With Jason Kidd's sprained ankle seemingly not a problem, New Jersey Nets coach Byron Scott was relaxed Monday while talking about a possible matchup against Tim Duncan and the San Antonio Spurs in the NBA Finals.
Kidd's right ankle was a major concern for the Nets on Saturday when they won their second straight Eastern Conference title with their 10th straight playoff victory.
Kidd twisted the ankle when he landed on the foot of Detroit center Ben Wallace late in the fourth quarter in Game 4. After a few agonizing minutes that featured Kidd biting on a towel and then talking to trainer Tim Walsh, the All-Star point guard finished the game and the sweep.
PHOTO: REUTERS
For those watching, however, there was reason for concern. Every time Kidd took a jumper, he landed on his left foot to kept weight off the sprained ankle.
"It's still a little sore," Scott said of Kidd's ankle. "It was perfect for us to win the game so he has some time to heal up."
The Nets won't start the NBA Finals until June 4, which gives Kidd 10 days to get healthy.
Kidd won't practice today when the Nets return to work, but he will shoot, Scott said.
"He's fine." Scott said. "Talking to Timmy, he has great strength in it. It is a little swollen, but he'll be OK."
The Nets will need a healthy Kidd if they want to win their first NBA title.
"They are just playing great basketball," Scott said of the Spurs, who had the NBA's best regular-season record. "They have a commanding lead, that's all. They haven't closed it out. You still have to wait and see."
Insisting that he wasn't writing the Dallas Mavericks off, Scott said he is watching the Spurs more closely now that they have taken a 3-1 lead in best-of-seven Western Conference finals.
His big concern, of course, is Duncan.
New Jersey and San Antonio split two games in the regular season with both teams winning at home. Duncan averaged 21 points and 14.5 rebounds.
Power forward Kenyon Martin got the assignment on Duncan in both games. Scott said that probably won't change.
However, Scott said Martin doesn't always play Duncan one-on-one.
"We try to do different things with him," Scott said. "We didn't play him straight up a whole lot. Kenyon did a real good job of getting him out. He didn't let him get to his sweet spot and let him catch it in paint or catch it in the box. He forced him out five or six feet."
Scott said that if the Nets can force Duncan to put the ball on the floor, they can get turnovers.
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
MLB on Friday announced a formal investigation into the scandal swirling around Shohei Ohtani and his former interpreter amid charges that the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar was the victim of “massive theft.” The Dodgers on Wednesday fired Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani’s long-time interpreter and close friend, after Ohtani’s representatives alleged that the Japanese two-way star had been the victim of theft, which was reported to involve millions of dollars and link Mizuhara to a suspected illegal bookmaker in California. “Major League Baseball has been gathering information since we learned about the allegations involving Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhara from the news media,” MLB