Cavs’ West is a step closer to returning


Associated Press

INDEPENDENCE — Injured Cavaliers guard Delonte West played in a scrimmage, moving him a step closer to returning to Cleveland’s lineup.

West has missed seven games with a broken left ring finger, which was recently fitted with a protective brace. On Friday, he handled the ball without any trouble and shot normally during the workout with Cleveland’s reserves and assistant coaches.

The Cavs have listed him as day-to-day as they prepare for today’s game against New York.

Also, Cavs starting point guard Mo Williams shot around after practice. He has missed eight games over two weeks with a sprained shoulder. The Cavs expect him to be out at least one month.

Cleveland has won 10 straight

3-point contest

NEW YORK — All-Stars Paul Pierce of Boston and Chauncey Billups of Denver will headline the field for the 3-point contest.

Also chosen Friday were defending champion Daequan Cook of Miami, Golden State rookie Stephen Curry, New York’s Danilo Gallinari and Phoenix center Channing Frye.

Cook scored 19 points in an overtime round to beat Orlando’s Rashard Lewis last year.

The contest will be part of the All-Star events next Saturday in Dallas, where the first 3-point contest was staged in 1986 and won by Hall of Famer Larry Bird.

Pierce, the MVP of the 2008 NBA finals, will try to become the first Boston winner since Bird. He is shooting 47 percent from 3-point range this season, third in the league.

All-Star game attendance

David Stern joked Friday that the NBA All-Star game will have the largest crowd “in the history of the world.”

Actually, it most likely won’t even be the biggest in Cowboys Stadium.

That’s OK with the commissioner, because he only wants to set the basketball record for attendance, not the stadium’s. The All-Star game should do that with ease.

The league expects more than 90,000 fans. The record for a basketball game is 78,129, set for a college game between Kentucky and Michigan State at Detroit’s Ford Field on Dec. 13, 2003.

Stern said because of the collaboration between Cowboys owner Jerry Jones and Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, “The result is now we’re going to wind up having the largest crowd attend a game in the history of the world.”

Both Jones and Cuban have said they hoped the NBA would try to surpass 100,000 fans. The building record is 105,121, set during the New York Giants’ 33-31 victory over the Cowboys in the home opener.

“If we wanted to, we could easily beat that,” Cuban said recently.

Stern said the league won’t make that a priority during the reconfiguration of the venue.

“We made certain decisions based upon what would be best for the comfort of our fans to make it almost impossible to break a record — the record for attendance in that building,” Stern said during a phone interview with The Associated Press. “But the record we’re going to be proud of is the largest number of fans ever to attend a basketball game. In history.”

Only the game will take place at the first-year stadium in Arlington, Texas. The rookie challenge and the All-Star events on Saturday night will take place at the Mavericks’ American Airlines Center.

Copyright 2010 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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