Police in Redondo Beach, Calif., say two men they stopped for following Los Angeles Lakers forward Pau Gasol turned out to be Spanish paparazzi. Sgt. Phil Keenan says Gasol told officers he saw the men following him before he got into his car Wednesday afternoon. Keenan says the men tailed Gasol's car and the athlete was worried that they might be stalkers. - AP
Monday could bring a shakeup to the Cavaliers' roster. That's the day when the Cavs can begin negotiating with Zydrunas Ilgauskas about his possible return to the team. - Akron Beacon Journal
As a preview to last night’s game between the Orlando Magic and San Antonio Spurs, ESPN’s First Take took on the question of which big man you would rather have on your team right now: Tim Duncan or Dwight Howard. Skip Bayless’s answer? Tim Duncan. Bayless said Duncan had the “winner’s intangibles” that Howard did not. He tweeted his views here, saying, “Right now, for these playoffs, still take boring old Tim Duncan over Dwight Howard on winner’s intangibles. I KNOW 4-ring Tim will show up.” - Orlando Sentinel Blog
That grand plan Gregg Popovich had to rest Tim Duncan on more second nights of back-to-backs more than ever before? Scrap it, for now. The Spurs found themselves in such a situation Wednesday in Orlando, coming off a hard-earned victory in Miami in which Duncan approached a normal workload. In a perfect world, it would have been a perfect opportunity for Popovich to rest him. - San Antonio Express-News
``It's been a trying season,'' said James Jones, who is averaging 3.9 points and has played in only 33 games this year. ``I thought last year after being injured, I worked really hard to get into shape to be able to come in and help this team.'' During the past five games, Jones has played more minutes and entered games at key times. Against Philadelphia this past Sunday, Jones had a season-high 14 points and hit 3 of 6 shots from three-point range. - Miami Herald
After getting treatment for the past couple of days, Lou Williams was fit enough to go last night, but coach Eddie Jordan decided to keep him out of the starting lineup. Again, Williams' body language showed his displeasure, even if he somewhat hid it in his words. "I expected [to start]," Williams said before taking the court to warm up his back before game time. "I didn't see any reason . . . But we've been changing up the lineup a little bit. I guess this is just another episode of us doing that, seeing if we can find some way to win." His comments dripped with sarcasm. - Philadelphia Daily News
Since being traded to the Knicks by the Celtics Feb. 18, Bill Walker has exponentially increased his free agent value for this summer. Walker, who never made a positive enough impression or remained healthy long enough to crack Doc Rivers’s rotation, is averaging 24.5 minutes per game under Mike D’Antoni. - Boston Globe
Indiana Pacers coach Jim O'Brien said there is no timetable for forward Danny Granger's return to the lineup. Granger was examined and released from Methodist Hospital after a CT scan on his head and neck taken Tuesday night came back negative. "(The team's physicians will) evaluate him on a day-to-day basis," O'Brien said. "If he's capable of going, he'll go, but you never know when somebody gets hit that hard in the head area." - Indianapolis Star
If Wilson Chandler has played his last game this season, did he do enough to convince free agents they should want to team up with him on the Knicks next season? Probably not. Chandler has shut it down to rest his lingering strained groin, but will try to return before the season's over. The Knicks were uncompetitive last night without Chandler, getting routed by the Celtics, falling behind by 27 points in the third quarter before losing 109-97 at the new Boston Garden. The Knicks (24-44) finished their five-game trip at 2-3. - NY Post
Mike D'Antoni remains adamant, almost defiant, that his up-tempo style will win big in the Eastern Conference. But only on one condition. It helps to have someone like Steve Nash or a certain MVP small forward and future free agent running the offense. "You need playmakers," D'Antoni said before last night's game against Boston. "You need guys that can shoot the ball and score. You can do it from the point guard, but you can do it from other than that. I played in Europe. We had other guys do it." - NY Daily News
Bucks general manager John Hammond said Wednesday he has "major concerns" about center Andrew Bogut's participation in the World Championships this summer in Turkey. Bogut is under pressure in his native Australia to play for his country in the international tournament, but the Bucks are worried about the 7-footer's long-term health and protecting their five-year, $60 million investment. Bogut and the Bucks agreed to the five-year contract extension in the summer of 2008, and the current season was the first year of the deal. - Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
But Deron Williams got even more banged up in the process. Late in the game, Williams suffered a contusion to his already sore left shoulder. He'll have an MRI on his shoulder as a precaution today. That goes along with his injured left ankle, left wrist and back. "I just need a whole new left side," Williams quipped. D-Will wasn't the only Jazz player to be injured Wednesday night, either. Starting small forward Andrei Kirilenko left the game two minutes into the third quarter after re-injuring his left calf. He was wearing a walking boot on his left foot and lower leg as he left the arena Wednesday night. - Deseret News
So maybe the Nets, with $23.3 million to spend, will get lucky with the second tier-type free agents that include Al Harrington, 6-foot-9, a 14.1 career scorer who stated he would be open to signing with the Nets. The notion is not far-fetched. Multiple team sources agreed Harrington "would be someone to consider" during this summer's free agency. - NY Post
As for Paul Pierce, who appears to have recovered from knee and thumb injuries and topped 20 points for the first time since March 3 (a 104-80 win over Charlotte), Rondo said: “It’s been one or two games, so it’s kind of early to tell. Paul is Paul. Me, personally, I’m not concerned about Paul, how he’s playing, if he scores, or being aggressive and scoring 29 points — he can probably do that on any given night. He’s very unselfish as well, along with Kevin, but tonight he took shots.’’ The best athletes can see patterns and plays in advance, and Rondo started focusing on the road trip sometime in the final quarter last night. - Boston Globe
The knee bothered him more than the thumb at first, but that soon changed. Thaddeus Young eventually returned to the game, but trainers were unable to stop the bleeding from what was initially diagnosed as a cracked thumbnail. Young is likely to miss a week to 10 days due to the thumb injury, depending on how he can tolerate the pain. Dribbling and catching passes are the primary issues right now. "I can't really grip the ball," said Young prior to Wednesday's game against the Nets. - Philly Burbs
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