NBA News 2011: Kendrick Perkins: I don't like Chandler

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Oklahoma City 's Perkins has an opposing opinion about his rivalry with Chandler.

"Me and Tyson never got along. I'm serious," said Perkins, whom the Thunder acquired in a trade deadline deal with the Boston Celtics. "He don't like me, I don't like him and that's pretty much how it's been. Everybody always looks at me as kind of like a dirty player if you're on the opposite team, but he's just as dirty as anybody else."

The double technicals occurred after Perkins got in Chandler's face after a play. Chandler raised both arms in the air and said he did nothing to earn a T -- the NBA rescinded it on Wednesday -- but he understands that the officials wanted to make sure they kept control of the game.

http://sports.espn.go.com/dallas/nba/news/story?id=6563701

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NBA News 2011: Kahn: I was joking. The NBA lottery is not fixed.

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Timberwolves president David Kahn says his comments about the NBA draft lottery were intended as a joke, simply a tongue-in-cheek resignation that fate gave Cleveland the first pick ahead of luck-lacking Minnesota.

After the Cavaliers beat out the Wolves for the top spot Tuesday, Kahn said with a smirk to a group of reporters, “This league has a habit—and I am just going to say habit—of producing some pretty incredible story lines.”

Kahn pointed to Washington sending the widow of longtime owner Abe Pollin last year and getting the first pick. Cleveland had owner Dan Gilbert’s 14-year-old son, who has battled disease since birth, on hand for good luck this time. The Cavaliers got exactly that in the annual pingpong ball pop-up.

Kahn, in a statement sent Wednesday by the Wolves to The Associated Press, said he wasn’t suggesting a conspiracy of any kind.

“I don’t believe in jinxes, curses (or) hocus pocus, and I certainly don’t think we were wronged,” Kahn said. “But I do believe in the power of story, and I joked last night that it’s a heck (of a) better story for a 14-year-old kid to beat out a couple of middle-aged executives standing together on a stage on national TV—and that our league seems to always have its own share of luck in being a part of these stories.”

Kahn added: “That was the entire meaning of what I said last night in a joking fashion and what I believe was received in such fashion.”

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news;_ylt=An9zmzMZQtC3Ud7fVG9AnOe8vLYF?slug=ap-timberwolves-kahnscomments

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• Cavaliers will choose No. 1 in the 2011 NBA Draft (sportsillustrated.cnn.com)
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Boxing News 2011: Ward dominates Abraham

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Andre Ward felt like the road team in his home state when he walked to the open-air ring amid a chorus of boos while hundreds of Armenians waved red-blue-and-orange flags.

Ward took the abuse and smiled. Arthur Abraham would have needed a white flag to stop Ward from steamrolling him on the way to the Super Six tournament final.

Ward overwhelmed Abraham with power and speed in nearly every round of an unanimous decision victory Saturday night, defending his WBA super middleweight title in the Super Six semifinals.

Ward (24-0, 13 KOs), the Olympic gold medalist from Oakland, Calif., put on another clinic in patient, tactical boxing while dismantling Abraham (32-3), the Armenian-born German who had a perfect record until losing three straight in the Super Six.

The Los Angeles area’s sizable Armenian population turned out in force for Abraham, but Ward had answers for all of them.

“We’re going to the final, baby,” Ward said. “Arthur is strong, and he’s a hard hitter, (but) we showed that we can win in a way other than our original game plan.”

http://sports.yahoo.com/box/news;_ylt=AoLtMbGGeCjbXqlKld_HfFWUxLYF?slug=ap-ward-abraham

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Boxing News 2011: Kelly Pavlik win

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Kelly Pavlik beat Alfonso Lopez by majority decision on Saturday night in the former middleweight champion’s rusty return from nearly 13 months out of the ring.

Former three-division champion Jorge Arce also stopped Wilfredo Vazquez in the 12th round of an action-packed fight, claiming Vazquez’s WBO 122-pound belt on the undercard of Manny Pacquiao’s meeting with Sugar Shane Mosley at the MGM Grand Garden.

Pavlik (37-2) looked sluggish and tentative for most of a plodding bout at a 171-pound catch weight. He couldn’t seriously hurt Lopez (21-1) until the final minute of the final round, but Pavlik earned a comfortable decision on two of the three judges’ cards.

http://sports.yahoo.com/box/news;_ylt=AhbR1fMXZANxrqXlqDkP376axLYF?slug=ap-pacquiao-mosleyundercard

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Boxing News 2011: Pacquiao wins unanimous decision over Mosley

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Manny Pacquiao won a lopsided 12-round decision over Sugar Shane Mosley on Saturday night, retaining his WBO welterweight title with his 14th consecutive victory.

Pacquiao (54-3-2) didn’t get the knockout he wanted, but the Filipino Congressman retained his position the most dominant and exciting fighter in the sport, methodically beating Mosley (46-7-1) at the MGM Grand Garden in Las Vegas.

Pacquiao knocked Mosley down with a left hook in the third round, a punch that seemed to sap Mosley’s willingness to engage. Pacquiao ran after Mosley the rest of the fight, but the former champion who has never been stopped in 18 years in the ring managed to finish the 12th round on his feet.

Pacquiao won 120-108 on one scorecard, 120-107 on a second and 119-108 on the third. The Associated Press had him winning 118-110.

http://sports.yahoo.com/box/news;_ylt=Au8UDcB6jLtgpucPdM5fH345nYcB?slug=ap-pacquiao-mosley

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NBA News 2011: Kobe believes in historic comeback

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Kobe Bryant is giving you permission to call him crazy.

He says his Los Angeles Lakers will rally from a 3-0 deficit against the Dallas Mavericks. It’s a rare comeback in North American sports, most notably accomplished by the 2004 Boston Red Sox against their rival New York Yankees and last season in the NHL, when the Philadelphia Flyers rallied to stun the Boston Bruins in the Eastern Conference semifinals. As for the NBA, it’s never been done in 65 years of the league’s existence.

“I might be sick in the head or crazy or thrown off or something like that, but I still think we are going to win this series,” Bryant said. “I might be nuts. Win on Sunday. Go back home and see if they can win in L.A.”

When asked where that confidence comes from, the five-time NBA champion said: “I don’t know. I’m just nuts.”

Considering how the Lakers have played so far against the Mavericks, there are lots of reasons to call Bryant nuts and little reason for faith.

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news;_ylt=AuZtnLUzi615EeJdstdO9Bi8vLYF?slug=mc-spears_kobe_bryant_mavericks_deficit_upset_crazy_050711

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• Kobe on Mavs' 3-0 lead: 'We're going to win' (sports.espn.go.com)