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• When your PER is higher than your age, you're Kyrie Irving. Or a short list of other players. Also, free agency has been the bane of Cleveland fans. But now that the Cavaliers have Kyrie Irving, the kind of player anyone would want to play with, free agency could become their friend, writes David Thorpe.
• The Pacers have not gone small much, and don't like to go small. So if the Heat go small ... what happens?
• Timothy Varner on 48 Minutes of Hell: "Chris Paul and Tony Parker finished third and fifth in MVP voting. They share a position. One could make an argument that they were the league’s best two point guards this season. Coming into this series, it will be fun to speculate whether Parker or Paul will win 'the matchup'. ... The problem, of course, is that matchup doesn’t exist -- at least not in the hero ball sense. Paul vs. Parker is not a Hollywood boxing bout. It isn’t even a true blue Castillo-Corrales slug fest. It’s a paper tiger. Within their program, the Spurs prefer to feature wings who can defend multiple positions. Bruce Bowen is the historic standard, but the Spurs regularly use Kawhi Leonard, Danny Green, Manu Ginobili, and Stephen Jackson to defend multiple positions. Ginobili might be deployed against 1s, 2s, and 3s; Jackson against 2s, 3s, and 4s. And so on. This doesn’t make the Spurs entirely unique, but it does point to one of the more intriguing matchups of the series: Danny Green vs. Chris Paul."
• Something is up with the Lakers' pick-and-roll defense. Kevin Ding of the Orange County Register: "In their previous road game, the Lakers played pick-and-roll coverage incorrectly 92 percent of the time, according to [Coach Mike] Brown's own analysis of the Game 6 loss in Denver. It is hardly shocking that they were shredded by a far more talented, more focused Thunder attack."
• Paul Shirley came across a YouTube video of a big college dunk from his Iowa State days. He writes about it for ChicagoSide: "In this particular play, my college teammate, Jamaal Tinsley, made into fools several members of the University of Colorado backcourt before throwing the ball to me for a one-handed dunk that might even be called ferocious, if you need an adjective. Tinsley’s ball-handling tricks served as the final sentence in a masterful short story; my dunk was the exclamation point. The crowd released its tension in an avalanche of happy noise. For me, it was an incomparable rush; better than the most intense sexual encounter I’ve ever had. (Which might be an indictment of my sex life, but probably isn’t -- sorry, no hyperlinks here.) Even as I watched the video more than a decade later, I felt something similar to sexual release: a chill down my spine, sagging shoulders, relaxation in my lower back. I’ve never done cocaine. But that feeling -- the sense that I had just brought about a palpable crescendo of enthusiasm in 14,000 people, most of whom were paying rapt attention to my every movement -- is exactly what I imagine cocaine would be like: intense, immediate, and incredibly pleasurable. And just as dangerous -- because that feeling was one of the reasons I played basketball."
• A long-simmering debate among athletes: What matters more, the number of miles (or in basketball, minutes played) or age? The New York Times digs into the issue by looking into running research and finds ... science doesn't have a clear answer yet.
• Beware the columnist who has been watching lots of "Law & Order" re-runs.
• College hoops statistics suggest that you can't do much to make your opponents miss 3s. The winning strategy appears to be, especially if you're the favorites, to expend your energy trying to limit the number of attempts.
• Blake Griffin says he is not concerned about being labeled a flopper.
• Losing playoff games by big margins does not bode well for the Lakers.
• Zach Lowe of SI.com: "I am astonished on a daily basis by how many fans, both in Boston and elsewhere, think the Celtics are a good offensive team, and are thus surprised they have struggled to score against the Hawks and the Sixers. The misunderstanding seems to come from the fact that a) Boston has very famous players on its team; and b) the Celtics rank fifth overall in field-goal percentage and eighth in three-point percentage. So let me put this as clearly as I can: The Celtics are a bad offensive team. They were so-so last season and in 2009-10, and have been in continuing decline on offense for three seasons now. It’s wonderful that they shoot with great accuracy, especially from three-point range, but accurate shooting does not alone make a team good at scoring points. Field-goal percentage is no way to judge offense. It does not account for how many shots a team generates, how often it gets to the foul line and what sorts of shots it attempts. And in news that broke three years ago, this is where Boston fails."
• Now online in its entirety, for free: The documentary Small Market, Big Heart, made on a shoestring with the goal of humanizing the plight of Kings fans, who have long done a hell of a job supporting the often-miserable Kings.
• I think this is humor from Kobe Bryant. Or maybe not. (Via Slam.)
• Will James Jones make it back into the Heat rotation as a zone buster?
• Goran Dragic is a sexy free agent name. For perspective, his stats are very similar to Jarrett Jack's.

The bloggers of the TrueHoop Network have voted:

Most Valuable Player

Player, points (first votes-second votes-third votes-fourth votes-fifth votes)

1. LeBron James, 460 (46-0-0-0-0)
2. Kevin Durant, 272 (0-23-21-2-0)
3. Chris Paul, 259 (0-23-17-4-1)
4. Kevin Love, 85 (0-0-3-18-16)
5. Tony Parker, 64 (0-0-3-12-13)

Others receiving votes: Dwight Howard, 23 (0-0-2-4-1); Kobe Bryant, 20 (0-0-0-5-5); Dwyane Wade, 5 (0-0-0-0-5); Russell Westbrook, 4 (0-0-0-0-4); Steve Nash, 3 (0-0-0-1-0); Tyson Chandler, 1 (0-0-0-0-1)

Defensive Player of the Year

1. Tyson Chandler, 182 (29-10-2)
2. LeBron James, 69 (3-15-9)
3. Kevin Garnett, 47 (5-5-7)

Others receiving votes: Andre Iguodala, 37 (3-4-10); Tony Allen, 19 (0-4-7); Dwight Howard, 15 (1-2-4); Serge Ibaka , 4 (0-1-1); Kawhi Leonard, 1 (0-0-1)

Rookie of the Year

1. Kyrie Irving, 215 (43-0-0)
2. Ricky Rubio, 72 (0-19-15)
3. Kenneth Faried, 54 (0-14-12)

Others receiving votes: Isaiah Thomas, 35 (0-9-8); Kawhi Leonard, 9 (0-1-6); Iman Shumpert, 1 (0-0-1); Chandler Parsons, 1 (0-0-1)

Sixth Man of the Year

1. James Harden, 210 (42-0-0)
2. Lou Williams, 75 (0-21-12)
3. Taj Gibson, 56 (0-13-17)

Others receiving votes: Thad Young, 12 (0-2-6); Jason Terry, 11 (0-3-2); Al Harrington, 4 (0-1-1); Mike Dunleavy, 4 (0-1-1); George Hill, 4 (0-1-1); Ramon Sessions, 1 (0-0-1); Willie Green, 1 (0-0-1)

Most Improved Player

1. Nikola Pekovic, 136 (18-13-7)
2. Ersan Ilyasova, 77 (9-8-8)
3. Jeremy Lin, 55 (4-9-8)

Others receiving votes: Ryan Anderson, 48 (7-3-4); DeMarcus Cousins, 33 (3-4-6); James Harden, 17 (1-3-3); Danny Green, 7 (0-2-1); Roy Hibbert, 5 (0-1-2); Greg Monroe, 5 (1-0-0); Goran Dragic, 2 (0-0-2); Brandan Wright, 1 (0-0-1); Randy Foye, 1 (0-0-1).

Coach of the Year

1. Gregg Popovich, 177 (30-9-0)
2. Tom Thibodeau, 105 (8-20-5)
3. Ty Corbin, 32 (1-5-12)

Others receiving votes: Frank Vogel, 23 (1-4-6); Monty Williams, 13 (0-0-13); Stan Van Gundy, 5 (0-1-2); Doc Rivers, 4 (0-1-1); Rick Adelman, 1 (0-0-1).

Executive of the Year

1. Neil Olshey, 114 (17-7-8)
2. R.C. Buford, 106 (11-15-6)
3. Larry Bird, 77 (8-9-10)

Others receiving votes: Masai Ujiri, 24 (1-4-7); Kevin O'Connor, 9 (1-1-1); David Kahn, 5 (0-1-2) Mitch Kupchak, 3 (0-0-3); Dell Demps, 1 (0-0-1)

Sportsmanship Award

1. Shane Battier, 248 (11-9-2-5-2-1)
2. Jeremy Lin, 244 (8-6-12-3-1-0)
3. Antawn Jamison, 200 (3-7-7-8-5-0)
4. Luke Ridnour, 198 (6-6-6-4-4)
5. Chris Paul, 96 (2-1-1-2-12-12)
6. Jason Kidd, 94 (0-1-2-8-6-13)

Citizenship Award

1. LeBron James, 3

Also receiving votes: Luke Ridnour; LaMarcus Aldridge; Gerald Henderson; Isaiah Thomas

All-NBA

First team

• Guard: Chris Paul, 133 (26-1-0)
• Guard: Dwyane Wade, 85 (10-9-8)
• Forward: LeBron James, 135 (27-0-0)
• Forward: Kevin Durant, 133 (26-1-0)
• Center: Dwight Howard, 111 (18-6-3)

Second team

• Guard: Russell Westbrook, 80 (6-16-2)
• Guard: Tony Parker, 74 (8-9-7)
• Forward: Kevin Love, 85 (2-25-0)
• Forward: Blake Griffin, 46 (0-13-7)
• Center: Andrew Bynum, 61 (3-13-7)

Third team

• Guard: Kobe Bryant, 66 (2-17-5)
• Guard: Steve Nash, 22 (0-3-13)
• Forward: Kevin Garnett, 21 (0-3-12)
• Forward: Carmelo Anthony, 20 (0-4-8)
• Center: Tyson Chandler, 59 (5-7-13)

Others receiving votes: James Harden, 17 (2-1-4); Dirk Nowitzki, 13 (0-2-7); Rajon Rondo, 11 (0-0-11); Paul Pierce, 7 (0-0-7); LaMarcus Aldridge, 6 (0-1-3); Josh Smith, 5 (0-1-2); Andre Iguodala, 5 (0-1-2); Derrick Rose, 5 (0-1-2); Paul Millsap, 5 (0-1-2); Pau Gasol, 4 (0-0-4); Al Jefferson, 3 (0-0-3); Deron Williams, 2 (0-0-2); Ryan Anderson, 1 (0-0-1)

All-Defensive

First team

• Kevin Garnett, 60 (29-2)
• LeBron James, 60 (29-2)
• Tyson Chandler, 59 (28-3)
• Andre Iguodala, 59 (28-3)
• Tony Allen, 56 (25-6)

Second team

• Dwight Howard, 35 (6-23)
• Avery Bradley, 29 (4-21)
• Serge Ibaka, 16 (3-10)
• Luol Deng, 15 (1-13)
• Taj Gibson, 13 (0-13)

Others receiving votes: Dwyane Wade, 11 (1-9) Rajon Rondo, 11 (0-11) Chris Paul, 10 (0-10) Joakim Noah, 10 (1-8) Ronnie Brewer, 8 (0-8) Josh Smith, 7 (0-7) Thabo Sefolosha, 3 (0-3) Kawhi Leonard, 1 (0-1) Elton Brand, 1 (0-1) Grant Hill, 1 (0-1)

All-Rookie

First team

• Kyrie Irving, 56 (28-0)
• Kenneth Faried, 55 (27-1)
• Ricky Rubio, 54 (26-2)
• Kawhi Leonard, 51 (23-5)
• Isaiah Thomas, 49 (21-7)

Second team

• Iman Shumpert, 33 (7-19)
• Chandler Parsons, 32 (6-20)
• Klay Thompson, 27 (1-25)
• MarShon Brooks, 24 (0-24)
• Gustavo Ayon, 21 (1-19)

Others receiving votes: Derrick Williams, 9 (0-9); Brandon Knight, 7 (0-7); Kemba Walker, 2 (0-2).

• Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer: If you want to write off Michael Jordan as the guy who shouldn’t be wearing a hockey jersey in Chicago when his NBA team is withering back in Charlotte, more power to you. If you want to conclude Rod Higgins is a paper-pusher whose job security hinges on being a Friend-of-Mike, I won’t waste breath debating you (though I think that defines over-simplification). Here’s what trumps all that: Larry Brown turned Jordan and Higgins into victims on national radio Wednesday. It was shabby and silly and petty. Somebody – I guess it’s my job by default -- needs to explain what really happened. LB says Jordan’s people didn’t have a “clue’’ and made him “sick’’ and were “spies.’’ Here’s what I saw: Rod Higgins (who I’ve had more than a few battles with) put up graciously with hundreds of hours of all the garbage that comes with being Larry’s personnel guy. Ask Billy King. Ask Donnie Walsh. You think I haven’t? Larry is a magnificent maniac. He has a savant quality when it comes to basketball, but he’s loopy; overreacts to whatever he last saw. Like a crab in the sand, searching for the next feed. I think there are a lot of legitimate reasons to scrutinize the Bobcats. I’ve written that regularly over the duration of their existence: Rudy Gay vs. Adam Morrison? Come on. Not trading up for draft rights to CP3 or Deron Williams? Yadda, yadda, yadda. But what Brown did on radio and what Sam Vincent did in the Washington Post is so self-serving, so childish, that it reflects far more on them than Jordan or anyone who works for the Bobcats. Rip them for what they deserve. Don’t exploit bad times to settle old grudges. It’s tacky.
• Brian Schmitz, of the Orlando Sentinel: Stan knows that it does him no good at this point to scorch any more Earth. Attempting to paint a pretty picture of the 2011-12 Magic with Dwight and without Dwight would take a lot of imagination or flat-out lying, and Stan isn't built for either duty. I'm sick of it, too. "These kind of seasons happen," Van Gundy said. No they don't. These kind of things don't even happen on reality shows. Van Gundy wants to return for more and fulfill his contract next season, but Vegas won't even take bets. Publicly disclosing that management told him Howard wanted him fired will likely do him in — no matter whether Dwight stays or strays. Van Gundy can either sit on his stack of money for a year in Lake Mary or coach if he so desires. Unless Phil Jackson leaves his fly-fishing hole in Wyoming, Stan would be the best free-agent coach on the market. (Question: With Van Gundy under contract for another year, could the Magic possibly trade him and receive a draft pick from his new team? If you remember, the Heat got a second-round pick from the Magic in exchange for Stan because Van Gundy was under contract as a consultant.) Van Gundy might have some opportunities to work from some other team's bench.
• Al Iannazzone of Newsday: Mike Woodson could be the next member of the Knicks ' basketball department to get a promotion. The Knicks ' newly minted executive vice president and general manager, Glen Grunwald, gave Woodson a ringing endorsement Wednesday. Grunwald, who is Woodson's good friend and former teammate at Indiana University , said it will be an organizational decision on who coaches the Knicks next season and that he will give his recommendations. He stopped just short of saying he would recommend Woodson. "Woody's done a fantastic job," Grunwald said. "I can't give him enough credit for the job he's done. Normally, coaching changes don't result in such a dramatic improvement in the team performance, so I think that speaks very well of him. I've known Woody a long time. We've had our separations, different jobs and stuff like that. It's amazing to see how he's grown as a person and as a coach in particular. To see him firsthand working as a head coach is very impressive."
• Dan Woike of The Orange County Register: The Clippers needed a win in New York on Wednesday night to be assured of home-court advantage, but the Clippers decided they needed Chris Paul healthy more. With Paul sitting out because of mild groin strain, the Clippers staged a late-game comeback but fell to the Knicks, 99-93. The Clippers now must wait to see if Orlando beats the Grizzlies in Memphis on Thursday night, which would secure home-court advantage for Blake Griffin, Paul and the rest of the team. The Clippers trailed, 90-72, with less than 7:30 to play, but the Clippers stormed back into the game with New York’s starters watching from the bench. The Clippers closed to within one in the last minute, but J.R. Smith scored four consecutive points to ice the win for the Knicks. “We competed,” Clippers coach Vinny Del Negro said. “The guys battled back. …We gave ourselves a chance.” The Clippers finished the regular season losing three out of four games with all three losses coming on the road.
• Paul Coro of The Arizona Republic: The "We want Steve" chant broke out and grew in volume until the crowd was standing. A timeout stopped it and Nash did not return but the chant did. After sitting Nash out so long, Suns coach Alvin Gentry did not plan on playing him any longer but substituted him for a curtain call of 27 seconds, just long enough for him to dribble upcourt with a smile, make a turnover and leave with an index finger raised in acknowledgment to a thunderous ovation like the one that started the night when his turn came up during starting introductions. If that was Nash's last introduction as a Suns player in 10 seasons over two stints, it was met appropriately in front of a crowd of 17,172 that turned out despite the team's elimination on the previous night. Out of the race, the game still had meaning just in the potential of it being Nash's farewell, although he has said he will include Phoenix in the options he weighs as a free agent in July. "It was obviously amazing to get that type of reception and support," Nash said. "It's very special because it's not something I asked for or imagined. To get that kind of reaction means it's authentic, the relationship I thought we had. It really feels special. The fans have been phenomenal and it's meant a lot to me to play in a city like this as long as I have and to feel important to the fans and community. I just feel like a very lucky guy." Nash said he has "no clue" about his future and remains flexible on contract length even though he wants to play three more years. To stay, he would want to see the Suns improve their roster.
• Jeff McDonald of the San Antonio Express-News: With a 106-101 victory at Oklahoma City on Wednesday, the Denver Nuggets did the Spurs a favor and clarified the playoff picture. Now, the top-seeded Spurs are hoping for a similar solid from the NBA office. The doings in Oklahoma locked Utah in as the Western Conference’s eighth seed, at last giving the Spurs a first-round opponent for which to game plan. Game 1 will be either Saturday or Sunday, after the Spurs fly back from their season-closer at Golden State tonight. That’s where the league office comes in. Spurs officials are hopeful the league will take into account the team’s brutal season-ending itinerary — which included eight games in 11 days and requires a four-hour flight home across two time zones after the finale — when setting the playoff schedule. But they aren’t holding their breath. “You can’t politic for that sort of thing,” coach Gregg Popovich said. “When they tell you to play, you go play.”
• Benjamin Hochman of The Denver Post: With his Thunder trailing the Nuggets by three points late in the game Wednesday night, veteran guard Derek Fisher launched a 3-pointer that had the follow-through seen after so many of his clutch shots. But the shot missed, and Denver's Danilo Gallinari grabbed the vital rebound. With seven seconds left, it was over. After free throws, the Nuggets escaped with a 106-101 victory that enables them to control their destiny. If the Nuggets (37-28) win tonight's regular-season finale at Minnesota, they will be the Western Conference's No. 6 seed in the NBA playoffs — and will play the third-seeded Los Angeles Lakers in the first round, arguably a more enticing opponent than the second-seeded Thunder. If the Nuggets lose tonight, they still have a shot at the No. 6 seed. Dallas plays at Atlanta. If Dallas loses, Denver is the sixth seed. But if Denver loses and Dallas wins, the Mavericks are sixth, and the Nuggets are seventh.
• Darnell Mayberry of The Oklahoman: Speaking of JaVale McGee. He inexplicably tossed his headband into the crowd — as he checked in for the first time! Something is truly wrong with that cat.
• John Rohde of of The Oklahoman: When Thunder center Kendrick Perkins started flirting with the NBA limit for technical fouls several weeks ago, he vowed to never reach No. 13, which would have drawn a one-game suspension. “I told you I wouldn't. You didn't believe me?” Perkins said with a smile before Wednesday's regular-season finale against Denver. Perkins was in the clear when he survived Tuesday night's 118-110 victory over Sacramento without getting slapped with unlucky No. 13. Even had Perkins been hit with a technical on Wednesday, he would not have been suspended for the first playoff game because the slate is wiped cleaned for the postseason. Perkins said the key to his survival is knowing when to back off. “It's kind of like a child knowing how much he can push his parents,” said Perkins, who has two young sons. “It's like, ‘Daddy done got mad. I'm gonna chill out right now.'” Perkins said he has reached the limit for technical fouls three times in his nine-year career, but has yet to receive a one-game suspension. He paid $36,000 in fines for his 12 technical fouls this season – pending future fines in the postseason, of course.
• Neil Hayes of the Chicago Sun-Times: Ask C.J. Watson what owning the NBA’s best record for two straight years would say about these Bulls and he first mentions coach Tom Thibodeau. “It shows how Coach Thibs came in and changed the face of the franchise and the team,’’ the backup point guard said. ‘‘It’s good to have the best record in the East and maybe in the whole league, but we want more than that.’’ Players were thrilled when they received the text message that Thibodeau had cancelled Wednesday morning’s shootaround at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. Several said they went back to bed — the best way for them to celebrate their accomplishment during this truncated season. ‘‘It doesn’t guarantee anything, but it also gives you your best chance,’’ Thibodeau said. The degree of difficulty was greater than last year, considering the Bulls lost 98 games to injury or illness compared to 61 a year ago. ‘‘It’s very impressive,’’ Watson said. ‘‘A lot of guys stepped up this year. It’s just the makeup of our team.”
• Mike Wells of The Indianapolis Star: The Pacers are taking a business approach into their first-round match up against the Dwight-less Magic this weekend. That means no bulletin board material Orlando players could use for extra motivation. Should the Pacers win the series? Without a doubt. I’m saying they’ll win it in five games during the playoff breakdown in The Star this weekend. You won’t hear any of the players saying that. The Pacers know the Magic are a 3-point barrage away from stealing one of the first two games at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. That’s why Pacers coach Frank Vogel probably went home after their loss to Chicago and started breaking down more film of the Magic. “I probably won’t sleep a wink tonight,” Vogel said. “I’m so excited. I’ve been peeking a little at Orlando, but I’m so excited to really bury myself in the film footage and dial into their tendencies and exactly what we need to do to beat that basketball team. I’m very much looking forward to it.”
• Bob Cooney of the Philadelphia Daily News: Game 65 of 66, with a playoff spot already secured and an opponent playing for nothing, had about as much intensity as a day at the beach. Still, the game had to be played and the Sixers JV was better than that of the Milwaukee Bucks, pulling out a 90-85 win. It was the fourth-straight win for the Sixers and improved them to 35-30. Though no one in the 76ers organization will say so, playing the Chicago Bulls in the playoffs is much more preferred than having to face the Miami Heat for the second-straight year. The win by the Sixers and by New York Wednesday means the two are still tied for the seventh spot in the East, though the Knicks own the tiebreaker. Should the Sixers and Knicks both win or lose Thursday, the Sixers will get the Bulls. If the Sixers win in Detroit and the Knicks lose in Charlotte, then the Sixers will play the Heat.
• Charles F. Gardner of the Journal Sentinel: Bucks second-year forward Larry Sanders returned Wednesday from a two-game unpaid suspension, the result of his emotional meltdown in the team's loss at Indiana last week. Sanders picked up two technical fouls and was ejected in the fourth quarter, and he nearly set off a melee between the teams before being dragged away by teammate Luc Richard Mbah a Moute. Sanders pointed at Pacers forward David West before being pulled aside. It was the second time this month Sanders had been ejected from a game. In a recent interview, Sanders vowed to reform his behavior on the court. "I think the punishment was fair and everything," Sanders said. "My actions were out of line. I just have to control my emotions in situations like that. "Sanders said he wanted to apologize to Bucks fans for his actions.
• Michael Lee of The Washington Post: The Washington Wizards woke up Wednesday knowing they would finish the season with the second-worst record in the NBA. But they were far from discouraged or disappointed because as the season is winding down, the fun is just starting to begin. Following a 96-85 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Wizards left Quicken Loans Arena as the hottest team in the Eastern Conference. They have won five games in a row for the first time in more than more four years. After the game, the locker room was filled with jokes, laughter and fashion advice, as John Wall chided rookie Shelvin Mack: “What kind of jeans you wearing, Wrangler? You got those Brett Favres on.” Wall later claimed that he would continue to give Mack a hard time for his clothing choices on Twitter. “It’s just the fact that you’re winning. It feels good to win,” Wall said after finishing with game-highs of 21 points and 13 assists to go with seven rebounds and seven steals. “You can tell, the whole group is having more fun.”
• Tom Reed of The Plain Dealer: The Cavaliers will finish with their worst home attendance since the season before they drafted LeBron James in 2003. But the arrival of the team's latest rookie sensation, Kyrie Irving, is increasing expectations and season-ticket renewals. The Cavs' season-ticket renewal rate already stands at 75 percent and is ahead of initial projections, a team spokesman confirmed. It's welcome news for a franchise that averaged 15,927 fans in the lockout-shortened season -- a 4,185 decline from last season, when they finished third in the NBA in attendance. The home finale against Washington drew 18,086 on Wednesday night. The decrease was completely expected after James' departure in July 2010 and a 19-63 record last season. The Cavs will finish 19th in a 30-team league, but they still outdrew three playoff teams: Memphis, Atlanta and Indiana. Heading into Wednesday's action, the Chicago Bulls (22,148) led the league, while the New Jersey Nets (13,961) were last. Cavaliers coach Byron Scott appreciates the support his team received, especially after perusing half-empty arena bowls in some NBA cities

• Darnell Mayberry of The Oklahoman: No James Harden meant no easy buckets. Now, it's anyone's guess when the team's most dynamic playmaker will return. But as the opening weekend of the playoffs nears, the Thunder can only hope Harden's symptoms subside soon. Sunday's game proved that with Harden, the Thunder has a championship-caliber, three-headed monster offensively that can be nearly impossible to stop, and without him, well, OKC could be on upset alert in round one. That's the significance of one swing of the elbow by Metta World Peace.
• Geoff Calkins of The Commercial-Appeal: You want to go to a Grizzlies home playoff game? Then put down the paper and get your butt to FedExForum. Tickets go on sale at 10 a.m. today. Yes, you could stay at home and get your phone ready and start frantically punching buttons at 9:59 a.m. But if you're truly dedicated, you'll do that while standing in line. That way, you'll cover all the angles. "It's almost here," said Tony Allen. The playoffs, he meant. How awesome is that? The fury and the tension and the mind-altering din. The white outs and the growl towels and the unmistakable civic spring in the step. ... Allen and the Grizzlies took care of another bit of business Monday night, dispatching the Cleveland Cavaliers, 109-101. ... "We did what we had to do," said Grizzlies point guard Mike Conley. "Now the pressure is on them." By them, he meant the Los Angeles Clippers, aka the team you are free to start loathing any day now. The Grizzlies will almost certainly play the Clippers in the first-round of the playoffs.
• Tom Reed of The Plain Dealer: Lots of Cavaliers fans wanted to see Kyrie Irving and his sprained right shoulder in street clothes for the remainder of the season for fear of re-injury. Four games into his return, Irving's opponents are once again the ones worrying about damage control. The presumptive NBA Rookie of the Year is shaking off the rust the way he often does defenders in the paint. The 20-year-old point guard scored 25 points Monday night in a 109-101 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies at FedExForum. "That's why we wanted him to come back, just to go out there and get his feet wet and keep accepting the challenge every single night," Cavs coach Byron Scott said. "He's done just that, so I'm very excited about the way he's played the last couple of games especially." Irving was terrific for the first three quarters in which he scored all his points, but two rare free-throw misses with the Cavs trailing, 100-98, proved costly in the final minutes as the Grizzlies ended the game on an 11-3 run.
• Dave D'Alessandro of The Star-Ledger: The notion that team ownership is a “public trust” is a laughable anachronism. Maybe it felt that way once. But not since they priced the middle class almost virtually out of the picture. For the first time, the Nets are attempting to join that rat race in earnest. We wish them bon voyage and Godspeed and all that rot. They should do well. Mikhail Prokhorov personally thinks they will be valued at $5 billion in five years’ time, and since that’s the only measure of success he seems to know, we hope he achieves this goal that is so essential to the public welfare. The team itself could be great, or it could be horrid. Much of that depends on whether the point guard stays home, because Deron Williams is a player of extraordinary gifts: He can run and jump like an antelope, he plays hard, he cares about winning. But he’s also an incurable mope, with the personality of a nightclub bouncer, and if that’s the kind of guy you want to root for, help yourself. So embrace these dyspeptic darlings, if you must. But more than likely, you will watch without the emotional investment, because you have outgrown the need for it. You recognized this as a team with a core existential crisis since 2004 — from the moment Bruce Ratner bought them, they were an orphaned franchise with an estranged fan base, and as Jason Kidd belatedly observed four long years ago, “It’s not about basketball around here anymore.”
• Bob Cooney of the Philadelphia Daily News: Goodbye New Jersey, hello playoffs. While the Nets' organization celebrated its final game in North Jersey after 35 years, as they'll be moving across the river to Brooklyn next season, the 76ers held a mild celebration of their own after beating New Jersey on Monday night, 105-87. The win clinched a playoff berth as the Sixers improved to 34-30 with their third straight win, each on the road. They are tied with New York for the seventh spot in the Eastern Conference, but the Knicks own the tiebreaker, having won the season series. The Sixers will play at Milwaukee Wednesday and at Detroit Thursday. New York will host the Clippers on Wednesday and play at Charlotte on Thursday. The Sixers will play either Chicago or Miami in the first round. Although the effort wasn't as strong as Saturday's at Indiana, the Sixers did jump out to a fast start. That seemed to deflate much of the interest that New Jersey, playing without injured All-Star guard Deron Williams, had in winning.
• Mike Monroe of the San Antonio Express-News: Wrapping up the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference moved Spurs captain Tim Duncan to do some campaigning for Spurs coach Gregg Popovich for Coach of the Year. “Is it time to start the chant?” he said after Monday’s 124-89 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers at the AT&T Center that clinched the top spot in the West. “‘Coach of the Year, Coach of the Year.’” Duncan declared the work Popovich has done this season the best he has observed in any of his 15 seasons playing for him. “I really think so,” he said. “He’s put so many guys into our system. We’ve been playing with two very young guys starting for us the entire year; getting all those guys acclimated on the fly with very little practice time. All those things, he’s done an unbelievable job with it. Yeah, it’s probably the best job he’s done thus far. Obviously, not only the coaching job he’s done, but the rotation he’s given us. He’s kept us fresh. He’s found ways to rest guys when he can. I think our minutes are as low as anyone, and we’re still No. 1 in the West.” Duncan’s minutes are at a career low, 28.2 per game, and he is one of 10 current Spurs who average at least 20 minutes per game on the deepest roster of Popovich’s 16 seasons as head coach.
• Dan McCarney For The Oregonian: As has become the norm in recent weeks, Blazers interim head coach Kaleb Canales opened his pre-game media session Monday in San Antonio with an injury report. Joel Przybilla -- game-time decision. Nicolas Batum -- game-time decision. Jamal Crawford -- game-time decision. Raymond Felton -- game-time decision. Canales didn't need to mention All-Star forward LaMarcus Aldridge, already lost for the season. Finally, a bemused reporter cut to the chase: "Who's playing?" Even Canales had to laugh. But there was little humor to be found later as the Spurs, gearing up for pursuit of their fifth NBA title, destroyed the depleted Blazers 124-89 at the AT&T Center. ... It was not the homecoming Canales, who grew up two hours south in Laredo, was hoping for. Scores of family members and friends were on hand to witness one of the most lopsided losses of a trying season.
• Mike Wise of The Washington Post: Ernie Grunfeld, judged strictly by what he has done to execute owner Ted Leonsis’s plan the past two years — and not what he did or didn’t do in his six years under Abe Pollin — isn’t going anywhere. Two NBA officials, on condition of anonymity, told The Post that Leonsis and Grunfeld, whose contract expires at the end of this season, have agreed to a new deal that could be announced Tuesday. It is believed to be for more than one season. If that doesn’t make sense, well, it’s time to take a serious look at what Grunfeld has done since Leonsis took over rather than get caught up in How-Can-Ernie-Possibly-Be-Back? rhetoric. ... When the Wizards actually spend big money in the offseason and the mandate is to be a perennial playoff team, that’s when Grunfeld should be properly judged. Until then, disenchanted fans target their ire toward Leonsis’s long-term strategy and whether it’s going to pay dividends. Moan at the moon; Ernie was just doing Ted’s bidding. That’s why he’s staying.
• Tom Sorensen of The Charlotte Observer: The night that matters is May 30. The evening will be the most important in the team’s eight-year history. Across the river from Manhattan, in the NBA’s Secaucus, N.J., studios, the league will place 14 pingpong balls in a drum. If the balls roll right, Charlotte will receive the No. 1 pick in June’s NBA draft. That pick will be 6-foot-10 Anthony Davis, the former Kentucky star. Davis is Manhattan. Compared to him, every other player is New Jersey. The Bobcats have only a 25 percent chance of winning the pick. We like to say that people, and teams, make their own luck. We lie. Good fortune is underestimated in the NBA and every other sport. San Antonio did a great job of packing talent around Tim Duncan, Chicago around Derrick Rose. But without Duncan and without Rose, the Spurs and Bulls are merely a collection of nice players. I wrote on Twitter last week that Davis will be as transcendent a basketball player as Panthers quarterbackCam Newton is a football player. Readers begged to differ, although they didn’t beg. ... You want to know how good Davis will be? This is how good. If the Bobcats get him, owner Michael Jordan will again become a courtside regular at his team’s home games.
• Mike Wells of The Indianapolis Star: Frank Vogel’s latest move could help the Pacers when they open the playoffs this weekend. He gave Danny Granger, Roy Hibbert and George Hill the night off against Detroit on Monday. Hibbert and Hill will be back in the lineup for the season finale against Chicago on Wednesday because Vogel wants to stick with his normal rotation as much as possible against the Bulls. Granger will sit the game out because he’s been dealing with knee issue. He’d be in the lineup if they were playing Game 1 on Wednesday. ... It’s uncertain how many minutes Chicago coach Tom Thibodeau will play his rotation players on Wednesday. But you can expect Vogel to go with his normal rotation – minus Granger – for as much as possible so come Game 1 on Saturday or Sunday the Pacers continue to look like the team that’s 12-2 this month. Not the team that looks like its out of sync. Vogel is making the right call.
• Vincent Goodwill of The Detroit News: Pistons forward Jonas Jerebko sat in his locker, quietly looking around and made a telling, but not arrogant, vow. "I don't want to go through this again," Jerebko said. "We're going to the playoffs next year. We know what it takes. You can't start off a season 4-20 and bounce back." He was asked if he was guaranteeing anything, seeing as how former Piston Rasheed Wallace made headlines years ago with his famous boasts. "Yes, sir," said Jerebko with a smile. "We're a playoff team, with playoff-caliber players."
• Charles F. Gardner of the of Journal Sentinel: The Milwaukee Bucks were reduced to scoreboard watching while trying to beat the Toronto Raptors on Monday night at the Bradley Center. Ersan Ilyasova led a late Bucks rally to overcome the Raptors, 92-86, but that scoreboard gaze revealed the dreaded news: Milwaukee's playoff quest was over for another year. Philadelphia won at New Jersey, 105-87, to clinch the final playoff berth in the Eastern Conference and eliminate the Bucks from contention. The Bucks (31-33) chased both the New York Knicks and 76ers in the final weeks of the season but failed to catch either one. Philadelphia (34-30) leads Milwaukee by three games with just two remaining, and Wednesday's game between the teams doesn't mean much now. "It's real disappointing to finish the season and not make the playoffs," said Ilyasova, who had 19 points and 15 rebounds against Toronto. "We started the season really bad. And when you look at our season, we lost a lot of close games. It's really frustrating."
• Mike Ganter of the Toronto Sun: Jonas Valanciunas and Linas Kleiza were among 24 players invited to try out for the Lithuanian National team that will attempt to qualify this early this summer in Argentina for the Summer Olympic games in London. Valanciunas, 19, will battle 32-year-old, 6-foot-10 centre Robertas Javtokas and 6-foot-10, 243-pound centre Antanas Kavaliauskas for a spot on the team. While Valanciunas, 7-feet, 240 pounds doesn’t have the track record of either player, he made a huge impression at Eurobask last summer and before that was huge in Lithuania’s win at the FIBA under-19 championships where he was MVP. Lithuania will have to finish in the top three at the July 2-8 tournament to qualify for London.

Third in a series. Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3.

Second in a series. Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3.

• Al Iannazzone of Newsday: Carmelo Anthony continued his dominant play, registering his first triple-double as a Knick, but he also got the help he needed from his teammates to beat a quality playoff team Tuesday night. Anthony scored 35 points, grabbed 12 rebounds and dished for 10 assists in the Knicks' 118-110 win over the Celtics at the Garden. But three other Knicks scored at least 20 points, including a career-high 25 by Steve Novak , who was huge in the fourth quarter. Novak drilled back-to-back three-pointers with under three minutes left after the Celtics' trimmed a 21-point deficit to six, helping the Knicks hold off Boston and a 43-point night by Paul Pierce. The Knicks hit 19 threes, and Anthony assisted on both of Novak's big baskets that made it a 10-point game with 2:05 left. "I think Melo now is settling in," coach Mike Woodson said.
• Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe: Just a few hours after Ray Allen said he was ready to play in Tuesday night’s showdown with the Knicks, the Celtics guard was a late scratch when his troublesome right ankle swelled up again. Allen has missed the past five games and 16 overall this season with ankle issues, and the late scratch this time surprised coach Doc Rivers, who had begun formulating plays for Allen. Allen participated in shootaround Tuesday and told reporters that he was ready to return. But he returned to his hotel after the workout and felt the same discomfort that has plagued him the past few days. He said he is unsure whether he will play Wednesday night against the Magic at TD Garden. “As far as the movement and mobility . . . it wasn’t to my liking,’’ Allen said before the Celtics’ 118-110 loss to the Knicks. “I couldn’t get the pushing off that I wanted so I’ve got to let it kind of relax a little bit more before I get back out there.’’ For the most part, Allen has been durable during his time with the Celtics, so the past two weeks have been a source of frustration.
• Mike Monroe of the San Antonio Express-News: Tim Duncan swears he has not spent one idle moment considering his future. “That’s something I’ll think about after the season ends,” he said after a recent road game. “For now, I’m not worrying about anything except our next game. I don’t even have an agent.” Indeed, Duncan’s former representative, Lon Babby, had to divest himself of his relationship with his clients when he became general manager of the Suns. Duncan has not replaced Babby just yet, but don’t take that to mean he won’t need one this summer. ... On or about July 1, the Spurs will open talks with Duncan and/or whoever winds up representing him. ... Duncan is realist enough to know a pay cut is coming his way. But the Spurs know they can’t disrespect him as the Rockets once did Olajuwon. Duncan is worth more to the Spurs than to any team with the ability to pay him more than the veteran minimum or mid-level exception. Silver and black are part of Duncan’s basketball DNA. It should not take long to find the right deal.
• Kevin Ding of The Orange County Register: If the Lakers look predictable on offense sometimes with Kobe Bryant, they just showed everyone how predictable they can look without him. The San Antonio Spurs overplayed every Lakers entry pass with complete trust that the Lakers would force the ball inside toward center Andrew Bynum, and the Lakers piled up the turnovers en route to a 112-91 loss Tuesday night. The 21-point margin was the largest in a Lakers loss all season — one point greater than the Lakers' loss in Phoenix in their first game without Bryant. The Spurs were far more motivated than Wednesday night in San Antonio, where they were disengaged without Bryant opposing them and MVP candidate Tony Parker shot 2 for 12 from the field in a Lakers romp. Parker shot 14 for 20 from the field and finished with29 points and 13 assists in 30 minutes in the rematch, with one more game and a possible Bryant return on tap Friday night at AT&T Center. "Not only did we have bad, unforced turnovers, but our floor balance wasn't there, which led to easy points for San Antonio," Lakers coach Mike Brown said. "When we play too fast or we try to make a home-run pass ... we can be mistake-prone."
• Mike Wells of The Indianapolis Star: A close game. Multiple options from which to choose. Go inside or move the ball to get an open jump shot. The Indiana Pacers lack a superstar who everybody in the building knows will end up with the ball at the end of a close game. That's OK with them. They know opponents can't key on one player. All five Pacers starters scored in the final 3 minutes Tuesday night to hold off the struggling Philadelphia 76ers 102-97 at the Wells Fargo Center. "That's us," Pacers forward Danny Granger said. "We just execute. We play the right way. We make plays for each other. Whoever gets the shot at that particular moment takes it." Team basketball is why the Pacers (40-22) have had their most successful season since 2004. They have a roster full of players who have bought into coach Frank Vogel's system and set aside personal goals.
• Bob Kravitz of The Indianapolis Star: Why would Indiana Pacers President Larry Bird even think about leaving now? That's a question only Bird can answer, and right now, Bird doesn't have any answers. "Honestly, it's not even a debate around my house," he said the other day. "I'll sit down with Herbie (team owner Herb Simon) when it's all done and we'll move from there. Herbie will ask me about it every once in a while, but I don't want to be a distraction. Right now, it's the furthest thing from my mind." It doesn't make sense for Bird to leave now, but, then, it didn't make sense for Bird, as the coach, to walk away after he led the Pacers to the NBA Finals in the 2000 season. ... Here's my plea: Larry, please stay. There have been some mistakes along the way but, by and large, Bird has done a masterful, if understated job moving the Brawling Pacers into this new era. ... So the question will linger: Will he stay or will he go? Nobody seems to know at this point. Least of all Bird himself.
• Tom Moore of phillyBurbs.com: The loss, which was their third in a row, dropped the 31-30 Sixers one game behind the No. 7 Knicks. They are 1 1/2 games ahead of the No. 9 Bucks, who they visit April 25, in the race for the final spot. The Sixers finished 19-14 at home in the lockout-shortened, 66-game season. They lost 11 of their last 17 in South Philadelphia after a 13-3 home start. “It’s crunch time,” said Thaddeus Young, who had 19 points for the Sixers. “We just have to figure out a way to win games like this.” Elton Brand compared the Sixers’ late-game difficulties to a plague. The Sixers end the regular season with five games on the road, starting Wednesday in Cleveland to complete a back-to-back-to-back. The Cavaliers lost to the Pistons 116-77 after trailing by 50 Tuesday, but are expected to have rookie star Kyrie Irving back from a foot injury. Brand said the Sixers are viewing the final five games almost like they’re starting over in a second season. “We’ve got to make a push,” Brand said. “I’m highly optimistic we’ll find a way. We haven’t completed games, but we’ve played well in spurts.” Collins agreed, saying, “We have a great opportunity. If you’ve got a chance, take advantage of it.”
• Tom Reed of The Plain Dealer: Kyrie Irving wants to come back to this? He’s rehabbing his sprained right shoulder to rejoin a depleted and dispirited club that trailed by 50 points after three quarters Tuesday night in The Palace? If the Pistons are routing the Cavaliers, 116-77, what are Spurs and Grizzlies going to do to them on Sunday and Monday? Irving should be pulling a Rodney Dangerfield in Caddyshack as his tee shot ricochets off the ball cleaner. “Oh, Byron, my arm, my arm,” The Cavaliers didn’t mentally check out of Tuesday’s night’s game. That would imply they had checked in. They got jumped by the Pistons in the opening minutes and never fought back. They trailed 100-50 after three quarters. Alonzo Gee is a decent player, but his absence should not have resulted in this kind of performance. The Cavs were playing their sixth game in eight days, but an opponent should not be shooting 67.9 percent after three quarters. Especially one that entered the game ranked 28th in scoring. “No excuses,” Scott said. The NBA competition committee should remove ping-pong balls for efforts this malodorous. The Pistons dunked at will. Nobody in a white jersey got knocked down or was made to pay a price.
• Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press: With that 4-20 start pretty much eliminating any possibility of postseason play, why not tinker sooner? Frank said after Tuesday's morning shoot-around that the team started playing better so he didn't want to mess with the budding chemistry. ... For example, he wants to see Jonas Jerebko at small forward, where he backed up starter Tayshaun Prince and scored 14 points Tuesday. Jerebko, who was drafted as a small forward in the second round of the 2009 NBA draft and played there some during his rookie season, might prefer the position since he is often asked to guard bigger opponents at power forward and at 6-foot-10, he has a size advantage over most small forwards. Jerebko said it was a "mutual agreement" with Frank to give the position a try. "I'm not complaining," Jerebko said. "I love being out on that floor, so it doesn't matter to me. It's just basketball. At the end of day I just want to be on that court, and I really don't care if it's the 3 or 4."
• Ray Richardson of the Pioneer Press: A week ago, Michael Beasley delivered a passionate dissertation on how much he wanted to remain with the Timberwolves and how much he "loved the fans, the city and the organization." Before the Wolves' 91-84 loss to Memphis on Tuesday night, April 17, at Target Center, the Wolves' 11th straight loss, Beasley's tone was dramatically different. The Wolves forward felt uncomfortable talking about his future with the team and expressed mild frustration over not getting a contract extension before the Jan. 25 deadline. "My future is so blurry," said Beasley, a restricted free agent after the season. "I don't have too much to say about next year. It's frustrating not knowing your situation next year. So many of my friends are certain where they're going to play next year. They got contract extensions. But that's how the ball drops."
• Ronald Tillery of The Commercial-Appeal: Marc Gasol posted on his Twitter page that Randolph is back. Hollins admitted that Randolph would have started if Gasol was unable to play. Both sentiments suggest that Randolph is getting closer to rejoining the starting lineup. “Zach gave us big minutes offensively,” Hollins said. Randolph made 8 of 15 shots and grabbed four offensive rebounds. His presence down low is unparalleled, especially given the Timberwolves’ decision to double team Randolph in the second half. “He’s a big part of our success as a team,” guard O.J. Mayo said. “We must not forget that and he must not forget that. We need him mentally and physically to be fit and ready to go.” That’s what he said

Basketball geekery has delved into crunch time in various ways.

• First there was individual field goal percentage. That's where we learned that the players we thought owned crunch time (for instance Kobe Bryant and Chauncey Billups) actually miss a lot.
• A year ago, we added something new, looking at team offenses. That's a more important measure, assuming you value wins more than highlights. Who cares who gets the bucket, so long as they're on your team? That's where we learned that most teams were about the same, with some exceptions, including Chris Paul's Hornets, which were amazing.

But all that is only part of the picture. Because as much as we love clutch buckets, clutch wins also have a ton to do with defense. If you're going to point to any team as elite in the clutch, that must be included, and now it is.

As John Hollinger has explained, a lot of what teams do in crunch time is likely random. Looking at tiny parts of games creates some wacky results without a lot of predictive value ... anyone who says they know a team will do well in crunch time is likely fibbing. All teams do both well and poorly at different times. But defense may be a bit of an exception. Teams do seem to play defense with a certain consistency late in games.

Using NBA.com data from the last five years (current as of today), from games within five points in the final five minutes of the fourth quarter or overtime, Trevor Ebaugh of ESPN Stats & Info. dug in and created this pretty Tableau table:



Some of what we noticed:

• The Cavaliers of LeBron James and Mike Brown were unreal in crunch time, leading the league by a hefty margin for three straight years, with the best performances of any teams in the record. It's easy to see that LeBron James matters here -- once he left for Miami the Cavaliers’ plus/minus plummeted. The Cavs averaged plus-113 with James during those three seasons, and plus one in the two seasons since. Meanwhile, before James, the Heat weren't good in crunch time, but have since become very solid.
• Mike Brown emerges as an interesting character in crunch time. With James in Cleveland three straight years, and now in Los Angeles after a year off, his teams led the league by this metric every year he has coached in the last half-decade. In this period, neither team has been as good with other coaches, either.
• The Lakers have by far the best crunch time plus/minus this season (plus-79, the Pacers are second at plus-65). Pau Gasol (plus-78) has been their biggest individual star, followed closely by Andrew Bynum (plus-74). Kobe Bryant ranks third at plus-58. The Lakers achieved this number with the NBA's second-best clutch offense (behind the Magic) and the eighth-best defense.
• Three teams have shone for five straight years: The Lakers, Celtics and Magic. The Nuggets are flirting with joining that club, too.
• Superstars matter. Or, at least some do. LeBron James, Derrick Rose, Dirk Nowitzki, Kobe Bryant and Chris Paul almost always end the season positive in this regard -- the only exceptions are Paul and Nowitzki this year, which could still change. Other big names, like Kevin Durant, Tim Duncan, Carmelo Anthony and Dwyane Wade have had more mixed results.
• Good teams in general do well in crunch time. The top six teams in crunch time plus/minus this season have already locked up playoff spots, for instance (Lakers, Pacers, Hawks, Magic, Spurs and Bulls). But it's hardly a perfect correlation. In fact, surely a lot of what we're seeing in this chart appears to be simple randomness. The Pacers, terrible for a long time, are suddenly leaders. The Kings are excellent crunch time defenders this season. The Hawks are a solid team that is way better than solid late in games. And plenty of good teams -- the Sixers, the Knicks -- are pretty bad with the game on the line.
• Over the past half-decade, just two teams, the Knicks and Timberwolves, haven't had a single season in positive territory.
• The top ten late-game offensive teams this season are the Magic, Lakers, Grizzlies, Bulls, Hawks, Pacers, Rockets, Thunder, Spurs and Knicks.
• The Pacers are by far this season's best defensive team late in close games. They are followed by the Hawks, Kings (!), Spurs, Heat, Magic, Bulls, Lakers, Thunder and Clippers.
• The Dallas Mavericks have been very good for the last five years, but also have had the biggest drop-off in crunch time performance, from a league-leading plus-117 last season to an anemic minus-16 this season.
• The Hawks have been good in crunch time for four straight years.
• The Spurs and Thunder have been up and down.
• The Houston Rockets (plus-31) and Memphis Grizzlies (plus-28) are the best crunch time teams this season that have yet to lock up a playoff spot. The Los Angeles Clippers (minus-9) are the only playoff team with a negative clutch plus/minus.

Mostly, this feels like it's the tip of the iceberg. There's a lot more to learn about all this, and one of the big questions on the horizon is something Bill James has wrestled with in baseball for quite some time: Is there such a thing as clutch time performers? Are there really players or teams who do better with the game on the line?

That's still not something we know. What we do know is that a lot of what we thought we knew was wrong.

NBA teams have been tanking for decades to improve their draft position (and for other reasons), and NBA insiders have talked about tanking for decades -- in fact, over the years the NBA itself has recognized the potential for tanking and dealt with it in various ways, including altering the draft system multiple times to try to prevent it. Meanwhile, as the discourse about tanking has gone public, there have been thousands of articles written about the problem, including by such writers as Sam Smith and Bill Simmons.

HoopIdea has carried forward this discussion as part of our effort to improve the game. As we said on Day 1 of HoopIdea: Basketball is the best game ever. Now let’s make it better.

To make the game the best it can be, we want to make sure that when fans show up or watch on TV, both teams are always trying to win. And the NBA does, too. As Joel Litvin, the NBA’s president for basketball operations, told Howard Beck of The New York Times in 2008: “If we ever found a team was intentionally losing games, we would take the strongest possible action in response.”

Given that, it’s worth noting that tanking has been confessed to dozens of times off the record and a surprising number of times on the record:

2006-07 Boston Celtics
In 2007, with Greg Oden and Kevin Durant as the big lottery prizes, several teams were openly questioned about apparent tanking, including the Boston Celtics, Milwaukee Bucks and Memphis Grizzlies, the three teams that ended up with the best chance of drafting Oden or Durant.

In one notorious game late in the season, the Celtics, playing at home, led the woeful Bobcats 69-51 late in the third quarter -- and managed to lose the game by eight points, enhancing their draft positioning. Of course, Celtics coach Doc Rivers denied tanking charges. As Steve Bulpett reported in the Boston Herald: “Rivers insisted there was nothing sinister about leaving Paul Pierce (game-high 23 points) on the bench for the fourth quarter and letting the quintet of Sebastian Telfair, Ryan Gomes, Gerald Green, Allan Ray and Leon Powe stay on the parquet as the lead -- still at 10 with nine minutes left in the game -- disappeared.”

In the final week of the season, the Celtics and Bucks, both maneuvering for the best possible draft position, played each other and gave DNPs to high scorers Paul Pierce, Al Jefferson, Wally Szczerbiak, Michael Redd and Mo Williams.

After the game, the Associated Press reported:

Ryan Gomes had 13 through three quarters, but watched from the bench in the fourth as Boston clinched the worst record in the Eastern Conference and second worst in the league.

"I probably (would have played), but since we were in the hunt for a high draft pick, of course things are different," Gomes said. "I understand that. Hopefully things get better. Now that we clinched at least having the second-most balls in the lottery, the last three games we'll see what happens. We'll see if we can go out and finish some games."

2002-03 Cleveland Cavaliers
Did the 2002-03 Cavs tank to get LeBron James?

At the time, many assumed they did. John Lucas, who coached the team from 2001 to 2003, admitted somewhat bitterly that he went along with the apparent conspiracy: "They trade all our guys away and we go real young, and the goal was to get LeBron and also to sell the team," Lucas told AOL FanHouse in 2010. "You can't fault the Cavaliers for wanting to get LeBron. It was hard to get free agents to come there."

Lucas pointed out that before the 2002-03 season, Cavs management traded their three leading scorers and received almost nothing of value in return. Of course, Gordon Gund, the Cavs’ owner at the time, denied Lucas’ claims that the Cavs were tanking to get LeBron, the local hero.

Ricky Davis was one of the beneficiaries of the Cavs’ questionable moves -- in 2002-03, after several key teammates had been traded away, he led Cleveland by far in minutes, field goal attempts, scoring, assists and steals.

Yet he, too, told AOL Fanhouse that the Cavs were losing on purpose: "It was tough on [Lucas]. They were forcing him to lose and I know it's nothing he wanted to do. It's just the position he was forced in. But it's tough. ... It worked, whatever they did [to get James] so it's hard to knock them. They got what they wanted. But it was hard on Luke."

2005-06 Phoenix Suns
In 2006, the Phoenix Suns gave the Los Angeles Lakers an easy win late in the regular season to try to assure a matchup with the Lakers in the postseason, according to Jack McCallum in “Seven Seconds or Less.” McCallum was a Sports Illustrated writer who spent the 2005-06 season as an unofficial “assistant coach” for the Suns, and he provided this insight on how the coaching staff manipulated the standings:

The Suns believe that the Lakers' transition defense is close to nonexistent and will provide an open highway for the Nash-led fast break, so this was the matchup they wanted. [Suns coach Mike] D'Antoni couldn't precisely orchestrate it -- not in an eighty-two-game season -- but the coach had benched [Steve] Nash and Raja Bell for that late-season game, all but assuring a Laker win that would help them beat out the Sacramento Kings, who were in eighth place.

The Suns' scheme almost backfired, as the Lakers took a 3-1 lead in the series and nearly closed Phoenix out before the Suns famously rallied to take three straight and advance.

2005-06 Minnesota Timberwolves
The most spectacular tank job in recent memory occurred on April 19, 2006, in a Minnesota-Memphis game that is still a common punch line around the league.

Earlier that month, Chicago Tribune NBA writer Sam Smith had called out the Timberwolves and the league:

The NBA should take a look at this one in the interest of the game's integrity and paying customers. Minnesota needs to have one of the top 10 poorest records to keep its draft pick. Otherwise, it goes to the Clippers from the Sam Cassell-Marko Jaric deal.

In a 103-95 loss to the Jazz at home on Friday, [Kevin] Garnett sat out the fourth quarter after making all of his third-quarter shots. Garnett had 13 rebounds through three quarters, and Minnesota was outrebounded 18-6 in the fourth.

It's reminiscent of the game-throwing days before the draft lottery was started.

In the final game of the season, the Wolves sat Garnett and Ricky Davis, and then turned the game against Memphis into a joke by inserting Mark Madsen and letting him fire away. In six seasons, Madsen had made only one 3-pointer in nine attempts. But in that game he tossed up seven 3-pointers and missed them all -- they were his only 3-point attempts of the season. The Wolves lost the game in double overtime (Madsen started the second overtime with three 3-point bricks in less than a minute) and secured the draft pick.

After the game, Wolves coach Dwane Casey didn’t deny that the team was less than serious about winning the game: "The guys were having fun with it. For what we've been through this season, I thought the guys deserved it. I hope what we did didn't make a mockery of the game."

Was it a victimless crime? By securing a top-10 draft position, the Timberwolves prevented the Clippers from receiving the draft pick that became 2007 Rookie of the Year Brandon Roy (a future three-time All-Star whom the Wolves traded to Portland on draft night). And the Memphis win put the unfortunate Grizzlies (who also might have been motivated to lose the game) into a more difficult playoff bracket -- the Grizzlies started the postseason on the road and were swept by Dallas in the first round rather than having home-court advantage over a struggling Denver Nuggets team (which lost its first-round series to the Clippers).

On the flip side, the draft pick that did not go to the Clippers in 2006 eventually became the pick that allowed L.A. to acquire Chris Paul from New Orleans in 2011 -- and the Timberwolves will not get to use their own lottery pick this season, in part because of that infamous night in 2006.

1996-97 Boston Celtics
One of the most notorious years for tanking was 1997. It’s widely believed that the San Antonio Spurs tanked the season by holding out David Robinson longer than necessary to secure a higher draft pick, which became the most coveted player available, Tim Duncan. In fact, to many, this is one of the most incredibly successful tank jobs in NBA history, in part because the Spurs were already a very good team, and they have won four titles and counting with Duncan leading the way. But to our knowledge, no one involved has admitted that the Spurs were tanking.

The same year, though, the Boston Celtics did indeed tank, according to longtime Celtic M.L. Carr, who coached the team from 1995 to 1997. In 1996-97, the Celtics fell from 33 wins the previous season to 15 wins.

According to Mark Cofman of the Boston Herald, in 2001:

Carr suggested his last season as Celtics coach in 1996-97, during which the team suffered through a franchise-worst 15-67 record, was a tank job designed to deliver the incoming coach (Rick Pitino) with strong draft position. "That was part of the orchestration," said Carr, an obvious indictment of the entire organization and its part in encouraging a losing season in an attempt to get the first overall pick (Tim Duncan). As it turned out, the Celtics lost out on Duncan and settled for the third and sixth overall picks.

Pitino’s tenure as Boston coach would be a great disappointment, and he often lamented that he had taken the job with the expectation that the Celtics would get Duncan.

1983-84 Houston Rockets
Why do we have a draft lottery? Because of what happened in 1984.

In his book “Tip-Off,” a thorough account of the pivotal 1984 NBA draft, Filip Bondy dedicates a chapter to tanking entitled “Embracing Defeat.”

The ’84 draft included Hakeem Olajuwon, Sam Bowie, Michael Jordan, Sam Perkins and Charles Barkley. Bondy recounts some of the odd behavior of the Houston Rockets, who appeared to be maneuvering for the right to draft Olajuwon, a star at the University of Houston, with Jordan as a nice Plan B. (The right to make the first choice in the draft was decided by coin flip.)

As the Rockets nosedived, everyone noticed.

"Weird things were happening. A lot of funny stuff going on, leaving a dark mark on the integrity of the game," said Pat Williams, then the general manager of the Philadelphia 76ers.

According to Dr. Jack Ramsay, then coach of the Portland Trail Blazers, "There was a lot of reason for concern, for suspicion."

As reported by Bondy, it was Frank Layden, the former Utah Jazz coach, who spilled the beans on the Rocket science: "They were losing on purpose. That was told to me by one of their executives, that it was a business decision. And that’s why we went to the lottery system. It’s still going on a little bit today, anyway."

Bondy writes: "The NBA’s image suffered a severe blow that spring from all the suspicious losing. … The league was so concerned about the perceived chicanery that its board of governors instituted a lottery system weeks after the 1984 draft to assure such nonsense would never happen again."

Then again: As we’ve seen above, the lottery does not assure that tanking ended in 1984. Not even close.

Furthermore, these are hardly the only cases in recent NBA history, and HoopIdea will continue to bring tanking to light.

• Harvery Araton of The New York Times: “Doing it by yourself is for when you’re young, when you’re 22, 23,” Wade said after the Heat absorbed 39 points by Carmelo Anthony through three and a half quarters before limiting him to an after-the-fact 3-point shot down the stretch of a 93-85 Miami victory. “That’s for then. When you get older, you appreciate it more when you got other guys that can get the job done and you don’t have to have the ball 90 percent of the time.” Since Anthony has been in the N.B.A. for eight years, same as Wade and James, shouldn’t he feel the same way? Not that Anthony has formally made a request to dominate the ball; he just generally seems most motivated and productive when the Knicks’ offense is flowing like a river through his marvelously gifted hands. And lately, while Anthony has been on a scoring binge that has bordered on unstoppable, the popular narrative around the Knicks has been that this would be the most prudent approach for the playoffs, with a returning Amar’e Stoudemire best-suited for minutes off the bench. In effect, so Stoudemire wouldn’t get in Anthony’s way. And so he could enjoy a few minutes at a time of relative freedom to shoot as much as he wishes without Anthony on the floor or Tyson Chandler cluttering up the paint. It all sounded nice except that pro basketball at the highest playoff levels is about the alignment of stars — or co-stars — and trying to attain that enlightened state of championship co-existence.
• Ethan J. Skolnick of the Palm Beach Post: Erik Spoelstra is tired of talking about his player rotation, and wary of revealing too much of the plan to upcoming opponents. "Some of that is pretty obvious, the direction that we're going," the Heat coach said. "It's self-explanatory." Yet some of his players have privately expressed as much confusion as many fans, unclear about their roles going forward. What's been clear from the last two games of significance, at Chicago and at New York, is that one of Spoelstra's primary objectives is to get to the so-called "Big 5" lineup that was dominant in the 2011 Eastern Conference finals but had been used in only two games until this past week. To that end, Udonis Haslem started again Sunday, though he played only 17 minutes, and this time, it wasn't because he was vomiting before the game, as he was Thursday in Chicago. The first substitution again was Mike Miller for Mario Chalmers, allowing Haslem and Miller to play with Chris Bosh, Dwyane Wade and LeBron James. That lasted three minutes, as did a stint for the "Big 5" in the second quarter. They played together for one minute in the third quarter, and Miller didn't get off the bench in the fourth. ... Spoelstra said he would continuing "tightening up" his rotation over the next two weeks, though little figures to look normal Monday or Wednesday. Expect Miami to rest players against lesser opponents New Jersey and Toronto.
• Dwain Price of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram: They are accustomed to winning on the road almost as consistently as they win at home. But not this year. For just the fourth time in Mark Cuban's 12 full seasons of ownership, the Dallas Mavericks will finish this season with a losing record on the road. Sunday's 112-108 overtime loss to the Los Angeles Lakers gives the Mavs just a 13-17 record on the road with only three road games remaining. Because the Mavs (34-27) will be starting this year's playoffs on the road, it would seem they'd be concerned about their inability to grab more than their share of victories away from home. "Not at all," guard Jason Terry said. "The regular season is going to have no meaning on what the playoffs will mean. Obviously you can blame it on the schedule. Every team has gone through it, but it's not as what it would be in a regular season." The Mavs play their 31st road game at 8 tonight at Energy Solutions Arena in Salt Lake City against a Utah Jazz squad scrapping for its playoff lives. Dallas' final two road games are Saturday in Chicago and April 26 in Atlanta.
• Kevin Ding of The Orange County Register: Metta World Peace, as he still does often, felt so fired up after playing an entire game that he went for a post-game workout in the weight room Sunday. After he was done, he sat down and talked about how much better he feels physically after being limited last season and overweight early this season. “I’m not even 100 percent,” World Peace said, “and I feel very dominant right now.” World Peace said he is trying to stay within the team concept despite how much he feels he can do offensively besides his usual defense. He said he feels capable and can “take over the game if I have to.” World Peace had 18 points on 7-of-20 shooting Sunday in the victory over Dallas, his biggest shot coming from the right elbow after a Lakers timeout for a 110-106 Lakers lead with 1:04 left in overtime. ... World Peace missed all five 3-point shots Sunday, but he has scored 23, 19, 8, 26, 14 and 18 points in recent games — the last five with Bryant sitting out.
• Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle: The Rockets were feeling no pressure when they came home from their four-game sweep of the road trip. They were on a roll and feeling great. Then they had their worst shooting game of the season, making 35.6 percent of their shots against the Jazz. They have not been much better since, with the problem bleeding into their defense. Instead of defending with greater determination and discipline, they have indulged in moments of frustration. The Nuggets punished them for it. That three-game shooting slump and the way it has diminished their play overall has dropped the Rockets to a shaky eighth in the West and elevated tonight’s rematch with the Nuggets to a virtual must-win. Yet, when I asked Luis Scola about whether the pressure was taking a toll, he offered a pretty good glimpse into the sort of message I would imagine has made its way around the room. Scola usually has a pretty good feel for the way the Rockets are thinking. He also has become increasingly willing and effective at speaking up. Basically, he said the Rockets have to persevere, but with a confidence that they can.
• Mark Kiszla of The Denver Post: The future can't wait for the Nuggets. It is time for coach George Karl to realize: Wherever this young NBA team is going, Ty Lawson, Danilo Gallinari and Kenneth Faried will lead the way. Let the young guns play, Coach. Lawson, Gallinari and Faried can't learn how to be stars on the bench. Win or lose for the remainder of the season, the primary goal for Denver should be the development of its Big Three. The isn't the time for the Nuggets to win a championship. Now is the time to get Lawson, Gallinari and Faried at least 30 minutes of playing time every night. ... In one important aspect, NBA coaches are no different than paying customers. When the pressure of the playoffs approaches, the man drawing X's and O's during timeouts feels the same strain of an elevated heart rate that fans do. So can't blame Karl for leaning on Nuggets veterans such as Andre Miller and Al Harrington when the going gets tough. But that's the temptation Karl must resist. Even if it costs Denver a victory, the experience given Lawson, Gallinari and Faried now will pay dividends down the road.
• Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel: On Friday, Dwight Howard traveled to the Los Angeles area with Magic physical therapist Ed Manalo to seek a second opinion from spine surgeon Robert Watkins. On Friday night, team officials announced that Howard has a herniated disk in his lower back. On Sunday, Otis Smith refuted speculation that the Magic medical staff misdiagnosed Howard's injury. “The diagnosis really didn't change from one location to the other,” Smith said. “It's the same diagnosis we had and the same prognosis we had. They probably were a little bit more conservative than we would have been, but that's normal. We were on the same rest and rehab [regimen] that he got over there. So, he's going to rest and rehab for the next 10 days and see how we go from there.”
• Tom Reed of The Plain Dealer: Moondog showed he’s hockey tough by not missing a game. The Cavaliers showed their smarts by continuing to remain vague on the returns of Irving (sprained shoulder) and Varejao (fractured wrist). Ten days ago, I wanted them both to come back and play with Tristan Thompson to see how those three worked together. A dozen or so games could have supplied a decent sample size and given management a preview look as to what to expect. Could Thompson and Varejao produce enough offense in the same front court? How much of an adjustment would it be for Irving to have his power forward playing near the basket instead of on the perimeter where Antawn Jamison often lurks? Coach Byron Scott admitted he, too, was intrigued. Now, what’s the point? Irving is going to practice Tuesday morning with the potential of returning as early as Wednesday, Scott said. But the coach also left open the possibility that neither Irving nor Varejao would play again this season. They shouldn't. I’ll go a step further. The Cavs should ask Varejao to think long and hard about representing Brazil this summer in the Olympics. I’m a huge fan of watching the world’s best pros compete in Olympic basketball and hockey, but Varejao has twice been injured playing for Brazil, most recently in 2010. He also has missed substantial parts of the past two seasons with the Cavaliers.
• Michael Cunningham of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution: The Hawks were in such a slumber they had just four players on the floor as play began at one point. It's no wonder officials didn't initially notice the missing player. The Hawks barely made an impression while losing 102-86 to Toronto Sunday at Philips Arena. Atlanta could have clinched a berth in the Eastern Conference playoffs with a victory. Instead the Hawks were dominated by the Raptors (22-39), who long ago were eliminated from the postseason. “I think some of us was ready, and some of us wasn't,” Hawks guard Joe Johnson said. “It just kind of gave a bad effect on the whole team. But give Toronto credit. They were better than us tonight. If we come out and start like that tomorrow, they'll be better than us [again].” The Hawks play at Toronto Monday, and no longer does that game look like a walkover for Atlanta.
• Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe: Ryan Hollins was acquired by the Celtics to provide depth in the frontcourt, but his impact has been minimal so far. He had fallen out of Rivers’s rotation until Sunday, when he was the primary backup to Stiemsma. Hollins scored 2 points and had four rebounds in a season-high 20 minutes, but his reputation has followed him to Boston. Hollins has a habit for picking up offensive fouls on illegal screens or with reckless play under the basket. In 3 minutes, 31 seconds Saturday against the Nets, he picked up four fouls and had three turnovers. In 11 games with the Celtics, Hollins has 24 combined turnovers and fouls and 25 points. “He plays hard, he just does things that get him in trouble,’’ Rivers said. “The extra stuff with the picks and stuff like that. He has a chance. He’s a big body. He’s very active; having an active big is great because half the bigs are not active. So he has that in him. We just have to figure out him still. And he needs gym time, and unfortunately he doesn’t have that. But I think he’s a guy you invest time into because he has a chance to be a good player in our league.’’
• Ronald Tillery of The Commercial-Appeal: Forget the number of times the Grizzlies lost the basketball. Too many to count. Or so it seemed. Forget the amount of defensive lapses. That's what the New Orleans Hornets kept track of as they routinely pick-and-rolled the Griz into surrendering the paint. Just put the Grizzlies' 88-75 loss Sunday night to the Hornets out of your mind. Griz guard Tony Allen even flung the box score into a bucket of ice at his feet afterwards in the visitor's locker room in New Orleans Arena. It was a cold night, indeed. But the Grizzlies' ended up with a bigger concern than their 21 turnovers and 35-percent shooting in a bad loss to the lowly Hornets. Center Marc Gasol suffered what is believed to be a hyperextended left knee midway through the fourth quarter. The 7-footer was examined by the Hornets' team physician and then went for an MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) to determine the extent of his injury. ... The Grizzlies were already scheduled to remain in New Orleans Sunday night and fly to Minneapolis this morning. So Gasol's status will be known long before Memphis plays on the road Tuesday night against the Minnesota Timberwolves.
• John Reid of The Times-Picayune: The Hornets announced Sunday night that NBA Commissioner David Stern will formally introduce new owner Tom Benson this afternoon in a news conference at the New Orleans Arena. Gov. Bobby Jindal and New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu are scheduled to attend. Benson purchased the Hornets for $338 million on Friday, assuring the franchise’s long-term future in New Orleans. Benson attended the Hornets’ game on Sunday night against the Memphis Grizzlies at the Arena with his wife, Gayle. As he walked to his courtside seat, Benson heard cheers. He received a standing ovation when he was introduced between the first and second quarters. Benson, who wasn’t made available for comment, appeared engaged throughout the game.
• Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times: It’s never a good thing when there are more ice bags on the floor than sweaty jerseys and unrolled tape, especially with the postseason in sight. But this is the reality of Bulls basketball these days, and forward Luol Deng seems to be the latest poster child. Deng has been fighting through a torn ligament in his left wrist for most of the year, and the injury seems to be winning. Deng played nearly 45 minutes in the Bulls’ overtime win against the Detroit Pistons on Sunday but was 1-for-8 from the field, scoring two points. Coach Tom Thibodeau was asked if he’s concerned about resting Deng or at least keeping an eye on his minutes down the stretch. ‘‘If you studied his total minutes, you would see that he’s had plenty of rest this year,’’ Thibodeau said. ‘‘If you compared his total minutes for the season, don’t forget he’s missed nine games already, so he’s not a guy that’s piled up a ton of minutes.’’ But he admitted the Bulls’ minutes — and Deng’s injury — are something that has to be watched.
• Vincent Goodwill of The Detroit News: Reigning MVP Derrick Rose uncharacteristically got involved in trash talk after blood streamed down his face, courtesy of a flagrant foul that was mild compared to some we've seen in this storied rivalry. Later, Pistons guard Rodney Stuckey caught an inadvertent elbow to the chops that left him on the Palace floor. Tempers flared, harsh words were exchanged and afterward, Rose believed he was the target of some dirty play after his team escaped from Motown with a 100-94 overtime win. It wasn't dirty; It was beautiful. For the first time this season, the Pistons playing the Bulls wasn't about Richard Hamilton playing his former mates; the game was the main attraction. We're a long way from Rick Mahorn shedding Bulls coach Doug Collins aside like a rag doll after a hard foul on Michael Jordan in 1988, the true genesis of this 20-plus year rivalry, but the seeds are usually planted well before teams begin vying against one another for a title. How glorious would it be to see intensity like this over seven games in May?
• Ailene Voisin of The Sacramento Bee: The Maloofs, the city, the NBA, the Kings … The drama … Sunday afternoon at Arco Arena – um, Power Balance Pavilion – was eerily reminiscent of the days when the Kings were good and the Maloofs were flush. The announced crowd of 16,012 directed its venom at the Portland Trail Blazers, for the most part internalizing or ignoring the ongoing spat about the downtown arena proposal that collapsed late last week. These Kings are like catnip. That's why the NBA is so protective of this market. Give Sacramento fans even a whiff of a potentially appealing and marginally successful product, and they will surprise you. Scratch that. They will amaze you. ... The Kings' co-owners arrived about 30 minutes before tipoff and walked through one of the main doors instead of making their usual entry at the security gate. They didn't sit courtside but remained in their suite and were visible throughout – pacing, cheering, speaking animatedly on their cellphones. And the crowd reaction? Now that was interesting. Benevolent? Detached? Understanding? Tolerant? Controlled fury? The local shrinks must be having a blast with this. Excluding a few shouts to "sell the team," there were few outward displays of displeasure directed at the brothers.

First in a series. Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3.

• Neil Hayes of the Chicago Sun-Times: Derrick Rose’s groin and Rip Hamilton’s shoulder aren’t all the Bulls must monitor closely during a nine-game dash to the playoffs. The Bulls have the most victories in the league (43), but it’s not nitpicking to say slow starts and poor free-throw shooting might scuttle their championship hopes. Both areas have plagued the Bulls this season, most recently in their 100-99 loss Sunday to the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden, and both were primary areas of concern as coach Tom Thibodeau prepared his team for a rematch against the Knicks on Tuesday at the United Center. Thibodeau must find solutions to both problems if the Bulls are to reach their full potential. ‘‘It’s a concern,’’ Thibodeau said after the Bulls again fell behind early Sunday. ‘‘It’s a big concern.’’ When a team that relies on energy comes out flat, it becomes a ship adrift. We’ve seen it again and again with the Bulls this season, especially Sunday, when the Knicks raced out to a 27-6 lead. That’s why those who claim they only watch the fourth quarter of NBA games haven’t been paying attention to the Bulls. The score at the end of the first quarter might be the best indication of whether the Bulls win or lose. They are 31-2 (18-0 on the road) this season when leading after one quarter, 10-12 (3-8 on the road) when trailing after one and 2-0 when tied after one.
• Howard Beck of The New York Times: The Knicks were in transition and in need, the floor was open and Carmelo Anthony had that feeling again late Tuesday evening. As if replaying his own highlight reel, he stopped, elevated and launched a 3-point shot that carried the Knicks’ hopes with it. It would be a momentum changer, one way or another. But Anthony could not replicate his Sunday shooting heroics, nor the outcome. The shot missed, and the Chicago Bulls raced the other way and ran off with a 98-86 victory, avenging their defeat in New York two days earlier. ... At the moment, the Knicks (29-28) are not even assured of making the playoffs. The loss dropped them back into eighth place, with a mere one-game lead on Milwaukee Bucks, their opponent Wednesday night. A loss in Milwaukee would give the Bucks the season series and the tiebreaker, dropping the Knicks to ninth and out of the playoff field. They have reached the point of the season where every hiccup rattles the standings. “It’s a must win,” Anthony said, repeating the statement. “It’s probably one of the biggest games of the season for us, and we got to approach it like that. We got to be ready. Forget this game, it’s behind us.”
• Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe: The Celtics not only needed to prove to the basketball public, but perhaps themselves, that their recent stretch of impressive play was good enough to compete with the NBA’s elite. Last Thursday in Chicago, they had nothing to show their audience in a demoralizing loss to the Derrick Rose-less Bulls. Tuesday at AmericanAirlines Arena, they displayed much improvement. Facing a Heat team promising to atone for a 19-point beating April 1 at TD Garden, the Celtics countered every Miami run with a damaging one of their own, finally quieting LeBron James and his mates in a confidence-boosting 115-107 victory. While moving Avery Bradley into the starting lineup has sparked the Celtics, the rejuvenated Kevin Garnett has been just as critical to their recent success. With Boston holding a precarious 5-point lead with nine minutes left, and the announced sellout crowd screaming for the Heat to go on a run, Garnett (11-of-14 shooting, 24 points) looked vintage, delivering four consecutive midrange jumpers as he torched counterpart Chris Bosh.
• David J. Neal of The Miami Herald: Two ways to look at the Heat’s 115-107 home loss to Boston — a team that looked doddering during a blowout Heat win in December and retro 2008 in dusting the Heat twice this month. One way is to consider it an anomaly. Boston’s 67 first half points were the most they’ve scored in any half and the most the Heat’s allowed in any half this season. Nobody from Boston seemed to miss. Not point guard Rajon Rondo. Not Kevin Garnett, who went 11 of 14 shooting with equal proficiency whether against Chris Bosh or air. When a fan hit a half court shot to win a Kia, you half expected him to plop himself down on the Celtic bench. Boston shot 58.9 percent in the third quarter. It was their worst shooting quarter of a game in which they shot 60.6 percent from the field. ... The other way to look at the loss is it was indicative of a team that’s 5-5 in their last 10 and on search for chemistry and consistency with the playoffs nigh. “To give up 115 points on our home floor, that’s not our style,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said.
• Martin Frank of The News-Journal: Spencer Hawes didn't really tear up his hotel room, or bust up his TV, or throw furniture around the room, like 76ers coach Doug Collins jokingly said one of his assistants told Hawes to do. But Hawes probably felt like it when he found out Tuesday morning that he had lost his starting job. "Obviously, I wasn't happy," Hawes said. "Anybody who plays the game isn't going to be happy. But there are two ways you can go: You can sit there and sulk about it or be mad, swallow it and try to make the most of it." Hawes made the most of it. He scored a season-high 19 points and added eight rebounds to lead the Sixers to a 107-88 win over the New Jersey Nets on Tuesday. Before the game, Collins replaced Hawes and Evan Turner in the starting lineup with rookie Nikola Vucevic and Jodie Meeks, respectively. Collins said he was trying to provide a spark to a team that had lost four straight and 10 of 14, falling to the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. By winning, the Sixers (30-27) moved two games ahead of ninth-place Milwaukee with nine games left. But the spark didn't come so much from the new starting lineup as it did from the bench players.
• Andy Vasquez of The Record: Despite this disappointing season that has seen the Nets dress 22 different players and lose more than 200 man-games to injury, Prokhorov is optimistic about the future. He praised coach Avery Johnson and general manager Billy King, and the team’s young talent. He said he has been impressed specifically with the talent of MarShon Brooks, Gerald Green and Gerald Wallace. “Of course, if it hadn’t been for the crazy injuries this year I’m sure we would have been in the playoffs, that’s for sure,” Prokhorov said. “But we are patient and I hope all our fans will share our approach to the championship.” If it doesn’t work out with Williams, Prokhorov — an avid sportsman — always has the kickboxing backup plan. “He says it because he can do it,” King said with a smile, picking his owner in any kickboxing matchup with Cuban (Cuban did not return an email seeking comment). But the Nets certainly hope it doesn’t come to that.
• Gene Wang of The Washington Post: For a second night in a row, 10-day contract players James Singleton and Cartier Martin contributed significantly as reserves. Not coincidentally, the Washington Wizards won consecutive games for just the second time this season, prompting Coach Randy Wittman to speculate about how to get the most out his other players down the road. “They’ve been big,” Wittman said of Singleton and Martin. “We might have to go all 10-day contracts next year. Some of our guys might not like to hear that.” Wittman got some guffaws from the room with that comment, but the results, including Tuesday night’s 93-85 win against Orlando, are unmistakable. Martin has totaled 31 points in wins against Charlotte and the Magic, and Singleton has combined for 30 in those games. Tuesday night, both were on the court during seminal moments of the game. Martin’s three-pointer with 7 minutes 29 seconds left in regulation broke a 69-all tie and put Washington ahead to stay. Orlando called timeout immediately thereafter, but Singleton’s ensuing field goal was about all the Wizards needed to keep the Magic at bay. “I just come in and do what they ask me to do,” Martin said. “I come in and hit an open shot and will defend.”
• Brian Schmitz of the Orlando Sentinel: Ish Smith was promoted to the Magic's back-up point-guard role behind starter Jameer Nelson on Tuesday night against the Washington Wizards. On Monday night against the Detroit Pistons, Smith replaced Chris Duhon, who was suspended for the game after missing shoot-around Monday morning. Smith had seven assists and six points in 25 minutes. "We're going to play Ish," coach Stan Van Gundy said before the game against the Wizards. "Ish played well (Monday night) and Chris missed the game. We're giving him a chance to play." Van Gundy said that Duhon --- who was active for Tuesday night's game – also has a minor foot injury. Smith was signed by the Magic as a free agent on Feb. 2 after being waived by the Golden State Warriors. He has played sparingly, appearing in just 15 games. But he had another chance to impress Van Gundy against the Wizards.
• Mary Schmitt Boyer of The Plain Dealer: After watching newcomer Lester Hudson score 23 points on Friday in Toronto and 26 on Sunday in New Jersey, Cavaliers coach Byron Scott was asked what he expected of Hudson on Tuesday against Charlotte in The Q. The coach smiled and said, "29, I guess." Hudson only had 25, but he led a strong bench effort that enabled the Cavs to rest their starters and cruise to an easy 103-90 victory before a crowd that included Indians manager Manny Acta and players Josh Tomlin, Jason Kipnis, Michael Brantley and Aaron Cunningham, who walked across the street after their game with Chicago was postponed. "I'm a little disappointed that he missed a couple of shots that would have gotten him to 29," Scott said of Hudson after the game. ... All kidding aside, Scott is thrilled with how Hudson is performing.
• Dwain Price of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram: The air seemed fresher and the drama certainly was behind them. In their first game post-Lamar Odom, the Dallas Mavericks put on one of their best offensive performances of the season in racing past the Sacramento Kings 110-100 on Tuesday night at American Airlines Center. It was a game where the Mavericks got 15 points apiece from Dirk Nowitzki and Rodrigue Beaubois and13 points apiece from Jason Terry and Delonte West in one of their most balanced offensive showings of the season. And it all came on the heels on Monday's explosive events, when the Mavericks parted ways with Odom, who was the big-time off-season acquisition they thought would help them win back-to-back NBA titles. So, were the Mavs all-in against the Kings now that they know that the team's biggest distraction is no longer around? "This is a team, we've got a lot of veteran guys in here, so we've dealt with worse," Terry said.
• Marcos Breton of The Sacramento Bee: Substandard ownership has allowed a rabidly followed franchise to deteriorate into a distressed property. I just didn't appreciate how distressed it is until we pulled up on Sunday and I got a good look at this mess in broad daylight. Approaching via the west entrance, you see it on your walk to the turnstiles: A veritable junkyard of discarded arena seats and debris strewn about as if it were a county landfill and not the home of an NBA franchise. Even worse, the building itself is covered in soot. It looks cheap and dingy. How much could it cost to pressure-wash the building so it could look respectable? Like distressed neighborhoods, basketball arenas fall into disrepair when the owners let it happen. This all makes sense if you consider the entire picture here. The owners – the Maloof brothers – do most of their talking through their Los Angeles-based lawyer and spokesman. They've taken an aggressive stance against the city of Sacramento, firing off Public Records Act requests as if the city were the enemy instead of a partner. In this context, the state of the Kings is perfectly understandable. It's the NBA version of a run-down home in a neighborhood where everyone else cares but the absentee owners responsible for the mess.

• K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune: The Bulls took their recent spate of slow starts to a new low Sunday afternoon, missing 11 of their first 12 shots, committing seven first-quarter turnovers and trailing 27-6 at one point. "It's a big concern," coach Tom Thibodeau said. Thibodeau preaches about readiness to play ad nauseam, which is why he fielded a question about if he has new plans to address an old problem. "We'll see," he said. Thibodeau burned two timeouts before 4 minutes elapsed, but the Knicks kept the pressure on, finishing with 18 first-quarter points in the paint. "We have to play with more urgency," Derrick Rose said. The Bulls also dropped to 2-6 in afternoon games. "I'd prefer to play a few of them at home," Thibodeau said. The Bulls are 1-1 in home matinees, losing to the lowly Nets on Feb. 18.
• Al Iannazzone of Newsday: Carmelo Anthony was hopping around and screaming "This is my house!" after burying the shot that capped his best performance of the season and greatest moment as a Knick. Anthony has been booed at the Garden this season, but he had everyone standing and cheering Sunday after his three-pointer gave the Knicks a 100-99 overtime win over the Bulls. Anthony scored a season-high 43 points, shooting 16-for-31. He sent the game to overtime by drilling a three-pointer with 11.2 seconds left and erased a two-point deficit with 8.2 seconds to play in overtime against a team the Knicks will face again Tuesday in Chicago and could play in the first round of the playoffs. Bulls All-Star Derrick Rose , who returned after missing 12 games with a groin injury, had some costly missed free throws and eight turnovers and was outdueled by Anthony in his house. "It was mine today," Anthony said. "They were talking some trash out there a little bit. In the moment, it's fun times."
• Harvey Araton of The New York Times: Can they count on the officials letting Shumpert play Rose as physically as he did Sunday? Can they expect the Bulls to choke at the line? Are the odds with the Knicks when they must live or die with Anthony unloading the way Johnson did long ago and far away? Yes, there are parallels to be drawn to the season in which Latrell Sprewell and Marcus Camby joined Johnson, Patrick Ewing and friends in New York — although it was the general manager, Ernie Grunfeld, who was fired that time in an attempt to light a fire under the embattled coach Jeff Van Gundy’s team. ... Teams at the bottom of the conference playoff seeding usually are, and an overwhelming percentage do not survive the first round. So give Anthony and the Knicks credit for accepting Chicago’s generosity at the free-throw line and turning Sunday’s instant Easter classic into a much-needed victory. But if there was a statement to make afterward, it should have been more about the division race than the conference. Trust me, Chicago and Miami are the last places the Knicks want to be when April gives way to May.
• Scott Souza of the MetroWest Daily News: Ray Allen has accepted his reserve role with the Celtics. That doesn’t mean he’s content with it. Shortly before coming off the bench for the third game in a row — and the seventh time in his 16-year NBA career — the 36-year-old guard said that while he is willing to do whatever Celtics coach Doc Rivers asks of him to help the team, he is not yet comfortable coming off the bench, and is not necessarily looking for that to be his role for whatever remains of his career. “I think my challenge is to be able to compete at a high level every year coming into the season and that means competing for a starting job every opportunity I get,” he said before last night’s game against the 76ers at TD Garden. “That’s my focus. That’s my goal. “If I felt as though I wasn’t playing up to that level, and those standards, then I think there’s going to be a point where I’d have to say it’s time for me to move on."
• Bob Cooney of the Philadelphia Daily News: On a day when many Christians around the world observed a resurrection, the 76ers' offense remained lifeless. And their playoff hopes are nearing life-support condition. For the 10th time in 14 games, the Sixers lost, this time to the Atlantic Division-leading Boston Celtics, 103-79. Boston has a three-game lead on the Sixers and any hopes of winning the division seemed to get thrown into the nearby Boston Harbor. Holding onto a playoff spot is also close to getting washed away as the New York Knicks, with their win Sunday over the Chicago Bulls, pulled into the seventh spot in the Eastern Conference and dropped the Sixers to eighth. Though both teams have the same record at 29-27, the Knicks own the tiebreaker as they took two of three from the Sixers this season. The Sixers are only one game ahead of the ninth-place Milwaukee Bucks. For now, though, playoff talk should be the furthest thing to come out of anyone's mouth concerning this team. Approaching the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic, the Sixers appeared to be submerging just as quickly.
• Darnell Mayberry of The Oklahoman: With 10 games left in the regular season, Thunder coach Scott Brooks has no plans on resting any of his players in an attempt to enter the postseason rested and working with a clean bill of health. But if the Thunder plays like it did Sunday night, rest won't be a problem. The Thunder trounced Toronto, 91-75, inside Chesapeake Energy Arena, snapping a three-game skid by using a 24-0 run to turn what was a ho-hum game for 21/2 quarters into borderline humiliation for the Raptors. Thabo Sefolosha was the only Thunder starter who logged any minutes in the fourth quarter, as OKC built its lead to as many as 27 before turning the page to Milwaukee on Monday night. “If we keep winning like this, I'll get a rest,” said Russell Westbrook, who played just 27 minutes. Brooks has never subscribed to sitting players. He has likened the strategy to “cheating the game” and the fans. And on Sunday, he confessed that his team's youth plays a part as well. “If we had a bunch of veteran guys in their 30s, there's no question things would be different,” Brooks said. “But our guys, if you take out some of the guys, they'll think I'm benching them twice a game. They want to play every minute. They love to play and they want to keep playing. It's like pulling teeth to get five or six minutes out of them per half.”
• Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun: The Raptors, who lost Andrea Bargnani for the second half due to a flare-up of his calf injury, battled the Thunder starters tooth and nail early, forcing all kinds of turnovers, but things changed once Harden, the NBA’s premier reserve and the rest of the bench entered in the first half. Even more noticeably, Harden imposed his will during the aforementioned run late in the third, which began with the Thunder up only three points. Then the visitors collapsed, giving up 24 straight — one shy of the team record set twice, most recently, back in 2000 against the Charlotte Hornets. That spoiled all the good work from earlier in the game by the visitors. “Like being hit by a train going from Oklahoma City to Dallas,” Casey said of the run. “We can play them 10 out of 10 times and the results probably wouldn’t be different. But like I told the guys, I’m looking for 10 guys to compete, to fight, to scratch, to claw going down. “I didn’t feel like we were competing. That’s what we’re looking for these last few games.”
• Mike Monroe of the San Antonio Express-News: Beginning the final three weeks of the NBA’s compressed schedule with back-to-back games against the Utah Jazz, Spurs coach Gregg Popovich went with another lineup wrinkle designed to manage the minutes of key players. After starting DeJuan Blair at center for the first 53 games, Popovich went with newcomer Boris Diaw in the middle for Sunday’s game at the AT&T Center. Blair didn’t play at all, and neither did forward Stephen Jackson. Both were healthy and in uniform, but Popovich had told both players before tipoff to not plan on seeing any court time. The coach would not reveal his plans for tonight’s rematch in Utah. Might some players even remain at home when the team’s charter flight takes off for Salt Lake City? “It’s a fair question,” Popovich said, “(but) it’s none of your business. Absolutely a fair question, and a good one. It’s something I need to think about.” Jackson offered a hint as he exited the locker room to head to San Antonio International Airport. “See you when we get back,” he called to guard Manu Ginobili, who scored 23 points in little more than 28 minutes in Sunday’s 114-104 win. Ginobili insisted he had received no instructions to remain behind but also could not say for certain he would be on the plane.
• Brian T. Smith of The Salt Lake Tribune: The Jazz will return home hobbled. More beaten up than they’ve been at any point this season. Possibly down to 10 active players, two of whom are rookies, four of whom are 22 or younger. Needing every ounce of strength and willpower that’s kept them fighting thus far. Utah lost two key athletes Sunday during a 114-104 defeat to the Spurs, and the Jazz’s playoff hopes took another hit. Starting shooting guard C.J. Miles (strained left calf) and backup point guard Earl Watson (sore right knee) left the game during the second quarter and didn’t return. Miles wore a protective boot afterward, Watson was on crutches, and both will undergo MRI exams Monday. "I can’t even walk," said Watson, who initially was placed in a wheelchair. Meanwhile, a Jazz (29-28) team that’s dropped six of nine fell back into 10th place in the Western Conference. Utah’s a half-game behind ninth-place Phoenix — which holds a tiebreaker — and 11/2 games behind eighth-place Denver with just nine contests left in the 2011-12 season. With starters Josh Howard and Raja Bell already out of action, the Jazz exited the AT&T Center knowing their options are increasingly becoming limited.
• Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle: Kyle Lowry returned less than two weeks after he said he did not know if he would play again this season, just 10 days after he was cleared to begin any activity. He went through one practice and a light walk-through before convincing coach Kevin McHale he was ready. Eager to return “I wanted to play the last game,” Lowry said after the Rockets’ third straight win on the road. “Coach said no. Tonight, he let me go out there. I said I wanted to play. After the day I practiced (Thursday), I felt great. Coach didn’t want me to play the Lakers game. Tonight, was an opportunity to play, so he let me.” Lowry said that if he had been told March 29 when the antibiotics catheter was removed from his arm that he would be playing against the Kings on Sunday, “I wouldn’t have believed you. Things happened really fast. The training staff did a great job. I committed to getting back sooner than later.” After missing 15 games — with the Rockets going 9-6 — Lowry did not ease his way back. He played 18 minutes off the bench, including the entire fourth quarter. He missed his three shots, but he had seven assists without a turnover or a complaint. “I’m not as fast as I want to be, but I’m going to get back there,” Lowry said. “
• Matt Kawahara of The Sacramento Bee: Marcus Thornton missed his fourth consecutive game Sunday evening with a bruised left calf, though Kings coach Keith Smart suggested the guard could return Tuesday against the Mavericks in Dallas. ... Thornton has not played since last Monday, when he left in the first quarter of the Kings' win over the Minnesota Timberwolves. Forward John Salmons, missing his eighth consecutive game with a sore right hip, and swingman Francisco Garcia (concussion) also were out against the Rockets. After staying fairly healthy through the first half of the season, the Kings have seemed more susceptible to injuries since the All-Star break. As of Feb. 29, three Kings had missed a total of 19 games because of injury and illness, the third-lowest total in the NBA at that time, according to information compiled earlier this season by the Philadelphia 76ers. That number had increased to 46 entering Sunday. Thornton and Salmons each have missed a team-high 11 games because of injury or illness.
• Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel: If San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich were filling out Sunday's lineup card, there is a reasonable chance the notation next to Dwyane Wade's name in the box score would have been "DNP-Detroit Pistons." Instead, because Erik Spoelstra would never do what Popovich did last month, listing Tim Duncan as "DNP-old," the Miami Heat merely listed Wade as missing the 98-75 thrashing of the Pistons at AmericanAirlines Arena due to a sore right ankle. OK, whatever. Just as Wade was given the night off last week with a "bruised knee" against the Philadelphia 76ers to be there when needed in the next night's victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder, Wade this time got a bit of R&R in advance of Eastern Conference showdowns this week on Tuesday night against the visiting Boston Celtics and Thursday night on the road against the Chicago Bulls. As it was, the Heat completed their regular-season sweep of the 76ers without Wade and Sunday did the same against the Pistons, getting more than enough from LeBron James and Chris Bosh. "Right now it's coming into form," Spoelstra said. "Hopefully we can maintain that."
• Vincent Goodwill of The Detroit News: There wasn't much time for Pistons rookie Vernon Macklin to re-familiarize himself with his teammates on his return from the D-League but they were waiting on him. Teammates Austin Daye and Ben Wallace led the playful chiding chant of "swag, swag, swag" as he was being interviewed by media Sunday, hours after he landed in Miami from Fort Wayne, where the Pistons' D-League affiliate is located. Macklin, a second-round pick in last June's draft, acquitted himself well in his 10-game stint, averaging 14.3 points and 14.5 rebounds, earning rave reviews from front office personnel and the coaching staff. Pistons coach Lawrence Frank was impressed with Macklin's approach. "A lot of guys look at it as a punishment or demotion," Frank said. "He had a great attitude and positive spirit. The people at Fort Wayne were very complimentary of him. (Spoke well) Not just for himself but for the organization."
• Andy Vasquez of The Record: Through Sunday night’s win over Cleveland, the Nets have lost 211 man games to injury/personal reasons this season. They’ve also used 22 starting lineups in 57 games. In 82 games last season, they used 24 starting lineups. Six players who have dressed for the Nets this season have been ruled out for the remainder of the year; Brook Lopez (right foot surgery), Damion James (right foot surgery) and Jordan Farmar (right groin injury) still are on the roster. Keith Bogans (left ankle surgery) was released after suffering a season-ending injury, and Mehmet Okur (back) and Shawne Williams (left foot surgery) were traded to Portland as part of the Gerald Wallace deal.
• Tom Reed of The Plain Dealer: Lester Hudson arrived in Cleveland on March 30 as a 27-year-old journeyman trying to keep his career alive in the NBA's Development League. Ten days later, he is the second-best offensive threat on the depleted Cavaliers. He is scoring points in bunches, making the type of fourth-quarter plays Kyrie Irving often delivers and prompting the team owner to tweet: "Lesanity!" in reference to the phenomenon created by another D-Leaguer who captivated NBA fans about 10 miles from here on the other side of the Hudson River. On Sunday night, as his 10-day contract and the game clock were expiring, Hudson hit a fadeaway 3-pointer to force overtime against the New Jersey Nets in the Prudential Center. The fact the Cavaliers lost, 122-117, is almost immaterial given their place in the standings. The fearless combo guard, a member of the Austin Toros two weeks ago, is at worst making the last few weeks of the season palatable for a fan base growing increasingly more interested in mock drafts. Hudson scored a career-high 26 points two days after he tallied 23 in a win over Toronto. That's 49 points in two games coming off coach Byron Scott's bench. He nearly made it 52, but his 3-point attempt in the final seconds of overtime rimmed out and the Nets salted away victory at the foul line. "I think we're going to sign him to another 10-day [deal], that's for sure," Scott said with a grin. "I'll get a good chance to talk to [General Manager Chris Grant] tomorrow and I'm pretty sure Lester will be in a Cavaliers uniform for the rest of the year."

• Brian T. Smith of The Salt Lake Tribune: A public feud between Jazz CEO Greg Miller and Hall of Fame forward Karl Malone is finally over. Miller and Malone exchanged smiles and warmly embraced Wednesday night in an EnergySolutions tunnel, minutes before the Jazz tipped off against the Phoenix Suns. "Karl and I have got it worked out and everything’s good," Miller said. The official reconciliation was announced during the same night NBA Commissioner David Stern visited ESA.
• Ethan J. Skolnick of the Palm Beach Post: You wanted this? You got it. You wanted LeBron James to grab a meaningful game by the throat, and not let go? Consider that done. You wanted the Heat forward to face down Kevin Durant, the only peer at his position - his only legitimate MVP competition - and rise above? He's rarely soared higher with the Heat. "Without even being biased, I think he's the best two-way player in this league," said his coach, Erik Spoelstra. And this was the best at his best, in arguably the best NBA game of the season, Wednesday's 98-93 victory against the West-leading Thunder, one that extended the Heat's home streak to 17 and served as a delectable appetizer to what could come in June. This was an entirely different team than had been sleepwalking since the All-Star break. This was an entirely different athlete from the one who appeared - and disappeared - in a blowout loss in Oklahoma City just 10 days earlier. This was James showing all the strength his skeptics have sought, not just physically but mentally.
• Darnell Mayberry of The Oklahoman: LeBron James just got my MVP vote. Kevin Durant is second. It’s not just about tonight, although it certainly played a part. But the guy has been phenomenal. He hit a rough stretch recently but so does everybody. What he did tonight — after rolling his ankle early in the first quarter, mind you — is what MVPs do. He put his team on his back, did everything he had to do, when he had to do it, and turned his mediocre performance ten days earlier in Oklahoma City into a distant memory. ... Not to mention James’ defense on Durant. Sure, KD had a team-high 30 on a pretty efficient 11-of-21 shooting, but it was the most difficult and uncomfortable 30-point performance I’ve ever seen Durant have. There were times when Durant couldn’t get open, couldn’t post-up, couldn’t seal for an entry pass and couldn’t even put the ball on the floor and go into a move because James was so airtight. Largely because of James, Durant finished with a career-high nine turnovers and never really got into a rhythm as crazy as that sounds after a 30-point night. ... The mood in the Thunder locker room after the game was sullen. It was clear that this was a big game and that everyone wanted it pretty badly. Most of the players said all the right things, but you could see in their body language that this one hurt.
• Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel: Asked if he would consider extending the contracts of Stan Van Gundy or Otis Smith before the season ends, Alex Martins responded, "We're all evaluated at the end of the season. It's consistent. It's happened every year that we've been here. "I'm evaluated at the end of the season. Our general manager is evaluated at the end of the season. Our coaches are evaluated at the end of the season. And we don't deal with that during the course of a season, and we make our decisions about the future of everyone — and, in particular, the DeVoses make the decisions about the future of everyone — after the season's over." ... Now that Howard has waived his early-termination option, ensuring he remains under contract with the Magic for the 2012-13 season, the media speculation is centering around the futures of Van Gundy and Smith. Specifically, will Howard use his uncertain long-term future as leverage to exert influence on the DeVos family's decision-making process? Both Van Gundy and Smith are under contract through 2012-13. Martins insists that he did not make any specific promises to Howard to convince Howard to waive his early-termination option.
• Paul Coro of The Arizona Republic: Suns forward Grant Hill already became the first active player to be on the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame's Board of Governors, and he seems destined for enshrinement there someday for his basketball career. But for Hill, those basketball honors can't compare with what the Hall of Fame did this week, recognizing him more as a person with the Mannie Jackson Basketball's Human Spirit Award. Hill was the professional representative, as Chauncey Billups and Samuel Dalembert had been the previous two years. Jim Calhoun was the amateur-category recipient, and the grassroots winner was Dr. Richard Lapchick, the founder and director of the Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport. "It's a tremendous honor because of the award and what it stands for," Hill said
• Vincent Bonsignore of the Los Angeles Daily News: With the playoffs looming in three weeks the last thing the Lakers need is their All-Star center carrying around some beef with Brown, his teammates or the organization - or all of the above - and derailing their hopes of a long playoff run. The question is, why now? More important, can Bynum put whatever is bothering him aside long enough to help the Lakers in the playoffs? And at the very least, not be one of the reasons they crash and burn? Getting to the bottom of it is proving to be a difficult task.Maybe it's something as little and understandable as Bynum is growing up right before our eyes and like the teenager transitioning to adulthood he is testing his limits. Maybe with the increased role he's feeling an amplified sense of entitlement. Both are reasonable possibilities, and even somewhat predictable for a young player emerging as one of the brightest young stars in the NBA. It's the timing that makes it so bad. At his best, Bynum can be the difference between the Lakers winning another championship. At his worst, Bynum can be the difference in an early postseason exit.
• Dan Woike of The Orange County Register: When he first arrived at Staples Center on Wednesday, Del Negro knew it was a special day. The hallway series at Staples Center always is. “This game is different,” Del Negro said. “Maybe it’s just me, but the energy in the building, walking into the building, the number of media here, and the feeling in the locker room, it’s just different. But is it a rivalry game? “I think people talk about the rivalry, and I think we have to perform at a high level to create the rivalry,” Del Negro said. “… We’re trying to make it a rivalry. I don’t think it is now. We have to play well consistently and have to win ballgames to make it a rivalry.”
• Mike Monroe of the San Antonio Express-News: For 15 seasons, Spurs captain Tim Duncan and Boston Celtics star Kevin Garnett, two of the greatest power forwards in NBA history, have done battle against one another in the paint. With both players in the final seasons of their contracts, could Wednesday’s game at TD Garden have been the last time the two All-Stars would face one another? Neither player has given any indication of his intent to retire, but Duncan will turn 36 later this month, and Garnett will turn 36 in May. Duncan said he won’t begin thinking about his future with the Spurs until the season ends, but he didn’t hesitate to reflect on all his battles with Garnett. “It’s been difficult,” Duncan said after the Spurs emerged with an 87-86 victory that extended the team’s win streak to nine. “We’ve always had some great battles. It always seems to turn into a war at some point in the game, but it’s a lot of fun. We bring a lot out of each other.”
• Scott Souza of MetroWest Daily News: Paul Pierce said he liked everything about the final shot except one thing. It didn’t go in. Down a point with 7.9 seconds left in last night’s game against the Spurs at TD Garden, the Celtics got the ball in the hands of the captain and he decided — as usual — to put the outcome on his shoulders. Pierce dribbled down the clock, got the defensive switch with Tim Duncan, then drove to the free-throw line before taking his patented step-back jump shot. Only Pierce’s shot rimmed out at the buzzer as the Celtics’ five-game win streak ended with an 87-86 loss. “I’m not going to second guess my decision,” Pierce said. “I thought I got a great shot, created some space right there at the free throw line. It’s just some days they fall, some days they don’t.” Celtics coach Doc Rivers didn’t second guess the shot either, only qualifying that he'd wanted Pierce to shoot it earlier in hopes of either drawing a shooting foul or allowing for a put-back at the buzzer.
• Ronald Tillery of The Commercial-Appeal: The Grizzlies handled the most abrasive portion of their regular-season schedule so far relatively well until Wednesday night. They just couldn’t leave American Airlines Center unscathed. The Dallas Mavericks drew blood and then dominated the last five minutes in handing the Grizzlies a 95-85 loss before a crowd of 20,233. This time, there was no fourth-quarter magic for the Grizzlies despite starting their last game of a back-to-back-to-back set with great energy. Memphis led by five points with 10 minutes left in the fourth quarter. But Dallas delivered a knockout blow in the form of a 21-4 run. “We gave it what we had,” Griz coach Lionel Hollins said. “I thought we battled. It’s one thing to just play three in a row. But we just played five (games) in six (days). It was a tough stretch, but we did good and I’m proud of our team and how they kept battling.”
• Kevin Sherrington of The Dallas Morning News: Will Roddy B ever make the jump to being a very good player? Sherrington: Great question. He's certainly not a point guard, or not the kind of point guard the Mavs need. He reminds me of Devin Harris. A one-man fast break. Dirk didn't play well with Harris, and he struggles with Roddy. It was very telling this year when Dirk said he had to basically ask for the ball. Not good. Roddy's shot is also unbelievably inconsistent. He can be a great 3-point shooter. And he can throw up an air ball on wide-open 6-footers. I just don't see it.
• Tom Powers of the Pioneer Press: Kevin Love is exhausted. You can tell by looking at him. Right now he's 23 going on 43. His face is drawn and his shoulders slumped. A league-high 40 minutes a game can do that. But it's not just all the time on the court, because Love is a young man. With injuries to key players - Ricky Rubio, Michael Beasley, Luke Ridnour, J.J. Barea and Nikola Pekovic among them - he has had to carry more and more of the Timberwolves' load. Against the Golden State Warriors, he played 42 minutes, 30 seconds, scored 29 points and grabbed 12 rebounds. Good-looking numbers to be sure. But there was virtually no defense in his game. And with the outcome in the balance, he missed the key shot in the final seconds. The net result was what coach Rick Adelman called the worst loss of the season as a huge first-half lead was frittered away by lack of defense. The Wolves recently have slipped out of playoff contention. I wondered if there was some sort of letdown after that. "A letdown is when you lose three or four of your best players and have to play undermanned," Love said. "That was a letdown for me. Tonight I missed that shot. It's tough to try and play Superman every night."
• Mike Ganter of the Toronto Sun: For a team that was starting to wonder if it had lost its defensive swagger, the night could not have gone any better. For a half it looked like those defensive concerns might be completely warranted. Both the Sixers and the Raptors were scoring with abandon. It was almost like defence had been outlawed or the first 40 minutes of any all-star game ever played. But a 15-point third quarter by the Sixers followed by a seven-point fourth has the Raptors talking proudly once again about their defence. It added up to a 99-78 win, their third in a row which is rarefied air for this franchise. They haven’t won three in a row since Nov. 17-24, 2010, which was actually the beginning of a four-game winning streak that coincidentally enough started right here in the City of Brotherly Love. The good feeling though came from once again proving to themselves and everyone else that they still have the ability to lock a team down.
• Tom Moore of phillyBurbs.com: A pair of Iguodala quotes in this week’s Sports Illustrated opened a few eyes Wednesday. In Lee Jenkins’ story on the Sixers featuring Iguodala, Iguodala said, “In Philly, it’s not about who you are — it’s about what you do for us. You could be the worst person in the world, but if you score a lot of points or win a championship, you can murder somebody.” After the game, Iguodala said, “It’s just a figure of speech. People are going to take it either way.” Iguodala also said, “It makes no sense to me why so many good scorers can’t defend. Like (teammate) Lou Williams — he’s one of the toughest guys to guard in the league, but he can’t guard anybody. I don’t get that.” Iguodala said Wednesday night that he “would rather use my teammate than somebody else. Using Lou — I’m just using our best scorer. I told him personally he can be a great defender. I don’t think he’s a bad defender — I’m just using him as an example.” Williams was unavailable for comment beforehand and had left the locker room by the time the media was allowed to enter. Collins downplayed Iguodala’s comments, saying, “The ‘Dre I know has been ultra-respectful toward me. He’s just not going to say a lot of warm and fuzzy things.”
• Benjamin Hochman of The Denver Post: Arron Afflalo wears the losses on his face, a lather of anguish, a gloss of gloom upon his weary eyes. As he dressed in the losing locker room Wednesday night, the Nuggets guard looked up and said softly, "Unbelievable." It really was. The Nuggets, jockeying for a playoff spot in the airtight Western Conference, lost at lowly New Orleans 94-92. Told that he takes all the losses hard, Afflalo said: "This feels worse. For one, we've had opportunities all season long to build momentum against teams we felt we could beat if we competed hard. It's another lost opportunity."
• John Reid of The Times-Picayune: In a pregame media session Wednesday night at EnergySolutions Arena in Salt Lake City, NBA Commissioner David Stern acknowledged for the first time the league is negotiating with three groups interested in purchasing the Hornets. Stern told the Salt Lake Tribune the league might be on the verge of getting the sale finalized by next week’s Board of Governors meeting in New York. “It remains my hope to tell the owners next week that we’re very close or at the verge of, or maybe just have made a deal, for New Orleans that will keep the team in New Orleans,’’ Stern told the Tribune. “That will have a very favorable lease, important capital improvements, intense tax benefits and a new TV deal to boot, that allows the team to be neither a revenue-sharing recipient, nor a revenue-sharing payer. That’s our goal.’’ A league source confirmed Wednesday night that there’s a third ownership group amongst the finalist to secure the team. During his annual state of the league address during All-Star weekend in February, Stern declined to confirm or identify if the group led by Los Angeles area businessman Raj Bhathal had emerged as the top candidate to purchase the Hornets.
• Charles F. Gardner of the Journal Sentinel: It was a game the Milwaukee Bucks had to win, but they just couldn't put away the depleted Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday night. At least not until Monta Ellis decided to take over. The Bucks' newly acquired guard hit all eight of his shots in the final 4 minutes, 32 seconds and scored his team's last 16 points, lifting Milwaukee to a 107-98 victory over the Cavaliers at the Bradley Center. The victory moved the Bucks (26-28) within one game of the New York Knicks (27-27) for eighth place and the final playoff position in the Eastern Conference and within three games of Philadelphia (29-25) for seventh place. "The shots just were going down," Ellis said.
• Mary Schmitt Boyer of The Plain Dealer: The Cavs are the first team in NBA history to lose consecutive home games by 35 points or more. They lost to San Antonio on Tuesday, 125-90, after a 121-84 loss to Milwaukee on Friday. The 37-point loss to the Bucks was the second worst of the season, after a 114-75 Chicago victory on Jan. 20.
• Mike Wells of The Indianapolis Star: With the end of the regular season just weeks away and a lot of jostling still going on, some of the Indiana Pacers have made it almost a daily habit to look at the Eastern Conference playoff standings. "Every day I look at them," Pacers forward Danny Granger said. "I like to look at which teams we're competing against, who they're playing, how their schedule looks compared to ours." The Pacers hold the third seed. A losing streak, though, could cause them to fall quickly because the Pacers have only a four-game lead on seventh-seeded Philadelphia. "It's a constant battle with every game -- win or lose -- meaning something," Granger said. "It's kind of interesting to keep track of the teams we're competing with."
• Michael Lee of The Washington Post: John Wall tried the move again in the second half of the Wizards’ 109-96 loss to the Pacers on Wednesday night at Verizon Center. Driving baseline, he spun to avoid contact but his off-balance shot soared about two feet over the other side of the basket. Wall has been slumping and his struggles have been magnified as he attempts to lead his depleted team through a grinding, unforgiving schedule. His teammates have advised Wall to play through it. His coach has told him not to make the situation more complicated than it needs to be. “I think he needs to take a step back and simplify things. He’s trying to maybe do too much, too fast right now to fight through how he’s played the last couple of games,” Coach Randy Wittman said after the Wizards (12-42) lost their third in a row. “Sometimes it’s easier to take a step back and slow down. It’s not an easy thing to do. He’s a competitive kid who wants to play well and wants to play the right way and sometimes, you just get going the opposite way when you struggle a little bit.”
• Michael Cunningham of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Sure, it was just the Bobcats, whose minimal chances to win evaporated when Corey Maggette didn’t suit up and D.J. Augustin left the game after just 11 minutes. Then again, the Hawks beat them down with none of their starters playing more than 30 minutes, Joe Johnson scoring 16 points on 13 shots and a so-so effort on the boards. Aside from another lax defensive effort in the first quarter, there wasn’t much not to like. The Hawks attacked the basket, shared the ball (and took care of it), played with pace and got to the free-throw line while opening up the big lead in the first half. They even avoided a typical sluggish start to the third quarter and then the starters got to watch the reserves finish things off.