Arenas out 2-3 months with left knee injury

Washington – Gilbert Arenas is essentially done for the season.

The Washington Wizards point guard had surgery Thursday for a left knee injury that will sideline him for two to three months. Even the most optimistic scenario has him coming back only if his team manages to make the NBA finals without him.

Arenas was diagnosed with a lateral meniscus tear and had arthroscopic surgery at Sibley Memorial Hospital in Washington. He was injured in the first quarter of Wednesday night’s 108-100 loss to the Charlotte Bobcats.

Las Vegas pitch to NBA holds line on gambling

Las Vegas – Local officials made no offer to restrict betting on NBA teams in a pitch for a franchise sent to commissioner David Stern on Thursday.

The proposal, requested by Stern in February, emphasizes Nevada’s gambling regulatory record and argues the system “should provide sufficient cause for the association to permit a franchise to exist comfortably in Las Vegas without concern of corruption or interference by unsavory individuals.”

Stern has said he was opposed to expansion into Las Vegas as long as gambling on NBA teams was allowed.

Artest hearing postponed

Auburn, Calif. – Ron Artest’s court hearing on misdemeanor domestic battery charges was postponed three weeks Thursday. The Sacramento Kings forward did not attend the brief proceeding in Placer County Superior Court.