Trail Blazers clean house, fire McMillan, release Oden

PORTLAND, Oregon — The Portland Trail Blazers fired coach Nate McMillan on Thursday, one day after a 42-point loss to the New York Knicks.

Looking for help: New Orleans' Greivis Vasquez passes the ball against Washington's Kevin Seraphin in the first half on Thursday night. The Wizards beat the Hornets 99-89. AP

The Blazers have lost seven of their last 10 games to fall out of the Western Conference playoff race. Portland (20-23) is in 12th place in the West and last in the Northwest Division.

The firing was part of an overhaul that included releasing former No. 1 overall draft pick Greg Oden and trading veteran center Marcus Camby to the Houston Rockets and versatile forward Gerald Wallace to the New Jersey Nets.

"The moves that we made . . . today really set us up for this summer with the draft and with free agency to really be able to move in the direction that we want to move in and make this team better," Blazers president Larry Miller said in a news conference.

Assistant coach Kaleb Canales will be the interim head coach.

"Hard to see coach Nate go," All-Star forward LaMarcus Aldridge tweeted. "He was my coach since day one and I've grown a lot under his coaching."

McMillan went 266-269 in over six seasons as coach of the Blazers and led them to the playoffs in the previous three seasons. But the Blazers failed to make it out of the first round in each of those trips to the postseason, and the warning signs started to pop up early that this season was going to be rough.

General manager Rich Cho was abruptly fired in late May, just weeks before the NBA draft. Once the lockout was lifted in December, Brandon Roy, the heart and soul of the team, was forced to retire because of ongoing knee problems, Aldridge was slowed in camp by a heart condition and Oden had yet another season end early because of knee surgery.

The chemistry in the locker room, and on the court, seemed to disintegrate as well.

Portland traded Camby to the Rockets for center Hasheem Thabeet and point guard Jonny Flynn and Wallace to the Nets for center Mehmet Okur and forward Shawne Williams.

NEW ORLEANS — John Wall had 26 points and 12 assists, and the Washington Wizards won hours after making a multiplayer deal at the trade deadline, 99-89 over the New Orleans Hornets on Thursday night.

Earlier in the day, Washington traded guard Nick Young and centers JaVale McGee and Ronny Turiaf to Denver as part of a three-team deal.

Mavericks 101, Bobcats 96

In Dallas, Dirk Nowitzki scored 27 points and the Mavericks rallied from 14 points down in the second quarter.

Thunder 103, Nuggets 90

In Denver, Kevin Durant scored 24 points, Russell Westbrook had 23 and Oklahoma City beat the short-handed Nuggets.

Jazz 111, T-Wolves 105 (OT)

In Salt Lake City, Gordon Hayward scored 18 of his 26 points in the fourth quarter and overtime, and Paul Millsap made a flurry of key plays in the final minute to lead Utah past Minnesota.

Suns 91, Clippers 87

In Los Angeles, Shannon Brown scored a season-high 21 points, including four free throws in the final 1:33, to help short-handed Phoenix end a four-game road losing streak.

With the Suns playing the middle game in a stretch of three in three nights, coach Alvin Gentry had Steve Nash and Grant Hill both sit out in street clothes.

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Strikers looking to blaze new goal trail in European leagues

Ryoichi Maeda will be disappointed that his proposed move to West Ham United broke down last weekend, but the growing overseas interest in Japanese strikers is nevertheless an encouraging sign for the national team.

Jubilo Iwata forward Maeda failed to win a deal with West Ham after spending three days training with the London club, but fellow national team strikers Tadanari Lee and Mike Havenaar have both left the J. League for European teams this winter. Lee joined English Championship side Southampton while Havenaar signed with Dutch first-division outfit Vitesse Arnhem, and although both clubs are hardly among the continent's elite, the transfers are far from insignificant given Japan's dismal record in producing strikers capable of making their mark abroad.

From Akinori Nishizawa's brief stint at Bolton Wanderers to Masashi Oguro's struggles in Italy with Torino, the list of failures is extensive. Naohiro Takahara could be considered the exception after his goals earned him the nickname "Sushi Bomber" during five years in Germany with Hamburg and Eintracht Frankfurt, but even he did not enjoy the same level of success as midfielders like Hidetoshi Nakata and Shunsuke Nakamura.

That distinction between provider and finisher highlights the traditional strengths and weaknesses of the Japanese game. Skillful midfielders with the technical ability to set up chances have never been hard to come by, but strikers who can be relied on to put the ball in the back of the net have always been in shorter supply.

In demand: Tadanari Lee (right) has left Sanfrecce Hiroshima to join English Championship side Southampton in what has been a busy winter for Japanese strikers. KYODO

The national team has had to shoulder the burden over the years, with former manager Takeshi Okada so unwilling to place his trust in a recognized forward at the 2010 World Cup that he fielded an attacking midfielder, Keisuke Honda, as the focal point of the attack. Maeda, Lee and Havenaar have all been given a chance in current manager Alberto Zaccheroni's team, but as yet no one has been able to make the position his own.

All three, however, certainly have the talent to do so. Lee has improved immensely since leaving Kashiwa Reysol for Sanfrecce Hiroshima in 2009, while Havenaar also impressed last year by scoring 17 goals and making his international debut while playing for a Ventforet Kofu side headed for relegation.

West Ham fans will miss out on the chance to enjoy Maeda's refined touch and intelligent movement, but he remains an outstanding player and it is no surprise that he showed up on the Londoners' radar in the first place.

Of course it is not only the individual qualities of the strikers in question that has made them such an attractive proposition for European clubs. The J. League still remains a rich hunting ground for cheap talent, and when 26-year-olds with international experience like Lee are among the bargains on offer, who can blame them?

But a change in perception has also aided the prospects of Japanese strikers abroad. Where once Asian forwards were considered too small physically to hold their own, a succession of players from Takahara to Sunderland's 187-cm South Korean Ji Dong Won have helped to explode that myth.

After years of doubt, Japanese strikers have earned the chance to prove themselves overseas. Now it is up to Lee and Havenaar to make the most of that opportunity.

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