Police say 16-year-old shot eight outside NBA game
(Wed, 23 May 2012 19:47:22 PDT)
OKLAHOMA CITY (Reuters) - A 16-year-old boy is in custody and suspected of opening fire after an NBA game on Monday, injuring eight people who had gathered outside an arena to watch the Oklahoma City Thunder play the Los Angeles Lakers, police said on Wednesday. The police said they expect to file charges against the youth of shooting with intent to kill the eight victims, after filing an affidavit in court on Wednesday detailing the evidence against the boy. The Daily Oklahoman newspaper reported on Wednesday that the boy confessed to the shooting, but that could not immediately be confirmed. ...

2012 NBA Western Conference Finals Playoff Schedule (Yahoo! Contributor Network)
(Wed, 23 May 2012 18:59:00 PDT)
The 2012 NBA Western Conference Finals begin on May 27, 2012. The San Antonio Spurs and Oklahoma City Thunder were the top-two seeds during the regular season. The winner of this contest will face the Eastern Conference champion in the NBA Finals.

Uncertainty shrouds Gasol's future with Lakers
(Wed, 23 May 2012 18:20:56 PDT)
(Reuters) - Pau Gasol expressed uncertainty about his future with the Los Angeles Lakers after his postseason exit interview with general manager Mitch Kupchak at the team's training facility on Wednesday. The Lakers were eliminated from the Western Conference semi-finals by the Oklahoma City Thunder on Monday after an erratic playoff run during which Gasol was accused by team mate Kobe Bryant of not displaying enough aggression. ...

Okla. police arrest teen in post-NBA game shooting (The Associated Press)
(Wed, 23 May 2012 17:41:54 PDT)
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) An Oklahoma judge has ordered the release of a man arrested in connection with a shooting that left at least eight people wounded following an NBA playoff game.

Parker says Westbrook hasn't faced PG like him yet (The Associated Press)
(Wed, 23 May 2012 16:22:04 PDT)
SAN ANTONIO (AP) It's the main event of the Western Conference finals: Tony Parker and Russell Westbrook, All-Star point guards having their best seasons yet. One going for a fourth NBA championship, the other still chasing his first.

NBA roundup: Pacers president Larry Bird calls his team soft (The SportsXchange)
(Wed, 23 May 2012 15:40:15 PDT)
The worst playoff loss in Indiana Pacers franchise history had team president Larry Bird calling out his players, according to an Indianapolis Star report.

Heat's LeBron James leads NBA all-defensive team (The Associated Press)
(Wed, 23 May 2012 15:04:39 PDT)
NEW YORK (AP) NBA Most Valuable Player LeBron James was the leading vote-getter for the league's all-defensive squad Wednesday, while Defensive Player of the Year Tyson Chandler didn't even crack the first team.

Heat's James leads all-defensive team (The SportsXchange)
(Wed, 23 May 2012 13:31:38 PDT)
NBA Most Valuable Player LeBron James is the leading vote-getter for the league's all-defensive team.

James Harden is a cake now (Ball Don't Lie)
(Wed, 23 May 2012 07:30:31 PDT)
Over the past couple of years, lots of people have drawn comparisons between star San Antonio Spurs guard Manu Ginobili and Oklahoma City Thunder swingman James Harden. Both are smooth lefties with deceptive quickness and a great shooting touch, both have won the NBA's Sixth Man of the Year award and both provide game-changing offensive options for their teams off the bench. The similarities are really uncanny ... and now, they are delicious. Because, like  Ginobili before him , Harden has been made into a cake: But unlike Manu, whose confectionery form was really just limited to his likeness being designed on top of a sheet cake, Harden's head is this whole cake , as we can see in the photo shared by GiANT Impact CEO Jeremie Kubicek and spread around these Internet streets Tuesday night by CNBC's Darren Rovell . Hit the jump for another look at the Thunder-themed treat, served up by the gifted and creative folks in the bakery at the  Homeland Stores market on  North May Avenue in Oklahoma City.

Down and out Lakers looking ahead to shake-up (The SportsXchange)
(Wed, 23 May 2012 07:21:33 PDT)
For the second year in a row, the Lakers bowed out of the postseason ingloriously in the second round of the Western Conference playoffs.

OKC police arrest 2nd teen in Bricktown shootings (The Associated Press)
(Wed, 23 May 2012 06:57:26 PDT)
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) Oklahoma City police have arrested a second suspect after at least eight people were shot following an NBA playoff game.

Arrest made in post-NBA game shooting that hurt 8 (The Associated Press)
(Tue, 22 May 2012 19:13:21 PDT)
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) Oklahoma City police made an arrest Tuesday in the late-night fight that escalated into gunfire and left eight people injured shortly after the Thunder-Lakers NBA playoff game ended a few blocks away.

Police arrest man in shooting outside Oklahoma NBA game
(Tue, 22 May 2012 18:34:28 PDT)
OKLAHOMA CITY (Reuters) - Police on Tuesday arrested a 19-year-old man suspected of opening fire the night before outside an Oklahoma City arena in a shooting that wounded eight people after a National Basketball Association playoff game.

Metta World Peace calls Mike Brown fat (Ball Don't Lie)
(Tue, 22 May 2012 16:52:27 PDT)
We have had plenty of Lakers postmortems in the wake of their Game 5 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder. Most concern whether or not they'll try to make a big trade involving Pau Gasol, Andrew Bynum or both. It's a period of great flux for the franchise, and all we can be sure of is that Kobe Bryant will continue to play a huge role in whatever happens. Whether or not Metta World Peace will be part of that future is anyone's guess. After signing with the Lakers as Ron Artest in 2009, he was an integral part of the Lakers' championship that season. Over the past two seasons, however, they've seen diminishing returns on their investment, with MWP becoming less dependable, more reckless ( the elbow to the head of James Harden will always make that point), and a little pudgier around his midsection. He has one more year on his contract, plus a player option season that he'd be a fool not to take, but the Lakers might consider using their amnesty clause on him to save some cash. [Related: Lakers' future uncertain after playoff KO by Thunder | Photos ] World Peace, to his credit, took some blame for his struggles this season while at Lakers HQ on Tuesday for his season-ending interview. However, in doing so, he also called his coach fat. From Mark Medina for the Los Angeles Times on Twitter (via PBT ):

Thunder face West's best in climb toward top (The Associated Press)
(Tue, 22 May 2012 16:03:44 PDT)
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) The Oklahoma City Thunder haven't found any shortcuts as they try to climb to the top of the Western Conference.

Eight injured in shooting following Thunder win (The SportsXchange)
(Tue, 22 May 2012 15:46:47 PDT)
At least eight people were wounded in Oklahoma City as a result of a gunfire following Monday's Thunder playoff game.

NBA roundup: Eight wounded in gunfire following Thunder-Lakers game (The SportsXchange)
(Tue, 22 May 2012 15:30:17 PDT)
At least eight people were wounded in Oklahoma City as a result of a gunfire following Monday's Thunder playoff game.

The Los Angeles Clippers, and Los Angeles Lakers? Gone till November (Ball Don't Lie)
(Tue, 22 May 2012 13:30:09 PDT)
The thought, as soon as the Los Angeles Clippers pulled off a deal for All-Star point guard Chris Paul last December, was that the Clippers and Los Angeles Lakers would no doubt meet in the playoffs at some point. That the two teams, with the Dallas Mavericks fading and the Oklahoma City Thunder not having made a major offseason move, would duke it out for the Pacific Division title, and possibly play in the Western Conference finals for the rights to represent the city in the NBA Finals. And why not? Even after trading Lamar Odom for mere payroll relief, the Lakers still looked stout as ever. Kobe Bryant's knee was as good as it had been in years thanks to his experimental knee rehabilitation in Germany and the extended six-month layoff due to the Lakers' relatively early 2010-11 exit and the NBA's lockout. The Clippers would be returning superstar Blake Griffin, they matched Golden State's offer for center DeAndre Jordan, and Paul was supposed to be the guy to find easy buckets when everyone's footwork went awry. Instead, though, both teams petered out in the second round, with just one win between the teams to show for their efforts. The Clippers looked both thin and brittle, overly reliant on Paul to save them from the offensive dregs, with CP3 once again ending his season with a pronounced limp. The Lakers looked disturbingly uneven from night to night, a top-heavy team whose top parts didn't play well with each other. Both went out far earlier than intended by them, or predicted by some, and both have major issues to face as they head into their offseasons a month earlier than they had hoped for way back in December.