MORNING BRIEFING March 16, 2012
NBA
Portland coach Nate McMillan was fired Thursday as part of a massive overhaul by Trail Blazers owner Paul Allen and president Larry Miller that also included the release of former No. 1 overall draft pick Greg Oden and came one day after a 42-point drubbing in New York.
Assistant coach Caleb Kanales was made interim head coach for Portland, which is 20-23 and in 12th place in the West, last in the Northwest Division.
The Blazers also traded veteran center Marcus Camby to the Rockets for center Hasheem Thabeet and point guard Jonny Flynn and versatile forward Gerald Wallace to the Nets for center Mehmet Okur and forward Shawne Williams.
The Los Angeles Lakers got younger at point guard, acquiring Ramon Sessions from Cleveland and sending veteran Derek Fisher to Houston in separate moves.
Along with Sessions, the Lakers received forward Christian Eyenga for reserves Luke Walton and Jason Kapono.
Fisher was sent to the Rockets along with a first-round pick for Jordan Hill.
Denver dealt Nene to Washington in exchange for JaVale McGee and former Gonzaga standout Ronny Turiaf.
Wizards 99, Hornets 89: John Wall had 26 points and 12 assists to lift Washington at New Orleans.
Mavericks 101, Bobcats 96: Dirk Nowitzki scored 27 and host Dallas rallied past Charlotte.
Thunder 103, Nuggets 90: Kevin Durant scored 24 and Oklahoma City won at Denver.
Jazz 111, Timberwolves 105: At Salt Lake City, Gordon Hayward scored 26 and Utah beat Minnesota.
Suns 91, Clippers 87: Shannon Brown scored 21 and Phoenix won at Los Angeles.
Devils 1, Avalanche 0, SO: At Newark, N.J., Ilya Kovalchuk and Zach Parise scored in the shootout to lift New Jersey past Colorado.
Flyers 3, Islanders 2: At Uniondale, N.Y., Ilya Bryzgalov made 29 saves and Philadelphia beat New York.
Penguins 5, Rangers 2: NHL points leader Evgeni Malkin scored and Pittsburgh won at New York.
Hurricanes 2, Blues 0: At Raleigh, N.C., Chad LaRose and Jeff Skinner scored to lift Carolina past St. Louis.
Maple Leafs 3, Lightning 1: At Tampa, Fla., James Reimer made 34 saves and Toronto beat Tampa Bay.
Panthers 6, Bruins 2: At Sunrise, Fla., Jose Theodore stopped 24 shots and Florida beat Boston.
Flames 4, Coyotes 1: Jarome Iginla scored the game-winner in the second and host Calgary beat Phoenix.
Sharks 2, Predators 1, SO: Ryane Clowe scored in a shootout and San Jose beat visiting Nashville.
Golf
Padraig Harrington knew he was playing better golf than his scores indicated. He just wasn’t expecting the lowest official score of his life, a 10-under 61 to set the course record in the PGA’s Transitions Championship at Palm Harbor, Fla.
Will Claxton birdied the 18th for a 64, a score that would have put him atop the leaderboard at Innisbrook the last seven years. John Senden, coming off a 65 in the final round at Doral, was in a large group at 66 that included William McGirt and 51-year-old Kenny Perry.
Top-ranked Yani Tseng played a seven-hole stretch on the back nine in 7 under and finished with a 7-under 65 for a share of the first-round lead with Hee Young Park in the LPGA Founders Cup at Phoenix.
Baseball
Barry Zito allowed two runs and four hits in four innings, helping the San Francisco Giants top the Seattle Mariners 7-5 in preseason play at Peoria, Ariz.
Seattle’s Mike Carp had three RBIs.
— The Associated Press