Gilbert Arenas

He will always be remembered as Kevin Garnett's first NBA coach, partly responsible for the development and rearing of one of the game's great forwards. Flip Saunders has enjoyed success without Garnett, but the two will always be linked. Now Saunders is present in Boston for a playoff run in what could be Garnett's final season. Saunders, who was fired in January by the wayward Wizards, had dinner with Doc Rivers , and the Celtics coach asked him to join the staff as an adviser for the playoffs.

He will always be remembered as Kevin Garnett's first NBA coach, partly responsible for the development and rearing of one of the game's great forwards. Flip Saunders has enjoyed success without Garnett, but the two will always be linked. Now Saunders is present in Boston for a playoff run in what could be Garnett's final season. Saunders, who was fired in January by the wayward Wizards, had dinner with Doc Rivers , and the Celtics coach asked him to join the staff as an adviser for the playoffs.

Rudy Gay scored 17 points, Zach Randolph had 14 points and 14 rebounds off the bench, and the Memphis Grizzlies put seven players in double figures to snap Miami's 17-game home winning streak by beating the Heat 97-82 on Friday night. Mike Conley and Marreese Speights each scored 15, Gilbert Arenas had 12 and Marc Gasol and O.J. Mayo each added 10 for the Grizzlies, who have won six of their last eight games. LeBron James finished with 21 points, six assists and six rebounds for the Heat, who never led and failed in a bid to match the franchise's longest home win streak, set...

Rudy Gay scored 25 points, Zach Randolph added 15 points and 11 rebounds, and the Memphis Grizzlies built a big early lead and held on to beat the Dallas Mavericks 94-89 on Saturday night. Gilbert Arenas added 14 points and made three 3-pointers, while Mike Conley finished with 12 points for Memphis, which won its second straight and seventh in the last nine games. Dirk Nowitzki led the Mavericks with 17 points and eight rebounds, and Brandan Wright added 16 points. Vince Carter had 14 points, while Shawn Marion finished with 12 points and 11 rebounds in the Mavericks' second...

Rudy Gay scored 25 points, Zach Randolph added 15 points and 11 rebounds, and the Memphis Grizzlies built a big early lead and held on to beat the Dallas Mavericks 94-89 on Saturday night. Gilbert Arenas added 14 points and made three 3-pointers, while Mike Conley finished with 12 points for Memphis, which won its second straight and seventh in the last nine games. Dirk Nowitzki led the Mavericks with 17 points and eight rebounds, and Brandan Wright added 16 points. Vince Carter had 14 points, while Shawn Marion finished with 12 points and 11 rebounds in the Mavericks' second...

The Washington Wizards made the most of their first national TV appearance in 20 months, building a quick lead with balanced scoring last night in a 107-96 victory over the visiting Seattle SuperSonics. Gilbert Arenas scored 27 points and Larry Hughes had 21 to lead six players in double figures as the Wizards improved to .500 (5-5) against teams from the Western Conference, the latest notable milestone in what has so far been Washington's most promising season in nearly two decades.

Dirk Nowitzki made an 18-foot fadeaway with a second left in overtime and finished with 32 points yesterday, helping the Mavericks rally from a 24-point second-half deficit to beat the Toronto Raptors, 115-113, in Dallas. The Mavericks stretched their club-record home winning streak to 14 games. Nowitzki partially blocked Morris Peterson's desperation 3-pointer at the buzzer to seal the Mavericks' fifth straight victory. It was the Mavericks' second-biggest comeback in their history.

Shaquille O'Neal made sure the arena was filled. Dwyane Wade took care of sending the record crowd home happy. Wade scored 28 points and O'Neal added 17 points and nine rebounds in his home debut for his new team as Miami beat the Cleveland Cavaliers, 92-86, last night before 20,235 Shaq-crazed fans -- the largest crowd to see a Heat home game. O'Neal scored the game's first points on Miami's opening possession and the Heat never trailed, just as they didn't at any time in Wednesday's 23-point win at New Jersey.

Carmelo Anthony and Marcus Camby both had double-doubles, Earl Boykins scored half of his 20 points in the fourth quarter, and the Denver Nuggets beat the Wizards, 108-105, last night in Washington for their fourth consecutive victory. Camby had 24 points, 14 rebounds, and 6 blocks, including one on Gilbert Arenas's 3-point attempt just before the buzzer. Anthony had 28 points and 11 rebounds, and his 18-for-22 free-throw shooting set career highs for makes and attempts. Arenas led the way with 36 points and 10 assists for the Wizards, who lost their fourth straight...

NEW YORK -- Gilbert Arenas pulled out another late victory. The Washington star surged past Vince Carter in the final days of All-Star voting to claim the second Eastern Conference guard spot by 3,010 votes yesterday. Cleveland's LeBron James, the MVP last year, led all players with more than 2.5 million votes for the Feb. 18 game in Las Vegas. The first All-Star Game held outside an NBA city will maintain one traditional look: Shaquille O'Neal was chosen to his 14th straight All-Star Game, tying Jerry West and Karl Malone for the most consecutive selections.

Rudy Gay scored 17 points, Zach Randolph had 14 points and 14 rebounds off the bench, and the Memphis Grizzlies put seven players in double figures to snap Miami's 17-game home winning streak by beating the Heat 97-82 on Friday night. Mike Conley and Marreese Speights each scored 15, Gilbert Arenas had 12 and Marc Gasol and O.J. Mayo each added 10 for the Grizzlies, who have won six of their last eight games. LeBron James finished with 21 points, six assists and six rebounds for the Heat, who never led and failed in a bid to match the franchise's longest home win streak, set...

This season is not a lost cause to the Portland Trail Blazers. Nicolas Batum had 24 points and the new-look Blazers held off the Memphis Grizzlies 97-93 on Thursday night. Jamal Crawford added 17 points, including four clutch free throws in the final seconds as Portland snapped a two-game skid to even to 2-2 under interim head coach Kaleb Canales. There had been plenty of speculation that the obviously rebuilding Blazers were just hoping to finish out the season the best they could after dismissing head coach Nate McMillan and trading away a pair of...

NBA The Grizzlies confirmed Tuesday they have signed point guard Gilbert Arenas for the remainder of the season. Contract details were not immediately available. The oft-injured free agent had not played since finishing last season with the Magic. Arenas, 30, who averaged 21.2 points and 5.4 assists per game in his nine-year career, worked out for Memphis on Monday and will back up point guard Mike Conley . . . Jazz forward Josh Howard is expected to miss the rest of the season because of an injured left knee.

Marcin Gortat scored 20 points, Steve Nash had 12 points, 11 assists and seven rebounds in three quarters, and the Phoenix Suns beat Washington 104-88 on Monday night for their 10th straight win over the Wizards. Phoenix, coming off a 102-90 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers, won on consecutive nights for the first time this season. Washington hasn't beaten the Suns in six years. Channing Frye added 19 points and 11 rebounds and Michael Redd scored 14 for the Suns, who topped 100 points against Washington for the 18th time in a row, the longest active streak of its kind in...

Police said late Friday that former NBA player Javaris Crittenton, who was once suspended by the league over guns in the locker room, has been charged with murder after a woman was shot on an Atlanta street. Police spokesman Carlos Campos said police have secured a murder warrant for the arrest of Crittenton, who played at Georgia Tech, in connection with the shooting death of 22-year-old Jullian Jones on Aug. 19. Campos said Crittenton is not in custody and is wanted. Atlanta police Maj. Keith Meadows told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Friday...

With the new face of the franchise ailing, the Washington Wizards had little choice but to turn to an old friend, and Gilbert Arenas delivered. Arenas had 20 points, 7 rebounds, and 6 assists to help the Wizards beat the Toronto Raptors, 109-94, last night in Washington. With rookie sensation John Wall out because of a sprained left foot, Arenas started for the first time since his suspension for bringing guns into the Verizon Center locker room. With a small and quiet crowd of 11,513 looking on, Arenas scored 10 points in the third quarter, when Washington outscored...

Kirk Hinrich continues to impress, this time outplaying his more-heralded rookie counterpart LeBron James to lead the Bulls to a 92-81 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers last night in Chicago. Two days after becoming the first rookie with a triple-double this season, Hinrich came close to a second with 22 points, 8 rebounds, and 7 assists. He had 11 points during a critical third-quarter spurt and made several shots worthy of a highlight reel -- including a rare dunk. When Hinrich left the game with less than a minute to play, Bulls fans gave him a standing ovation.

Mike Bibby made two 3-pointers in the final 90 seconds to cap a 31-point performance last night in Los Angeles as Sacramento defeated the Lakers, 103-101. Peja Stojakovic had 37 points and nine rebounds as the Kings won their fourth straight and eighth in nine games despite playing shorthanded. Bibby also had eight rebounds and seven assists. A 3-pointer by Bibby from the left corner with 1 1/2 minutes remaining gave Sacramento a 100-98 lead, and he added another 3-pointer with 45.2 seconds left to put the Kings ahead by 5 points.

John Wall is ready to go to Washington and clean up the Wizards. And he’ll have more backcourt help when he gets there — whether or not Gilbert Arenas is still around. The Wizards selected Wall with the No. 1 pick in last night’s NBA draft and agreed to a trade for Bulls guard Kirk Hinrich , hoping they’ve found players who can help them quickly bounce back from a season that was embarrassing on the court and in the locker room. “I feel like I had pressure since I became No. 1 in high school and was one of the top players,’’ Wall said.

WASHINGTON - Wizards guard Javaris Crittenton pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor gun charge yesterday, explaining he had a pistol because he feared teammate Gilbert Arenas would shoot him or blow up his car after the two argued over a card game. The hearing marked the first time authorities confirmed Crittenton was the other player involved in the confrontation with Arenas, who pleaded guilty Jan. 15 to a felony gun charge. Superior Court Judge Bruce Beaudin sentenced Crittenton, 22, to a year of unsupervised probation after the player pleaded guilty to misdemeanor...