Washington Wizards

The NBA board of governors approved the sale of the Charlotte Bobcats to Michael Jordan, making the former Chicago Bull star the first ex-player to be a majority owner in the league.

DENVER (Reuters) - The Denver Nuggets welcomed coach George Karl back to the bench after cancer treatment with a 97-87 win over the Washington Wizards on Tuesday.

Smith's big fourth quarter keys Denver's 97-87 win over Wizards. J.R. Smith scored 13 of his 17 points in the fourth quarter, helping the Denver Nuggets pull away for a 97-87 victory Tuesday night over the Washington Wizards.

Jazz rout Wizards 112-89 to end two-game losing streak. Carlos Boozer scored 23 points, Deron Williams notched his 35th double-double of the season, and the Utah Jazz ended a two-game losing streak with a 112-89 victory over the Washington Wizards on Monday night.

Arenas: 'I deserve to be punished' for gun prank, Wizards guard says in Esquire interview. Gilbert Arenas says he deserves to be punished for bringing guns to the locker room.

Batum makes 5-of-6 3-pointers in Portland's 109-98 victory over Toronto. Nicolas Batum scored 22 points, making five of six 3-point attempts, and the Portland Trail Blazers won their fourth straight with a 109-98 victory over the Toronto Raptors on Sunday night.

CELTICS NOTEBOOK CLEVELAND - Keeping an eye on the Celtics from a distance, LeBron James spotted the obvious. Good enough to beat the Lakers one night and bad enough to lose to the Nets on another, the Celtics, the Cavaliers superstar told the Cleveland Plain Dealer, have looked uninterested in the regular season. ``To me, the Celtics look bored,'' he told the newspaper. ``I'm not saying they've tanked the regular season, I'm just saying an experienced team like Boston has so much talent, they know how to win in the playoffs. Just looking at them, they look like they're ready for a new challenge.'' Though he wasn't saying anything the Celtics hadn't said - Kendrick Perkins admitted as much the day after the Celtics were blown out by the Cavaliers at the Garden Feb. 25 - James softened his statement before the Cavaliers' 104-93 victory yesterday, but only slightly. ``It's a veteran ball club, they know what it takes to win,'' James said. ``They're going to do what it takes to win. They

Howard has 28 & 15 as Magic win 8th straight, 109-95 over Wizards; Washington's skid hits 7. Dwight Howard had 28 points and 15 rebounds, and the streaking Orlando Magic wore down the back-to-back-to-back Washington Wizards 109-95 Saturday night.

Bynum's 20 assists leads Pistons over Wizards, 101-87. Will Bynum had a career-best 20 assists, Jonas Jerebko scored 18 points, and the Detroit Pistons beat the Washington Wizards 101-87 Friday night in a matchup of two of the Eastern Conference's worst teams.

Crawford scores 29 points as Hawks avoid three-game slide with 105-99 win over Wizards. Jamal Crawford scored 29 points and the Atlanta Hawks avoided a three-game losing streak by beating the Washington Wizards 105-99 Thursday night.

LeBron James ready for return on Friday, Antawn Jamison likely will miss 76ers game. Cavaliers star LeBron James is tired of watching basketball and ready to start playing again.

Another double-digit defeat was discouraging for the Celtics last night. But Rasheed Wallace, for one, remained optimistic. ``They jumped out of the gate on us real quick,'' Wallace said after scoring 11 points in a 111-91 loss to the Grizzlies. ``We decided to match their energy maybe later in that first. That's part of this game, you've got to roll with the punches . . . it's not going to be peachy keen every night. ``We missed shots and they hit shots. That's a little frustrating but it's part of the game. I've been in the game 15 years so I've seen a whole lot of stuff worse than this.'' Celtics fans, though, have become accustomed to double-digit victories in recent seasons. A 20-point loss to Cleveland Feb. 25 and this result raised major questions about the Celtics' eventual ability to advance in the playoffs. And, though fans were disappointed by the loss to the Cavaliers, they only started booing in a loss to New Jersey two days later. ``I still believe, I have no doubts in wh

CELTICS NOTEBOOK Their lockers right next to each other, Rajon Rondo and Ray Allen sat before last night's game against the Grizzlies at TD Garden still discussing the obvious question from the night before in Milwaukee. Allen, who had hit the game-winning shot in an 86-83 victory over the Wizards Sunday, took only three shots Tuesday against the Bucks in an 86-84 loss. The veteran wasn't lecturing about the situation. And the young point guard wasn't backtalking. ``We were just talking basketball,'' Allen said. Rondo said he didn't realize Allen had gone the entire game with so few shots. Allen said the offense was stagnant, and that there is no way the Celtics should score just 84 points. ``I told him, `I look at you, you're the point guard,' '' Allen said. ``I know Doc [Rivers] is making a lot of calls offensively, but I said, `Rondo, you've got to make sure that we come down the floor, that ball goes from one side to the other. I'm touching the ball and Paul [Pierce] is touching th

Scola scores 23, Martin 21, yo-yo Rockets move back above .500 with 96-88 win over the Wizards. Luis Scola had 23 points and 10 rebounds, Kevin Martin scored 21 points, and the yo-yo Houston Rockets moved back above .500 Tuesday night with a 96-88 win over the Washington Wizards.

Marion, Mavericks win 12th in a row with 125-112 victory over Timberwolves. Shawn Marion had a season-high 29 points and 14 rebounds and the Dallas Mavericks stretched the league's longest active winning streak to 12 straight games with a 125-112 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday night.

Knicks edge Hawks 99-98 after replay shows Horford's basket comes too late. The New York Knicks beat the Atlanta Hawks for the third time this season, 99-98 Monday night when video replay showed Al Horford's basket came after the buzzer.

Grizzlies recall rookie Thabeet from NBA Development League. The Memphis Grizzlies have recalled rookie center Hasheem Thabeet from the Dakota Wizards of the NBA Development League after less than two weeks in the minors.

Celtics use big 4th quarter-rally to topple Wizards 86-83. Ray Allen scored a game-high 25 points, including a go-ahead 3-pointer with 17.1 seconds remaining, and the Boston Celtics rallied past the Washington Wizards 86-83 on Sunday.

Celtics86Wizards83 Sam Cassell had worn a tie before. Ray Allen, who could tie a rope around the world with his tie collection, was pretty certain of it. But apparently, since Cassell took a job with the Wizards as an assistant coach, he has decided to go with the blazer, button-down look, saying he'd hold off on wearing a tie until he was a head coach. With 27 seconds left in last night's game at TD Garden and the Celtics in a bar fight with the Wizards, trying to keep the momentum they had built over the past three games, Ray Allen noticed Cassell barking at him from the sideline. ``You're getting the ball!'' Cassell yelled. ``You're getting the ball! I know you're getting the ball.'' Allen had just drilled a 3-pointer off a Kendrick Perkins kickout to give the Celtics an 82-81 lead - putting them ahead, albeit briefly, for the first time since the first quarter - and as clairvoyant as Cassell was, there was nothing he could do about it. Mike Miller was guarding Allen, the only consi

CELTICS NOTEBOOK It's been years since Marquis Daniels was a Dallas Maverick and even longer for Michael Finley. But good-natured hazing transcends time and apparently teams. Soaked in sweat after getting some pregame shots up on the parquet for the first time in Celtics warm-ups yesterday, Finley had just finished his introductory news conference, wiping his face with a small towel as he entered the locker room. On the way to his locker he ``accidentally'' threw the towel out, landing it on Daniels's face. ``Still my rook,'' Finley said, grinning a day after turning 37. ``Man, what!'' said Daniels, 29 years old and a six-year veteran himself. ``I've got rollover rookie minutes.'' In 2003-04, Finley was in his eighth season and was second on Dallas in scoring behind Dirk Nowitzki when Daniels was an undrafted rookie who had caught coach Don Nelson's eye. The circumstances are different six seasons later. Finley, winner of a championship ring with the San Antonio Spurs in 2007, is now o