The AP reports:

Jamal Crawford saw the end to his series-long shooting slump coming, making a promise after the pregame shootaround: It’ll be back tonight.

Crawford then went out and finally played like the NBA’s sixth man of the year in the playoffs, scoring 24 points to help the Atlanta Hawks beat the Milwaukee Bucks 83-69 on Friday night to force a seventh game in the first-round series…

Carlos Delfino scored 20 for the Bucks, who came into the game hoping to finish off their heavily favored opponent but instead went completely flat coming out of halftime and couldn’t pull off a late rally attempt…

Brandon Jennings scored 12 points on 4-for-15 shooting, including 1 of 9 from 3-point range…

John Salmons finished with eight points on 2-for-13 shooting.

Joe Johnson scored 22 points, and Al Horford had 15 points and 15 rebounds for Atlanta.

Tyreke Evans of the Sacramento Kings, Brandon Jennings of the Milwaukee Bucks and Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors were unanimous selections to the 2009-10 NBA All-Rookie First Team, the NBA announced today.

Rounding out the NBA All-Rookie First Team are New Orleans’ Darren Collison (46 points) and Chicago’s Taj Gibson (41 points).

The NBA All-Rookie Second Team consists of New Orleans’ Marcus Thornton (31 points), San Antonio’s DeJuan Blair (30 points), Oklahoma City’s James Harden (22 points), Minnesota’s Jonny Flynn (22 points) and Detroit’s Jonas Jerebko (22 points).

More info and complete voting results here.

Brad Townsend of the Dallas Morning News reports:

An off-season of second-guessing coach Rick Carlisle commenced during Game 6’s fourth quarter, as rookie guard Roddy Beaubois’ sat the bench despite playing a huge role in Dallas’ third-quarter comeback against the Spurs.

But Beaubois insists he isn’t, and won’t be, among the second-guessers.

“Everybody told me to just try to be ready and when they called my name, I just played my game,” Beaubois said, after scoring 16 points in 20 mostly-electrifying minutes Thursday.

But when he was helping Dirk Nowitzki lead the Mavericks comeback, didn’t part of him think, “See, Coach, this is what I could have been doing all series”?

“You don’t think about it,” he said. “Like I said, it was coach’s decision. I think everybody tried to play very hard and did a good job. It’s OK. But when he called my name I just wanted to push myself and try to win the game. That’s it.”

The AP reports:

Jason Richardson wanted to be the wild card in the playoffs for the Phoenix Suns.

So while the Portland Trail Blazers were focused on Amare Stoudemire and Steve Nash, Richardson came up big for the third time in the first-round series, scoring 28 points in a 99-90 Game 6 victory Thursday night…

Richardson had 29 points in the Suns’ 119-90 victory in Game 2 before scoring a career playoff-high 42 in a 108-89 win in Game 3…

Martell Webster had 19 points for Portland, which failed to advance out of the first round for the second straight year…

Amar’e Stoudemire finished with 22 points for the Suns, while Nash, who said afterward that he had been battling a hip injury since Game 2, had 10 points.

Brandon Roy had 14 points for the Blazers in his first start of the series.

The AP reports:

Manu Ginobili scored 26 points and San Antonio survived blowing a 22-point lead to finish off the Mavericks 97-87 in Game 6 on Thursday night, getting payback after Dallas eliminated the Spurs a year ago in the opening round.

The seventh-seeded Spurs will play the sixth-seeded Suns in the Western Conference semifinals starting Monday night in Phoenix…

Dirk Nowitzki nearly carried the Mavs to an unbelievable comeback, getting 25 of his 33 points in a remarkable second half. But George Hill, the hero for the Spurs in Game 4, scored 10 of his 21 points in the fourth quarter to keep the series from going back to Dallas…

Caron Butler scored 25 points and rookie Rodrigue Beaubois had 16. But aside from them and Nowitzki, no other Dallas player scored more than six points…

Plagued by slow starts in this series, Dallas got off to its worst yet when it mattered most. The Mavs trailed 22-8 after the first quarter, hitting just four of their first 18 shots. By halftime it was 47-34, a franchise playoff low for Dallas.

Tyreke Evans of the Sacramento Kings is the recipient of the Eddie Gottlieb Trophy as the 2009-10 NBA Rookie of the Year, the NBA announced today.

He deserved it. This is an individual award, not a team award. And as an individual, Evans was pretty much the best first-year player in the league. Stephen Curry came on strong as the season progressed, and Brandon Jennings had more team success than either of them, but as an individual, Evans rocked.

Evans received 67 first-place votes (491 points) from a panel of 123 sportswriters and broadcasters throughout the United States and Canada. Golden State’s Stephen Curry finished second with 391 points and Milwaukee’s Brandon Jennings finished third with 204 points. Players were awarded five points for each first-place vote, three points for each second-place vote and one point for each third-place vote.

More info and full voting results here. And fan discussion is here.

Brian T. Smith of the Columbian reports:

Portland Trail Blazers center Greg Oden said Thursday he expects to be ready to participate in the Blazers’ 2010-11 training camp.

Oden, who is recovering from his second major surgery in three years, added that there is no timetable for his return, though.

But the No. 1 overall pick of the 2007 NBA Draft said his rehabilitation is on schedule. He suffered a season-ending injury when fractured his left patella Dec. 5 against Houston.

“A good day is when I can walk and not have no swelling,” said Oden, following a morning shootaround at the team’s practice facility. “A bad knee is when I have a little bit of swelling and I ice my knee. I’ve been using my bone stimulator a lot. Just doing little things to help.”

Nuggets C Nene has a sprained left knee. An MRI this morning revealed no ligament or meniscus damage.

He will not travel to Utah and is listed as out for tomorrow night’s Game 6. He will subsequently be day-to-day.

This is great news for a Nuggets team that has struggled in their first round NBA playoff series against the Utah Jazz and needs all the help they can get in their frontcourt.

The National Basketball Association announced today that 103 players, including 80 players from U.S. colleges and 23 international players, have filed as early entry candidates for the 2010 NBA Draft.

Players wishing to enter the 2010 NBA Draft were required to submit a letter to the NBA to be received no later than Sunday, April 25. Players who have applied for early entry have the right to withdraw their names from consideration for the Draft by notifying the NBA of their decision in writing no later than 5 p.m. ET on Monday, June 14.

Complete list and more info here.

Cavaliers forward LeBron James underwent further evaluation at Cleveland Clinic Sports Health last evening by Cavaliers Head Team Physician Dr. Richard Parker and Dr. Mark Schickendantz. He was re-examined, with x-rays and MRI reviewed.

LeBron has a strain of his right elbow and a bone bruise of his olecranon. He will undergo daily treatments and revaluation and a repeat MRI will be performed next week.

It is not anticipated that he would miss any playing time. His status will be updated as appropriate.

Jody Genessy of the Deseret News reports:

Deron Williams is the best point guard in the NBA.

Says who?

Deron Williams, that’s who.

Not that they’re biased or anything, but you can add Carlos Boozer and Andrei Kirilenko to that list.

And ESPN columnist Bill Simmons has finally stepped aboard the D-Will bandwagon, too — a revelation that will come as a huge shock to anybody who knows how big of a Chris Paul fanboy “The Sports Guy” is.

Asked Wednesday about Williams’ point-guard supremacy, Kirilenko didn’t hesitate with a “yes, yes” response. Boozer replied, “Hands down.”

Told about Boozer’s proclamation, the Jazz playmaker didn’t flinch or disagree in the slightest.

“I feel like I’m the best point guard in the league,” Williams said.

The AP reports:

Carmelo Anthony hung out the big “Help Wanted” sign after Denver’s last game and he got plenty of responses.

The Denver Nuggets avoided elimination with a 116-102 victory over the Utah Jazz on Wednesday night when Anthony’s supporting cast finally came up big…

Kenyon Martin’s 18 points were the most he’s scored in the playoffs since 2005. Aaron Afflalo was perfect from the floor, and reserve Ty Lawson provided a spark with his speed…

Anthony had 26 points and 11 rebounds, Chauncey Billups had 21 points, and Smith made four big 3-pointers among his 17 points for Denver, which won a game in which it was facing elimination for the first time since Game 6 of the 1994 Western Conference semifinals against Utah…

Carlos Boozer had 25 points and 16 boards for Utah. But backup big man Kyrylo Fesenko, who had played so well in the absence of Andrei Kirilenko (calf) and Mehmet Okur (Achilles’ tendon) for the last three games, all Utah wins, finished with three points and six rebounds Wednesday night.

The AP reports:

Brandon Jennings scored 25 points, Kurt Thomas drew a crucial charging foul against Joe Johnson and the Bucks stunned the home team with a 14-0 run late in the game, beating the favored Hawks 91-87 on Wednesday night for a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven series…

The Hawks appeared to be in control leading 82-73 after Josh Smith’s long jumper with 4:10 remaining. Milwaukee scored the next 14 points while Atlanta was missing seven straight shots. Even though Al Horford finally broke the drought with 19 seconds remaining, then banked in a 3-pointer from the top of the key to finish with 25 points and 11 rebounds, it wasn’t enough to make up for a total collapse…

Jamal Crawford’s night ended in appropriate fashion—a desperation 3-pointer that missed badly and left him sprawled on the court. He finished 4 of 18 from the field for 11 points. Joe Johnson wasn’t much better, making 6 of 16 for 13 points before fouling out for the first time this season…

Marvin Williams had 22 points for the Hawks, who couldn’t overcome the dismal showings by their two leading scorers, Johnson and Crawford.

Orlando Magic center Dwight Howard has been fined $35,000 for public criticism of the officiating that appeared on his personal blog, it was announced today by Stu Jackson, Executive Vice President, Basketball Operations.

Howard’s comments appeared on his blog on April 27.

On his blog, Howard wrote: “Ya’ll know that that series against Charlotte drove me crazy. I mean it was almost comical at times how I was getting fouls called on me. There was nothing I could do our there and I felt like I couldn’t even move without getting that whistle blown on me. I’m not looking to say anything to get myself in trouble with the league, but I just don’t see other star players getting called for fouls the way I get them. No star player in the league is outta games the way I am. I even talked to Pat Ewing about his career and he said he never had foul trouble like what I’m going through.”

The AP reports:

LeBron James’ puzzling elbow injury will get an extra day of rest before the next round of the NBA playoffs after the Cavaliers decided not to practice Wednesday.

James has been bothered by numbness in his right elbow for several weeks. He lost feeling after banging it late in Tuesday night’s clinching win over the Chicago Bulls.

InsideHoops.com reports:

There hasn’t been any word that LeBron could miss any games, and for now it is assumed he won’t, but more may be known today or tomorrow.

The second round Cavs-Celtics NBA playoffs series starts Saturday.

The Detroit Pistons announced today that guard Ben Gordon underwent a successful surgical procedure performed by Dr. Art Manoli to remove bone spurs and loose bodies from his left ankle. The procedure was performed at St. Joseph’s Mercy Hospital in Pontiac, MI.

Gordon’s left ankle will be placed in a cast for three weeks and rehabilitation will begin immediately following removal of the cast.  He is expected to make a full recovery prior to the start of training camp in October.

The 6-foot-3 guard appeared in 62 games (17 starts) for the Pistons last season averaging 13.8 points, 2.7 assists and 1.9 rebounds in 27.9 minutes per game.

The AP reports:

Iowa State has brought back “The Mayor” for a second term in Ames, and the Cyclones are hoping former Indiana Pacer Fred Hoiberg still has the magic touch he displayed so often as a sharp-shooting star at Hilton Coliseum.

Iowa State confirmed the swift and surprising hiring of Hoiberg late Tuesday night after finalizing negotiations with the former Cyclones star.

Hoiberg, known as “The Mayor” during his playing career, replaces Greg McDermott, who left Iowa State after four seasons to take over as coach at Creighton.

The AP reports:

LeBron James, whose path to superstardom has followed a similar trajectory as Jordan’s, said Tuesday night before the Cavaliers faced the Chicago Bulls in Game 5 of the playoffs that he would “love” to own an NBA team someday. Jordan assumed ownership of the Charlotte Bobcats in March, buying the club for $275 million from Bob Johnson.

“I would love to be in that position,” James said. “It’s a great position to be able to own a team and be able to put pieces together and make decisions.”

InsideHoops.com says:

Well, if any current player should have the money to own most or all of an NBA team by the time his playing days are over, it’s LeBron.

Ross Siler of the Salt Lake Tribune reports:

Whether it’s in one of the final games of the Jazz’s series against the Nuggets or in the Western Conference semifinals should the Jazz advance, Andrei Kirilenko sounded increasingly encouraged Tuesday about returning to action in these playoffs.

Kirilenko resumed court work Monday with sliding, jumping and shooting on the move and reported “no pain at all, which I was excited about” with his strained left calf.

“I wanted to go more,” said Kirilenko, who decided it was best not to push things. “Before when I get back, I felt like (the calf) gets tired very quick, like a little stiff,” he said. “Like right now I don’t feel any stiffness, no soreness, just tiredness. But I know it’s tiredness from the work.”

Jim O’Donnell of the Chicago Sun-Times reports:

For LeBron James — who just missed a triple-double with 19 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists despite a troublesome elbow — the question was tweaked.

”After the five games,” James was asked, ”did you think the Bulls were particularly well-coached, poorly coached or just in between?”

”I think they were well-coached,” James said. ”Vinny and his staff had that group ready. They have a group of young talent that can really play the game of basketball, and they played hard. There was not one point where they were laying down.

”In Game 4, we just got our stuff going and made stops, but they didn’t lay down. I’m not trying to make a pitch for Vinny because I know what’s going on — is Vinny in or is Vinny out? That’s not my job. But they played hard.”