KEY POINTS:
The Auckland Stars face an uncertain future after seemingly being left high-and-dry by absentee owner Tab Baldwin.
The Stars were yesterday expelled from the NBL playoffs for failing to pay the final instalment of their entry fee - believed to be about $18,000.
They have been replaced by Taranaki, who will now face Harbour Heat in an elimination match on the North Shore tomorrow night.
The Stars had been granted multiple deadline extensions over the fee, the last of which expired yesterday afternoon, Basketball New Zealand chief executive Dale Stephens said. Stephens had not been able to talk directly to Baldwin, who is overseas, and had been given conflicting accounts by Stars officials about how and when the fee would be paid.
Ultimately, the money had not been paid, leaving the NBL board no choice but to remove the Stars from the playoffs, he said.
The Stars were the only team not to pay the fee, although other clubs had been granted extensions.
Stars coach Kenny Stone said he couldn't explain why the fee had not been paid.
"That's something you need to ask Tab about," he said. "There's nothing I can do about it, I don't hold the purse strings."
Baldwin has been coaching in Greece and Romania and was believed to be en route to the United States.
The Stars have had multiple off-court dramas since the highly regarded former Tall Blacks coach gained full ownership of the club last year, including being fined for fielding ineligible players and the walkout of imports Tashaan Forehan-Kelly and Danny Lambert last season. The long-term viability of the franchise now appears to be in serious jeopardy, with Stephens confirming the debt would need to be cleared for the team to participate in the league next year.
Stars players and coaches had been paid this season "though not necessarily on time", Stone said. There had been other outstanding bills but he believed the club was now close to being up to date with its payments.
For the Stars to survive they will need to not only rectify their financial situation but deal with a deeply disaffected playing and coaching staff.
"I'm gutted, really disappointed, mad, frustrated, all of those things," Stone said. "We worked hard as an organisation both on and off the court to get into the playoffs. To have that pulled out from under us is tough to take."
The decision to expel the team seemed harsh, Stone said.
"It's tough to punish a team that had earned the right to go to the playoffs. It's disappointing that it has come to this."
Both the Stars and Taranaki finished the regular season with a 9-9 record but the Stars had claimed the sixth-and-final playoff spot thanks to their better head-to-head record. Taranaki will now make their first appearance in the playoffs.
* Paul Pierce scored 28 points, Boston's defence mobbed Kobe Bryant long enough and unknown Leon Powe scored 21 points as the Celtics held off a Los Angeles rally for a 108-102 win over the Lakers yesterday.
The Celtics had to work hard every second to get the win and take a 2-0 lead in the finals.
Game 3 is tomorrow at the Staples Centre in Los Angeles, where the Lakers are 8-0 in the post-season and have won 14 in a row at home since March 28.
- ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY AP
