AFP/New York

Nick Calathes, a Greek rookie backup guard for the Memphis Grizzlies, was suspended 20 games without pay Friday by the NBA for a doping violation, the league announced.
Only minutes before the opening day of the playoffs, the NBA revealed that Calathes would be banished after testing positive for tamoxifen, a banned substance found in a supplement he had been taking.
The suspension for Calathes will begin with yesterday’s playoff opener for the Grizzlies at Oklahoma City.
Last season, Memphis upset Oklahoma City in the playoffs.
Calathes, a 25-year-old who played college basketball at Florida, averaged 4.9 points, 2.9 assists and 1.9 rebounds a game this season for the Grizzlies.
A national team player for Greece, Calathes also helped Athens Panathinaikos to Greek league crowns in 2010 and 2011 and a runner-up showing in 2012.
Last year he sparked Russia’s Lokomotiv Kuban to the EuroCup title, being named the event’s Most Valuable Player.
Meanwhile, New York Knicks coach Mike Woodson does not want to meet face to face with new team president Phil Jackson until he is informed whether or not he will be retained for next season, ESPN reported on Friday.
Woodson reportedly would prefer that Jackson contact his agent if he is going to be fired. The New York Daily News reported Thursday that Jackson and Woodson were scheduled to talk over the phone to plan a meeting or work out terms of Woodson’s departure.
The Daily News also reported that Woodson told management that he does not see a reason to meet with Jackson if he is going to be fired.
TNT analyst Steve Kerr is expected to be the Knicks’ next coach, according to the New York Post. A source told the Post that Kerr “absolutely expects” to be offered the job. Kerr has no previous coaching experience but was the general manager of the Phoenix Suns and played for Jackson with the Chicago Bulls in the 1990s.
Center Andrew Bynum will not play for the Indiana Pacers in their playoff series against the Atlanta Hawks.
Coach Frank Vogel said Bynum, who has not played since March 15 because of knee soreness, would not be available in the first-round series, which opens Saturday.
Bynum signed Feb. 1 for $1mn but played in just two games.
Four ties among teams that finished the regular season with identical records were broken Friday through random drawings to help determine the order for the June 26 NBA Draft.
Utah (25-57) won a tiebreaker with Boston; Brooklyn (44-38) won a tiebreaker with Washington; Chicago (48-34) won a tiebreaker with Toronto; Portland (54-28) won a tiebreaker with Miami and Houston; and Houston won a tiebreaker with Miami.