shock open their season Saturday at San Antonio.
