Spurs Escape With 2-0 Lead – NBA Roundup For May 22nd

SAN ANTONIO (AP) — San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich was criticized and even fined by the NBA for sitting Tim Duncan and Tony Parker during the regular season. Last night's game was one of the reasons why Popovich wanted to keep his aging stars fresh.

Duncan had a team-high 17 points and Parker finished with 18 assists as the Spurs downed Memphis 93-89 in overtime to take a two-games-to-none lead in the Western Conference finals. Duncan scored the Spurs' first six points of the extra period after missing a potential game-winning jumper with two seconds left in regulation. He also finished with nine rebounds and completed the game despite picking up his fifth foul with 7 ½ minutes remaining in the fourth quarter.

Parker added 15 points for San Antonio, which blew a 13-point lead in the fourth quarter and was outscored 7-0 over the final minute of regulation.

Mike Conley and Jerryd Bayless each had a team-high 18 points for the Grizzlies, who outrebounded the Spurs 60-46 but shot just 34 percent. Bayless missed a potential game-tying three-pointer in the closing seconds.

Game 3 isn't until Saturday in Memphis.

NEW YORK (AP) — The Cleveland Cavaliers have won the NBA draft lottery for the second time in three years.

The Cavs entered with a 15.6 percent chance of winning before climbing over Orlando and Charlotte to capture the top pick in next month's draft. Cleveland posted the third-worst record during the regular season at 24-58.

The Magic will pick second in the draft, followed by Washington, Charlotte and Phoenix. The Wizards moved up from eighth to third, while the Bobcats dropped to fourth after posting the league's second-worst record.

Winning the lottery hasn't led to many championships. The San Antonio Spurs are the only franchise ever to win the lottery and later claim an NBA title.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The Los Angeles Clippers have enjoyed their greatest successes with Vinny Del Negro (NAY'-groh) as head coach. It wasn't enough.

The Clippers have fired Del Negro, whose .557 winning percentage is the best since the franchise moved from Buffalo to San Diego in 1978. The team went 128-102 in three years under Del Negro and reached the playoffs the last two seasons.

This season, the Clippers won a franchise-record 56 games, had a 17-game winning streak and won the club's first Pacific Division title before losing to the Memphis Grizzlies in the Western Conference quarterfinals.

The only other coach to lead the franchise to consecutive winning seasons was Jack Ramsey with the Buffalo Braves from 1973-74 through 1975-76. Del Negro is the only coach in club history to post a .600 winning percentage in a season, doing it in his last two years.

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — The Oklahoma City Thunder are giving $1 million for tornado relief, matching a $1 million pledge by star player Kevin Durant. The Thunder say they're giving $1 million to the American Red Cross, the Salvation Army and other disaster relief organizations helping after Monday's deadly tornado in suburban Oklahoma City.

The NBA and its players' union are combining to donate another $1 million to the recovery cause.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Bobcats owner Michael Jordan has announced he's changing his team's name to the Charlotte Hornets, saying he's optimistic the NBA board of governors will approve the name change when they convene in July.

Charlotte will remain the Bobcats next season, but if all goes as planned Jordan anticipates his team will become the Hornets for the start of the 2014-15 season.

The Hornets resided in Charlotte from 1988-2002 before then-owner George Shinn relocated the team to New Orleans.