Bosh Questions His Team's Effort

The Heat had been carrying only 14 players on the roster, one under the league minimum. A second spot opened Friday night when Miami moved Rafer Alston to the suspended list for the remainder of the season, making it clear that Miami was going to strongly consider adding some depth. - AP

Rookie Earl Clark will leave today to join the Suns' D-League affiliate in Iowa, where he will play three games. Clark has played the least of any active 2009 first-round pick except B.J. Mullens. "He just needs some minutes," said Suns General Manager Steve Kerr, who will attend two of the games in Iowa. "The best way to develop is to play. He's done a great job in practice, but we haven't had a lot of practice time." - Arizona Republic

A day after venting his frustrations like he seldom has, Chris Bosh had his best offensive game since returning from an ankle injury and a bout with the flu, leading the Raptors with 28 points. Hedo Turkoglu, booed lustily by fans he jilted by passing over an offer in Portland to sign with Toronto in the summer, had 14 points – his biggest offensive output since late February. Calderon finished with 11 points and seven assists while Amir Johnson had 13. - Toronto Star

With the Heat's move to suspend point guard Rafer Alston for the rest of the season, coach Erik Spoelstra reiterated Sunday that the team is considering its options but is no rush to sign a replacement. The Heat has played the past five games with only two point guards, Carlos Arroyo and backup Mario Chalmers. The team also was down an additional ball-handler, with Dorell Wright serving the second game of his two-game suspension for a DUI arrest. - Miami Herald

Yesterday, after the Celtics took their second loss to the Cavaliers in just three weeks, the dif ference between the teams wasn’t the monster-sized center Cleveland added in Shaquille O’Neal (at home nursing a surgically-repaired thumb), it wasn’t the shooting they added in Anthony Parker and Jamario Moon, and it wasn’t even James and his 30-point, 8-rebound, 7-assist performance. “The glaring difference,’’ said Boston’s Ray Allen, echoing everyone’s thoughts, “was just their effort.’’ Cleveland outscored the Celtics, 27-10, on second-chance points. - Boston Globe

Jermaine O'Neal was ejected in the third quarter for his role in delivering the final blow and choice words in a face-grab skirmish with Philadelphia center Samuel Dalembert. If Miami sent one message with that incident it was this: Don't mess with the Heat at home. Not now. ``We need that passion. We need that toughness,'' Spoelstra said after the Heat fended off the 76ers in a 104-91 win. ``That's what these games are going to be about. It just can't boil over. I don't want [anyone] to back off.'' - Miami Herald

Just like the losses, the fouls keep adding up for a frustrated Brook Lopez. The Nets center has developed a bad habit of starting out strong and then disappearing, sometimes exiling himself on the bench after picking up unnecessary fouls. Consider Saturday night's 116-108 loss to the Houston Rockets, in which Lopez put up decent numbers (22 points, 10 rebounds) but had a huge letdown after scoring the Nets' first eight points over the game's first two minutes. - NY Daily News

Boston's Glen Davis denies he intentionally tried to hurt Shaquille O'Neal in a game earlier this season, calling the accusations "crazy." O'Neal is expected to miss the rest of Cleveland's regular season after tearing a ligament in his thumb when Davis blocked his shot in a game in Boston on Feb. 25. After the block, replays seemed to catch Davis squeezing O'Neal's hand on Cleveland's next possession. - Boston Globe



Theo Ratliff might be one of those centers who plays until he is 40. As usual, he has no guarantee beyond the end of the season, working again on a one-year contract with no promises that he will return to Charlotte next season. "I've been year-to-year for the last three or four years. It's always possible (that I'll be back),'' he said. "But right now I feel real good physically. There's no reason why I can't keep playing at this level.'' - FanHouse

Do you believe in rookie Toney Douglas as the Knicks' point guard of the future? Coach Mike D'Antoni did not believe as recently as nine days ago, but now the rookie out of Florida State is the new flavor of the month as the Knicks point-guard carousel goes 'round and 'round. Douglas, whom the Knicks selected 29th in the draft after buying the pick from the Lakers for a whopping $3 million, has gone from out of the rotation to possibly the starting point guard for the remaining 16 games to cap a rookie season full of stops, starts and unfulfilled promises from the coach. - NY Post

A couple of possible weekend appearances for Suns guard Leandro Barbosa turned into more delays, but Barbosa pledges that Tuesday night will mark his return to action. Barbosa was cleared to practice last week and had chances to return Friday or Sunday but felt too weak to dribble for Friday's game and asked Suns coach Alvin Gentry on Sunday morning for one more game off to make sure he is ready for the final month. - Arizona Republic

Thanks to a return to the starting lineup, Richard Jefferson has followed up his worst game of the season with two of his best. He averaged 18.5 points and nine rebounds against Minnesota and L.A., making 16 of 27 field goals. Five of his baskets were dunks. These strong performances came on the heels of a scoreless game against the Knicks. Coach Gregg Popovich returned Jefferson to the starting lineup in part to keep him paired with playmaker Manu Ginobili for longer periods. He had other reasons, too. - San Antonio Express-News

In Matt Bonner's head, he is always open, the basket is always as wide as the Gulf of Mexico, and every ball feels textbook-perfect leaving his hand. “In my head, I'm never missing,” the Spurs' sweet-shooting center/forward said. “They're all going in.” Of course, what happens in the head doesn't always jibe with what happens on the hardwood. Bonner learned as much earlier this season as he struggled to come back from a broken shooting hand, and came perilously close to falling out of Gregg Popovich's plans altogether. - San Antonio Express News

Tyreke Evans had 29 points, 11 assists and nine rebounds to lead the Kings over the Timberwolves 114-100 on Sunday night. On a night when even his erratic jumper was going in, Evans made 10 of 19 shots, including two three-pointers, and made all seven free throws. He left the game with 6:04 remaining when Kings coach Paul Westphal decided emptying his bench was more important than leaving Evans in the game to go after one more rebound. "If I got it, I got. If not, it was OK," Evans said. "I knew I was close. He just left me in longer than what he should have. I was attacking and trying to get the triple-double." - AP

Heat forward Michael Beasley arrived at AmericanAirlines Arena on Sunday hoping to make his return from the thigh injury that forced him to miss Friday's win against Chicago. But Beasley's pregame workout was short-circuited when his left leg buckled slightly as he tried to finish a drive with a dunk before Miami faced Philadelphia. Assistant trainer Rey Jaffet, who monitored Beasley's workout, instantly waved off any chance at a return after Beasley landed, favoring his left leg. - Miami Herald

At the Suns' charity gala Saturday night, rookies Earl Clark and Taylor Griffin and sophomores Robin Lopez and Goran Dragic sang "Ladies Night" individually. "I rate it right up there with William Hung," Gentry said of the former "American Idol" contestant. "The other guys couldn't hold a note in a bucket, but Taylor was pretty good." - Arizona Republic