Read More: nba lockout, New York Knicks

The first two weeks of the 2011-2012 NBA Season have been cancelled after the league failed to reach an agreement with the Player’s Association on Monday night (Oct. 10, 2011).

As a result, the following games on the New York Knicks schedule have been cancelled:

Nov. 2: Miami Heat at New York Knicks
Nov. 5: New York Knicks at Milwaukee Bucks
Nov. 6: New York Knicks at Detroit Pistons
Nov. 8: Oklahoma City Thunder at New York Knicks
Nov. 9: New York Knicks at Atlanta Hawks
Nov. 12: Indiana Pacers at New York Knicks
Nov. 14: New York Knicks at Utah Jazz

Unfortunately the work stoppage may continue after the two-week period expires as no new developments have been reported and the two sides are currently far apart on most (if not all) of the major sticking points.

The NBA and the Players Association are expected to meet at some point next week, which leaves them little time to save the remainder of the season if by some miracle the wrinkles are ironed out in time to play ball.

Detroit Pistons president Joe Dumars has received permission to interview Milwaukee Bucks assistant Kelvin Sampson, one of the top targets for the Pistons’ head coaching job, league sources told Yahoo! Sports.

Dumars called Milwaukee general manager John Hammond on Thursday for the chance to speak with Sampson, and a meeting is expected to be set up shortly, sources said.

Dumars also received permission to speak with Boston Celtics assistant Lawrence Frank and Minnesota Timberwolves assistant Bill Laimbeer on Thursday. Also, Detroit made contact with former Atlanta Hawks coach Mike Woodson.

Sampson, Woodson and Frank are the early frontrunners for the job, sources said.

Sampson, in his third season on the Bucks bench, had an ignoble end to his college coaching career after being hit with NCAA sanctions at Indiana and Oklahoma. After getting fired in 2008 from Indiana, he spent time as a consultant with the San Antonio Spurs and friend, Gregg Popovich, and then joined Scott Skiles’ staff with the Bucks.

Sampson has interviewed for a few jobs, including the Houston Rockets and Los Angeles Clippers, in the past year.

Frank is a candidate for the Toronto Raptors job, along with Dallas Mavericks assistant coach Dwane Casey.

Read More: Joe Johnson (G – ATL), Josh Smith (F – ATL), John Salmons (G – MIL), Andrew Bogut (C – MIL), Milwaukee Bucks, Atlanta Hawks

Joe Johnson is just simply everywhere.

The Atlanta Hawks All-Star is absolutely shredding one of the best defenses in the NBA, posting 28 points in the full 24 minutes of game action to lead the Hawks to a 55-39 lead over the Milwaukee Bucks at the break.

You can hear the Buck-shooting references getting spewed all over SportSouth right now. He’s shooting the Bucks. He’s spearing the Bucks. He’s taking out the bow and arrow on the Bucks. Whatever the reference, one thing is accurate — Joe Johnson came to play today — black headband and all.

“I’m just taking what the defense is giving me, man,” Johnson told the team’s TV telecast at the break. “It’s been great. Defensively we’ve been doing a great job crashing the glass, getting in transition and getting good looks.”

The Atlanta shooting guard — who started this one at small forward — connected on his first six 3-pointers. He nailed 10-of-14 overall from the field and went to the line just twice in the first two quarters of the basketball game.The 28 points are the most by a Hawks player in the first half this season.

Normally offensively-challenged Milwaukee simply has no answer. They look as docile as a bunch of does. They’re not scoring and they’re not defending.

Andrew Bogut has 16 points and John Salmons 10 for Milwaukee, which is firing at a 44-percent (18-for-41) clip from the field.

Josh Smith has 10 points for the Hawks, who thanks to Johnson are connecting at 61-percent.

Atlanta just needs to maintain the course and they should easily dispatch of the Bucks in this one.

NEW YORK, Jan. 25, 2011 – The Milwaukee Bucks signed guard Garrett Temple of the Erie BayHawks for the fifth GATORADE Call-Up of the 2010-11 NBA Development League season. Temple’s call-up increases the number of current NBA players with NBA D-League experience, including players currently on assignment to their NBA D-League affiliates, to 83.

In 18 total games (11 starts) this season with Erie and the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, Temple averaged 13.4 points, 4.8 rebounds and 3.3 assists. After joining Erie via trade on Dec. 30, Temple averaged 14.4 points, 6.2 rebounds and 3.4 assists in nine games (eight starts).

Temple (6-5, 180) is a second-year pro out of LSU who earned three GATORADE Call-Ups to the NBA last season. In 30 games with the Houston Rockets, Sacramento Kings and San Antonio Spurs, Temple averaged 4.6 points and 1.1 rebounds in 11.8 minutes. Over four years at LSU, Temple averaged 6.7 points, 3.7 rebounds and 3.6 assists in 134 games and was named to the SEC All-Defensive Team in 2008.

Temple is expected to join the Bucks today, and should be available when Milwaukee hosts the Atlanta Hawks on Wednesday at Bradley Center.

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The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

The National Basketball Association postponed tonight’s game between the Atlanta Hawks and Milwaukee Bucks due to severe weather conditions.

The game has been rescheduled for March 15 at Atlanta’s Philips Arena, the NBA said in a statement.

Ice and snow Jan. 9 has left most of the Atlanta area impassible to cars. A state of emergency was declared ahead of the storm.

The Atlanta Falcons are scheduled to host the Green Bay Packers in a National Football League playoff game at the Georgia Dome on Jan. 15. The team said in a press release that the weather hadn’t caused any problems with preparations for that game.

To contact the reporter on this story: Michael Buteau in Atlanta at mbuteau@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Michael Sillup at msillup@bloomberg.net