ESPN NBA

• D.J. Foster on ClipperBlog, giving Blake Griffin an "A" for effort: "It started on an individual level, and it started with Blake Griffin. Over the season, Griffin developed his own reputation throughout the league. He was a flopper and a villain, an entitled superstar who had little interest in anything else but dunking and scoring. That all may be rooted in some form of reality, but there wasn’t the slightest hint of any of that in Game 7 in Memphis. Griffin may have played the ugliest, prettiest game of his career. There is nothing glamorous about battling with Zach Randolph. At one point, Randolph quite literally saddled Griffin and rode him to the ground. He clocked him with an elbow. Battling for every inch of space is something that rarely earns you money, recognition or stats -- just respect. Griffin was willing to sacrifice everything for a win -- bum knee, pride, whatever -- by finally engaging in the little battles that he’s often declined to take part of. If there was a scrum in the paint, you could guarantee Griffin was in the middle of it."
• From the Clippers team plane: Chris Paul is a big baby. Related: Marc Gasol and Blake Griffin making hilariously dramatic faces during Game 7. (Via @jailblazin)
• Greg Monroe makes all us perfectly adequate children look terrible on Mother's Day.
• John Hollinger (Insider) doesn't like the Lakers chances against Oklahoma City: "At first glance, this series pits three Lakers stars versus three Thunder stars, and seems like it should be a pretty even fight. Glance closer and the advantages tilt the Thunder's way. For starters, Durant is a much better player than Bryant at this point in their respective careers. And looking deeper, Oklahoma City's fourth-best player, Ibaka, is dramatically better than anybody else on the Lakers, and most of their role players are a bit better than their counterparts on the Lakers."
• Kobe Bryant is better suited to defend the speedy Russell Westbrook than the crafty James Harden.
• Royce Young, on an ESPN 5-on-5, with an interesting take on the "rust versus rest" issue: "I don't necessarily think it'll be a rust issue for the Thunder, but more an overeagerness to play. These are guys that are starved to play basketball. They absolutely live for it. And waiting nine days to get at it again, especially with the way the last game against the Mavs went, has to make the Thunder a bit anxious to get on the floor. It probably won't affect anything other than maybe the first 15 minutes of Game 1, but that might be enough to get in an early hole."
• Hornets fans are dreaming of Anthony Davis in a Hornets hat on draft night. Here is that dream, true already, in a way.
• Jared Wade of Eight Points Nine Seconds investigates whether the Heat got the benefit of the whistle an undue amount in Game 1. He also brings this sharp analysis: "More than anything, however, the last sentence in Granger’s quote is what stood out to me: 'I’ve never been in a situation like that.' This reminded me of something Granger said after Game 4 of the Magic series, during which the Pacers lost a 19-point lead in the final eight minutes of regulation before eventually beating a bad team in overtime. About the raucous crowd in the Amway Center, Danny said the following: 'It was a hostile environment -- one of the craziest environments I’ve played in.' Even though the 28-year-old Pacers’ captain is a seven-year NBA veteran, he has neither played in many hostile playoff environments nor played through foul trouble in the playoffs. This is revealing. And it’s not just him. Lest we forget, many of this team’s key players have very little playoff experience."
• Over at HoopSpeak, Ethan Sherwood Strauss explains, with helpful pictures, why today's defenses make it so much harder to be a high-scoring big man in 2011 than it was in 1998: "There is a reason why Rik Smits -- in his prime -- had a higher usage rate than even today’s best centers, and it’s not that we stopped producing tall people of notable skill. Speaking of Pacers and the 1990s, I believe Roy Hibbert would be an ever better All Star in that era. He’s certainly much larger than Robinson, Olajuwon and Ewing pretended to be. His post moves are refined and when given the chance, he drops ball-in-hoop like an automated arcade prize claw. But there is a problem, an obstruction to the plan that was salient on Sunday. It just wasn’t mentioned by the many who lamented how Indiana failed to press their frontcourt advantage in Game 1. Simply put, the Heat don’t want Hibbert to get the ball.
• Regret in Philadelphia after losing a golden opportunity to steal home court advantage against Boston. In Game 2, Brett Koremenos advises them to let Andre Iguodala direct things far more than he did on Saturday.
• With Chris Bosh sidelined due to injury, expect LeBron James to soak up a good portion of those power forward minutes. Can the Heat run away from the Pacers with this lineup and negate Indiana's size? Will the Pacers force James into foul trouble and limit his minutes? Will battling David West leave James too worn down to take over late, as he did in Game 1? It's a fascinating development.
• A Q & A with ESPN's Stephania Bell on Chris Bosh's abdominal strain reveals something you probably could have guessed on your own: you don't want any muscle tears near the pubic bone.
• Brandon Jennings is becoming just good enough to be a real headache in Milwaukee as the Bucks decide on his future with the team.
• How shot location data can serve as an accurate guide to the Spurs-Clippers series.
• The Spurs lit up the Clippers in two of three regular season matchups, but Aaron McGuire notes on 48 Minutes of Hell San Antonio didn't exactly shut them down on the other end: "While the Spurs were hardly a wonderful defensive team in the early going this season, the Clippers consistently picked apart the Spurs defense like few other teams did this season. They were overall relatively competitive in their three game gauntlet against the Silver and Black this year, losing by only 3 points on a fluke overtime-forcing miscue by Chris Paul in Los Angeles and serving the Spurs one of their five home losses."
• A Thunder fan and a Sonics fan exchange open letters about the complicated relationship between their respective fan bases.
• Hey Rajon Rondo, your swag is showing.

• Linda Robertson of The Miami Herald: Miami Heat coach and healer Erik Spoelstra has his players on a late-season “maintenance” program. Chicago Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau has also been giving his guys nights off and treating the battered Derrick Rose with caution. But the R&R approach didn’t relegate Thursday’s game to a place holder on the brutally compressed schedule. When the Heat and Bulls meet, there’s always something at stake. The No. 1 seed in the East is still up for grabs. And the Heat’s ability to win at home and even the season series against Chicago at 2-2 certainly counted on the mind games scorecard. Meaningless? It didn’t look that way when James Jones was whistled for a flagrant foul on Joakim Noah, then ejected. Nor when Dwyane Wade was called for a flagrant flooring of Rip Hamilton and the two continued to jaw and shove throughout the game. Nor when LeBron James delivered a hard shoulder screen that decked John Lucas III, prompting players from both teams to assume the usual combative positions for a midcourt brawl. No fight, but the bad blood got boiling. Hard knocks and hard feelings added to the history of this rivalry, which is projected to continue in what would be the dream Eastern Conference title matchup in June.
• K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune: Derrick Rose sat for the 26th time Thursday night. The London Olympics begin in 98 days. If Rose, as expected, makes the U.S. team, might his myriad injuries give him pause? "I really haven't thought about it," Rose said. "But I've said before if I get the opportunity to play in those, it would be a great opportunity. I would have to make the smart decision. But I don't think it would change my mind because if I'm able to play through the playoffs, I should be able to play in the Olympics. "You also have to remember I probably wouldn't play that many minutes because of the great team we would have. Representing your country is a huge honor." The Bulls have no say in whether players play for their national teams. As the face of the host country's team, Luol Deng is preparing to play for Britain with a torn ligament in his left wrist. Joakim Noah will play for France.
• Mike Bianchi of the Orlando Sentinel: Dwight Howard is expected to undergo back surgery Friday morning in Los Angeles to repair a herniated disk that will effectively end his season and essentially end any remote chance the Magic may have had of winning a championship. But you know what? This is so much better than the alternative; than the reports and rumors that began to catch fire and circulate throughout the sports world on Wednesday night and all day Thursday. It all started on an Orlando TV station and spread into a full-fledged Skip Bayless ESPN debate on Thursday afternoon: Was Dwight Howard quitting on his team? That was essentially the report aired on WKMG Channel 6 when sports director David "Ping" Pingalore — quoting anonymous sources — reported that Howard called Rich DeVos Friday night and told the 86-year-old Magic owner that he will no longer play for head coach Stan Van Gundy. The report intimated that Howard, in protest of Van Gundy, would miss the playoffs even if he is healthy enough to play. In essence, Channel 6 was saying Dwight may have had a sore back, but he was more sore about his coach. No Magic fan wanted to believe it, but in this dysfunctional Dwightmare of a season anything seemed possible. Even the unthinkable: That Dwight Howard, the captain of the Magic, would turn his back — herniated disk and all — on his teammates and fans. Thank God, it turned out to be untrue. Then again, this is journalism in the Internet age. ... In the end, though, this surgery might be the best thing that ever happened to Dwight. Now he can properly rehab his back. But, mostly, he has a chance to rehab his image.
• Paul Coro of The Arizona Republic: "What a game," Suns coach Alvin Gentry said. "I just thought we just kept hanging in and hanging in and found a way to pull it out at the end. ... It was a gut-check game and we did everything we could to just hang in there and find a way to pull it out." The Suns (33-30) moved back into an eighth-place tie with the Utah Jazz for the final playoff spot with three games left for each team to play. Houston fell a game back of both with its sixth consecutive loss, putting the Suns in a situation to clinch a playoff spot if they can win at home Saturday against Denver and at Utah on Tuesday. If Utah wins its final three games at home against Orlando, Phoenix and Portland, it would make the playoffs. A playoff bid is going to require playoff intensity, and the Suns captured that in the third quarter with their venom aimed at Clippers forward Blake Griffin. It started with Jared Dudley getting tangled with him on a foul and not backing down in the aftermath. In the fourth quarter, Griffin was going for a breakaway "SportsCenter"-bound dunk when Suns center Robin Lopez ran him down and braced his left hand on Griffin's back and swiped across his head and throat with his right arm. Lopez was ejected for a Flagrant Foul2 on the play with 6:14 to go, but Clippers guard Mo Williams also received a technical foul for running up on Lopez.
• Broderick Turner of the Los Angeles Times: The Clippers entered Thursday night's game against the Phoenix Suns with a five-game winning streak and having won 13 of 15 games, but when names have been mentioned for NBA coach-of-the-year candidates, Coach Vinny Del Negro's name is never among them. Del Negro was asked about his thoughts on that, on whether he even weighs something like that. He downplayed it, agreeing that San Antonio's Gregg Popovich, Boston's Doc Rivers, Indiana's Frank Vogel and Chicago's Tom Thibodeau should be the leading candidates. "Those guys deserve all that," Del Negro said. The media agreed with Del Negro, but his team has been playing really good basketball as of late.
• Mike Wells of The Indianapolis Star: The Indiana Pacers began the season simply wanting to move up a spot or two in the Eastern Conference standings after getting a brief taste of the playoffs last season. They've accomplished that and much more. The latest turn in the Pacers' best season in eight years happened Thursday when they secured home court in the first round of the NBA playoffs by beating the Milwaukee Bucks 118-109 in a testy game at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. "It's tremendous the step that we've taken in one season," Pacers forward Danny Granger said. "How we've had a complete turnaround. Now we're one of the best teams in the NBA. It's really fun to win like this." The Pacers (41-22) will finish as the third or fifth seed. They would host Games 1 and 2 as the fifth seed because they'll finish with a better record than Boston, which is currently the fourth seed. The playoffs open the weekend of April 28.
• Charles F. Gardner of the Journal Sentinel: Everything started spinning out of control in the fourth quarter Thursday night at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. Milwaukee Bucks forward Larry Sanders picked up two technical fouls in a 20-second span, fouled out and was ejected, nearly setting off a melee between the Bucks and Indiana Pacers. And the Pacers continued to send Bucks guard Mike Dunleavy Jr., a former Indiana player, crashing to the floor with hard fouls. This time it was Leandro Barbosa picking up a flagrant-1 foul for hitting Dunleavy on a Bucks fast break. In the midst of all the chaos, the Pacers prevailed, 118-109, to win their seventh straight game and nearly end to the Bucks' playoff hopes. Milwaukee (29-33) lost for the fifth time in its last six games to fall three games behind eighth-place Philadelphia (32-30) with four games to play in the chase for the final Eastern Conference playoff spot. The 76ers' magic number to clinch a berth dropped to two - any combination of Bucks losses and 76ers victories totaling two will eliminate Milwaukee. "We're on the outside looking in," Dunleavy said. "We've got to do something extraordinary right now."
• John Reid of The Times-Picayune: With an expiring contract and no guarantee from the Hornets on a possible extension, forward Carl Landry may have played his final home game Thursday night at the New Orleans Arena. With two picks already assured to be among the top 14 in June’s NBA draft, it’s not certain what direction the Hornets may go with their rebuilding plans now that Tom Benson owns the franchise. But Coach Monty Williams indicated Thursday night that changes are likely ahead for their roster. “It could be some surprises, and I’ll just leave it at that,’’ Williams said. “We’ve been evaluating older guys, even when they’re not on the floor.’’ Like Landry, shooting guard Marco Belinelli’s current deal expires after this season. Center Chris Kaman, who was acquired in the December trade that sent Chris Paul going to the Clippers, is in the final year of his contract. Although the Hornets listened to trade offers for Kaman before the February trade deadline, Hornets General Manager Dell Demps didn’t trade him. Now Kaman will become an unrestricted free agent. ... Landry said he would like to return to the Hornets, but said he didn’t know if they will pursue re-signing him. “You just never know,’’ said Landry, who scored 20 points and grabbed 10 rebounds against the Rockets. “You hear one thing one day, and something (else) the next. You’ve just got to play every game like it’s your last. That’s all you can do, especially in a contract situation like myself. You can’t worry about if you are going to be here tomorrow.’’
• Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle Just as their season spiraled down the drain from the heights of a four-game road trip sweep to a late-season fold, the Rockets went from a 13-point lead to a 105-99 overtime loss to the New Orleans Hornets on Thursday, filling the night with missed free throws, a bungled offense and a broken defense. The loss sent the losing streak to a season-long six games and all but ended the hopes for a return to the playoffs, the goal Kevin McHale had declared as a plan on the day he was introduced as Rockets coach. “It snowballed,” Rockets forward Luis Scola said. “With every game we lost, the ball was bigger and the rim was smaller. Tonight, we missed shots we never miss. I don’t find a valid excuse, and also I don’t have valid answers.” The Rockets knew only that with their season on the line, they shrunk. The latest loss did not eliminate them mathematically. It did capture where their season went so wrong so quickly.
• Ray Richardson of the Pioneer Press: The biggest smile in the Timberwolves' locker room Thursday night, April 19, belonged to Wayne Ellington. It took Ellington nearly three full seasons to experience the joy of winning an NBA game in April. Even more satisfying for Ellington was that the Wolves' 91-80 victory over Detroit at The Palace reminded him of a special flashback. "The last time I won a game in April was in 2009, when I won a national championship in Detroit with North Carolina," Ellington said after the Wolves snapped an 11-game losing streak and won their first game in April since a 105-97 victory at Golden State on April 8, 2009. "Unbelievable." The Wolves (26-38) had lost 27 consecutive games in April, a statistic that was picking up steam around the league and giving the Wolves more unflattering publicity.
• Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press: Pistons coach Lawrence Frank gets downright indignant when anyone mentions "tanking" about his team that's destined for a third straight season without a playoff appearance. But after a 91-80 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves, who had lost 11 straight entering Thursday night, fans might be thinking, "Yeah, right." But the schedule might have had something to do with this one since the Pistons were playing their third game in three nights and sixth game in eight nights while the Timberwolves were off Wednesday night. Will Bynum, who tried to lead a comeback by scoring 17 points in the fourth quarter, confirmed that the team was tired, but added: "We ain't had no legs all season. You can't complain about that now."

• 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.

• Ronald Tillery of The Commercial-Appeal: Zach Randolph couldn’t make it to shootaround Monday morning because someone rammed into the back of his Dodge Challenger on Bill Morris Parkway. The Grizzlies’ power forward complained of minor back soreness but wasn’t seriously injured. That’s more than he could say for that Challenger given its rear end was smashed and all but detached. So Randolph cranked up a different set of wheels in order to make the Grizzlies’ 94-85 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers before 17,219 in FedExForum. “I drove my Rolls,” Randolph said, referring to his Rolls-Royce. Randolph’s mode of transportation almost seems symbolic of the way the Griz are playing these days. They enjoyed another smooth ride to victory with the luxury of balanced scoring and a defensive effort that put the brakes on the Clippers’ offense. Randolph notched his third straight double-double (10 points, 12 rebounds) as six Grizzlies scored in double figures.
• Dan Woike of The Orange County Register: If this is what the first-round of the NBA playoffs are going to look like for the Los Angeles Clippers, Chris Paul, Blake Griffin and the rest of the team are in for a battle. Playing in Memphis for the first time this season, the Grizzlies controlled the game for most of the 48 minutes, beating the Clippers 94-85. If the season ended today, the Clippers would meet the Grizzlies in the first round. With a game-and-half lead now over Memphis, the Clippers would still have home-court advantage. ... With the Lakers win in New Orleans, the Clippers now are 1.5 games out in the Pacific Division race.
• Shannon J. Owens of the Orlando Sentinel: Last month, Dwight Howard was a hero for deciding to stay in Orlando until 2013 for another championship push. Now, judging by the prevailing opinion of sports commentators, sports talk radio and blogs, Howard is a villain for trying to push his coach out of the picture to win a championship. How quickly things change. Howard leaves a lot to be desired in the leadership department and he can come across as immature, indecisive and slightly arrogant. But a villain? Stop it. ... We live in an increasingly polarized world of unrealistic ideologies that holds individuals hostage to character flaws. As things go in the sports realm, you're either good or evil. Or in other words, you're Tim Tebow or Dwight Howard. But as Tebow knows, even the perception of being flawless is a flaw in itself. It's comical to me that Howard is considered the new No. 1 sports villain, successfully knocking off Tiger Woods and LeBron James. Howard didn't need a busted windshield or need to leave his home state or, crazy enough, even a criminal record to accomplish this. All it took was an infamous Stan Van Gundy press conference and Diet Pepsi swig to burn Howard's red cape.
• E.J. Holland Special Contributor to The Dallas Morning News: Lamar Odom’s play on the court this season left many Maverick fans feeling like they deserved better. After all, the former NBA Sixth Man of the Year was supposed to help ease the void left by Tyson Chandler’s departure and help win another championship. But after a tumultuous season headlined by drama and flat out disappointment, the Mavs parted ways with Odom on Monday. When the news broke, Dallas fans didn’t hesitate to leave comments saying ‘good riddance’ and ‘send that diva packing.’ Anger and animosity escalated this year at American Airlines Center after Odom posted career-lows and played with no passion. It was clear the lethargic 13-year veteran had overstayed his welcome when he was greeted by a chorus of boos last month. But despite what Mavs fans are saying, Odom’s wife Khloe Kardashian, supported her husband over twitter, saying he’s the one that ‘deserves better.’ “U deserve so much better. Know ur worth and know ur skills that have been proven and earned! U showed ur strength, I love u.” Everybody in Dallas would probably disagree.
• Elliott Teaford of the Los Angeles Daily News: Kobe Bryant will get as long as he needs to get his sore left shin right, even if it means the Lakers slip a place or two in the Western Conference standings, coach Mike Brown said Monday morning. Bryant wasn't fit to play in Monday night's game against the New Orleans Hornets. His streak of consecutive games ended at 138 when he sat out the Lakers' 20-point loss Saturday to the Phoenix Suns. Brown couldn't say when Bryant, the league's leading scorer with an average of 28.1 points, would be sound enough to play. The Lakers, third in the West with a 36-22 record, conclude their three-game trip Wednesday against the Spurs in San Antonio. "It's not the end of the world if he needs another game," Brown said. "I'd rather he'd be fresh going into the playoffs and us being fourth or fifth than him hurting or dinged up going into the playoffs and we're third. If we play the right way, whether Kobe's playing or not, we should still be OK or give ourselves a chance to still get that third seed."
• Mike Bresnahan of the Los Angeles Times: Phil Jackson has a message for everybody criticizing Andrew Bynum. Settle down. The former Lakers coach told The Times he enjoyed seeing Bynum's development, even if it had been filled with inexplicable turns the last few weeks. "Bynum is not quite mature, but everyone should relax and watch him grow up," Jackson said via email. "This year has been a big step for him offensively…nice to see…and when he takes up the mantle as defensive captain the Lakers can get back in the hunt." Jackson was strict with Bynum while coaching him for six seasons, prodding him about his fitness, getting more rebounds and playing better defense.
• John Reid of The Times-Picayune: The Lakers won without Bryant, who missed his second consecutive game after it was determined after the Lakers’ shootaround Monday morning at the Arena that he wouldn’t play. Similar to the Lakers, Monty Williams was forced to reshuffle his lineup, with starting shooting guard Eric Gordon sitting out with a sore lower back and point guard Greivis Vasquez starting in place of Jarrett Jack, who is out for the remainder of the season with a stress fracture in his right foot. Although small forward Trevor Ariza isn’t injured, he never left the bench. Williams said after the game he didn’t play Ariza because he wants to give more playing time to Al-Farouq Aminu and Lance Thomas. “If Trevor was in a free-agent year or something like that, I’d play him the way I’m playing Carl (Landry) and Chris (Kaman),” Williams said.
• Darnell Mayberry of The Oklahoman: The Thunder won this game with its size. Milwaukee had no answer for the Thunder’s size and length. It was clear on the opening possession, when OKC got two offensive rebounds before Kendrick Perkins scored on a putback. The Thunder had four offensive rebounds in the first five minutes and just pounded the Bucks on the boards all night. The Thunder’s length also was a major factor on the defensive end. Serge Ibaka helped set the tone on that end by blocking shots early and often and against almost everyone. Ibaka had four blocks in the first quarter and had five at halftime. All five were against five different players. By the midway point of the second period, the Bucks had begun unnecessarily hesitating on shots, seemingly out of fear of them getting sent back.
• Charles F. Gardner of the Journal Sentinel: Andrew Bogut is no longer playing for the Bucks, but his bobblehead legend lives on. The Bucks distributed bobbleheads of the former Bucks center Monday night after soliciting opinion on the team's website and Facebook page. The results? More than 65% of the fans said the Bucks should give away the bobbleheads, even though Bogut is now a member of the Golden State Warriors.
• Mike Monroe of the San Antonio Express-News: The recent additions of point guard Patrick Mills, swingman Stephen Jackson and versatile big man Boris Diaw allowed Spurs coach Gregg Popovich to leave team captain Tim Duncan and All-Star guards Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili back home in San Antonio when the team jetted off to its Monday night game against the Jazz at EnergySolutions Arena. A fourth “addition” to this season’s roster has been vital in keeping Duncan’s playing time at a career-low 28.4 minutes per game. The solid campaign backup center Tiago Splitter has authored in his second season in silver and black has enabled long stretches of bench time for Duncan in most games, in addition to the four games Popovich has held him out altogether. “Getting Tiago Splitter back in health this year has helped,” Popovich said. “We didn’t really have him last year, so he’s like an addition to the team.”
• Jody Genessy of the Deseret News: Injuries to Earl Watson and C.J. Miles forced the Utah Jazz to what Kevin O'Connor refers to as an "emergency list." Topping that list: combo guard Blake Ahearn. As such, the Jazz signed the D-League's leading scorer to a 10-day contract. The 6-3 sharpshooter will join the team for today's practice and be available to play beginning Wednesday in Houston. General manager Kevin O'Connor said the Jazz like that Ahearn can shoot the ball and that the 27-year-old has professional experience. Ahearn led the D-League with 23.8 points per game, which included 40-percent shooting from 3-point range and a sizzling 96-percet clip from the free-throw line. "He can really shoot the basketball," Jazz coach Tyrone Corbin said. "He can set the offense. He can space the floor. . . . We need perimeter shooting and he'll be able to help us there."
• Paul Coro of The Arizona Republic: If Steve Nash dunked more than never, he might be able to lead the NBA in shooting accuracy. As it is, centers Tyson Chandler, Andrew Bynum, Dwight Howard and Marcin Gortat and power forward Blake Griffin have nearly 600 dunks cumulative to help hold off the 38-year-old. Nash entered Monday night's game shooting 54.0 percent this season for the best clip of his 14-year career. It makes him the only non-post player in the NBA's top 16 for field-goal percentage. "To be honest, my shoulder bothered me for a while, but generally I've been pretty healthy," Nash said. "That's usually a key for me to making shots. When I feel healthy, I'll make them. If I'm struggling, I'm going to have a few weeks where I struggle." During a season in which the roster's scoring options were fewer than in the past, Nash has wound up shooting less. He entered Monday averaging 9.2 shots per game, his fewest since his 1999-2000 season as a part-time starter in Dallas. Opponents have trapped Nash more on pick and rolls this season in the past two months, prompting him to pass even more than usual. Nash shared the league lead in assists with Boston's Rajon Rondo at 11.2 per game entering Monday night. Nash has proven efficient from all ranges, shooting 70 percent inside 8 feet, 50 percent from 8 to 16 feet, 55 percent from 16 to 24 feet and 41 percent beyond 24 feet. Those shots often are coming off his own dribble. About 84 percent of his baskets are unassisted.
• Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle: The Rockets struggled all night to put away the Blazers, but Dragic carried the offense well into the fourth quarter before Kyle Lowry added the knockout punch. With that, the Rockets completed a four-game sweep of their road trip by holding off Portland, 94-89, on Monday. That was enough to give Dragic his first taste of what it will be like to be a coveted free agent, with so much interest before and after the game about his free agency plans and preferences. “It was a little bit different,” said Dragic, who was named the Western Conference Player of the Week Monday morning then made 8 of his 14 shots to score 22 points with seven assists. “Before, they never asked me this type of questions. ‘Are you going to come to Portland?’ Still, all the doors are open. We’re going to see what is going to happen this summer. I feel great in Houston. Hopefully, I’m going to stay in Houston. “It’s going to be a crazy summer for me. Still, I have to get every game, try to be focused, play hard and try to make playoffs with Houston Rockets. What is going to happen after the season, we’ll see.” The Rockets might not have expected what they have gotten from him, to the point that Monday’s performance was considered no more than ‘solid.’
• Phillip B. Wilson of The Indianapolis Star: Indiana Pacers coach Frank Vogel joked about having extremely high expectations for Leandro Barbosa with the guard's former team, Toronto, visiting Bankers Life Fieldhouse Monday night. "I just asked him to try to score 50," Vogel said with a smile. "If he can go for 50 and pay those guys back, we should be in good shape. Anything short of that, we'll be in trouble." Barbosa scored 14 in the Pacers' 103-98 victory. Since being acquired from the Raptors on March 15 for a second-round pick and cash considerations, Barbosa has provided an expected spark to the second team, an infusion of instant offense and intensity. He had averaged 8.1 points off the bench before Monday's game. He has an 11.2-point overall average for the season, his eighth in the NBA. But the 29-year-old Brazilian's influence goes beyond providing quality minutes off the bench. Raptors coach Dwane Casey described Barbosa as the spirit of their team and said he is missed. Vogel wasn't surprised to hear that.
• Chris Dempsey of The Denver Post: Nuggets forward Al Harrington left Monday night’s game against Golden State at the end of the third quarter and did not return. Afterward he revealed he has a torn meniscus. His loss would be devastating to the Nuggets’ bench and locker room, as he’s been one of the team’s best players and leaders all season long. He’s also been durable, playing in all 57 games this season with averages of roughly 14 points and six rebounds, despite nagging injuries all year long. He had 10 points and one rebound before exiting the Golden State game. He’s hoping his consistent availablity this season doesn’t come to an end. Harrington, has, in fact already been playing with a torn meniscus, he said. He said he was injured “a couple of games ago.” Now, he said, both he and team doctors/trainers are exploring “a couple of different options” in terms of treatment.

• 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.

• Darnell Mayberry of The Oklahoman: Kendrick Perkins recently rounded up Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant to sit them down for a talk that he considered much-needed and, perhaps, long overdue. The big man wanted both to check their egos at the door. He wanted his All-Star teammates to cool it on any stat-padding and selfishness and anything else rooted in the wrong place that can work its way into a marathon season. Perkins wanted Durant and Westbrook both to sell out for the team. “We're getting close to the end of the season, and everything is over with as far as the All-Star Game and all that other stuff,” Perkins said. “So we can just concentrate on getting better as a ballclub and taking steps to trying to reach our goal.” If you're searching for what's gotten into Westbrook over the past two weeks, we suggest you start with that conversation. Something about it seems to have done wonders for Westbrook. Ever since, Westbrook has shot up to special. He's taken his already spectacular skill set to an even higher level in the blink of an eye and captained the Thunder on a six-game winning streak. Westbrook used Sunday's 92-78 win over Chicago to confirm what has been clear for weeks: he's in the midst of the best ball of his career. “He's grown up right in front of our eyes,” said Thunder coach Scott Brooks.
• K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune: Asked directly if his injured groin will allow him to play at any point in the Bulls' final 12 regular-season games, Derrick Rose sighed. "I think so," he said. "It's up to me, so, yeah, I think I am." During a pregame interview with ESPN's Ric Bucher on Sunday, Rose hinted at returning next week. And the Bulls' injury carousel keeps spinning. Along those lines, coach Tom Thibodeau more emphatically stated he's the one deciding to continue holding Richard Hamilton out. Hamilton endured a rigorous three-on-three session at Saturday's practice and said he's ready to return from his sprained right shoulder but has no issue with Thibodeau's decision. "I told him I'm comfortable with whatever he wants to do — if we need to shoot more or take more hits," Hamilton said. "(Saturday), we did a little more so it was a little sore but it was a good sore. So we'll see. Hopefully, (Monday)." Hamilton missed his 14th straight game Sunday.
• Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe: Avery Bradley has brought a new dimension to the Celtics’ starting lineup since replacing injured Ray Allen. While his offensive numbers do not match Allen’s, he has provided the team with another staunch backcourt defender - just witness how he bottled up Miami’s Dwyane Wade in Sunday’s 91-72 win at TD Garden. Wade finished 6 for 17 shooting for 15 points, and Bradley (13 points) highlighted his effort with an impressive block of a Wade dunk attempt in the second quarter. Allen has missed the past seven games with an ankle injury, and coach Doc Rivers was asked whether Allen would automatically return to the starting lineup when healthy. "I don’t know, we’re playing well but we’ve also played well with Ray by the way,’’ Rivers said. “I think people forget that part. The good thing is we have options and we have players with confidence and we have a lot of them.’’ The combination of Mickael Pietrus (before he sustained a concussion March 23) and Bradley has vastly improved Boston’s defense in the backcourt. Bradley was primarily used as a backup to Rajon Rondo and started eight games (Jan. 20-Feb. 1) when Rondo was out with a sprained right wrist. Bradley has averaged 12.6 points and three rebounds in the past five games, and his defense early in games has helped the Celtics to establish their game.
• Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel: In the first of three games the teams will play in April, the Celtics humiliated the Heat, a pattern that has become the road norm for the Heat lately against top-tier competition. "This was a good, old-fashioned you-know-what," LeBron James said after going without an assist for only the second time in his career. "We've got to own it, and we've got to get better. "We've got to figure it out before the playoffs. ... We understand we have to fix this right now." The Heat are now 6-5 in their last 11 games overall and 3-7 in their last 10 road games. "You've got to figure it out," said guard Dwyane Wade, who was victimized by a humbling blocked shot by Celtics guard Avery Bradley and shot just 6 of 17. "We'll figure it out. That's what good teams do." Then there was power forward Chris Bosh, who shot 2 of 7, rarely playing with aggression. "We have to fix it," Bosh said. "We have to have a better sense of urgency. We still have some basketball left, not a lot, but some basketball to change it." On one hand, anything to keep the Heat away from the Celtics in the playoffs, at least in the first round, probably is a good thing. On the other hand, the Heat hardly have the look of a team prepared for when the games will count the most starting at the end of the month. For now, the road misery should subside for a while, if only because 10 of their next 13 are at home.
• Kevin Ding of The Orange County Register: Andrew Bynum sat in front of his locker before the game Sunday night with what looked like an adult-sized sleeping bag enveloping his entire right leg. It was actually a cutting-edge compression system, which Bynum has been using for weeks to limit swelling, because by now the Lakers know that Bynum's right knee can swell from a cross wind. Then Bynum's breakthrough season on the All-Star team while staying healthy every game went on red alert because of a traditional, everyday basketball injury: an ankle sprain from landing on someone's foot. Bynum left the Lakers' 120-112 victory over the Golden State Warriors late in the first quarter because of a moderate sprain of his left ankle and did not return. He walked out of Staples Center on Sunday night under his own power and told teammates the sprain was "not a big deal." Without Bynum, the Lakers' best quality this season – defense – deteriorated against a patchwork Golden State lineup. But with Kobe Bryant delivering a major bounce-back game to go with Pau Gasol and Ramon Sessions' efficiency, the Lakers still had the firepower to score a season high and survive allowing their opponent season high in points.
• Rusty Simmons of the San Francisco Chronicle: The Warriors have San Antonio's first-round pick and the second-round choices of New Jersey and Atlanta in the 2012 draft. They could end up with a fourth pick if they're among the first seven selections post-lottery and thus don't have to convey their pick to Utah. With rookies Klay Thompson, Jeremy Tyler and Charles Jenkins expected to be back with the Warriors next season and fellow first-year players Chris Wright and Mickell Gladness still being evaluated, it's unlikely that the Warriors will want to add three or four more inexperienced players to the 2012-13 roster. They could package some of the picks to move up in the draft or to keep their top-seven-protected choice, but there's also some consideration of a draft-and-stash. San Antonio has been probably the most successful franchise in selecting players who either haven't completed their European contracts or need more polish before starting their NBA careers. "This isn't the strongest international class, but we're considering a lot of possibilities right now," Warriors general manager Larry Riley said.
• Benjamin Hochman of The Denver Post: When the season began, Nuggets rookie forward Kenneth Faried wasn't playing at all. Now the first-round draft pick is playing crucial fourth-quarter minutes. Faried is learning the nuances of the NBA game and earning respect from coach George Karl. Faried helped the Nuggets beat the Magic 104-101 on Sunday by grabbing a team-high nine rebounds. He blocked two shots in the final four minutes. "Jameer (Nelson) was coming down the lane," Faried said of his first block, "and he was hitting that shot all game, so I wanted to show him, like, 'Hey, we're going stop this now and we're going to win this game.' He was trying to take over the game. As for Ryan Anderson, he came quickly and it was shocking how quick the back cut was, but I still got up high enough and got my hand on it." Faried leads NBA rookies in rebounds, averaging 7.1 per game. "It's fun for me to outrun bigs, make coaches get mad and call timeouts," Faried said. "And it's fun to outrebound a guy and give him headaches and think: 'Why is he always on the glass? Won't he just stop?' "
• Brian Schmitz of the Orlando Sentinel: The Magic's general manager treats his team like family, so it's no surprise that Otis rushed to his brother Wilbur's side recently after getting the grim news. "It's the single most important thing to me. I dropped everything else," Otis said. A constant presence at every Magic game and practice, he missed several games to be where he was really needed. Cancer had made another visit to the Smith family. Wilbur, 43, five years younger than Otis, had been stricken with colon cancer. Otis lost his mother to breast cancer at age 56 and his father, also to colon cancer, at 72. While Otis obviously has the most high-profile job in the family, he admires Wilbur – and not because the two brothers are so much alike. Wilbur works with kids as an administrator at a Springfield, Mass. boarding school. "When he's hurting, I hurt with him. If he's going through it, I'm going through it with him," Otis said. "Every opportunity I get to be with him, I will be with him." Smith has four brothers and five sisters, but says, ""I'm a little more protective of Wilbur. He's the baby."
• Mike Wells of The Indianapolis Star: It was one of those games where you wonder why Danny Granger can’t play that well all the time. Granger played within the offense. He didn’t try to do too much by forcing shots. He looked to make extra passes. He rebounded instead of trying to leak down court for easy baskets. He even blocked a couple of shots, with his last one preserving the victory for the Pacers. Granger had probably his most complete game of the season when he scored 32 points on 11-of-20 shooting, including 6-of-8 from long distance, grabbed seven rebounds, had three assists and blocked two shots in 37 minutes. Sunday was the third straight game that Granger has shot at least 50 percent from the field. “It was just going for me,” Granger said. “My shot was falling. For the most part they ran a lot of plays for me. I got some open shots and I knocked them down.”
• Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle: The Pacers got the ball to Danny Granger and Goran Dragic quickly fouled him, stopping the clock. Dragic, however, has become the Rockets most irreplaceable player and fouled out on the play. The Rockets needed him on the floor. Anyone else could have committed the foul, but instead Dragic had to take it and a seat on the Rockets’ bench. Dragic had ended up on Granger on a switch. The Rockets usually switch on screens late in games, especially when they need a turnover. That’s why Patrick Patterson, Courtney Lee and Chandler Parsons were finishing games so often, even when the Rockets were healthy. They were switching again on Sunday. Dragic, however, said he told Parsons not to switch with him. “I told CP not to switch because I knew they were going to pass to Granger,” Dragic said. “Just a miscommunication. I got caught in the wrong spot and had to take that sixth foul.” Parsons said the strategy had not changed. “It wasn’t a mistake,” Parsons said. “We were switching to get a steal, see if we may cause a turnover. “We were switching everything because they were spacing us out. We wanted to gamble a little bit and go for a steal at the end of the game. We didn’t want to foul right away.” That makes perfect sense, but it should not have been Dragic trying to come up with the turnover or be forced to foul.
• Matt Calkins of The Columbian: LaMarcus Aldridge will probably be able to deal with not making the playoffs. But it would have been awfully hard for him to cope if he couldn’t offer Kevin Love a little payback. The last time Minnesota came to the Rose Garden, Love racked up 42 points and 10 rebounds while treating Aldridge like a sparring partner. This time, it was Aldridge who came out swinging. The Trail Blazers beat the Timberwolves 119-106 Sunday as six Portland players scored in double digits. Aldridge figured most prominently in the stat sheet, scoring 26 points on 10-of-17 shooting while collecting eight rebounds. But his more personal motivation became evident when he and Love engaged in a brief shoving match in the second quarter. The game’s subplot had suddenly become the primary storyline. “That was just two guys going hard,” Aldridge said. “Two guys competing.” Yeah, right. Last year, Love earned the final spot on the Western Conference All-Star team, leaving Aldridge feeling snubbed again. And when Love last came to Portland, he tripled Aldridge’s scoring output. And even though Love still managed 26 points and nine rebounds Sunday, for one game, he was clearly the second-best power forward on the court.
• Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune: The last time the Timberwolves visited Portland, they walked out of the Rose Garden and into the night winners over the Trail Blazers for the first time in nearly five years. They also left with a winning 19-18 record and fleeting possession of the Western Conference's eighth and final playoff spot after vaulting over the Blazers in one victorious evening. Twenty-nine days later, they trudged off the Rose Garden court looking defeated in more ways than one after a 119-106 loss. "Things have changed," Wolves forward Kevin Love said. "Things have changed a lot." Back then, Ricky Rubio still was the team's rookie sensation and the Wolves ended a four-game Western road trip a very respectable 2-2. They then headed home for a four-game stand that included that fateful night against the Lakers when Rubio clutched his knee in pain after tearing two ligaments in his left knee. On Sunday, they again played without four of their top six starters and lost for the fifth time in seven games. They're now 3 1/2 games behind Houston for that final playoff spot, with Utah, Phoenix and the Blazers all standing between them and the Rockets and 12 games left to play.
• Paul Coro of The Arizona Republic: If it seems hard to believe that Grant Hill could return from Friday's knee surgery before the season ends, consider this detail: his right knee has been less swollen following team physician Thomas Carter's surgery than it had before the non-optional scope. Hill's expectation to return for some of Suns' remaining 14 games was clear Sunday, when he returned to US Airways Center for the first time since having the medial meniscus tear repaired. He was cleared to get off crutches Sunday night. "I think I can," Hill said. "Doc is pleased with the surgery and what he saw in there. I'll be back this year." Hill will travel with the Suns in order to rehabilitate the knee with Suns head athletic trainer Aaron Nelson and the staff. The Suns leave today for a three-game, four-day trip and play seven of their next eight games on the road. "We can get a lot done," Hill said. "We'll get double, triple sessions in daily. Being with Aaron and the training staff is the ideal scenario."
• John Reid of The Times-Picayune: After having only eight players available in the previous two games, the Hornets got some needed help with the return of center Chris Kaman and forward Gustavo Ayon on Sunday night against the Phoenix Suns. Even though each played more than 24 minutes, the Hornets still didn't have enough to avoid a 92-75 loss to the Suns at the US Airways Center. It was the Hornets' third consecutive loss, and they closed out their extended road trip losing four of five games, which included Saturday's 88-85 defeat to the Lakers in which they stifled guard Kobe Bryant into missing his first 15 shots. ``I think that we ran out of gas, but I also think that it was a bit of an excuse,'' Hornets Coach Monty Williams said. ``We have been situations before off of a back-to-back and this was the first time that I thought it affected us from an energy standpoint. I thought the ball didn't move tonight. You can't win games on the road with 19 turnovers and not getting to the free throw line.''
• Doug Smith of the Toronto Star: Five times a day, Gary Forbes takes a tiny needle and plunges it into his body; every day he goes out and pushes himself to the limits of his endurance against some of the greatest athletes in the world, oblivious to the illness, the injections, the routine that is little more than, well, routine. Forbes, an emerging late-season key piece with the Raptors, is a Type 1 diabetic, the injections are insulin, the monitoring of his condition is practically constant but a nuisance more than anything. “It’s a manageable disease,” the 26-year-old Forbes said. “I’ve had it now for eight years, went through different ups and downs and learning and stuff like that but I’m still coming out here every day and competing with the best players in the world.” Forbes has become a tireless worker for diabetes awareness and promoting the idea that it’s not an impediment to athletic excellence. Forget looking at his 6-foot-7, 220-pound body to see the evidence — he’s taking his message as public as he can. He runs a camp for kids in his hometown that promotes diet and lifestyle as much as basketball; he works with the tireless Raptors community relations staff and the Canadian Diabetes Association, spreading the word. Forbes knows first hand how relatively easy it is to deal with diabetes, but he feels it’s part of his job to get the message out.
• Michael Lee of The Washington Post: Nene and Trevor Booker were both seated on the bench, wearing identical walking boots on their left feet and seemingly matching gray suit jackets, as the Washington Wizards took on the Toronto Raptors on Sunday at Air Canada Centre. With their usual starting center and power forward both out with pulled plantar fascias, the Wizards fielded their youngest starting lineup in franchise history — two rookies and three second-year players — as replacements Jan Vesely and Kevin Seraphin and regular starters John Wall, Jordan Crawford and Chris Singleton took to the court. Coach Randy Wittman has joked that leading such a young team has led his hair to get a little grayer, and his players gave him reason to scoff, scream and fold his arms in frustration as the Wizards fell behind by 15 points in the fourth quarter. But his team made a valiant charge, twice getting within three points in the final 78 seconds, until it simply ran out of time and lost in Toronto for the fifth consecutive time, 99-92.

• John Rohde of The Oklahoman: Russell Westbrook once again ruled the roost for the Thunder. So this doesn’t sound like a broken record, I try to ask a different teammate to share their thoughts on Westbrook whenever he turns in a superb performance, and Thursday night definitely qualified with 36 points, six assists, two steals and only one turnover. Tonight’s guest speaker on Westbrook is reserve center Nazr Mohammed: “I’ve got to give a lot of credit to Russ. He’s been doing an unbelievable job trying to get the ball to guys, taking over the game. His pace of play, his leadership in the huddle, he’s just been off the charts these last 5-6 games.” ... Just in case there was any doubt, Perkins can’t stand Pau Gasol. Perk has said as much, which is why Perk was booed louder than any Thunder player all night, including pre-game introductions. Perk was called for his 12th technical foul of the season after he flared his elbows and was fouled by Gasol. The tech has a good chance of being rescinded. Remember, 13 techs bring a one-game suspension, as does every other tech thereafter.
• Mark Whicker of The Orange County Register: As Oklahoma City basketballs kept bouncing off Lakers heads, it became clearer just why the Lakers traded Derek Fisher. It wasn't strategic. It was humanitarian. Fisher is currently closer to his sixth NBA championship ring than Kobe Bryant is to his sixth, or Ramon Sessions to his first. He has taken a detour to basketball heaven on his way to retirement or Congress or his final destination. Who knew the angels would fly so high in Oklahoma City? With Russell Westbrook scoring 36 and turning Staples Center into his own Hawthorne backyard, Oklahoma City drilled the Lakers with extreme prejudice, along with a dash of contempt, 102-93, on Thursday. And if Fisher really was dispatched to OKC because he could no longer restrict the West's best point guards, Sessions' handcuffs were just as rusty. Westbrook scored 18 points in the third quarter as the Thunder, now 39-12, played with unity and strut. Time and again they broke down the Lakers defense, lured help, and hit large open people under the basket. And, time and again, Westbrook displayed the best first step in basketball. He also has the best second and third.
• Ethan J. Skolnick of the Palm Beach Post: Roughly Roughly 90 minutes prior to Thursday's tip, Mark Cuban tried to enter through the door to the tunnel that passes the Heat locker room. The Mavericks owner wasn't trying to steal secrets; rather, apparently seeking a shortcut. Still, when a security guard stopped him, the casually-attired billionaire laughed and obliged, turning back the way he came. Once the game started, Heat players protected home court with the same purpose that the guard had protected their dressing quarters. In a continuation of one of the surprises of this strange season, Miami again looked like a much more determined and desperate squad at AmericanAirlines Arena than it has looked anywhere else. The 106-85 victory was the Heat's 15th straight in front of its fans. It doesn't seem to matter that the lower level doesn't fill until the second quarter. Nor does it matter that, since the Heat last lost here on Jan. 22 to the Bucks, Miami has dropped nine of its 19 games on the road -- including double-digit losses to Oklahoma City and Indiana in which coach Erik Spoelstra's squad appeared lethargic and lost. Nor does any of this make any sense to anyone who watched the Heat last season, as it won only two more games at home than on the road; this season, the splits are 21-2 and 14-11.
• Dwain Price of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram: Unlike last June when they clinched their first NBA title with a Game 6 victory at AmericanAirlines Arena, this time there was no wild and crazy celebration by the Dallas Mavericks. Gone were the bubbly smiles -- and bubbly champagne -- that accompanied last year's championship season. That's what Thursday's 106-85 loss to the Miami Heat did to the Mavericks. LeBron James and Chris Bosh scored 19 points each, and the Heat used a suffocating defense to smother the Mavericks. "We had trouble getting the ball in the basket," Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle said. "Second-chance points hurt us, and then they hit a flurry of transition points at some inopportune times for us. "It was disappointing because our start to the third quarter was strong, and then they answered back. It was a tough loss."
• Matt Calkins of The Columbian: Two minutes into the second quarter, Nicolas Batum, the Frenchman who has established himself as the Trail Blazers' premier outside shooter, passed up a wide open 3-pointer ... and fed the ball to Luke Babbitt. "I was already running back on defense when he shot it," Batum said. "I knew it was going in." Portland beating New Orleans 99-93 Thursday night is far from a compelling story on its own — especially considering the depleted Hornets' roster which listed just eight active players. But when you look at the stat sheet, and see that 16 of those 99 points came from Babbitt, the Blazer who just two hours earlier was best known for knocking down an otherwise meaningless 3-pointer that gave the fans free Chalupas two months ago — then it becomes a tale worth telling. Nearly two years ago, when Portland selected Babbitt with the 15th overall pick in the draft, an anonymous poll revealed that the University of Nevada product's peers considered him the best shooter from their draft class. But when Babbitt followed with a rookie season in which he shot 27.3 percent from the field, 18.8 percent from 3-point distance, and an absurd 33.3 percent from the foul line, it would be hard to argue he was one of the top 50 shooters from his draft class. It's a much more sound argument now.
• Jimmy Smith of The Times-Picayune: Another night on the road in a season winding down, and the Hornets found themselves again facing an opponent with similar unsettled storylines. And to make things more interesting for New Orleans, it had one less player than the night before. On Wednesday night in Oakland, New Orleans went against a team working through injuries and questions about whether it was coasting toward a more favorable lottery pick. Thursday night in The Rose Garden, the Hornets saw a Trail Blazers’ team that in the past two weeks fired its beloved coach Nate McMillan, named a 33-year-old interim replacement, and on Thursday afternoon faced news that it’s billionaire owner, Paul Allen, may be looking to sell the team. The 48-minute sanctuary on the court provided the Blazers with a 99-93 victory, but not without its scary moments against the thin Hornets. New Orleans played with just eight available players when it was determined less than 30 minutes before tip off that starting point guard Jarrett Jack would miss with a sprained right ankle.
• Mike Wells of The Indianapolis Star: It’s a good thing Thursday’s game against the Washington Wizards wasn’t based on style points because it would have been a toss up on which team would have won the game. Danny Granger said it best about their victory over the Wizards, “Very ugly game,” We clawed and scraped and got the win, so that was huge. A win is a win. We have to keep winning as many games as possible.” The Pacers will take a victory any way they can get one after losing at New Jersey on Wednesday. The Wizards shouldn’t have been able to stick around for most of the game. But there they were, a John Wall turnover over from possibly tying the game with less than a minute left. ... The Pacers get a day off before they start another six-game in eigh-night stretch when they head to the Lone Star state and play San Antonio and Houston on Saturday and Sunday. So don’t be surprised if you see some more ugly basketball from the Pacers. It’s all about wins and losses for them these days.
• Michael Lee of The Washington Post: In his 10th season, and back on a lottery team, Nene believes the Wizards (11-39) are going through similar growing pains as his team in Denver. And, after the Wizards lost, 93-89, on Thursday to the Indiana Pacers, Nene said he remained encouraged by how his new team is playing and drew a parallel to his challenging rookie season. “I learned,” Nene said. “This is a long process. It’s hard. I’m going to repeat this every time: This young team, a lot of second-year players, a lot of rookies. You need to learn. You need to get this type of game. See what you can learn from the loss and get better. To win, you need to learn from losing a game. It’s a big experience right now. We work, step by step, we’re improving in a lot of areas.” The Wizards have lost five in a row and are just 2-7 since acquiring Nene, but they have been a scrappier, more physical and more competitive team in defeat. And they have been staunch defensively. The Pacers became the seventh consecutive team that failed to score at least 100 points against the Wizards. The Wizards haven’t held seven straight teams below triple digits since December 2007.
• Bob Kravitz of The Indianapolis Star: Before this year, college basketball players had until May 8 to evaluate their NBA options, then were given until one week before the June NBA draft to declare whether they were coming out for the draft or returning to school. This gave players several weeks to not only get feedback from the NBA, but go to the Orlando, Fla., pre-draft camp, work out for individual teams and get all the information necessary to make a smart decision. Here's the rule now: College players such as Indiana's Christian Watford have to declare they are looking into the NBA by April 3 and must declare or withdraw by April 10. Which, by the way, is one day before the spring signing period. According to the NCAA, this coach-inspired rule is being imposed "to help keep student-athletes focused on academics in the spring term and to give coaches a better idea of their roster for the coming year before the recruiting period is closed." Right. Academics. Truth is, it's all about the latter, all about protecting coaches and the college product. Also, those coaches want to go off and take vacation rather than talk to NBA scouts about their prospect. ... The NBA draft isn't until June 28. So why should kids have to rush into an important decision April 10? NCAA President Mark Emmert has said he wants to rid the organization of its dumbest rules, especially the ones that have a deleterious effect on athletes. Here's one that needs to be expunged.

A couple of weeks ago, thousands of med school graduates logged onto the National Resident Matching Program (NRMP) website to find out where they'll be spending the next few years of their lives as medical residents.

"National Match," the system that governs this process, includes an extensive application (which takes into account a medical student's standardized test performances) and interviews by invitation. Once those face-to-face meetings are over, hospitals list their candidates in order of preference, while the future residents do the same for hospitals. Those rankings are fed into a computer where an algorithm processes them, then figures out where there's mutual interest. On National Match Day, the assignments are announced.

NRMP isn't perfect, but it's regarded by people in the medical industry, as well as economists who study labor markets, as a very effective way of pairing talent with institutions. Candidates can target hospitals based on any number of personal factors. An aspiring thoracic surgeon might seek out Massachusetts General. Maybe another candidate wants to stay close to home, and thus ranks local programs highest. The best and the brightest will go hard for the elite institutions -- the Mayo Clinics and MD Andersons of the world (and those hospitals will naturally seek out the choice prospects).

However candidates measure these factors, residents generally land in places that make sense for them, while hospitals sign up residents who fit their criteria.

It's all relative, of course. The finest hospitals and the most polished candidates are more likely to snag their top choices -- but that's only natural. Law school grads who finish atop their classes land plum associate positions at firms where they'd most like to work and same holds true across most professional sectors.

This is how the labor market works -- talented people and prestigious institutions generally get the pick of the litter. But it's not how it works in the NBA, where the most gifted young players are assigned through the draft to teams, regardless of personal preferences or market value.

The NBA as the real world
Can you imagine how the restrictive parameters of the NBA draft would play out in any other business? Would we tell the a once-in-a-lifetime engineering grad who wants to negotiate a position and salary at the top tech firm in the Silicon Valley, "No, actually, you're required to work for the sector's laughingstock, a company managed by incompetents with no clear vision of the future -- at a fixed salary that's set by a third party." Yet this is the governing philosophy every spring when the NBA distributes members of the incoming draft class to the league's 30 teams.

Right now, most experts have Kentucky big man Anthony Davis slated as the best prospect in the upcoming draft. He is a transcendent presence on the floor with extrasensory defensive instincts. Davis will have almost no right to negotiate his salary. He won't be allowed to choose the city he lives in, his bosses, his co-workers, the facilities where he plies his craft, the team training staff who will take care of his body or the corporate culture of the place. Barring a dramatic trade, Davis will likely be rewarded to a franchise that's failed miserably this past season -- and possibly one that's failed strategically in an effort to secure his services.

The privilege of choice
We have no idea where Davis would like to work if given a voice in the matter. Is the Chicago kid someone who wants to stay close to family, even if it means taking less money or playing in a small market like Milwaukee? Would he and his representatives approach the Heat, the big dogs in the East who could use a center, even though Miami couldn't offer the money or touches Houston could? Maybe there's an NBA coach who dazzles him with the power of persuasion, or a team that could pair him with a dynamic point guard, like Cleveland. Then again, maybe Davis just wants to go where he can make the most money -- playing time, viability, co-workers and geography be damned.

On the other side of the equation, teams like the Rockets or Suns won't even have the opportunity to make a pitch to Davis. Neither Houston nor Phoenix can be fairly characterized as a serious contender this year but, rather than tanking, both teams decided to put a competitive product on the floor every night for their fans. Even though Houston and Phoenix could each use a frontcourt presence like Davis, by outperforming expectations and generally trying to win basketball games, neither can bid for his services.

This is Houston's reward for finding diamonds in the rough like Chandler Parsons and identifying, acquiring, then locking up a previously obscure player like Kyle Lowry. Observers have chided Phoenix for hanging onto a franchise legend like Steve Nash (who still ranks as one of the league's most efficient point guards). Why? Because Nash makes the Suns too competitive, thereby sullying their chances to sink to the bottom of the standings where they could vie for a top pick this June.

Instead, chances are Davis will land with Charlotte, New Orleans or one of the other teams racing to the bottom of the standings. These doormats know the best way to secure elite talent at below market value is to lose as many games as possible to increase their odds in the NBA lottery.

What can be done?
These disincentives and inefficiencies have been well-documented, so what's the remedy? How can we create an NBA that better approximates life in the real world, where the most competently run companies can tout their reputations to attract the most skilled prospects, and where those prospects get to consider the factors that are most important to them as they mull over where they'd like to work?

The league could institute its own "National Match," where teams and players were wed based on mutual interest. The NBA could have teams bid on draft slots. Some have proposed an auction system used by many fantasy sports leagues, in which a prospect is assigned to the highest bidder.

Novelty has its appeal, but addressing the inherent inequities of the draft might be best addressed by Occam's Razor -- simply declare all eligible incoming rookies free agents.

Rewarding competence
Free agency would address the unfairness of the current draft system, as discussed above. It would eliminate any incentive to tank, allow each team the opportunity to make its sales pitch to the prospects of their choosing and grant the same freedom to top talent that's afforded to hotshots in virtually every other corner of the private sector.

For NBA teams, free agency would put a premium on expertise and the ability to evaluate the field. No longer can the general manager who's picking in the top three bask in the comfort of knowing he'll, more likely than not, land a superior prospect at discount.

Meanwhile, teams that apply their smarts to assess talent will be rewarded for that. And organizations that compete will reap the benefits of their dedication. They'll be able to approach a desirable young player and his representatives and say, "We care about winning. Hop aboard." And organizations that exercise fiscal discipline can outbid those who don't.

A new emphasis on identity and strategy
The ripples of a free agency system would extend far beyond these basic corrections. A profound feature of a free agency system will be empowering NBA teams to cultivate corporate cultures and identities, like firms in the business world that compete for elite talent.

What is your sales pitch to prospects?

That all depends, but it better be something.

Some of the league's most respected teams already understand this. When Mark Cuban took over the Dallas Mavericks, he immediately transformed a dingy organization into a workplace that attends to the comforts of its players -- the finest locker rooms, facilities, team aircraft and other perks. The Mavs became the Singapore Airlines of NBA teams.

The Lakers and Celtics sell mystique.

San Antonio is a place where buttoned up professionals go to play.

More recently, Oklahoma City has projected a culture of character. For all the talk about small-market teams being at a disadvantage when it's time to retain their superstars, Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook readily re-signed in the league's third-smallest market, without a hint of drama.

Each team that's interested in seriously competing in the rookie free agent market will need to sculpt its identity. Maybe in an effort to attract devout athletes -- of which there are many -- an organization decides to place a premium on faith.

In a league where player development has too long been an afterthought, a team might make that its calling card. If it can build a reputation for coaching rookies up, that could become a meaningful selling point.

Certain teams might reject rookies altogether, whether because these organizations are risk-averse when it comes to extending large contracts to unproven prospects or because they don't want to absorb young players into a veteran culture.

Others might want to populate their rosters with guys committed to mastering the new wave of data-driven strategy. Still others might want particular players for a very specific schematic system.

Opening up the labor market would allow teams to better to lay down organizational blueprints for the long haul, to actualize their visions for the future. And anytime we have the opportunity to reward vision, we should.

Upheaval that creates stability
Proponents of parity may argue that such a system would only widen the gap between the haves or have nots, but if we work within the existing salary cap structure, I have a hard time buying it.

Are we certain a supernova would accept a role as the fourth or fifth option with the Lakers at the rookie minimum, when the Hornets could lavish him with a robust deal and promise 35 minutes a night -- during which he could pad his resumé for his next big contract? If you're a bona fide wing, do you really want to go to Miami, which has two guys who are pretty good already situated and little money to spend, or make a name for yourself in Washington, a team in a terrific market with cap room to burn and a dynamic point guard who needs a shooter beside him?

Another benefit of self-determination for rookies would be a likely uptick in retention. A young player who chooses his destination based on his personal criteria is far more likely to stick around long-term. In that same spirit, an organization that excitedly recruits a prospect is probably going to be more committed to its investment than the team that grabs the "best player on the board."

HoopIdea: Finding a solution
The NBA draft has grown into one of the league's great cultural events, and one that's beautifully telegenic -- young men realizing their professional dreams, tearful parents overcome by pride, a night when hope is restored to fans of struggling teams.

But the spectacle of a four-hour pageant -- as much fun as it is -- feeds a system that encourages bad behavior, favors incompetence over achievement and cheats young men of the privileges that talented people in a free labor market should receive.

JOIN THE CONVERSATION

You can give us your ideas and talk with us and other fans in the following places:

• Facebook: Discuss your ideas for reforming the NBA draft
• Twitter: Go to @HoopIdea and tweet to us with the hashtag #hoopidea
• Google+: Go to our HoopIdea Google+ page and discuss
• TrueHoop: Read our HoopIdea posts here and contribute on the conversation page
• E-mail us at hoopidea@gmail.com

And for the truly ambitious: Shoot a short video of yourself explaining your HoopIdea, upload it to YouTube and share the link with us on Twitter or Google+.

• Al Iannazzone of Newsday: Carmelo Anthony winced and grimaced because of his strained right groin, but also smiled and bounced around as if pain free as he and the Knicks were putting a hurting on the Magic. Anthony had 25 points in one of his best all-around games of the season last night, providing an emotional lift that sparked the undermanned Knicks to an improbably lopsided 108-86 victory at the Garden. "It definitely fires everybody up to see your star player sacrificing his body and playing defense and doing all the little things, the intangible things," Baron Davis said. "It's definitely an inspiration to the guys." For the second straight game, the Knicks were minus Amar'e Stoudemire (bulging disc in his back and Jeremy Lin (sore knee). Stoudemire is out 2-4 weeks, but two games into his rehab the Knicks seem to be doing fine. They're getting contributions from everyone. Their defense remains solid and Anthony, despite his condition, looks like his old self.
• Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel: It doesn't add up. The Orlando Magic own the fifth-best record in the NBA, and yet on too many nights this season, they have played terribly. They played without any passion Wednesday night and they paid an all-too-familiar price. The New York Knicks administered a 108-86 drubbing in which the Magic trailed by as many as 39 points and looked inept on offense. "What's shocking to me is that a team that's playing over .600 basketball can get absolutely rocked as many times as we have been," coach Stan Van Gundy said. "Boston, New Orleans, Chicago, tonight — that's what's mind-boggling to me. It'll happen every once in a while if you're a bad team. To be a .600 team and get crushed like that as many times as we have? That's shocking." On Wednesday, nothing worked from the middle of the second quarter onward.
• Vincent Bonsignore of the Los Angeles Daily News: Not all compliments are created equal. Some even come disguised as a slight. So when the Clippers went through their little funk through the beginning of March, dropping successive games, losing to teams they should beat and tumbling backward in the standings, the calls for coach Vinny Del Negro's job and cries of panic from the fan base weren't so much criticisms as they were flattery. It meant people were paying attention and invested. "Last year we'd lose two games in a row and no one cared," Clippers center DeAndre Jordan said. It meant actual expectations for this once despondent franchise were not being met, which led to anxiety among the fans and probing analysis from the media. That's growth. ... The real key to change, though, is how the Clippers responded. To the losing, the added pressure and the adversity. Could have been the same old Clippers if they caved in. But it looks like the dawn of a new day for this franchise, evidenced by the Clippers' 103-86 win over the Phoenix Suns on Wednesday at Staples Center to push their winning streak to three games.
• Paul Coro of The Arizona Republic: Suns forward Grant Hill arrived at the office Wednesday night with optimism that the improvement in his right knee would be enough to let him get back to work. As doubtful as Hill was about playing before Tuesday's game, he felt good about his chances Wednesday night until he tested the knee and became a pregame scratch for the second consecutive night. Hill missed consecutive games for the first time since January 2011 because of soreness in his right knee, on which he had surgery in September. The knee was hit Sunday while he was taking a charge at Cleveland. Hill, 39, left the game early, but he had progressed to the point that shooting was comfortable Wednesday evening. Moving laterally was the issue. ... Hill has missed five games this season, but two were for rest in the middle of back-to-back-to-back sets. Hill missed three games in the previous three seasons combined.
• Colin Stephenson of The Star-Ledger: After all the mind-numbing losses they’ve had this season, and particularly over the past couple weeks, this was perhaps the last thing anyone could have expected. A double-digit victory over the Indiana Pacers? Really? Really. Deron Williams had 30 points and nine assists and the Nets, who started the game with 10 players in uniform and finished with only eight, stymied the Pacers, 100-84, tonight before a delighted crowd of 10,817 at the Prudential Center. The 16-point margin of victory, in the Nets’ final game before leaving Thursday on a four-game West Coast trip, was their largest of the season. ... The Nets finished with eight players in uniform after Jordan Williams left the game in the third quarter with concussion-like symptoms, and Shelden Williams left in the second quarter with an eye injury. Shelden Williams was poked in the right eye by Hansbrough. “We’re really concerned about Shelden,” Avery Johnson said.
• Mike Wells of The Indianapolis Star: Many of the Indiana Pacers traveling party, including most of the coaching staff, took in the bright lights of Broadway on Tuesday night in New York. They attended "Magic/Bird," a play about Magic Johnson and Larry Bird's fierce rivalry during their playing careers. "I loved it. I thought it was great," coach Frank Vogel said. "I loved how they portrayed Larry because I know him the best of anybody in the show. But the whole story, the racial issues they were involved with in the '80s(, was great)." The Pacers had about 15 people, including six players, attend the play. Several of them took pictures with the actors who portrayed Johnson and Bird in the six-member cast. "It was cool because for me, Larry is new to me," forward Jeff Pendergraph said. "A lot of the stuff in the play the guys got, but it kind of went over my head a little bit because I haven't really hung around with him." Vogel grew up outside of Philadelphia watching Julius Erving play for the 76ers, but he admired Bird's Hall of Fame career with Boston.
• K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune: Ever since the July 8, 2010, day the Bulls traded Kirk Hinrich essentially for extra salary-cap space to pursue the greatest free-agent class in NBA history, a segment of the fan base has clamored for his return. Hinrich, who still spends offseasons in the north suburban home he kept, will be an unrestricted free agent this summer for the first time in his nine-year career. So what about a Bulls return? "I wouldn't be opposed to it," Hinrich said. "It's still a ways away, and a lot can happen. We'll see. I have no preconceived thoughts on what will happen." He might have some financial ones, though. The Bulls will be hard-pressed to sign Hinrich unless he accepts a hometown discount. Because they're over the salary cap, the Bulls will have only cap exceptions at their disposal. And there are luxury-tax concerns, as well, when Derrick Rose's five-year, $95 million extension begins next season.
• Chris Vivlamore of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution: It’s a dangerous game the Hawks are playing of late. After falling behind by large first-half margins the past two games, the Hawks rallied only to fall short. The latest came Wednesday night in a 98-77 loss to the Bulls at Philips Arena. The Hawks trailed the Bulls by 18 points in the first half. The used a 16-2 run to cut the lead to four points, 56-52, but would get no closer. The Bulls used an 18-4 run of their own in the third quarter to push the lead back to 18 points. Luol Deng provided the final nail in the coffin with a 3-pointer to cap the run. It came on a pass from Taj Gibson, who gathered the rebound of his own miss when Ivan Johnson failed to box him out. From there the Bulls' lead only increased. On Tuesday, the Hawks trailed by 17 points to the Bucks. They battled back to take a three-point lead before succumbing in the fourth quarter. They wouldn't get that close against the Eastern Conference-leading Bulls. ... The Bulls took the season series from the Hawks, 3-1. The Hawks (30-22, 16-8 home) lost for the second straight night, losing the final two games of a streak of five games in six nights.
• Jeff McDonald of the San Antonio Express-News: Jimmer Mania wasn’t all hype. This, Spurs forward Kawhi Leonard firmly believes. Immersed in his own rookie season, Leonard admits he hasn’t seen Jimmer Fredette play much this season with the Kings. But he remembers how Fredette lit up the Mountain West Conference — and his own San Diego State squad — last season at BYU, led the NCAA in scoring and won national player of the year honors. Fredette, a 6-foot-2 shooter the Kings are hoping to remake as a point guard, has struggled to find a foothold his first season in Sacramento. Heading into Wednesday’s game against the Spurs, Fredette was averaging 7.2 points and shooting 38.3 percent in 18:23 per game. “It’s his first year,” said Leonard, selected 15th in the June draft, five spots lower than Fredette. “Everybody’s struggling as rookies coming in. With the lockout, you didn’t get to practice with your teammates. He’s a hard worker. I believe he’ll get better as time goes on.” For both rookies, life has changed since their epic battles in the Mountain West (BYU has since left the conference). In one meeting last season, Fredette had 43 points in a BYU victory, while Leonard had 22 points and 15 rebounds.
• Matt Kawahara and Jason Jones of The Sacramento Bee: Allowing opposing teams to shoot for high percentages has been a problem all season for the Kings, who entered Wednesday night's game against the San Antonio Spurs ranked 29th in the league in that category. Now that the Kings are playing at a faster pace, creating more possessions per game, there is even more of an emphasis on bringing that percentage down. Coach Keith Smart said the Kings ideally want to limit opponents to shooting 41 percent or 42 percent. Opponents were shooting 47.5 percent against the Kings before Wednesday. In their previous seven games, the Kings had averaged 111.7 points but lost four of those games in which their opponents shot 47.3 percent or better and averaged 112.3 points. Smart said lowering that percentage means working harder to contest shots and eliminating easy buckets that result from allowing second-chance opportunities under the basket or turning the ball over above the foul line.
• Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe: When asked if he would give his veteran players extra rest during the final month of the season in preparation for the playoffs, Doc Rivers said yes. But there may be an exception. “The problem without saying a name is one of the guys you would suggest sitting, it’s not fun to get him to do that. The conversation is no fun,’’ Rivers said, likely alluding to Kevin Garnett. “Maybe he’ll see that, maybe he will not. But that will be an interesting discussion.’’ Garnett contributed his 16th double-double of the season Wednesday with 23 points and 10 rebounds.
• Brian T. Smith of The Salt Lake Tribune: Gordon Hayward doesn’t just have the talent to be a game-changer. He’s becoming one. The No. 9 overall pick in the 2010 NBA Draft was the Jazz’s best player Wednesday during a 94-82 loss to the Celtics. He scored a team-high 19 points, while being second in rebounds (seven) and assists (five).Then there were his two blocks. When Boston suddenly turned a 66-all fourth-quarter tie into a 73-66 lead, Celtics guard Keyon Dooling stole the ball at midcourt and raced home for an easy layup. Until G-Man started flying. Hayward smoothly tracked Dooling’s path, perfectly timed his leap, then coldly swatted away a gimme shot that would’ve given Boston a nine-point advantage. Five seconds later, the just-turned-22-year-old from Butler was flying again. This time, a greedy Avery Bradley was the victim. Ray Allen’s replacement collected Hayward’s initial block and tried to toss in a quick putback. The Jazzman hit the replay button. Hayward destroyed Bradley’s layup, and Utah still had life.
• Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press: Seldom-used reserve Austin Daye was going to get a little time with sixth man Ben Gordon sidelined with a sore right groin against the Cavs on Wednesday night. But when Rodney Stuckey (pulled left hamstring) left the game almost seven minutes in, the third-year swingman ended up with almost 30 minutes of playing time. Daye finished with eight points, two rebounds and two steals in the Pistons' 87-75 victory. It's the first time the Pistons (18-32) have won back-to-back road games this season. The team is 2-1 on its latest trip with the finale Friday night at Eastern Conference-leading Chicago. And with the nature of Stuckey's and Gordon's injuries, Daye can probably count on more playing time. "I thought Austin Daye really helped us because defensively he was very good," Pistons coach Lawrence Frank said. "He was in good position where he forced guys to make extra passes." Daye has been open about his displeasure at a lack of playing time -- he has played in 31 of the team's 50 games.
• Tom Reed of The Plain Dealer: The easy thing for Anderson Varejao to do -- and some might say the smart thing -- is to forget about returning this season. The Cavaliers' center could spend the summer healing up, doing nothing more strenuous than working on his tan on some Brazilian beach. Not Varejao. As soon his broken right wrist heals, he wants to rejoin the Cavaliers. And as long as he's healthy, he also plans to represent Brazil in the Summer Olympics. Varejao has been out of the lineup since Feb. 10. According to the latest medical update supplied by the team, he won't begin to practice until early April. With the team falling out of the playoff race and the season ending on April 26, he was asked, why rush back? "Because I am part of the team and I want to help even if we don't have any more chance at the playoffs," Varejao said. "I want to play, that's what I get paid for. Last year, I was hurt [torn tendon in ankle] and this season I got hurt too. I want to play. This is what I love to do."
• Kent Youngblood of the Star Tribune: In an 88-83 victory over a Charlotte Bobcats team that played with more energy than one would expect from a seven-win team, Love, as it has been since March began, led the way. Love attempted a career-high 31 shots, but never forced one. He made 14, four from three-point range. He scored 40 points and grabbed 19 rebounds. (When informed of that number, Wolves coach Rick Adelman joked that Love must have missed a shot late hoping to get to 20). With Charlotte hanging around, Love scored 14 of his points and grabbed six of his rebounds in the fourth quarter as the Wolves secured an important victory. For a team still hanging on the edge of a playoff chase, coming off Tuesday's loss in Memphis, this had to happen. ... It was Love's 10th game with 30-plus points and 15 or more rebounds, the 19th time he has scored 30 or more this season. It was also the third time he has scored 40 or more points this month. And it's a tribute to the Bobcats that the Wolves, playing without Michael Beasley, J.J. Barea and Nikola Pekovic, needed all of that to win.
• Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer: The NBA wants to know in advance which Silas is the Charlotte Bobcats’ head coach for any single game. Coach Paul Silas told me at shoot-around this morning that the league has asked the Bobcats for a heads-up whenever lead assistant Stephen Silas is taking over the team for a game. With the front office’s blessing, Paul Silas is having his son coach about once a week the rest of the season as a training exercise. The likely next game Stephen Silas will coach is Saturday, on the road against the Detroit Pistons. It makes sense that the league office wants to inform that night’s officiating crew in advance that Stephen Silas is in charge. Referees give head coaches more latitude – to stand throughout the game, to argue calls, to ask for interpretations – than they do assistants. So it makes sense for refs to know how to delineate between Paul’s and Stephen’s roles. What Paul Silas is doing with his son isn’t unprecedented. Former Golden State Warriors and Dallas Mavericks coach Don Nelson used to let assistants Avery Johnson and Keith Smart coach games on occasion. Johnson now coaches the New Jersey Nets. Smart now coaches the Sacramento Kings.
• Rusty Simmons of the San Francisco Chronicle: Mark Jackson says he's coaching the NBA's version of the Bad News Bears. If the Warriors are the Bad News Bears, then Brandon Rush is Kelly Leak - the neighborhood's best athlete who was once considered a troublemaker off the field. Rush has been quite the find for the Warriors, who got the 6-foot-6 swingman in a December trade after he wore out his welcome in Indiana. He tore his ACL during an illegal predraft workout in 2007, was suspended five games for violating the league's substance-abuse policy last season, and says anti-gay slurs on his Twitter account were posted by someone else. Rush has been a model citizen with Golden State. He consistently has been one of the Warriors' top perimeter defenders, their best rebounding wing and a knockdown three-point shooter. He backed up a season-high 23 points the night before with a 12-point performance in a 102-87 loss to New Orleans at Oracle Arena on Wednesday night.
• Jimmy Smith of The Times-Picayune: In many ways, Wednesday night’s game between the Hornets and Warriors was a matchup of two teams with similar problems. New Orleans was playing with nine players, and Golden State was once again without their starting point guard, Stephen Curry, who earlier in the day was ruled out for another two weeks with an ankle injury, and without two potential starting centers, Andris Biedrins and Andrew Bogut. The Hornets won this war of attrition, 102-87 in Oracle Arena, making a continued statement to the rest of the league, and themselves, that quitting on a season heading nowhere was not an option. The Hornets get right back at it tonight when they travel to meet the Trail Blazers in Portland, the third in this five-game West Coast road swing. Each of the clubs Wednesday night has dealt with adversity, primarily because of injuries.
• Mike Ganter of the Toronto Sun: The 105-96 final was the first Toronto win against Denver since a 121-94 win at the ACC back on March 23, 2007. It was just the second win against Denver since the 2004/05 season. Offensively, the load was carried by Andrea Bargnani, who had that “pep in his step” back from before he was injured according to Casey. Bargnani, who had hit just five three-pointers in 31 attempts since returning to the lineup a dozen games ago, went 2-for-4 from beyond the arc in this game, both successful threes coming late in the fourth quarter and neither one of them the easy, wide open variety. “It was fun because in this stretch I have missed so many wide open threes and then I hit the two hardest I have had maybe,” said Bargnani who wound up with 26 on the night.
• Benjamin Hochman of The Denver Post: So, when is Danilo Gallinari coming back? That's the question Nuggets fans are asking, as the budding star remains sidelined with a left thumb fracture. "I don't think it's going to be this week, but we'll try to push him sometime next week to get on the practice court and then push it a little bit more," Nuggets coach George Karl said Wednesday. "We have a couple of practice days (between the games Sunday and Wednesday), so that's what we're shooting for." The small forward is averaging 15.2 points per game, second on the team to Ty Lawson's 15.6. Gallinari had strung together some good games in March before injuring the thumb against Dallas on March 19. In his place, Karl has started Wilson Chandler, who is averaging 11.5 points in his six games since rejoining the Nuggets.

• Mike Wells of The Indianapolis Star: The Pacers didn’t hide their feelings about Monday’s game against the Miami Heat. They didn’t use the standard cliché often heard from athletes, “It’s just another game.” It wasn’t just another game for the Pacers. It was a game they had been looking forward to for more two weeks. They wanted prove they could truly beat the Heat and that their collapse during the final 90 seconds in South Beach wouldn’t happen again if they faced a similar situation. The Pacers made sure they weren’t in the position to choke this time. They led by double digits for all of 1 minute and 25 seconds of the fourth quarter. The Heat really only made two runs on the Pacers and the blue and gold withstood them both to move 10 games over .500. “We needed to get over this hump,” Roy Hibbert said. “We feel like we can play with anybody and when we have intensity like that from start to finish, we can beat anybody. There’s a chance we could see them in the playoffs and we wanted to let them know we weren’t going to roll over and it’s not going to be easy.” The Pacers didn’t have one player carry them. They did it with a complete team effort, which is what it takes to beat the Heat.
• Joseph Goodman of The Miami Herald: It’s a good thing the Heat plays most of its games at home during the final month of the regular season. Miami has been downright awful on the road since the All-Star break. While the Heat has won 13 in a row at AmericanAirlines Arena, Miami has played like a different team entirely away from Biscayne Bay — a much worse team. On Monday, the Heat lost its sixth game on the road since the season’s midway point, losing to the Indiana Pacers 105-90 at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. All five of the Pacers’ starters scored in double figures while the Heat’s lineup continued to struggle with its offense for the second night in a row. “It’s that time of year for us to hit a little pothole in the road,” said Heat guard Dwyane Wade, who finished with 24 points, six assists, five rebounds, and four blocks. “We have to make the adjustment before we get back to playing on Thursday.” The Heat is 8-6 since the All-Star break and has lost two in a row. ... The Heat is playing its worst basketball of the season with a month remaining until the playoffs.
• Jill Painter of the Los Angeles Daily News: Clippers star Blake Griffin was whistled for a flagrant foul against New Orleans forward Trevor Ariza, less than a week after Hornets forward Jason Smith was called for a flagrant foul that sent Griffin sprawling to the court. The difference was the Clippers won this game against New Orleans, 97-85 on Monday at Staples Center. And yet, the Clippers' win got lost in that foul, which less than an hour after the game already was on YouTube. Usually, Griffin's posterizing dunks dominate highlights, and he had some of those as well. Griffin fouled the former Laker and UCLA player with both arms extending over him as he was driving to attempt a layup. Ariza lost his balance and fell on his backside but quickly hopped to his feet to voice his displeasure with the foul. Players started jawing, and Ariza received a technical foul, too. Smith - not here because he was serving a two-game suspension - fouled Griffin so hard he was knocked to the ground, and Smith served a two-game suspension for it. Afterward, Griffin brushed off talk of retaliation and discussed the game plan to not allow layups. Griffin's hands were situated deep in the pockets of his jeans, so perhaps his fingers were crossed. "No, I don't think that was a flagrant foul," he said.
• Jimmy Smith of The Times-Picayune: There’s apparently going to be a certain edginess every time the Hornets and Clippers play now, if Monday night was any indication. The hard-feelings that came out of last Thursday night’s win — Jason Smith’s hard-foul against Blake Griffin that brought about Smith’s two-game suspension — spilled over into the stands and on the floor in the Clippers’ 97-85 victory. One fan was ejected for throwing a peanut at Hornets Coach Monty Williams, and Griffin exacted a bit of revenge with a flagrant 1 foul on Trevor Ariza in the third quarter, which also resulted in a technical on Ariza when he whispered something to Griffin within earshot of an official. Griffin scored 20. The Clippers toyed with the Hornets until Chris Paul put up 15 third-quarter points — he finished with 25 — as the short-handed Hornets, playing without Smith and Chris Kaman (illness), couldn’t stand up to Los Angeles’ punishing inside attack. ... Williams, an old-schooler in his thoughts about how the game is played, said Griffin is just going to have to become accustomed to being pushed around. “He knows; he’s no fool,” Williams said. “He knows he’s making people look crazy, and guys don’t like that. He’s got to expect some of that. It’s just going to happen.”
• Christopher Dempsey of The Denver Post: JaVale McGee hasn't done everything right, but he had accomplished being a significant enough presence in his first three games with the Nuggets that he was in the starting lineup Monday at Chicago. McGee is averaging 12.3 points (on 62.2 percent shooting), 8.0 rebounds and 2.3 blocked shots since being traded to the Nuggets. In his time in Denver he has been a more imposing, intimidating, effective presence in the middle than normal starter Timofey Mozgov has been of late. "You've got to experiment," Nuggets coach George Karl said. "He played well in the second half (at Minnesota). There's an energy there. ... JaVale is not the most experienced guy in the world, but I think he has more of a starting mentality to his game. We've got to experiment to see who plays well with who." McGee had his first double-double with the Nuggets on Sunday against the Timberwolves with 13 points and 11 rebounds. On Monday at Chicago he finished with 10 points and eight rebounds in nearly 24 minutes.
• Rick Morrissey of the Chicago Sun-Times: Everything’s good, right? Who needs a 34-year-old who can’t seem to stay healthy? Who needs a guy who wears an invisibility cloak over his uniform? The Bulls do. They need a rickety, sharp-shooting Hamilton, even if their NBA-best 40-11 record would seem to scream down the very idea of it. The reasons the Bulls signed Hamilton in December haven’t gone away. They still need another element to throw at the Heat. They still need somebody with more offensive skills than Keith Bogans gave them last season. This is where the more enthusiastic Bulls fan says, “Have you seen John Lucas III lighting it up lately?’’ Yes, I have. And I also can’t help but think that Lucas will be lucky to get a few minutes a game in the postseason, when coaches rely more heavily on starters. ... If you’re a fan of doing things the right way, you want that to count for something. It should count for something if life were fair. But life isn’t fair. Some teams coast in the regular season and find an extra gear in the playoffs. Not to get too philosophical on you, but what does it all mean? What does all the regular-season success mean for the Bulls? Very little if they come up short of their expectations. Mr. Hamilton? Any time you’re ready.
• Frank Dell’Apa of The Boston Globe: Mickael Pietrus has not started baseline testing after the concussion be sustained at Philadelphia Friday. “There is no update, nothing, we’re just talking to him on the phone,’’ Rivers said of Pietrus. “Last I heard, they want to try this week. I think you have to start the baseline tests. They haven’t gotten to that. “He’s having too many symptoms. I don’t think we’re going to see him for a while.’’ Former Celtic Brian Scalabrine had a concussion during the 2008-09 season, returned quickly, and sustained another concussion. The Celtics are being more cautious now. “He’s great, he’s back home and he’s talking,’’ Rivers said of Pietrus. “It’s funny, we had it with Scal. You talk to them on the phone, they sound normal. But, obviously, it’s still a factor. “The first thing he said: ‘I’ve got to get back on the floor.’ Take your time.’’
• Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer: Charlotte Bobcats big man Byron Mullens must have big ears. Before Monday’s 102-95 home loss to the Boston Celtics, coach Paul Silas said he sees 7-footer Mullens’ future at power forward because Mullens hasn’t been physical enough at the center spot. As Silas put it, “I just don’t know if you can make a tough guy out of somebody who is not.” Mullens sure looked like a guy making a statement, coming off the bench for 18 points, seven rebounds and two shots blocked. He even traded taunts and the occasional shove with Boston Celtics center Kevin Garnett. The Bobcats were down 18 at the end of the first quarter when Mullens revved up. He hit a 3-pointer over Garnett’s outstretched arms, then beat Garnett to the rim to catch and dunk an alley-oop pass from rookie Kemba Walker. Silas liked what he saw. “We did play tough more than early on this season,” Silas said. “I like what Byron did and Derrick Brown (16 points) was tough, too.”
• Charles F. Gardner of the Journal Sentinel: Bucks guard Monta Ellis has been thrown into the mix without much preparation time. That's what happens when you make a deal at the trade deadline. "He's made some really good plays," Bucks coach Scott Skiles said before the game. "He's made some plays on the pick-and-roll; he's passed the ball well. We're a better-than-average passing team and he's fit right into that. "But there's also moments where we're going to need him to step up and exert his will on the game a little bit and score the ball. It's tricky. You make a trade with not a lot of games left, and a guy deserves a period of time to adjust. “And we deserve a period of time to adjust to him, especially a guy as talented as Monta. At the same time, we’ve got to win the game.” Ellis was 2 for 14 from the field against the Knicks was extremely frustrated. He scored on a tip-in in the first quarter and did not score again until 6:03 remained in the game on a fast-break dish from Brandon Jennings. “It will fall,” Ellis said. “Hopefully it will turn around soon."
• John Branch of The New York Times: The latest rash of ailments tainted the enthusiasm over the Knicks’ seventh victory in the eight games since Woodson replaced Mike D’Antoni this month. “It just seems like it’s not stopping,” center Tyson Chandler said. “You get that bug and it seems like it transfers from one guy to another.” The game with the Bucks had enough intrigue without the injuries. With about one-quarter of the shortened regular season to play, the Eastern Conference appears to be a nine-team game of musical chairs for eight playoff seats. The victory moved the Knicks, with 16 games to play, two and a half games ahead of the Bucks for the final slot. The slight cushion may come in handy. While nagging injuries to Lin and Anthony are a concern, Stoudemire’s long-range health is by far the most worrisome. The Knicks hope his injury is not a repeat of last season, when Stoudemire pulled a muscle in his back during warm-ups for Game 2 of a playoff series with the Boston Celtics, and the Knicks hobbled meekly to an early vacation. It took Stoudemire about seven months to fully recover.
• Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel: The Orlando Magic have tried to address their turnover troubles by focusing on the problem. Now, Stan Van Gundy will try another remedy. He'll try to let his players play. "We're gonna have to play the game better," Van Gundy said before the Magic faced the Toronto Raptors at Air Canada Centre on Monday night. "We spent a lot of time talking about it. We showed film on it. Now we're gonna go the other way a little bit and just sort of harp on other things and let 'em play a little bit." Orlando had committed at least 19 turnovers in four of their previous five games.
• Mike Ganter of the Toronto Sun: The tragic number going in was nine. Raptors head coach Dwane Casey felt his team would at least give themselves a good shot at a win if they could limit the Orlando Magic to eight or fewer three-pointers. The fact that Orlando already had nine, six of them by Ryan Anderson alone, and there was still 1:26 to go in the first half pretty much told the tale. If the pre-game message was “We’re going to chase these guys off that three-point line,” it got lost in translation somewhere as the Magic rolled to a 117-101 win. Casey’s post-game mood was one of abject disappointment. “We came out as flat as a pancake against one of the top teams in the league and it’s disappointing,” Casey said.
• Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle: Rockets guard Kyle Lowry shoveled a basketball to Goran Dragic with his left hand, unable to use his right because of the antibiotics PICC line in his right arm. The effort was not much greater than passing the peas at dinner, but it was as much as he has been permitted in weeks or is likely to undergo for several more weeks. He laughed when Dragic hit the shot Lowry told him would be his last. He celebrated not just his first morning around the Rockets since he was hospitalized March 8 with a bacterial infection but the understanding that if not for an alert technician and luck his serious condition could have been worse. Lowry, 26, said he might not return this season from his infection and its treatment, but he was happy just to be back at a morning shootaround. “It was very scary for a while,” Lowry said. “I had a temperature of 104 for a couple days. It’s not a good feeling. It’s very scary, but it’s something that you learn from and you have to deal with and do what you have to do to get better. If I waited a little bit longer I could have been (in danger). I could have been in a real bad situation if I waited a day longer to go in. They don’t have a clue how it happened or how this situation came about.”
• Jason Jones of The Sacramento Bee: Terrence Williams said facing his old team provided no extra motivation. ... The Rockets waived the seldom-used Williams on March 16, and the Kings signed him to a 10-day contract Wednesday. In both of his appearances with Sacramento, he has been on the court at crunch time. "I don't care where we were playing (Monday)," Williams said. "I wasn't going to let the last game happen again. I just tried to be focused and be ready to play basketball." Williams committed a turnover with 15.6 seconds left in the Kings' 111-108 loss at Golden State on Saturday. On Monday, he had 10 points, three rebounds and two steals. Coach Keith Smart said Williams is "moving up the charts" and earning the right to play earlier in games. "He's playing well. He's playing within himself," Smart said. "He's shown he can make some plays and be a playmaker defensively, so he's moving at the right pace for our basketball team." Williams likely will stay for the rest of the season.
• Colin Stephenson of The Star-Ledger: It has gotten to the point where the Nets lost tonight for the sixth time in seven games — to a team playing its fourth game in five nights, and coming off a four-overtime game the night before — and no one on the team seemed particularly surprised or terribly disappointed. “They’re a good basketball team,” Nets coach Avery Johnson said of the Utah Jazz, who came into the Prudential Center and beat the Nets, 105-84. “This (Utah) is a team that’s vying for a playoff spot in the Western Conference, and they have a lot at stake right now. So even if you’re a little tired, you try to dig a little deeper.” The Jazz have been digging deep for the past couple weeks, at least. The win tonight was their seventh in eight games. At 27-23, Utah is in the thick of the playoff race, currently in a three-way tie with Houston and Denver for the final two playoff spots. The Nets (16-35), on the other hand, have lost eight of their last 10. Johnson said the group that finished the game — Sundiata Gaines, MarShon Brooks, DeShawn Stevenson, Jordan Williams and Johan Petro — let the game get too far out of hand.
• Brian T. Smith of The Salt Lake Tribune: This is Deron Williams’ NBA life 13 months after being traded by the Jazz. The former face of Utah’s franchise was part of another professional embarrassment Monday during the Jazz’s 105-84 victory at the Prudential Center. Just 10,310 fans were announced, and the mark was generous. The only time Williams looked like D-Will came during the third and early fourth quarter, when the Nets (16-35) finally started caring, erasing a 17-point halftime deficit to pull within 72-69 after the All-Star point guard sank an 11-foot turnaround jumper with 11:02 to go. It was as close as Utah (27-23) allowed New Jersey to get, and as good as Williams looked. The man who owned Salt Lake City finished with 17 points, a co-game-high 11 assists and four rebounds in 40:18.
• Michael Lee of The Washington Post: As Jordan Crawford walked through the tunnel, following yet another fourth-quarter collapse, he pulled at the drawstrings on his shorts, lifted his head toward the rafters, shook it and rolled his eyes. It couldn’t have happened again. Not like this. Not at home. Not against the Detroit Pistons. But as Rodney Stuckey and the Pistons giddily hugged and celebrated a 79-77 victory at center court, the Washington Wizards had to deal with completing an improbable home threepeat on Monday night, as they allowed their third straight opponent to rally back from a double-digit second-half deficit to pull out a victory at Verizon Center. “It’s mental. It’s mental for sure. You think about it all the time,” Crawford said after scoring a team-high 20 points. “We’re playing to not lose and that’s why we’re not winning. It’s frustrating. We got to play to win the game.”
• Vincent Goodwill of The Detroit News: Pistons guard Rodney Stuckey went through Monday's morning shoot-around and declared himself ready to play against the Wizards on Monday. Stuckey, who admittedly hates missing games because of injuries, said electronic stimulation and treatment he has been receiving have eliminated the swelling, which was the most difficult part of the injury. When he played against the Clippers on March 18, Stuckey was laboring, unable to plant his feet. He missed the last three games with a sore left big toe and had to watch the Pistons muddle through the last two games offensively. The one thing Stuckey isn't concerned about is re-injuring the toe. He was asked if he was worried about making his sore toe worse, and he smiled. "We'll find out if I re-aggravate it," Stuckey said. "If not, I'll be fine."

• Jimmy Smith of The Times-Picayune: Playing in the Crescent City for the first time since the Hornets were eliminated in Game 6 of the first round of the Western Conference playoffs last April against the Lakers, Chris Paul made his only appearance of the season here with the Clippers. During pregame introductions by actor Samuel L. Jackson, the sellout crowd of 17,209 in attendance cheered Paul, with only a tiny smattering of jeers mixed in. If that was a relief, Paul wasn’t about to say. “You always wonder; you never know,” Paul said afterward when asked if he thought fans would look upon his return with disdain. “It’s inevitable. You control what you can control. I always have love for this city.” Before the game, Paul said it was an odd feeling. “Coming into the Arena, being in that little (visitors’) locker room ... obviously, there are a lot of people here that I miss,” he said. “This will probably be the weirdest thing I’ve ever done. We’ll see how it goes.”
• Dan Woike of The Orange County Register: Thursday was a rough day for the franchise, starting with an afternoon report that Del Negro was losing the Clippers’ locker room, something that could be inferred from the team’s performance on the floor over the past two weeks. As far as damning statements go in Chris Broussard’s story, this might be the worst. “Most of the players, according to sources, believe it’s time for a change. They cite the uncertainty of Del Negro’s rotation as a major problem. “ This means two things that are incredibly problematic if you believe the report. One, most of the Clippers think they have a better chance to win with someone else on the sidelines. The Clippers can’t go outside of the organization to find a replacement during the season. No one would take a job that has a month and a half of security. So, that means that most of the team would rather have one of two guys who have never been head coaches (assistants Dean Demopoulos or Robert Pack) or a guy who won less than 27 percent of his games in Memphis (Marc Iavaroni) lead them in a playoff push. The second thing that this statement means is that the Clipper players have virtually no sense of understanding of the challenges this team is facing. If an inconsistent rotation is the reason the guys are so upset, then they don’t have an ounce of understanding.
• Michael Lee of The Washington Post: Blatche’s seemingly cavalier attitude at times on the court has drawn the ire of Verizon Center fans on a regular basis. The acrimony reached a point where Blatche was getting booed virtually every time his name was announced over the public address system. Blatche said he spoke with his family, including his mother, at length about fan disapproval, and his conclusion was that essentially the jeers were justified given his disappointing season. “I can’t go home at night as say ‘Oh, F them,’ because they didn’t know anything,” Blatche said. “They do. They’re the fans. They see it. My mom sees it. This was a bad year for me. One of my worst ones ever. I let my mom down, my family down, my teammates and the whole organization down this season, so I’m just focusing on this whole rest of this time and the summer just to get myself back to where I need to be.” A significant part of that effort has Blatche in the gym for many hours during the day as well as in the wee hours of the morning. Blatche recently tweeted that he was heading to work out at roughly 3:45 a.m. Blatche often has been a target of fan disapproval for his apparent lack of conditioning. “It’s the best time for me to do something,” Blatche said of exercizing during the overnight hours. “I’m up. I’m a night person, and I’m always awake, so that’s something that helps me get things off my mind.”
• Mike Wells of The Indianapolis Star: The Indiana Pacers are getting some help in the middle to fill the gap left by Jeff Foster's retirement. The Pacers signed center Kyrylo Fesenko on Thursday for the rest of the season. Fesenko, a former second-round pick in 2007, spent his first four seasons with the Utah Jazz, where he averaged 2.3 points and 2.0 rebounds in 8.3 minutes. He'll compete with Lou Amundson to be Roy Hibbert's backup at center. Foster announced his retirement Wednesday after 13 years with the Pacers because of chronic back problems. "It's bittersweet for him," Pacers coach Frank Vogel said. "He obviously had a great career. He's part of our identity. When we established smash-mouth basketball last year, he was almost the face of that with his defense, rebounding and protecting of the rim with his physicality. "Not having that in there is a challenge for us, but we have had guys stepping up all year."
• Jonathan Feigen if the Houston Chronicle: With the Rockets shorthanded in the backcourt and experimenting with options at point guard, Luis Scola gave Kevin McHale another option – the point power forward. The Rockets’ passing was sharp all night and Scola needed 24 minutes to match his season high of seven assists when he fired a pass through the legs of Golden State’s Brandon Rush to a waiting Samuel Dalembert to chase his career-high eighth assist in style. But Dalembert was fouled before he could get his shot to fall, and Scola’s night was soon over. Still, they had dominated the Warriors inside together, and even if Scola did not quite audition for the point power forward role, he did typify the Rockets’ slick passing in an easy 109-83 blowout of the Warriors on Thursday night at Toyota Center. ... The Rockets moved to 15-0 this season when holding an opponent to fewer than 90 points, and they have won 27 consecutive games when opponents fall short of 90.
• Rusty Simmons of the San Francisco Chronicle: Newly acquired Warriors center Andrew Bogut ruled out a late-season return from a fractured left ankle and put into question his playing status for the 2012 Summer Olympics during a wide-ranging 1 1/2-hour interview with The Chronicle on Thursday afternoon. "At this point, I think it's safe to say that returning this season is not going to happen," Bogut said during lunch at a downtown Oakland cafe. "The most important thing is to get the bone right. If I come back at 99 percent, and the bone is unsettled, and something shards off, I'm in big trouble. It would be nice to play this season, but it's not going to happen." That hasn't slowed Bogut's efforts. Wearing a protective boot, he shot free throws following Monday's shootaround, and he spent Thursday morning doing the monotonous rehabilitation he's been doing every day since the Jan. 25 injury.
• Charles F. Gardner of the Journal Sentinel: A dose of reality was colored Celtics green Thursday night. The Milwaukee Bucks' six-game winning streak crashed to a halt in a 100-91 loss to the Celtics, who put a stop to the free-flowing offensive game the Bucks had been riding. And it was an ominous start to the Bucks' grueling stretch of three games in three nights and five games over six days as the Celtics spoiled Monta Ellis' home-court debut. Paul Pierce led the Celtics (25-21) with 25 points, and Kevin Garnett added 16 points and 10 rebounds while hitting three clutch jumpers in the final 4 minutes. ... Milwaukee had posted four consecutive games of 30 or more assists but could manage just 23 assists while shooting 40% against Boston's stingy defense. ... The Bucks (21-25) dropped 1½ games behind New York (23-24) for the final Eastern Conference playoff position and fell four games behind the Celtics.
• Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald: Ryan Hollins is coming to the Celtics highly recommended by Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett. Pierce last night was talking about what the 7-foot center can bring to the club. But even the captain has questions based on the fact this will be Hollins’ fifth NBA team in his sixth season. “We’ve got to wait and see,” said Pierce, who played in pickup games with Hollins and Garnett during the lockout. “I guess you kind of wonder why he didn’t play a lot in Cleveland. “I saw a lot of potential. He works hard, and he’s got a lot of lift. You just wonder why he didn’t get an opportunity out there — especially on a team that’s struggling.” Hollins is scheduled to join the Celtics in Philadelphia tonight after agreeing to terms on a free agent deal yesterday.
• Ronald Tillery of The Commercial-Appeal: Opponents have been poking holes in the Grizzlies’ defense for more than a week now. The Portland Trail Blazers didn’t have much success from point-blank range so they played the role of sniper. The Blazers made 10 of 25 3-pointers Thursday night and handed the Grizzlies a 97-93 loss in the Rose Garden. “We allowed another team to shoot the ball extremely well,” Griz coach Lionel Hollins said, referring to the Blazers’ 55-percent shooting in the opening quarter. It was another disappointing defeat against a team with a sub-.500 record. The Griz also weren’t exactly facing a stout defensive team. Portland entered having allowed at least 111 points in three of its last four games. The Blazers’ average margin of defeat in their past five losses was 24.4 points. Yet Memphis dropped its second straight contest to start a four-game West Coast trip that resumes Saturday against the Los Angeles Clippers. Memphis has lost four of five games.
• Mike Tokito of The Oregonian: When will Hickson make his Blazers debut? Canales said he wasn’t sure. “We want him to go through the process of practicing -- being fair to him -- in terms of offensive schemes and defensive schemes,” Canales said. By claiming Hickson off waivers, the Blazers gained the right to tender him a qualifying offer after the season and make him a restricted free agent. Hickson said he wasn’t sure what his future would hold. “That’s up to the organization,” he said. “That’s something I have no control over. That’s something players will never, ever have control over. But you know, I’m just focused on finishing out the season strong and making a run for the playoffs.” As for Hickson's role down the stretch with Portland, Canales said he will figure out where Hickson fits on a team that has an All-Star power forward in LaMarcus Aldridge.
• Jody Genessy of the Deseret News: Alec Burks thinks Jimmer Fredette is a real cool dude. And, yes, the Utah Jazz rookie actually said "real cool dude" to describe the former BYU star, who was selected two spots higher than Fredette in last June's draft. But the Jazz's equally cool dude thinks Fredette was put in a tough situation this season — not because the somewhat dysfunctional Kings picked him up or that fellow rookie Isaiah Thomas zoomed past him into Sacramento's rotation midway through the season. Rather, Burks sympathizes with The Jimmer the pro trying to live up to The Jimmer the college superstar. "They had very high expectations because of what he did in college," Burks said. "But you know, in the right situation I feel like he could (meet them)." That, however, hasn't happened yet. Fredette is averaging 7.4 points this season on 38.5 percent shooting, and plenty of pundits, critics and fans have thrown the disappointment tag on his first professional campaign.
• Matt Kawahara of The Sacramento Bee: Tyreke Evans was again a reserve for the Kings on Thursday and will be until he decides otherwise. Evans came off the bench for the second consecutive game and only the second time this season against the Utah Jazz. Evans returned from a sprained left ankle Tuesday against the Memphis Grizzlies but said that night he decided to keep himself out of the starting lineup because John Salmons and the Kings had been playing well with Salmons starting at small forward. He apparently saw no reason to change things up against the Jazz, entering the game with a few seconds left in the first quarter. Kings coach Keith Smart said that deciding when Evans returns to the lineup is "in his hands."

It never takes long in the Twitterverse.

Jason Smith nailed Blake Griffin with what looked like a bounty-inspired bodycheck in the open floor Thursday night and, within seconds, Twitter quipsters were asking each other when Smith started getting his checks from the New Orleans Saints instead of the Hornets.

However …

Rightfully enraged as the Clippers were by a hit that got Smith suspended Friday for two games -- especially since he had the gall to wave his arms and milk the crowd's applause after getting ejected for a zero-percent play on the ball -- perhaps they’ll be a touch less furious when they hear this.

How Smith, in his own small way, unwittingly tried to help the Clippers land Chris Paul in December.

It’s certainly conceivable that NBA commissioner David Stern, essentially acting as the lead decision-maker for the league-owned Hornets, would have decided to veto the original three-team CP3 trade sending Paul to the Lakers instead of the Clippers under any circumstances.

Yet one source close to the talks insists that the Hornets, Lakers and Rockets were still searching for a consensus on the last piece of the trade framework needed to satisfy league salary-cap regulations when news of the trade began to spread.

And sources say that’s partly because Smith didn’t accept the sign-and-trade terms that were presented when he was asked to be part of the swap.

The principal pieces of the original three-team deal were indeed all agreed to: Paul would be going to Lakers, Pau Gasol was bound for Houston and New Orleans would be receiving Lamar Odom, Luis Scola, Kevin Martin and Goran Dragic along with a 2012 first-round draft pick from the Rockets that had been previously acquired from the New York Knicks. But based on that trade construction, sources say that the Lakers would have been forced to absorb another $3 million more in salary to make the cap math work.

The teams involved concluded that the best way to solve that issue would be for the Hornets to sign and trade Smith to the Lakers as part of the exchange. The Lakers, however, were only prepared to guarantee the first year of the three-year deal required in all sign-and-trades. Sources say Smith promptly rejected that offer, believing he should hold out for a longer-team deal, then had his decision vindicated when the Hornets later offered him a three-year deal worth $7.5 million with the first two years fully guaranteed.

Another option discussed, sources said, called for the Hornets to pull in Marcus Banks from oblivion and sign-and-trade Banks to the Lakers. Sources close to the process maintain that the Lakers, to this day, believe that at least two versions of the deal would have been acceptable to all three teams and that "either way there was a deal" presented to Stern for his signoff.
The belief likewise persists around the league that rival owners fuming about the prospect of an NBA-run franchise sending another superstar to Kobe Bryant’s team, on the heels of a long and bitter lockout that was supposed to deliver better competitive balance, are what influenced the commissioner’s decision to intervene more than anything … despite his stern denials to the contrary. Just as plausible is the notion that Stern was put off by the long-term contracts New Orleans were poised to take back in the Lakers/Rockets offer in fear that they might turn off potential buyers.

What we know for sure is that Stern, citing those infamously vague “basketball reasons” to explain his decision, did nix that three-teamer and told the Hornets’ basketball people to keep trying to strike a palatable Paul deal. Which opened the door for the Clippers to swoop in a few days later and swing the biggest trade in the franchise’s post-Buffalo history.

So if the Smith wrinkle played any part in slowing things down and steering CP3 back to the open market, maybe they’ll forgive him in Clipperland.

Someday.

• This is big. John Hollinger (Insider) trots out data showing that while it's hard to find evidence teams consistently perform well in crunch time on offense, there is much more evidence that their late-game defensive performances are not random. In other words, you might really be bad, and not just a victim of small sample size theater, getting late stops. Even more fascinating, one of this year's best defensive teams, the Sixers, is miserable playing defense in crunch time, and was last year too.
• Rob Mahoney of the Two Man Game on Lamar Odom: "Lamar Odom was entirely reduced to being a spot-up guy. Not a spot-up shooter -- just a spot-up guy. He parked himself on the perimeter -- spacing the floor in theory, I suppose -- for entire possessions at a time, and didn’t get all that many touches as a result. I want so badly to take it easy on Odom, but this is getting ridiculous; Rick Carlisle has given him miles of leeway, and yet 43 games into the season we have yet to see any kind of sustained spark. Inconsistency is one thing, but Odom’s lack of effort -- in a matchup in which he had everything to prove, no less – is completely pitiful. I won’t fault another man for dealing with his problems in whatever way he wishes, but I will say that this particular man is playing a brand of basketball so apathetic as to be altogether disrespectful to an organization that had embraced him as one of their own."
• Know where the Grizzlies got the inspiration to sign Gilbert Arenas? According to GM Chris Wallace on Chris Vernon's radio show, from this blog post from TrueHoop Network blog 3 Shades of Blue.
• What a difference a point guard can make for the Lakers.
• Royce Young of Daily Thunder on how the Thunder beat the Clippers: "It helps that the Clippers are a seriously poor defensive team. If you don’t like the Thunder’s defensive sense of urgency on the ball, then shield your eyes from the Clips. Because they seem to give you just about whatever you want."
• The Spurs are fantastic. Consider yourselves warned, again.
• There are all kinds of reasons to love Kyrie Irving's game. One of them has been that "... and he's only 19!" but that reason is going away with his birthday.
• Stephon Marbury is getting closer to his first title.
• Kenny Anderson has a candy strategy.
• I have been wondering the same thing myself: Why does MarShon Brooks sit so much?
• If you find yourself thinking of David Stern as anti-player, realize you are at odds with David Halberstam.
• JaVale McGee wins a game for the Nuggets. Who's laughing now? A few points, though: It was almost illegal for McGee to touch that ball, which is a little crazy. An inch or two here or there, and he has to just watch it bounce around the rim. Surely, we prefer to watch him dunk the game-winner, right? Also, watch Greg Monroe, the Piston who was trying to keep McGee off the glass. What happened there? Something happened, that's for sure.
• The Rockets are the opposite of tanking. Would be fun to see that work.
• Paul Silas is bitterly disappointed in the departed Boris Diaw. But let's be honest, as a player who helped the Bobcats earn a ton of lottery balls, Diaw is, perversely, perfectly in keeping with the organization's longer-term goals. Sad but true.
• The Bulls force the Raptors into a slew of long jumpers, and go on a decisive 20-0 fourth-quarter run.
• Whole mess of Euroleague playoff highlights.
• Mike Dunleavy is tearing it up. He plays for the Bucks, by the way.
• Tristan Thompson likes the condensed schedule, because he is young and likes playing games.

• Howard Beck of The New York Times: The Philadelphia 76ers are lording over the Atlantic Division after years of misery. The Knicks, bound in a cycle of perpetual dysfunction, are charging hard down the I-95 corridor, becoming a legitimate threat to the throne. The power shifted a bit Wednesday as the Knicks outhustled and out-scrapped the 76ers for an 82-79 victory, cutting the 76ers’ lead to three games with their fifth straight win. The game came down to defense, grit and Jeremy Lin’s unwavering self-confidence on a difficult night. Lin had 16 points in the fourth quarter — after shooting 1 for 11 in the first three periods — and scored the Knicks’ last 8 points, all from the foul line. “It’s just a credit to my teammates, how they kept the game close for me,” he said. “Man, the way they defended was unbelievable.” Amar’e Stoudemire, whose resurgence has been a huge part of the Knicks’ turnaround — and been simultaneously overshadowed by it — was energetic and demonstrative all night, leading the Knicks with 21 points and 9 rebounds. A defensive battle once would have favored Philadelphia. But the resurgent Knicks (23-24) have taken on the persona of their interim coach, Mike Woodson, who considers defense the highest virtue. They held the 76ers to 38.7 percent shooting and had a 47-39 rebounding advantage. The Knicks have not lost since Woodson took the reins, and Wednesday’s victory was certainly the biggest of the bunch. Despite speculation that Woodson might move away from Lin as a featured player, Lin continues to provide critical scoring and playmaking.
• John Smallwood of the Philadelphia Daily News With gas in the Big Apple running around $4 a gallon, it's probably a $40 to $50 car ride down the Jersey Turnpike to Philadelphia and back. You're looking at up to $20 in tolls and parking at the Wells Fargo Center runs at least $15. Then you still actually had to purchase tickets for Wednesday night's Sixers-Knicks game, and I doubt a lot of the $12 seats in the upper level were available. Add in concessions, and it was easily a $150 to $200 night for each Knicks fan. Funny thing is, that was still probably cheaper than taking the subway to Madison Square Garden for a real Knicks home game, assuming you could actually get access to a ticket. Average New Yorkers can't afford to go to a Knicks game, but they love their basketball team. That's why they think little of traveling the I-95 corridor to New Jersey, Washington and, yes, Philadelphia, where tickets are always available. That was not really a home game for the Sixers. At least half of the sellout crowd of 20,470 was cheering for New York, and at times it seemed like the entire building was. This was a hostile takeover of South Philadelphia - the type of invasion of somebody else's house that Eagles, Phillies and Flyers fans proudly brag about doing. The Knicks rode the love they got to an 82-79 home, um, road win.
• Jenni Carlson of The Oklahoman: Even though he’d been in Oklahoma City less than 24 hours and been through zero practices with the Thunder, he played 19 minutes against the Clippers. He scored five points, grabbed one rebound, dished one assist and even blocked one shot. “He fit in well,” reserve center Nazr Mohammed said of Fisher’s time with the second unit. “It helped that they played a lot of zone, but he’s played a long time. All the sets are the same, just different names.” Still, if Fisher can play that well cold, imagine what he’ll do after a practice or two. He’s more of a set-up guy in the mold of a traditional point guard, and that will be a lot easier once he has a chance to play a bit with these guys. “I think he’ll bring stability,” reserve forward Nick Collison said after one game with Fisher. “He’s good at handling pressure, at getting into offenses ... and being able to knock down open shots.” ... Today, the Thunder is closer to being a championship team because of the different things that Fisher can do. Yes, he’s going to be a great locker room guy, a fantastic community ambassador. But more than anything, he’s an upgrade in talent. The Thunder made the deal and spent the money because it expects big things from him on the court. “He’s not going to be this guy that’s going to be sitting down with our young players and saying, ‘I remember when we did this,’” Brooks said. “He has to be able to get out on the court and play and be a big part of what we do.”
• Tim Griffin of the San Antonio Express-News: Bruce Bowen got a little choked up when he talked about the Spurs organization Wednesday night as he became the seventh player in team history to have his jersey retired. “I thank you all for allowing me to be share this moment with you all,” Bowen said at the end of his 15-minute speech, his voice cracking just a tad. Looking resplendent in his customary bowtie, Bowen watched the action from courtside midcourt seats throughout the game. And it was fitting that his team took control of the victory over Minnesota in the second half with the kind of defensive effort that earned him five selections on the NBA’s All-Defensive first team. ... Bowen was joined on a makeshift stage at center court of the AT&T Center by former teammates Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili, Tony Parker, David Robinson, general manager R.C. Buford, Spurs coach Gregg Popovich and many family members. Most of the sellout crowd of 18,581 stayed around more than an hour after the Spurs’ victory over Minnesota to watch the ceremony.
• Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune: Wolves coach Rick Adelman compensated Wednesday at San Antonio by starting rookie Derrick Williams alongside Kevin Love in a small lineup, while 7-foot Darko Milicic remained on the sideline and out of favor. Milicic was inactive for Monday's victory against Golden State and its smallish lineup after he started Sunday at Sacramento but played only the first six minutes. He did not play in the two games before that and was inactive the game before. This season, he has missed games some nights because of a variety of injuries and other nights because Adelman has chosen not to play him. "He hasn't done anything to really give you a lot of faith that he's going to go out and do the job," Adelman said of Milicic. "He's gotten himself out of shape. He hasn't been as driven as you'd like so when a situation like this happens, it's time for someone to have their opportunity and get back in there. Today, [Williams] going to get his chance and Anthony Randolph is going to get his chance and we'll see if any of those guys can step up." Adelman then went out and relied on a small lineup that featured Love, Williams and Anthony Tolliver.
• Elliott Teaford of the Los Angeles Daily News: It figures to be only a matter of time before Ramon Sessions moves into the Lakers' starting lineup, returning Steve Blake to a backup role at point guard. That time wasn't Wednesday night, however. Blake started for the fourth consecutive game since the Lakers traded Derek Fisher to the Houston Rockets and acquired Sessions from Cleveland in a multi-player deal at the trade deadline last Thursday. Sessions' impact has been difficult to miss, with his speed and ability to get into the paint among the chief reasons the Lakers traded for him. He isn't comfortable with either the Lakers' offensive or defensive schemes, however. "I'm definitely not up to speed yet," Sessions said. "I'm not comfortable like I would like to be just because I don't know exactly where everybody is supposed to be out on the floor. I'm starting to know more plays for myself as where I'm supposed to go. "But being a point guard, I want to dictate where everybody else goes and tell them where to go. I'm going to get it sooner or later. It's a little different than in Cleveland. I'm definitely trying to get all the concepts down as soon as possible." As for moving Sessions into the starting lineup sooner rather than later, Lakers coach Mike Brown said it's not a pressing concern at the moment.
• Dwain Price of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram: Shawn Marion missed his third consecutive game Wednesday night when the Dallas Mavericks hosted the Los Angeles Lakers. Marion is suffering from a sore left knee that has been bothering him for some time. His absence left the Mavs in a difficult position to try and contain Lakers superstar Kobe Bryant, who was just 11 of 37 from the field with 29 points in two previous meetings this season with Marion shadowing him. Marion, one of the game's best defenders, wanted to play in the worst possible way. "It's not so much about playing against Kobe," he said. "It's just going out there and fighting with my team. "Other than that, it is what it is." Marion hopes to be back in time for Friday's game in San Antonio.
• Vincent Goodwill of The Detroit News: Sometimes words don't do an event justice. The Pistons' found a way to lose a game they had no business winning. After the Pistons came back from a 25-point deficit, two crucial mistakes in the final five seconds left to a demoralizing 116-115 defeat to the Denver Nuggets on Wednesday at Pepsi Center. Flint native JaVale McGee dunked in a Arron Afflalo free-throw line miss with 5.6 seconds left, after Ben Gordon fouled Afflalo on a layup that cut the lead to one. It negated a historic comeback from the Pistons and a similar night from Gordon, who scored a season-high 45, three away from his career high. Gordon missed a contested fadeaway as time expired. "Sometimes you have to experience a little bit of hell to get to heaven," said Pistons coach Lawrence Frank, whose team's last two losses were heartbreaking.
• Christopher Dempsey of The Denver Post: About 20 minutes after the Nuggets' great escape, George Karl sat down in front of the media for a postgame Pepsi Center news conference and flashed the grin of a coach who knew his team had gotten away with something. Detroit's Ben Gordon scored 45 points. The Nuggets blew a 25-point lead. The Pistons outran the running Nuggets, 24 fast-break points to 14. Detroit hit 14 3-pointers and almost as many free throws (21) as the Nuggets took (22). And yet, on Wednesday night, this happened: Nuggets 116, Pistons 115. In regulation. In hair-raising fashion. "I don't know if we were the best team," Karl said. "But I thought it was a (darn) good played game."
• Michael Lee of The Washington Post: For the first time in nearly 10 years, Nene stepped into an NBA arena and he wasn’t representing the Denver Nuggets or wearing the No. 31. The last week has been an emotional and reflective one for Nene, with him being uprooted from the only NBA franchise he has known and being thrust from a team with playoff aspirations to another headed toward the lottery. Surrounded by an unfamiliar set of teammates, in an unusual red uniform with a horizontal stripe and with hip-hop mogul and New Jersey Nets co-owner Jay-Z seated courtside, Nene didn’t waste any time settling in. On the first possession of the Washington Wizards’ 108-89 win over the Nets on Wednesday night at Prudential Center, Nene caught the ball at the foul line and sprinted around Nets center Shelden Williams for an easy layup. The rest of the evening, Nene showed why the Wizards added him to the roster at the trade deadline in a three-team deal. He set solid screens to get his teammates open looks, played effective defense in the low post, and finished with 22 points, 10 rebounds, two assists and a blocked shot in the decisive victory.
• Andy Vasquez of The Record: For the second straight game Deron Williams left Prudential Center without speaking to reporters; his locker was empty when the Nets’ locker room was opened to media. Johnson questioned his team’s effort for the first time in more than a month. “I’m always one that’s tried to be really, really positive, at all times with our team,” Johnson said. “But [the effort] could have been better.” It was all part of one of the most frustrating nights in a season full of frustrating nights. The Nets would have to win their remaining 18 games to finish at .500. The team has lost six out of seven in a stretch that all but guarantees the team’s final month in New Jersey will be completely irrelevant. “Demoralizing,” Anthony Morrow said of the loss.
• Brian Schmitz of the Orlando Sentinel: By toning down their feelings to scattered boos, it’s nice that Magic fans either have 1)forgiven Hill for not re-signing 2) simply recognize an old, worn-out storyline. ... The Magic won their 30th game, although they’ve been inconsistent this season. The view on the other side of the glass is different. “They’ve won 30 games. I don’t know what everybody is complaining about here,” Suns coach Alvin Gentry said. ... Magic’s offense flamed out late in Miami and scored just 59 points all game Monday against the Bulls. Nothing like the arrival of the Suns’ defense to lighten the mood.
• Paul Coro of The Arizona Republic: If the Suns need a reminder of how far they have come this season, they just replayed how dismally they started the season. To find a game in which Steve Nash and Marcin Gortat were simultaneously askew as they were Wednesday night for a 103-93 loss at Orlando, rewind to the second game of this season against Philadelphia. The Suns never competed with the Magic anywhere nearly as well as the final margin indicates. Nash had two assists, nine fewer than his league-leading average, and five turnovers while Gortat had a scoreless first half and finished with four points, 12 fewer than his team-leading average. It was like Dec. 28, when Nash had one assist and six turnovers and Gortat had his other season-low four-point game.
• Marcus Thompson II of The Oakland Tribune: The rarity of it isn't lost on Klay Thompson. The Warriors rookie took 24 shots in Wednesday's 101-92 win over the New Orleans Hornets. Sure, he made only 11, which isn't a percentage worth bragging about. But the bigger point is he got to take 24 shots. Dorell Wright hasn't taken 20 in a game this season. Stephen Curry, though he's played only 26 games, tops out at 21. David Lee, a seventh-year vet, has taken that many shots just five times -- in his career. "As a rookie, to put up 24 shots is really rare," said Thompson, who set a career high with 27 points. "I'm really thankful Coach (Mark) Jackson has the confidence in me to let me take those shots and play my game." The Warriors have no doubt shown confidence in Thompson, anointing him the successor to guard Monta Ellis, the team's star shooting guard for years before being dealt to Milwaukee on March 13. But it's already obvious why Golden State is willing to stake its future on the rookie. In the six games since the Ellis trade, Thompson is averaging 20 points in 37 minutes. He's shooting 40.9 percent in those games, but that's probably more because he's working on his repertoire and learning how to be a reliable scorer. The fact that he's taken 24 shots -- and no one on the team is griping about it -- is a sign of his potential as a scorer.
• John Reid of The Times-Picayune: Center Emeka Okafor remains the lone injured Hornets player without a clear timetable on his return with 20 games remaining in the regular season. He missed his 19th consecutive game on Wednesday with a sore left knee. “When you get injured, you have to make sure you take care of it,” Okafor said. “That’s the process here, I’m working hard and being diligent. I’m rehabbing.”
• Michael Cunningham of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Hawks coach Larry Drew often describes it as a seduction. When the Hawks, a good defensive team, take the court against a bad defensive team, they just can’t help themselves. Instead of clamping down and dominating the weaker foe, the Hawks are content to run up and down the court trying to trade baskets. The Hawks tried that plan against Cleveland on Wednesday, and it nearly backfired. They needed some big shots from Joe Johnson to save them. Johnson’s 25-foot 3-pointer forced overtime, and his basket provided the winning margin in the Hawks’ 103-102 victory at Philips Arena. The Hawks (27-20) won for the third time in four games. Johnson had struggled shooting all game, but made amends at the end.
• Tom Reed of The Plain Dealer Some high draft picks do not want to attend the NBA's summer leagueafter they have established themselves. Irving is not in that category. "Even if Coach Scott didn't want me to go, I was going to be there anyway," Irving said. Scott believes it would be good for rookies Irving and Tristan Thompson to play together, even if it's only for a few games. Irving went a step further: With as many as four draft picks joining the team in July, the newbies will have a chance to play with the starting point guard. Due to the lockout, neither Irving nor Thompson took part in last year's summer league in Las Vegas. Irving said he knows it can be an anxious time for young guys trying to make a favorable impression. "I'm going there to cool everybody down," Irving said. "[I'll] be the cool guy down there."
• Neil Hayes of the Chicago Sun-Times: C.J. Watson missed all eight of his shots from the floor in Monday night’s 85-59 wipeout of the Magic in Orlando, but that doesn’t mean he played a lousy game, according to Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau. “I don’t necessarily judge him by his shots,” Thibodeau said. “I measure him more on how he runs the team and how the team is functioning and how he’s playing defense. He can play well when he doesn’t shoot well. That’s what he did in that game.” The Bulls were 10-4 without MVP Derrick Rose heading into Wednesday night’s game against the Toronto Raptors, which says a lot about their depth at point guard. John Lucas III and Mike James also have played key roles. “C.J. has played very well whenever he has started,” Thibodeau said. “He’s been solid. John has been terrific. The bench has been very good. Then our starters have done a good job.” The Bulls will need continued solid play from Watson, Lucas III and James because Rose might not return from a strained groin for several more days, if not longer.
• Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun: Stop if you've heard this one before: The Raptors played a solid three quarters before wilting in the fourth to lose a basketball game. It has happened a number of times this season and on Wednesday, the Chicago Bulls used a final frame flurry to disappoint the Raptors 94-82 at the ACC. After surrendering a disappointing 69 points through three, the league's second-stingiest defence buckled down and scored the first 10 points of the fourth and 16 of the first 19, to turn around a seven-point deficit and take complete control. "Chicago is not chopped liver. We competed for three and a half quarters of the game," summarized Raptors head coach Dwane Casey, who said he is still looking to see his club put four good quarters together against a quality team.

• Harvey Araton of The New York Times: Mike D’Antoni never stood a chance once Donnie Walsh left Madison Square Garden last June as a paid consultant under an unofficial gag order. Coach D’Antoni was tied to President Walsh in a rare demonstration of teamwork and civility within the Knicks’ front office. But once the big man, James L. Dolan, undermined the no-nonsense Walsh last season, the renaissance was destined to give way to another Knicks era of confrontation and chaos. D’Antoni’s announced resignation Wednesday was no more than a formality, a good man cutting his losses after a brief but short-lived romance with Linsanity. After nearly four years in the chronically dysfunctional house of Dolan, the brief window where Jeremy Lin emerged to make the Knicks a fluid and watchable team within the trademark D’Antoni offense is the door prize the newly unemployed D’Antoni gets to take home. Those games become part of the portfolio to go along with the job applications. ... So this is where the Knicks are now. Far from the vision Walsh once had to not only build a contender but also to make the Knicks an organization that functioned like a team and not some drunken fraternity house. But Walsh never stood a chance once Dolan decided he had to have Anthony. And D’Antoni was gone once Walsh decided that being a consultant in Indianapolis until his contract was finished was the right way to go. It wasn’t a waste of time for D’Antoni to stay on, though. He leaves with the satisfaction of knowing that he won more without Anthony than with him.
• Mike Gavin of Newsday: Amar'e Stoudemire admitted that a division in the Knicks ' locker room played a role in Mike D'Antoni 's unexpected departure. "I think he was frustrated with the fact that everyone wasn't buying into his system," Stoudemire said. "It made him look bad. So he thought that, I guess, stepping down was the best way for him. But as players, we have to look forward." D'Antoni 's surprise resignation came after the Knick's had lost six straight games and failed to effectively incorporate Carmelo Anthony back into the offense following his return from injury. ... Many players expressed disappointment and surprise over D'Antoni's sudden departure, including Jeremy Lin. "Obviously, I miss him a lot," Lin said. "What he did for me and my career. I'm not going to forget what he did for me personally. I am sad to see him go. I owe him a lot."
• Marc Berman of the New York Post: When the Knicks visited the Lakers in late December at Staples Center, Phil Jackson planned to sit in the front row with his girlfriend, and Lakers VP, Jeanie Buss. But at the last minute, Jackson pulled out, thinking it was unfair to Mike D’Antoni because his presence would be misconstrued. Now with D’Antoni gone and Mike Woodson serving as interim coach, Jackson can feel free to attend any Knicks games. The next step is expected to be owner James Dolan courting Jackson again after the season and bringing on Philsanity. Dolan must see if he can bring the Zen Master out of retirement and finally make him a Knicks coach after two failed attempts. Six years ago, they failed to entice Jackson as he chose to return to the Lakers because he didn’t want to leave Buss in Los Angeles In 1999, they stuck with Jeff Van Gundy after an awkward attempt at courting Jackson. According to a source, leaving Los Angeles and his girlfriend won’t be a determinant factor for Jackson this time around. Buss makes many business trips to New York. A source said Jackson hasn’t been approached by any NBA team since retiring last May. ... Other candidates who should be considered include another retiree, Jerry Sloan, who reportedly would have interest in New York; John Calipari, the Kentucky coach who already has tweeted his disinterest; Blazers coach Nate McMillan, whose team got slaughtered by the Knicks 121-79 Wednesday night at the Garden and could be fired; longtime NBA coach Mike Dunleavy, who likes New York City; and Mike Krzyzewski, the Duke coach who finally could take the step to the pros.
• Dave D’Alessandro of The Star-Ledger: So Carmelo Anthony won the turf war, for now. He was modest in victory, even trying to return to the one-of-the-boys status he once enjoyed in the locker room, and he did it by reminding Woodson that he is “one of the leaders of this team, (so) if he sees anything I’m not doing, hold me accountable. That’s the biggest thing coach Woodson can do, is hold everyone accountable for what happens on the court.” The next victim, who had an unremarkable six-year tenure in Atlanta, said, “I’m gonna be holding guys accountable for that, things will be changed as we move along.” He has 23 games to prove it. But until he proves to be a coach who knows how the pieces must fit, the Knicks just killing time. Until that time they find a coach who can get the resident star to conform to something other than the style that made him a first-round casualty in seven of his eight seasons, the Knicks are just spinning their wheels.
• Andy Vasquez of The Record: Avery Johnson knows what it's like to coach superstars; as Dallas coach, he presided over the rise of Dirk Nowitzki into one of the NBA's finest big men. He's had the chance to play beside them, too; Johnson ran the point and won a championship in 1999 with Tim Duncan, David Robinson and the Spurs. Now he could be about to embark on the unique challenge of coaching two superstars. If the Nets can swing a deal for Dwight Howard before today's 3 o'clock deadline, Johnson would have a roster that includes the consenus best center in the league and one of the top point guards in Deron Williams. Having multiple stars can be a major luxury, as Johnson has witnessed. But it also can be difficult. If Howard has proven anything through this whole trade demand process, it's that he's quite fickle. And then you need only to look across the river to Madison Square Garden to confirm just how difficult it is dealing with multiple big names. ... If Howard comes to the Nets today, the team instantly will vault from obscurity and into the spotlight of the back pages. No one will have a bigger challenge on his hands than Johnson. But the man has been an eternal optimist all season, despite the dismal lows the Nets have reached. It's a challenge the coach is ready to embrace.
• Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel: Alex Martins' comment was vague, but not that vague. Magic officials now seem more determined than ever not to be left without compensation for Howard. The franchise has been down that road before: In 1996, Shaquille O'Neal signed a free-agent deal with the Lakers, and the Magic received no assets in return. Howard stuck to his position Wednesday night. "They took a chance on me at 18," he said, referring to how the Magic selected him with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2004 draft instead of seasoned, highly touted UConn player Emeka Okafor. "And what did I do? I gave them everything I have for eight years. Take a chance again. I go out every night and play hard. If I didn't want to win, I would've dogged it. But I can't do that. That's not who I am. And look where we are. We're in a great position. All I said was 'take a chance.' They took a chance on me at 18 when everybody else said, 'No, don't do it.' It looked stupid at first, but look now. It's the same situation. That's it. I understand their situation. I understand mine, too." Asked what he expects for Thursday, he responded, "I don't know. I'm going to go get on the plane with my teammates, and we're going to have a good time, and that's it. That's it."
• George Diaz of the Orlando Sentinel: How do you feel today, Orlando? Jilted? Played for a fool? Betrayed? You know the symptoms of March Sadness: Big superstar wants a divorce and doesn't care whether you are groveling and drooling like a slobbery dog, begging him to stay. Sure, Dwight Howard is saying he wants to stay. He even told the Magic on Wednesday that he would not opt out of his contract at the end of this season. That essentially would give the Magic another year to put enough pieces in place to keep him around forever and ever. Let the couples counseling begin! But without a legal document, there is nothing to keep Dwight from bolting. And we all know that he's eyeing that voluptuous city along the Eastern Seaboard or perhaps itching for a little Californication.
• Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle: The Rockets have been among the most aggressive teams in trying to work a deal, but the Magic have generally looked the other way. The tougher decisions for the Rockets could be about the strength of the team. They are solid in the backcourt, as evidenced by the wins without starters Kyle Lowry and Kevin Martin. The Rockets have insisted they would not move Lowry even in a deal for Pau Gasol, their preseason target. One front office executive said he believed the Rockets would make that deal, arguing that they had to hold out something to offer at the last minute and Lowry is the only way to up the ante. But the Rockets’ offer of Martin, Luis Scola, Goran Dragic and a pick was made at the last minute before training camp and was made they thought to close the deal. The Lakers are not likely to move Gasol unless for the sort of young potential star the Rockets are trying to get and not move, or a major upgrade at point guard, but the Rockets’ plan has been to pair a frontcourt star with Lowry at the point. Martin seems clearly to not to be working out for Kevin McHale. His role in the offense has been dramatically reduced. He has struggled lately, but the Rockets also do not use him at all like someone that has led them in scoring since they got him and is coming off a career year. They can’t run the high-post parts of last season’s offense because they don’t have last season’s high-post passers, but they also do not often run the sort of cross screens and pin-downs they could for a scorer like Martin.
• Joe Freeman of The Oregonian: The game started under a cloud of intrigue, with buzz circulating that the Blazers were poised to trade backup shooting guard Jamal Crawford to the Minnesota Timberwolves in a three-team deal with the Los Angeles Lakers that would net the Blazers a first-round draft pick and a point guard (perhaps Steve Blake) in return. Crawford's agent, Andy Miller, confirmed details of the trade with The Oregonian. Even so, Crawford and coach Nate McMillan said before tipoff that Crawford would play. But at the last second, according to a source close to the situation, all parties -- the Blazers, Crawford and Miller -- decided it was best for Crawford to sit. Crawford, who was not available for comment after the game, has been playing with right knee tendinitis in recent games and the sides did not want to risk an injury with a near-certain trade in the works, the source said.
• John Canzano of The Oregonian: I have no confidence that Paul Allen and his merry band of men know what they're doing. The organization's greatest asset has always been, and will always be, the die-hard fan base who still want to believe long after the players themselves have given up. And yes, the Blazers have quit on this season. The executives appear to be trying, but I'm not sure they're capable. Bash Allen if you'd like for his failure to connect with his customer. The guy's a billion-dollar piñata. But the bigger offense is that Allen still apparently believes that he knows better than the good basketball people in the league, despite a pile of evidence (odd draft picks and lousy trades) since firing Pritchard and Rich Cho that suggest otherwise. Maybe Allen is going to sell the Blazers. Maybe he aims to fire Nate McMillan at the end of the season and make Phil Jackson a coach/GM offer he can't refuse. Maybe he's just lost, and guessing. Allen wants to make a trade today for the sake of making one? Here's one: Give up playing fantasy league for just being a good owner. Hire a general manager and get out of the way. I'd celebrate that.
• Charley Walters of the Pioneer Press: Don't be surprised if the Timberwolves trade forward Michael Beasley to the Los Angeles Lakers and acquire guard Jamal Crawford from Portland in a three-team deal that would send Lakers guard Derek Fisher to the Trail Blazers. The NBA trading deadline is 2 p.m. CDT on Thursday, March 15. The Timberwolves are looking for backcourt help after point guard Ricky Rubio's recent season-ending anterior cruciate ligament tear. Crawford could play off guard for Minnesota, and Luke Ridnour and J.J. Barea could handle most of the point guard responsibilities. Crawford is averaging 14.2 points a game for Portland, primarily in a reserve role. Meanwhile, Rubio will have knee surgery in Colorado as soon as swelling recedes.
• Kevin Ding of The Orange County Register: The Lakers are reportedly close to a trade that would bring forward Michael Beasley, the No. 2 overall pick in the 2008 draft, from the Minnesota Timberwolves, but Lakers coach Mike Brown said Wednesday night when about it: "This is the first time I have heard his name today." Beasley, 23, has intrigued the Lakers previously, although there are questions about his dedication and focus. Beasley would upgrade the Lakers' athleticism even with his 6-foot-10 height and add youth. He would be a project of sorts for Brown, who prides himself on being able to make anyone into a solid defender. The swap might cost the Lakers at least their part-time point guard Steve Blake, who might go with one of the first-round picks the Lakers are holding to Portland, which would give guard Jamal Crawford to the Timberwolves. Blake, who has been sharing minutes over starter Derek Fisher, suited up for the Lakers' game Wednesday night in New Orleans, as scheduled.
• Mike Wells of The Indianapolis Star: Two vacant roster spots. More than $14 million in salary cap space. The Indiana Pacers are in the position to buy before today's 3 p.m. trade deadline. Now the front office must decide if it's time to make a move. The Pacers need help at center because Roy Hibbert hasn't played like an All-Star since that game late last month. There's no timetable on when veteran Jeff Foster will return from his back problems and Lou Amundson is a power forward filling in at center. The Pacers, who have received calls from teams because of their cap space, also could use another scorer. ... The Pacers tried to acquire New Orleans center Chris Kaman last month. They'll likely make another run at him. Pacers President Larry Bird has no interest in giving up a first-round draft pick for an expiring contract because he thinks this year's draft will be deep enough that Indiana will get a good player. The Pacers have until the end of June to use their salary cap space if they don't make a move today.
• John Reid of The Times-Picayune: Although center Chris Kaman continues to draw the most trade interest among New Orleans Hornets players as the NBA trade deadline of 3 p.m. today approaches, sources confirmed Wednesday that the franchise is willing to part ways with any of their veterans if they can acquire additional first-round picks and expiring contracts in a deal. Going into today’s deadline, the Hornets have been trying to trade center Emeka Okafor, and they have listened to offers for starting small forward Trevor Ariza as well as exploring offers for Kaman, according to sources. But Ariza’s agent, David Lee, said by telephone Wednesday that he hasn’t heard of any trade scenarios involving his client. He said anything can happen between now and the trade deadline. Okafor’s agent, Jeff Schwartz, could not be reached for comment. But Okafor said if anything was going on, his agent would have contacted him.
• Paul Coro of The Arizona Republic: If the Suns look different Thursday night on the road against the Los Angeles Clippers than they did Wednesday at home against the Utah Jazz, it likely will be because of their schedule, not Thursday's noon trade deadline. The Suns could rest co-captains Steve Nash and Grant Hill Thursday night for the second of three games in three nights, but the roster is expected to remain the same after the NBA trade deadline passes. "As of now, there is nothing that appeals to us," Suns President of Basketball Operations Lon Babby said Wednesday night. "It's possible that something would coalesce, but I wouldn't expect it to. ... I don't anticipate that we will have anything, but we will keep talking to the last possible minute." The Suns' payroll is set up to have salary-cap space that will allow for signing one or two maximum-level free agents this summer or making a trade that takes on salary after July 1. "We're not going to do something in the short run at the expense of our long-term plan," Babby said.
• Ronald Tillery of The Commercial-Appeal: The Grizzlies are in the midst of a successful season so far but routinely acknowledge they could use more long-distance shooting and better productivity at backup point guard. They are weighing whether free-agent Gilbert Arenas could satisfy both needs, according to multiple NBA sources. Arenas, 30, remains unemployed after the Orlando Magic made him one of the first casualties of the amnesty clause provided in the NBA’s latest collective bargaining agreement. The Grizzlies can add Arenas because they employ a 14-man roster. Teams can carry 15 players. A source said the Grizzlies are in a conditional pursuit of Arenas. Memphis wants to see Arenas in a private workout before making a decision. The Griz originally sought to sign Arenas to a 10-day contract but the veteran combo guard is looking for a guaranteed deal for the rest of the season. ... The NBA trade deadline is 2 p.m. today and Memphis has only pursued deals involving Sam Young. The little-used swingman is out of the team’s rotation and in the last year of his deal. The Griz have spoken to at least six teams in an attempt to move Young for a draft pick. The odds of Young leaving in a trade by this afternoon’s deadline are “50/50,” according to a source with knowledge of the Grizzlies’ trade discussions.
• Tom Moore phillyBurbs.com: Discussion among the NBA’s 30 teams typically picks up on the day of the trade deadline, which is Thursday at 3 p.m. But 76ers president Rod Thorn said he doesn’t know if that will happen this year. “I’ve been on the phone all day,” Thorn said in a telephone conversation late Wednesday afternoon. “I don’t know how much busier it could get. We’ll see.” While agreeing with head coach Doug Collins that he doesn’t envision making a blockbuster trade because “I don’t see anything that makes sense for us along those lines,” Thorn said the Sixers could end up using a $2.4 million trade exception they acquired from the Jan. 4 Marreese Speights deal to the Grizzlies. “That’s a possibility,” Thorn said. “We’ve talked to several teams about doing something along those lines.” The Sixers could swap a future second-round pick and the trade exception for a player. Their roster stands at 13, two below the league maximum of 15. ... Thorn denied that he’s targeting a backup big man, which some might think given the uncertainty with starting center Spencer Hawes (strained left Achilles) having missed 26 of the 28 games prior to Wednesday. “It could be a wing-type of a guy we might be looking for now that Evan (Turner) is in the starting lineup,” Thorn said. “Coming off the bench, Evan can play forward or guard.”
• Michael Lee of The Washington Post: So far, the Wizards haven’t been able to find anyone willing to step on the dance floor. The Wizards have aggressively tried to move Andray Blatche for several weeks but Blatche said he expects to be in New Orleans when the team takes the court on Thursday. Coach Randy Wittman also said that he plans on having Blatche in uniform when the Wizards take on the Hornets. Blatche has had a disappointing season and is averaging just 5.2 points and 3.7 rebounds in six games since returning from a strained left calf, which sidelined him for nearly a month. The three years and nearly $23 million remaining on Blatche’s contract and questions about his conditioning and character have turned off several teams. “Dray won’t be moved due to a lack of interest,” one person with knowledge of the situation said on Wednesday. According to an ESPN.com report, the Wizards tried to pair JaVale McGee with Blatche to get teams to budge, but the same source said that package “doesn’t get it done.”
• Jason Jones of The Sacramento Bee: By the time today's NBA trade deadline passes at noon PDT, the odds are the Kings will have the same roster that finished Wednesday's game against the Detroit Pistons at Power Balance Pavilion. Kings basketball president Geoff Petrie did not rule out the possibility of a deal but said the chances any trade would qualify as a blockbuster are small. "If we do, it's more than likely to be something on the periphery of things," Petrie said. "It's really unlikely there's some huge deal out there." Last year's big deal was the Kings sending forward Carl Landry to New Orleans for guard Marcus Thornton, who is now the Kings' leading scorer and signed a four-year contract in the offseason. In 2010, the Kings traded guard Kevin Martin to Houston in a deal that brought Landry to Sacramento.