Stan Van Gundy

Bob Cooney Sixers' record: 42-40 East final four: Orlando, Cleveland, Boston, Chicago West final four: LA Lakers, San Antonio, Denver, Dallas NBA Finals: Lakers over Cleveland League MVP: LeBron James, Cleveland Coach of the Year: George Karl, Denver Rookie of the Year: Blake Griffin, LA Clippers Andre Iguodala's scoring average: 17.7 Lou Williams' assist average: 4.3 Phil Jasner Sixers' record: 38-44 ...

Reports that Miami Heat president Pat Riley is contemplating a return to coaching continued, nearly a month after he announced plans to "take a little bit more of an active participation" during the coming season. Team officials declined to comment yesterday on the reports, and coach Stan Van Gundy - Riley's longtime top assistant who was promoted before the start of the 2003-04 season - told the Miami Herald he has not "heard anything. " Riley was unavailable for comment and attempts by the Associated Press to reach Van Gundy were not immediately successful.

The Orlando Magic needed less than 48 hours to go from a terrible third quarter to a terrific one. Vince Carter and Dwight Howard each scored nine points in that period to erase an 11-point halftime deficit, and the visiting Magic beat the Boston Celtics 96-89 yesterday. "In a matter of 3 days, I've seen the worst quarter we've had since I've been here in 3 years and the best now in 3 years," Orlando coach Stan Van Gundy said. On Friday night, the Magic blew a 21-point lead and lost to the Washington Wizards 92-91 after being outscored 39-17 in the third quarter.

The Orlando Magic and Billy Donovan are, according to sources, close to terminating the contract they agreed to on Friday. Donovan, who signed a 5-year, $27.5 million deal to coach the Magic, changed his mind the next day and now wants to return as head coach at the University of Florida. According to an ESPN.com report, the two sides met yesterday to work out various details. Among them, according to numerous sources, is a non-compete clause that would keep Donovan from coaching in the NBA for 5 years.

Penn guard Ibby Jaaber, who last season was named Ivy League player of the year for the second consecutive season, will play with the Detroit Pistons' summer-league team later this month. A free agent, the 6-foot-2 Jaaber was not selected in the June NBA draft. "I wasn't expecting to get drafted, so the best I could have hoped for was a summer-league team," Jaaber said. Jaaber was not the only undrafted former Philadelphia college player to land such a spot. Temple guard Dustin Salisbery (76ers)

Orlando Magic players say Jameer Nelson will play in the NBA Finals, even though the All-Star point guard and his coach remain publicly pessimistic. Nelson participated in a full team practice yesterday for the first time since tearing the labrum in his right shoulder Feb. 2. While Nelson and coach Stan Van Gundy still said the point guard's status won't be determined until game day, players said Nelson looked "terrific" and expect him to be on the court against the Los Angeles Lakers tomorrow night for Game 1. "I expect to see him out there at some point in the series," backup point guard Anthony Johnson said.

Shaquille O'Neal returned to the Miami Heat lineup last night after missing three games because of a stomach virus. Heat coach Stan Van Gundy talked about playing O'Neal in shorter spurts against the 76ers because of possible fatigue. Upon hearing that, Sixers coach Jim O'Brien quipped: "How short are the spurts?" "He's such a dominating presence," O'Brien said before the game at the Wachovia Center. "Your whole game plan, offensively and defensively, revolves around trying to limit his deep touches.

His hair is still slicked-back, although now tinged with gray. The "Showtime" style he used to win four championships in the 1980s is a fading memory. His intensity on the sideline just wasn't the same. Pat Riley resigned as coach of the Miami Heat yesterday, 4 days before the team he reloaded with young but largely unproven talent opens its season against the 76ers on Tuesday in Philadelphia. Riley will remain as team president, but turned over the coaching responsibilities to Stan Van Gundy, his top assistant over the past 8 years with the Heat.

Dallas Mavericks coach Dick Motta is upset with No. 1 draft choice Jason Kidd for failing to attend this week's minicamp. "Jason looked me in the eye after the draft and said, 'If I have to crawl on my belly for free to get there, I'll be there,' " Motta said. "I took it as a point guard's word. I don't want this to affect our relationship, but I'm very upset. " Kidd, the former California star selected second overall in the NBA draft, is unsigned, but the Mavericks offered him a $36 million insurance policy to attend the four-day camp.

The Orlando Magic have their man . . . again. This time, it's Stan Van Gundy. Billy Donovan says he feels "terrible" about all the confusion, but insists Florida is where he belongs. The Magic finally resolved its coaching quandary yesterday, ending a rough 2 weeks in which the team fired Brian Hill, pulled off the Donovan coup, then watched the bottom drop out on nearly everything. Orlando was lucky to reel in Van Gundy - its second choice from the beginning - because the Sacramento Kings were pursuing the former Miami Heat coach.

When the Cleveland Cavaliers swiftly snatched former coach Mike Brown off the coaching carousel and rehired the guy they fired just one year after he was voted coach of the year in a hopeless attempt to keep LeBron James from leaving for Miami, Josh Harris didn't flinch. Less than 48 hours after it was reported that Brown and Brian Shaw sat atop the 76ers' wish list to replace Doug Collins, Brown, whom the Los Angeles Lakers made the scapegoat for their poor play and fired just five games into this season (looks like that was a mistake, too)

It is telling when Stan Van Gundy, a man who wants back into the NBA, lumps the 76ers into that clump of teams (Cleveland and Detroit are the others) where the situation is so rancid that a respected ex-coach wants nothing to do with them. And it is even more telling when those gigs are, at the moment, the only openings in the league. Heading into the offseason following a disastrous season on all fronts, this is how the Sixers are viewed from the outside looking in. A season removed from coming within one game of reaching the Eastern Conference finals, the Sixers are at a crossroads and find themselves among the NBA's armpit organizations.

The Orlando Magic fired head coach Stan Van Gundy and split with general manager Otis Smith on Monday, the culmination of a season in which Orlando was ensnared in a long-running soap opera with Dwight Howard and made another first-round playoff exit. "It's time for new leadership and new voices," Magic CEO Alex Martins said in a statement. Smith and Van Gundy's problematic relationship with Howard weighed down the team all season after the all-star center requested a trade.

    Danny Granger scored 29 points to help the Indiana Pacers beat the visiting Milwaukee Bucks, 118-109, Thursday night and clinch home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs. George Hill had 22 points and eight assists and David West added 21 points, 14 rebounds, and seven assists for the Pacers, who won their seventh straight and 11th of 12. The Pacers have scored at least 100 points in 12 of their last 13 games. Brandon Jennings scored 27 points and former Pacer Mike Dunleavy added 23 for the Bucks.

DWIGHT HOWARD'S season is over. His chances to help Team USA win another Olympic gold are likely done, too. Orlando's All-Star center told ESPN.com he will have season-ending back surgery. Friday's operation in Los Angeles to repair a herniated disk also will keep him from playing in the Olympics in London, Howard's agent, Dan Fegan, told ESPN.com. "I tried to play through it and it just made my back worse," Howard said. Howard has been dealing with back problems since early March, but it wasn't until last week that a doctor discovered the herniated disk.

ORLANDO MAGIC senior vice president Pat Williams, who helped found the franchise in 1989, said Monday he would like to see star center Dwight Howard and coach Stan Van Gundy both remain with the franchise for a long time. Williams said restoring the team's health and winning would do a lot to help the franchise move past recent turmoil, capped when Van Gundy last week said that Howard wanted him fired. The coach and the star later met with Magic general manager Otis Smith, agreeing to get along the rest of the season and put the team first.

A day after Sixers coach Doug Collins gave no credence to a blog post that suggested he had lost his team, an opponent that could give any NBA squad a run in the drama department came limping into the Wells Fargo Center. The Orlando Magic entered Saturday's game against the 76ers on a five-game losing streak, missing injured starters Ryan Anderson and Hedo Turkoglu, and in full damage control after one of the most bizarre news conferences in NBA history. On Thursday, Orlando coach Stan Van Gundy told reporters that all-star center Dwight Howard wanted him fired.

Danny Granger scored 26 points and Roy Hibbert had 21 points and 12 rebounds to help the Indiana Pacers beat the Oklahoma City Thunder, 103-98, in Indianapolis on Friday for their fourth straight victory. Kevin Durant had 44 points for Oklahoma City in the loss. Elsewhere: Rudy Gay scored 17 points and Zach Randolph had 14 points and 14 rebounds as the Memphis Grizzlies snapped Miami's 17-game home winning streak by beating the Heat, 97-82. . . . Jeff Teague had 24 points and Josh Smith added 20 points and 12 rebounds as the Atlanta Hawks held off the Detroit Pistons for a 101-96 home win.   As the basketball bounces Sacramento's DeMarcus Cousins was fined $25,000 by the NBA on Friday for publicly criticizing officials after a 95-83 loss to Blake Griffin and the Los Angeles Clippers on Thursday night.

As grim and as bleak as the situation surrounding the 76ers has become, coach Doug Collins still refuses to look at the negative without weighing in with something positive. "If we had won that game with Washington," Collins said of a 20-point loss last Friday, "we'd still be in first place in the Atlantic Division. It's funny how you win two in a row and all of a sudden there's joy in Mudville. " While this is true, Collins usually prefers to look at the big picture, and right now looking at the Sixers through a wide-angle lens doesn't reveal a pretty view.

Carmelo Anthony scored 19 points, Tyson Chandler collected 12 points and 12 rebounds, and the visiting New York Knicks defeated the Orlando Magic, 96-80, on Thursday night. J.R. Smith and Toney Douglas each added 15 points for the Knicks, who won for just the third time in their last 13 visits to Orlando. New York also hit 13 three-point shots. Jason Richardson scored 16 points and Glen Davis 15 to lead Orlando. The Magic's loss came on the heels of coach Stan Van Gundy's comments Thursday morning that included his saying he had heard from top team officials that Dwight Howard has asked that he be fired.