Jennings' tweet draws hefty fine

Milwaukee rookie Brandon Jennings was fined $7,500 by the NBA yesterday for posting a message on his Twitter account after the Bucks' 108-101 double-overtime win over Portland last weekend.

Jennings was fined for the timing of his post, not the content, when he tweeted: "Back to 500. Yess!!! "500" means where doing good. Way to Play Hard Guys."

The fine was announced several hours before the Bucks played at Cleveland last night, and Jennings reacted on his Twitter account:

"I understand I got fined, but 7500? For being happy over a win, you would of thought I said something bad. I mean it was a big win for us."

Asked about the fine before the game, Jennings admitted he made a rookie mistake.

"It was a lessson learned and I'll move on from it," he said. "Don't tweet when you're in the arena. I won't do that anymore. That's a lot of money, especially around Christmas time. You do a lot of shopping for the family. It doesn't look like I'll be able to do that this year. I may just have to give out a bunch of Under Armour gear."

According to the NBA's social media policy, players cannot tweet during game time, defined as beginning 45 minutes before the game starts and ending after players have finished talking to the media following the game. His post came at 10:39 p.m. on Saturday, about 15 minutes after the game ended.

Jennings already had a run-in with social media.

He apologized shortly after being drafted by the Bucks for drawing unwanted attention when a profanity-laced and provocative telephone conversation he had was posted on YouTube.

He might be rethinking his tweeting plans after losing a chunk of his salary, or at least scaling back his holiday plans.

"I'm bout to delete my twitter," Jennings tweeted yesterday. "Cost me 7500. Looks like no Gucci and Louie for Xmas."

In the game, LeBron James scored 26 points, Mo Williams added 17 and the Cleveland Cavaliers hung on to beat the Milwaukee Bucks 85-82 for their fifth straight win. Jennings scored 18 points but fired up an air ball on a three-pointer with 4.5 seconds left that would have tied the game.

* At New York, David Lee scored 17 of his 25 points in the second half, and the Knicks erased a 20-point deficit to beat the Los Angeles Clippers 95-91. Chris Duhon added 17 points, 10 assists and eight rebounds for the Knicks, who never led until the fourth quarter. Jonathan Bender scored nine points in his first NBA action since Nov. 5, 2005.

* At Toronto, Amir Johnson scored a season-high 18 points and Chris Bosh had 16 points and eight rebounds as the Raptors easily dispatched the New Jersey Nets, 118-95.

* At Atlanta, Josh Smith scored 16 points, Marvin Williams added 15 and the Hawks won their sixth straight game with a 96-83 victory over the Utah Jazz.

* At Oklahoma City, Kevin Durant scored 27 points, and rookies James Harden and Serge Ibaka led a key run in the fourth quarter as the Thunder snapped a three-game losing streak with a 109-98 victory over the Detroit Pistons. Harden finished with 14 points and eight assists and Ibaka scored a career-high 12.

* At New Orleans, Chris Paul had 30 points and a season-high 19 assists, and narrowly missed a triple-double with nine rebounds, to lift the Hornets to a 98-92 victory over the Denver Nuggets.

* At Minneapolis, Kevin Love put up 20 points and 16 rebounds, his fifth straight double-double and seventh in nine games since returning from a broken left hand, to lead the Minnesota Timberwolves past the Sacramento Kings, 112-96.

* At Dallas, Kyle Lowry came off the bench to score 26 points and dish 10 assists and Aaron Brooks scored 25 points as the Houston Rockets dumped the Mavericks, 116-108, in overtime.

* At Memphis, Zach Randolph had 26 points and 16 rebounds and O.J. Mayo added 20 points and six assists to lead the Grizzlies to a 107-94 triumph over the Indiana Pacers.