SuperSonics Could Get Allen Back

Seattle SuperSonic guard Ray Allen, who sprained his right ankle in the second quarter of a Game 1 loss, will be a game-time decision for tonight’s Game 2 of the Western Conference semifinal series against the Spurs at San Antonio.

Seattle Coach Nate McMillan said reserve forward Vladimir Radmanovic would likely miss the rest of the series after spraining his right ankle less than a minute before Allen got hurt.

Meanwhile, Allen, a longtime critic of Spur forward Bruce Bowen, wouldn’t directly blame Bowen for his injury, but made his frustration with Bowen’s physical style of defense apparent.

“It’s the way he rides me the whole way down the floor. It’s possible that’s the reason [for the injury],” Allen said. “That was the second time I went to the hole and both times he was grabbing me. The second time, I twisted my ankle.”

Asked why he thinks Bowen plays the way he does, Allen said he didn’t know, adding, “It would be like me asking Shaq why he dunks all the time. I guess somebody likes it.”

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Washington Wizard forward Antawn Jamison, who left Sunday’s Game 1 with 8:16 left because of a sore right knee, is expected to play tonight in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference semifinals against the Heat at Miami.

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Two days after his point guard, Steve Nash, was named the NBA’s most valuable player, Phoenix Sun Coach Mike D’Antoni will get the league’s coach of the year award today, said a league source who backed up an earlier report by the East Valley Tribune in Mesa.

D’Antoni led the Suns to a league-best 62-20 record, a 33-win turnaround from last season.

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Calling the NHL labor impasse “very sad,” NBA Commissioner David Stern said he hoped for progress in meetings next week on a new collective bargaining agreement in pro basketball.

League and union officials met Friday in New York. Before that, Stern said he was optimistic a deal could be reached this summer. He tempered that Monday, saying he would reserve comment until players meet in Chicago Monday, then owners and players meet next Tuesday.

“If we don’t have something positive to report, I’m going to downgrade my ‘optimistic’ to hopeful,’ ” Stern said, “but hopefully we’ll be doing something good next week.”

Stern also commented on USA Basketball’s decision to put Phoenix Sun chairman Jerry Colangelo in charge of selecting and developing the men’s team to compete in the world championships next year and the Beijing Olympics in 2008.

However, Stern said he didn’t believe there was a problem with the makeup of the team that won only a bronze medal in Athens.

“To me the problem was not the selection of the team,” he said, “it was the time they spent together.”