Bosh's value tainted by Raptors' defensive issues

Will Toronto's stuggles on defense negatively effect Bosh's trade vaule this summer?

EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ -- With less then four weeks to go in the season and fighting for one of the last two playoff spots in the Eastern Conference, this is not the time for the Raptors to have reverted to the way they were playing in November.

That was an ugly time for Toronto. After 20 games, they were 7-13 and in 11th place in the East. They had a top-five offense, but were allowing 115.2 points per 100 possessions on the other end of the floor, which put their defense on a level somewhere between "atrocious" and "worst ever."

A players-only meeting and a couple of tweaks to their defensive schemes turned things around at that point, and the Raptors won 22 of their 32 games heading into the All-Star break. They didn't exactly turn into the 2008 Celtics, but they were the 18th best defensive team in the league during that stretch, allowing 105.4 points per 100 possessions, good enough to get by with a highly potent offense.

But when the Raptors returned from the break, it was like they were starting the season over again. They won a couple of games over the Nets and Wizards to peak at seven games over .500, comfortably in fifth place in the East. But the cracks showed, and since then, the leaks have sprung.

Over the last 13 games, the Raptors have gone 3-10, and their defense has been just as bad as it was back in November, allowing 114.8 points per 100 possessions. They've slipped back down to eighth place, and if it weren't for injuries to Chicago's Joakim Noah and Derrick Rose, they would probably be lottery bound right now.

A trip to Secaucus on May 18 may still be their destiny. The Raptors are currently 2 ½ games ahead of the Bulls for eighth, but both Noah and Rose made their returns for the Bulls on Saturday and Chicago's remaining schedule is slightly easier (they play the Nets twice more and have just five road games remaining) than Toronto's.

The Raptors' recent struggles will do nothing to quiet any speculation that Chris Bosh will want to leave Toronto this summer via free agency. The All-Star went on a post-game rant after last Saturday's 124-112 loss at Golden State, lamenting his team's inability to practice what they preach.

"For some reason, we just don't like to secure leads and win basketball games," Bosh said. "That's the only thing I can think of. We come out here, we talk about it. We have a billion meetings, but we can talk all we want. Unless we do something about it really doesn't matter."

Grit and toughness are certainly lacking in Toronto. A starting lineup of Jose Calderon, DeMar DeRozan, Hedo Turkoglu, Bosh and Andrea Bargnani just doesn't have the collective DNA to be a very good defensive team. And as Bosh weighs his options this summer, he might come to the realization that, as a finesse power forward, he's a better fit with a team that isn't so soft at the other four positions.

At this point, the Raptors have pretty much clinched the Worst Defensive Team in the League title for the 2009-10 season. The question is: Does that devalue Bosh in the free agent market? Can he be nearly on the same level as LeBron James and Dwyane Wade if he can't make an impact on both ends of the floor?

Bosh may have the best numbers of any power forward in the league, but he's not nearly the defensive anchor that Kevin Garnett and Tim Duncan are, even though he just celebrated his 26th birthday and those two are both in the twilight of their careers.

The Raptors ranked 12th defensively in 2006-07, when they won the franchise's only division title. So it's not like Bosh has never been on a good defensive team. This may just be a case of an average defender being surrounded by a bunch of really bad ones. And with so many teams clearing cap space in order to make a free agency splash this summer, someone is going to give Bosh a max contract no matter how bad the Raptors have been defensively this season.

They'll just have to make sure that they have the right system and the right players around him. And they can look at this season's Raptors for an example of what doesn't work.

Celtics' bench depth is key to strong season finish

The Big Three get credit for Boston's recent title, but its fresh bench will get the job done this season.

They're looking more comfortable in green. Doc Rivers is just waiting for them to play that way.

"Our bench has been pretty good, honestly," Boston's coach said Saturday. "They haven't played well at times, but it's been in flux all year."

When dissecting the Celtics, the conversation always starts with the guys who start. The celebrated trio of Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen gets the lion's share of the credit for 2008's championship run, and rightfully so. If the C's are going to figure into this Larry O'Brien chase, the Three Party needs to bring it once again.

But starting fives don't get it done alone. The Celtics felt the depth pinch in their title defense a year ago when KG couldn't go in the playoffs. The seventh-seeded Bulls extended Boston to seven games and Orlando knocked out the champs by going the distance again in Round Two.

Rivers' reserves have remained in flux, as Boston searches for the right mix in restructuring the second team. The Celtics have gone long, short, old and young. Rasheed Wallace and Marquis Daniels are the offseason imports, Nate Robinson arrived before the trade deadline and Michael Finley signed on two weeks ago. They join Glen "Big Baby" Davis, seemingly giving Rivers options galore when his starters need a blow.

"It's probably more important in some ways in the regular season than in the playoffs, because in the playoffs your starters play more minutes, but in the regular season it allows your starters to get the proper rest," said Rivers, whose group began Sunday third in the Eastern Conference (45-24) and having won four straight. "We've committed to playing guys shorter minutes and we've been doing that and still winning games, which is really good."

The bench is dripping with Finals experience. Wallace was one of the lead characters on Detroit's championship squad. Davis (Boston) and Finley (San Antonio) own rings, while Daniels was part of Dallas' drive to the championship series. Robinson has won three titles ... of the slam dunk variety.

"It's been a bench of transition more than anything and right now they've been together for a little stretch, the same group every night, and they're starting to get used to each other," Rivers said. "That's more of it than anything else. I never thought they had a problem with roles. I just thought they had a problem with playing at times, just trying to sustain any consistency."

Rivers credited the starters for carrying the Celtics to Saturday's rousing victory at Dallas. The first team scored 89 in Boston's 102-93 win, and Rivers admitted he was just trying to buy minutes from the second unit. Every one of the starters played at least 31 minutes. Pierce, Allen and Rajon Rondo each scored at least 20.

Despite the presence of some big names, Boston's bench isn't among the league leaders in terms of production. It ranks 22nd in points per game (27.8), 19th in total minutes, 23rd in rebounding and 14th in 3-pointers made.

"They're getting it," Rondo said. "They outplayed Houston's bench [Friday] night. Not every night is going to be perfect."

Robinson has been a spark of exuberance since coming over from New York. The 5-foot-9 gunner is a one-man 9-0 run when he gets it going. Rivers doesn't have qualms about Finley taking a big shot at the end of the game. Wallace still tends to shoot too many 3's for Rivers' taste, but the moody veteran is another potential game-changer.

"We just have to be ourselves," said Robinson, shooting nearly 47 percent from 3-point territory since the trade. "Everybody needs to contribute."

While Rivers may be worried about the bench's production, their attitude and ability to mesh with his veteran group wasn't a concern. The additions of Finley and Robinson didn't disrupt the balance inside the locker room. The Celtics have done it before, bringing in guys like Sam Cassell and P.J Brown for the stretch run.

"If you're going to bring somebody in late in the year, he has to be a good guy," Rivers said. "You can't take the gamble with a bad guy in your locker room. It always upsets things when you bring in a new guy, even if it's a guy that they want. Everybody still starts getting worried about minutes, so you need a guy that's there just to work and if minutes come, they come."

The Celtics of record could use a break. Allen, Garnett and Pierce are older and wiser, just not as prolific as two years ago. Rondo has emerged in the interim as a budding superstar and center Kendrick Perkins continues to improve. That starting five is as a formidable as any in the league, going 120-37 over the last three years.

And it Boston, ultimately, they're what it's about. The reserves have no illusions. They're just trying to hold down the fort.

"The more times we get to play together, the better we'll be," said Finley, a 15-year vet who asked to be released by the Spurs late last month. "But when it comes down to it, it's about our starters and our Big Three, in particular. When they're rolling and doing well, we have a great chance to win the ballgame.

"The bench, we just try to come in and keep the run going, get something started or just give our starters a break. There's no Jason Terry or Manu Ginobili type of sixth man on our bench. We're just coming in trying to keep the ship afloat."

Nuggets' toughest foe -- themselves -- could end title dream

Denver has the pieces to win it all, but do they have the focus, too?

On the one hand, there's reason for excitement because they're breathing right down the necks of the defending champions from Los Angeles as the final month of the regular season kicks into high gear.

On the other hand, there's reason to think they should already have the Lakers in their rearview mirror.

So often they can run up and down the floor with all of the energy and enthusiasm and know-how to trample anyone and anything that stands in their path.

Too often they spend parts of the very same night looking like they've been strapped into folding chairs and made to listen to a quantum physics lecture in ancient Greek. They look just plain bored.

If June comes and goes without the Denver Nuggets raising the Larry O'Brien Trophy, the most likely reason might be, well, the Denver Nuggets.

They're strong, athletic, aggressive, oozing with confidence. They're apathetic, lax and filled to the brim with overconfidence.

There have been so many occasions this season when the Nuggets have flexed their muscles and shown that they have everything that it takes to go the distance.

There have been too many times when they look like they've slept through the alarm clock and are still trying to shove one leg into their pants as they hurry out the door to work.

"We always seem to have been a second-half team this year for whatever reason," said point guard Chauncey Billups. "If we're down and start to get frustrated, we tighten up and do what we probably should have done 10-12 minutes before. Now, the later in the season it gets, the more we've got to start thinking about doing it earlier."

Can they? Or is it a character flaw that's simply hard-wired into their DNA?

"I don't know," said forward Carmelo Anthony, shrugging and wearing a sheepish grin. "I wish I could answer that. I don't know."

This is the team that strutted onto the floor at the Staples Center last spring and came within a couple of careless late-game inbounds passes in two separate games from taking a hammerlock lead on the Lakers in the West finals. This is the team that vowed to learn from that valuable experience.

"Championship teams pay attention to the details," Billups said. "That's what we did when I played on the team that won the championship in Detroit (2004). You don't let opportunities slip away and you don't beat yourself."

That yin and yang personality of the Nuggets had kept coach George Karl wrestling with his team's inconsistent mental approach long before taking up his courageous fight with neck and throat cancer. Theirs is a lineup that's loaded with talent. While all of the attention has gone to LeBron James' second straight MVP-worthy season and his free-agent future and to the dramatic rise of young Kevin Durant, Anthony has frequently flown beneath the radar but been no less stellar. He's raised his scoring average six points to nearly 29 a game and has consistently demonstrated his closer skills.

Billups continues to give the Nuggets stability and leadership at the point and speedy rookie Ty Lawson is an electric boost off the bench. Aaron Afflalo has claimed Dahntay Jones' old off-guard spot in the starting lineup and J.R. Smith can drop the hammer off the bench. If Kenyon Martin can return from his knee injury for the playoffs, the Nuggets will have their rugged defender and rebounder back. Nene is strong in the middle and even a Chris Andersen, who is not quite playing at last year's level, fills out an intimidating rotation.

But it's in their own head-to-head where the Nuggets have their problems, keeping their intensity all of the time, keeping themselves into every game.

Of the current top eight playoff seeds -- four in each conference -- the Nuggets are the only ones playing at just a .500 level on the road. They have wins over all of the other top seeds, including a 2-0 sweep of Cleveland. Yet the Nuggets also have lost to the bottom feeders in Minnesota, Sacramento (twice), Philadelphia, Washington and the Clippers. One night after Anthony had 40 points and outdueled James for an overtime win in Cleveland, the Nuggets went belly up in a loss to Washington.

"It's mental things that come back to haunt you," Billups said. "Little mental mistakes. It's a bad goaltend call or a turnover or we give up an and-1. Little things, especially on the road, have a way of hurting us.

"But really, it's just our intensity. If we come out and look to attack, play the way we can, there are not many teams that can stop us. It's a matter of when we do it. All season long, we've known we can get back into most games."

Which is both a valuable asset and potentially deadly liability.

"I don't think we'll be able to get away with that come playoff time," Anthony said. "I think it's something that's fixable, but we need to do it quick."

Or else the team that stops the Nuggets in the playoffs will be the Nuggets.

Up-and-down Bulls still hope to rise into postseason

Injuries have made coach Vinny Del Negro's second season in Chicago a big challenge.

If it's possible to get a root canal while skydiving, the Bulls have figured out how.

"That's been us all year -- the craziest roller coaster," seen-it-all center Brad Miller said. "Highs, you go win five in a row on a West Coast trip. Lows, this is it."

Carrying a nine-game losing streak into Friday night's visit by LeBron James and the Cavaliers, Chicago appears to be suffering from athletic ADD. A season that began with the momentum of an epic but somehow promising first-round loss to Boston has morphed into a series of fits and starts, leaving the Bulls scrambling to get back to the playoffs.

Vinny Del Negro somehow remains upbeat, though the rumors dogging the second-year coach aren't letting up. General manager Gar Forman has tweaked the roster, though his roster-squeeze in a trade-deadline frenzy centered on gaining cap space, not talent.

But those who are counted on to do little things -- like score and rebound -- can't seem to stay out of the training room lately.

The lineup qualifies for federal relief. The Bulls' were without their three leading scorers -- Derrick Rose, Luol Deng and Joakim Noah -- in Wednesday's setback at Dallas. Overall, more than 130 games have been lost to injury or illness. The team's best starting lineup -- Rose, Deng and Noah, plus Kirk Hinrich and Taj Gibson -- has been together only 18 games.

"There's still a lot of basketball to be played," Del Negro said with his usual optimism. "You can't get too far behind and the guys understand that, but injuries happen. We've definitely had our share."

Maybe that explains four winning streaks of at least four games, including a five-game January romp through the Western Conference, and three skids of at least four. The current slide is the longest since an 0-9 open to the 2004-05 season. The Bulls (31-36) were seven games under .500 on Dec. 22 and four over Feb. 26.

"We've had about three or four seasons in one, just with everything we've had to deal with. But, hey, it's a challenge. I love the challenge," Del Negro said. "We have good character guys, like I've said all year.

"Some things are out of your control, but let's keep fighting and battling and finding a way. We've struggled lately, we know that, but hopefully we can get guys healthy and back to the way we're capable of playing, and see if we can make a run here."

Del Negro said he feels like it's been a month since the full team has practiced together. Rose, Deng and Noah should be returning soon, so making the playoffs remains the goal. The Bulls can draw up a reasonable scenario for extending their season, too. They sit only 2 1/2 games behind eighth-place Toronto with 15 games remaining. None of the teams below the Bulls has a realistic postseason shot.

"You've just got to keep going," Miller said. "The same way crazy things have happened and we lost all these games, you can get hot and get a couple of bounces and win that many."

While the Bulls play 10 of their remaining games against teams with winning records, eight of those are at home, where the Bulls are 19-13. Chicago also has a game left against the equally reeling Raptors, losers of nine of their last 11.

"It's not like we have to chase down the Lakers," Miller reminded.

Even if they make it, the Cavs or the Magic are likely waiting in the playoffs. Pending a Kevin Garnett-level injury and a lot of those bounces going the right way, the smart money isn't on Chicago taking one of those title contenders to the limit as it did last postseason.

The front office is obviously already looking ahead, with or without Del Negro. Dealing away Tyrus Thomas and John Salmons, and loading up on expiring deals, leaves Chicago with nearly $18 million to gamble this summer.

So what exactly is gained by reaching the playoffs when the offseason is clearly the focus?

"It was all our expectations coming into the year," Hinrich said. "I feel going into the All-Star break, couple weeks out of All-Star break, we were sitting in good position. We kinda got away from what got us here."

Blame that crazy roller coaster.

When it comes to MVP race, not all games created equal

Games like Cavs vs. Magic can carry more weight than others in the MVP race.

Here at The Race, we've said it and said it and said it, to the point that we could lay down some flute and bongos and turn it into a bit of spoken-word, proto-rap, jazz poetry in the style of Gil Scott-Heron: The Most Valuable Player Race will be determined over 82 games. The MVP Race will honor the NBA's regular season -- the whole regular season. The MVP Race will not be prematurely decided after 67 percent of anyone's schedule. Or 83 percent. Or any percent that's even one percent less than 100. The MVP Race is not some lame three-quarters-of-the-season operation, halving March, skipping April. ...

Except that maybe it is. Not lame, mind you, but not a full-fledged, beginning-to-end, every-game-counts-the-same endeavor, either. Not quite what The Race alleges it to be, in other words.

The hard truth is, all regular season games are not created equal. The ones played back in October and November often hold sway with some committee members well beyond their 1/82nd worth because, at the time they're played, they represent 1/2 or 1/5 or 1/12 of a particular MVP candidate's output to that point. By March, each one is a mere 1/59th or 1/68th. (Then again, the early ones occasionally get forgotten and overlooked by some other, generally elder members.)

So-called "big" games, labeled such because of the opponents or the dates (like Christmas) or the TV networks' preferences, tend to loom larger, too. Many times, those games are more important, defining contenders and determining home-court advantages. Often, though, they're just burned more into our memory because, unlike the revolution, the MVP Race is being televised.

Sometimes, the games near the very end get counted disproportionately as more than 1.2195 percent of the overall season. This might seem proper, if a big performance by a team's best player can spell the difference between the final postseason berth and a trip to the lottery. Sometimes a division or a conference title hangs in the balance. After all, this award is all about assessed value and what's more valuable than clutch play at a crucial time?

Then again, how often do MVP winners come from eighth seeds? Do we even remember who won the Southeast Division two years ago? And why punish the candidates who, in a variation of basketball coach-ese, did their work early? If Cleveland sufficiently separated itself from the pack or Orlando opened some standings space over Boston and Atlanta to allow LeBron James or Dwight Howard, respectively, to rest or pace themselves in some late-season contests, why should they be at a disadvantage? That would be like saying points scored in the first quarter of a game count less than points scored in the fourth. Or something like that.

Thus The Race prefers not to tilt its verdict on evidence presented at the 11th hour, or in this case, the 82nd hour. Scoring titles famously have swung on the final day of the season -- George Gervin outgunning David Thompson several hours apart, David Robinson doing the same thing to Shaquille O'Neal decades later. But in terms of an MVP outcome altered on the last night, nothing springs to the committee's minds.

Now, if the guy in Oklahoma City averages 37.3 a night and the Thunder run the table 16-0 to snag the top seed in the West, The Race will have some serious reconnoitering to do.

1. LeBron James, Cavaliers (54-15)

G	MPG	PPG	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	FG%	3P%	FT%
67	39.1	29.9	7.3	8.6	1.7	1.1	.501	.347	.769

Last Week's Rank - 1
James had another Oscar Robertson week, as in one actual triple-double and two more performances that left him very close to averaging a triple-double in the Cavaliers' victories over Boston, Detroit and Indiana. The 6-foot-8 forward averaged 30.3 points, 9.7 rebounds and 9.3 assists (along with 2.0 steals and 2.0 blocks). Meanwhile, Cleveland averaged 9.3 points in margin of victory.

2. Kevin Durant, Thunder (41-25)

G	MPG	PPG	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	FG%	3P%	FT%
66	39.6	29.7	7.5	2.8	1.3	0.9	.477	.370	.890

Last Week's Rank - 2
Thunder has won six in a row. Durant, with 37, now holds the franchise's season record for most games scoring 30 or more (Spencer Haywood did it 35 times in 1972-73); actually, the committee is a little surprised that OKC isn't better than 26-11 on nights Durant has done it. Even if the smooth small forward can't catch James in The Race, he had a one-night shot at him Friday: If Durant can score 40 at Toronto, he would become only the second 21-year-old in NBA history to reach 2,000 points in a season through 67 games. James did it in 2005-06.

3. Dwight Howard, Magic (49-21)

G	MPG	PPG	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	FG%	3P%	FT%
70	34.7	18.5	13.1	1.7	1.0	2.7	.608	---	.603

Last Week's Rank - 3
Howard leads the NBA with 53 double-doubles and has 337 in his career, tops since he entered the league in 2004. On Wednesday, when foul trouble worked to limit him to nine points and seven rebounds in 24 minutes, Orlando won by 26 -- over San Antonio. But here are the most Magical numbers for Howard and his club this season: They are 7-3 against Cleveland, Boston and Atlanta, 32-12 within the East overall.

4. Kobe Bryant, Lakers (50-18)

G	MPG	PPG	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	FG%	3P%	FT%
63	38.9	27.7	5.4	4.9	1.7	0.3	.458	.317	.818

Last Week's Rank - 4
Look, you want value, consider this: Bryant, as of L.A.'s game at Sacramento Tuesday (capping a 3-0 Pacific trip), had played in 671 regular-season victories. That's the most in Lakers history, surpassing Magic Johnson (670) as second winningest ever. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar ranks No. 1 with 743 but Bryant is only 73 wins away -- even if he trails in MVPs 6-1.

5. Carmelo Anthony, Nuggets (47-22)

G	MPG	PPG	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	FG%	3P%	FT%
56	38.1	28.8	6.7	3.4	1.3	0.4	.465	.318	.832

Last Week's Rank - 7
Knowing what your team needs most, and when it needs it, is the sort of nuance that The Race should applaud and recognize. So it was with Anthony's performance against New Orleans, when he grabbed a career-high 18 rebounds and saved most of his 26 points for the game's pivotal late minutes.

6. Dirk Nowitzki, Mavericks (46-22)

G	MPG	PPG	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	FG%	3P%	FT%
67	37.9	25.0	7.7	2.6	0.9	1.1	.476	.344	.905

Last Week's Rank - 5
Blame it on the competition lately. Maybe facing three Eastern also-rans on a cushy homestand fiddled with the big guy's focus. Nowitzki had 12 points on 3-of-16 shooting and five rebounds in 40 minutes against the Nets, followed by 20 and 12 on a 5-of-13 night when Dallas lost by 34 to, ugh, the Knicks. He bounced back with 26 points, seven boards, five assists and three steals in Wednesday's victory over the Bulls.

7. Deron Williams, Jazz (44-24)

G	MPG	PPG	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	FG%	3P%	FT%
62	37.0	18.4	4.0	10.3	1.2	0.2	.476	.370	.786

Last Week's Rank - 6
In head-to-head games this season against some of the West's very best or, at least, solid point guards -– Steve Nash, Jason Kidd, Chauncey Billups, Tony Parker, Andre Miller, Russell Westbrook and Derek Fisher -- Williams has outscored all but Parker and out-assisted all but Nash. Then again, he (35) and Jazz forward Carlos Boozer (45) are the only teammates to rank in the Top 10 in double-doubles, putting them a little into the Billups-Anthony shared-load category.

8. Dwyane Wade, Heat (35-34)

G	MPG	PPG	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	FG%	3P%	FT%
65	36.1	26.7	4.7	6.5	1.9	1.0	.466	.297	.762

Last Week's Rank - 10
Wade and the Heat are pouncing on the soft bottom of the Eastern Conference playoff race. Miami has won six of its past eight and Wade, in his own last eight games, has averaged 30.3 points and 7.5 rebounds.

9. Chauncey Billups, Nuggets (47-22)

G	MPG	PPG	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	FG%	3P%	FT%
60	33.9	19.7	3.0	5.8	1.2	0.1	.435	.407	.905

Last Week's Rank - 8
Off week for the Denver point guard. He shot 2-of-12 against New Orleans and had his streak of 36 games with a three-pointer snapped by going 0-of-6 from the arc against Washington (he has missed his last 10 from out there). Might be time for a reduction in minutes as the 33-year-old playmaker heads toward the postseason.

10. Chris Bosh, Raptors (33-33)

G	MPG	PPG	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	FG%	3P%	FT%
59	36.2	24.0	11.1	2.4	0.6	1.0	.515	.421	.794

Last Week's Rank - 9
Oh, the perils of being a power forward, where you rarely control the ball or initiate the action. Bosh went for 24 and 11 and Golden State and the Raptors lost. Then it was 28-7 at Portland and another loss. Finally, on the free-agent-to-be's 14-10-and-4 assists night – including his 16-footer with 2.1 seconds left – the MVP wannabe got the result craves, 106-105 vs. Atlanta.

Lakers' Bynum has strained tendon, return uncertain

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Andrew Bynum's left Achilles' tendon is not torn, and the Los Angeles Lakers think their starting center will be out for at least two weeks.

Lakers coach Phil Jackson said Sunday he can't predict a return timetable for Bynum, who strained his tendon early in the third quarter of Los Angeles' win over Minnesota on Friday night.

Bynum was inactive for the Lakers' home game against Washington on Sunday, and he isn't expected to play on Los Angeles' ensuing five-game road trip. Jackson hopes Bynum will return early next month.

An MRI on Saturday showed the injury wasn't as serious as the Lakers initially feared, revealing no tears in Bynum's heel. He has missed long stretches of the past two seasons with injuries.

LeBron excited at possibility of getting llgauskas back

CLEVELAND (AP) -- LeBron James hated to see Zydrunas Ilgauskas leave. He'll be one of the first to welcome him back.

"He's a good friend of mine and a great teammate," James said hours before Ilgauskas is eligible to re-sign with the Cavaliers. "If that's the case of him coming back ... I'm excited."

Ilgauskas was dealt to Washington at the NBA trade deadline as part of a three-team deal that brought Antawn Jamison and Sebastian Telfair to Cleveland. Ilgauskas' contract was subsequently bought out and he can resign with Cleveland as early as Monday.

His agent, Herb Rudoy, said he will begin negotiations with Cavaliers GM Danny Ferry immediately. Ilgauskas is in Cleveland and could rejoin the team as early as Wednesday in New Orleans. His first home game would be next Sunday against Sacramento.

"If we can reach satisfactory terms," Rudoy wrote in an e-mail to The Associated Press, "Z will return to the Cavs."

Cleveland has patched together a lineup without Ilgauskas. Shortly after the trade, Shaquille O'Neal was lost for the remainder of the regular season with a thumb injury that required surgery. That forced the Cavaliers to rotate Anderson Varejao and J.J. Hickson at center, but it has done little to slow down the best team in the league.

The Cavaliers are 11-1 without Ilgauskas and O'Neal.

"Guys have stepped up," James said. "To not have a true center, guys have played above their height and weight and everyone has gotten the job done."

Cleveland will have to make a roster move to clear room for Ilgauskas. The most vulnerable appear to be rookie Danny Green or second-year forward Darnell Jackson. Neither has played much with the veteran team and both have spent time in the NBA Development League this season.

Telfair hasn't appeared in a game since the trade and coach Mike Brown doesn't foresee that changing, but Telfair has an option for next season at nearly $3 million.

"If anyone comes in here, we'll have a roster situation we're going to have to look at," Brown said. "Once someone tells me 'Z' is coming back, I'll start to figure out who he will replace."

Kings' Tyreke Evans misses game against Clippers

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Rookie scoring leader Tyreke Evans did not make the trip to Los Angeles for the Sacramento Kings' game against the Clippers because of a slight concussion and facial injuries he sustained in a double-overtime loss to the Milwaukee Bucks.

Evans missed his sixth game of the season on Sunday. The point guard's injuries -- including a bruised jaw, lacerated gums and chipped teeth -- resulted from Ersan Ilyasova's inadvertent elbow while they were going for a loose ball during the final minute of regulation on Friday night.

X-rays and a CT scan Evans had Saturday came out negative. He will be re-evaluated on Monday before the Kings host Memphis.

Cavaliers recall Jackson from Erie

CLEVELAND (AP) -- The Cleveland Cavaliers have recalled forward Darnell Jackson from Erie of the NBA Development League.

Jackson was sent to Erie on Saturday and had 32 points and 11 rebounds in the BayHawks' 101-100 loss to Dakota. He will be available for Sunday's game against the Pistons.

Jackson has played sparingly for the Cavs this season. He's averaging less than a point and 4.2 minutes in 26 games for the league's top team.

Hornets' West ejected from game for flagrant foul

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- New Orleans forward David West was ejected late in the first quarter for a flagrant foul on Utah's Kyle Korver on Saturday night.

Korver was driving for a layup when West caught him from behind and his forearm caught Korver hard across the head with 1:50 left in the first. Korver got up and was asking for the flagrant call right away.

Referee Joe Crawford took a few moments, then signaled for West to head to the locker room as Jazz fans cheered the call.

Karl continues cancer treatment, misses 7th game

DENVER (AP) -- Denver coach George Karl is skipping the Nuggets' game against the Milwaukee Bucks on Saturday night as he continues cancer treatment.

This is the seventh game Karl has skipped since announcing a month ago he had been diagnosed with throat cancer.

Karl also missed the Nuggets' game Thursday night against New Orleans, the first time he had sat out a home game.

The Nuggets took a 5-1 record under acting head coach Adrian Dantley into Saturday night's game.

Sore back keeps Raptors' Belinelli out vs. Nets

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) -- Toronto backup guard Marco Belinelli was a late scratch for the Raptors' game against the New Jersey Nets on Saturday night because of a sore lower back.

The Raptors didn't make the announcement until roughly 45 minutes before game time.

Belinelli is averaging 7.6 points in 57 games.

Guard Antoine Wright, who missed the Raptors' last two games with a sore right ankle, returned to the lineup.

Heat's O'Neal out vs. Bobcats with sprained ankle

MIAMI (AP) -- Miami center Jermaine O'Neal missed the Heat's game Saturday night against the Charlotte Bobcats because of a sprained left ankle.

O'Neal was injured Thursday night in Miami's overtime loss to Orlando.

Joel Anthony started in O'Neal's place.

Kings' Evans out one week with bruised jaw

SACRAMENTO (NBA.com exclusive) -- X-rays on Saturday revealed that Tyreke Evans suffered only a bruised jaw line and will miss at least one week of action, according sources close to Evans and in the Kings' organization.

The fear was that the rookie may have missed the remainder of the season had the X-ray revealed any type of break. Evans also suffered a concussion, a lacerated, bruised lip and two cracked teeth.

He will not travel with the team this afternoon to Los Angeles for tomorrow's game against Clippers.

Evans suffered the injury late in Friday night's game versus the Milwaukee Bucks when Ersan Ilyasova's elbow inadvertently hit Evans in the mouth while clearing space after a rebound.

Evans hit the ground where he remained for a moment before leaving for the locker room with a bloody mouth. Evans will not travel with the team to Los Angeles for Sunday's afternoon matchup against the Clippers.

Evans, a frontrunner for the league's Rookie Of The Year Award, is averaging 20.3 points, 5.6 assists and 5.2 rebounds per game in his rookie season.

The 20-year-old has missed five games this season with injury, four with a bad right ankle and one with a minor hip injury.

LeBron becomes youngest to score 15,000 points

CHICAGO (AP) -- LeBron James became the youngest player to score 15,000 points, breaking Kobe Bryant's mark by more than two years in the first quarter of the Cleveland Cavaliers' 92-85 victory over the Chicago Bulls on Friday.

James had 29 points against the Bulls to push his total to 15,026.

Three points short of the milestone when the night began, James soared in for a hard right-handed dunk on a break about 4:40 into the game. He then hit two free throws about 40 seconds later, giving him 15,001 career points

James reached the milestone at 25 years, 79 days, and he did it in his 540th game. Bryant was 27 years, 136 days and playing his 657th game, according to STATS LLC, when he did it for the Los Angeles Lakers.