NBA will review Cuban allegation

Mavericks owner denies accuser’s story

The NBA says it is reviewing a 2011 allegation of sexual assault against Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban and the decision by prosecutors not to pursue the case.

League spokesman Mike Bass said Wednesday the NBA was looking into the matter after a weekly alternative newspaper in Portland, Ore., reported a woman’s claim that Cuban put his hands down her pants and touched her inappropriately while they were taking a photo at a Portland nightclub.

The report Tuesday in the Willamette Week came about a week and half after a Sports Illustrated account that portrayed a hostile work environment for women in the front office of the Mavericks. While Cuban wasn’t implicated, the SI report raised questions about what he knew and when.

Cuban, a Mt. Lebanon high school graduate, flatly denied the woman’s allegations and provided a prosecutors’ report detailing the decision not to file charges.

Prosecutors wrote that “there is no evidence to corroborate the complainant’s statement and there is evidence contradicting the claim.”

The report also said the woman didn’t want to proceed with the allegation.

Bulls

Chicago will start playing Robin Lopez and Justin Holiday again after receiving a reminder from the league about player rest and tanking. Bulls executive vice president of basketball operations John Paxson said the league communicated with the team after the All-Star break about those two players and their diminishing roles. Holiday was back in the lineup for Wednesday’s game against the Memphis Grizzlies. Lopez was sitting out his seventh game in a row, though coach Fred Hoiberg said both players will start Friday at Detroit. Paxson said in a statement “after healthy dialogue, the league determined that their situations fall into the ‘player rest’ policy. We respect the communication and cooperative dialogue with the league and will adhere to their recommendations.” NBA owners passed rules in September designed to prevent healthy players from sitting out games, and teams from losing on purpose to improve their draft position.

Rockets

James Harden scored 26 points, Eric Gordon had 18 and two momentum-swinging 3-pointers in the third quarter, and visiting Houston beat the Milwaukee Bucks, 110-99, Wednesday for its 17th consecutive win. The Rockets passed the Boston Celtics for the longest winning streak in the NBA this season.