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• Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe: The Celtics are not expected to have Avery Bradley for the rest of the season because of a left shoulder injury. A source close to Bradley told the Globe that the percentile is in the "high 90s" that Bradley will be shut down and will perhaps need surgery. The source said that it's "highly likely" Bradley's left shoulder would pop out again -- it has popped out twice in the series against the Philadelphia 76ers -- and playing further would put him at risk of "serious structural damage." Bradley has missed the past two games with soreness in both shoulders, and the team's brass along with Bradley's representatives appear close to deciding to sit him for the remainder of the playoffs. Celtics coach Doc Rivers called Bradley's injury "day to day" but said he was not sure when he would return.
• Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald: So the teams will reconvene on Saturday at the Garden to conclude the series in a Game 7. But if that’s going to be anything like what we witnessed in Game 6, you kind of wish they’d have just settled it on penalty kicks last night. All the talk of how the Celtics will match up in the next round has been replaced by the club’s mortal fear that its season could be over on Saturday. And it almost certainly will be if they don’t find it in them to move the ball better. Key stat comparison: Rajon Rondo came into Game 6 averaging 14.6 assists in the series, but last night the Celts had 14 as a team. The Bostonians couldn’t hit the ocean from the end of the pier for most of the night, shooting a whopping 33.3 percent. And this was particularly problematic because they took 55 outside shots and just 23 in the paint. ... It is said that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but anyone -- beyond Sixers types understandably happy to survive another day -- finding pulchritude here needs to visit an optometrist forthwith.
• John N. Mitchell of The Philadelphia Inquirer: The Sixers have looked for Evan Turner to go to the glass and grab rebounds, start the fastbreak whenever the opportunity presents itself, and score more, something that coach Doug Collins has implored him to do. But one of his more pressing assignments going into Wednesday's win-or-go-home Game 6 victory over visiting Boston was to play a major role in helping to slow mercurial point guard Rajon Rondo. Not an easy task in this series, which has seen Rondo, on top of averaging 14.4 points and 14.6 assists through five games, mostly control the tempo in just about every contest. A huge part of Turner's Game 6 responsibility was to spread his 6-7 frame for long stretches of the game and - along with Jrue Holiday and Lou Williams at times - impede Rondo's progress wherever he went on the floor. Mission accomplished. Rondo was pedestrian at best, finishing with nine points on 4-for-14 shooting. His nine assists marked the first time this series he has not finished with at least 13, which goes back to Boston for Game 7 on Saturday. Collins gave assistant coach Michael Curry a lot of the credit for formulating the defense that finally stopped perhaps the best pure point guard in the league.
• Linda Robertson of The Miami Herald: NBA commissioner David Stern had no choice but to punish Haslem and Pittman. They were lucky it wasn’t worse. Pittman’s foul, which sent Stephenson to the X-ray room, was arguably as malicious as Metta World Peace’s elbow to the head of James Harden, who sustained a concussion. World Peace was suspended seven games. Stern doesn’t want to see the NBA sink to the level of the NFL, where the bounty scandal and the concussion issue have cast football in a mean, inhumane light. Nor can Stern allow the NBA playoffs to devolve into the mayhem that hurt the early part of the NHL playoffs. The NHL didn’t react quickly, but it did react correctly by ordering a 25-game suspension of Phoenix enforcer Raffi Torres for going after the head of Chicago’s Marian Hossa. There is no place for goons in sports today, not when the athletes are bigger, stronger, faster and able to inflict long-lasting damage. Haslem wasn’t trying to injure Hansbrough, but he took his payback role too seriously. ... If anything, the bruising nature of this series has dispelled the notion of Miami as the glamour team. This is a team Pat Riley and Alonzo Mourning can be proud of. Instead it was Pacers president Larry Bird bemoaning, “I can’t believe my team went soft. S-O-F-T.” There will be nothing soft about Game 6. But keep it clean.
• Bob Kravitz of The Indianapolis Star: For all of those counting out Indiana, my question is this: What have you been watching all year? This team has been tough-minded and resilient all season. It has had some bad performances, but the bad basketball hasn’t lingered. Pacers coach Frank Vogel said the other day, “They haven’t seen our best game.” Tonight, with the season on the line, the Heat will get the Pacers’ best game, even if it means Granger plays on one leg. ... The big problem for the Pacers is, they finally have the Heat’s attention. Maybe it was some of the pre-series talk. Maybe it was Stephenson’s foolish “choke” gesture. Probably it was the fact the Pacers were going toe-to-toe with them and pushing the Heat to the brink of utter desperation. Now the Pacers are in that spot. ... If these teams played with gloves, they would have dropped them already. But this shouldn’t be about evening the score on the stitches scoreboard. It should be about evening the score in this series, and making Miami sweat a seventh game in a series that deserves a seventh game.
• Jeff McDonald of the San Antonio Express-News: The Western Conference finals are sure to bring about comparisons between a pair of super subs: Oklahoma City’s James Harden and the Spurs’ Manu Ginobili. Both are left-handed. Both have NBA Sixth Man of the Year awards on their mantles. Both play with a herky-jerky style that can be murder to defend. Harden, however, is the one with The Beard. “Mine doesn’t get that good,” Ginobili said. “I’ve tried.” One other key difference between the two: only Harden will enter Game 1 on Sunday with soaring confidence. Ginobili is coming off his second straight poor-shooting series, going 17 for 42 in the second-round sweep of the Los Angeles Clippers. That included a 6-for-21 showing from 3-point range that dropped his playoff percentage to 25.7 percent (9 of 35). Asked after practice Wednesday to gauge his confidence level in his jump shot, Ginobili said: “Not the best it’s been.” ... For the second time in this postseason, Ginobili is hopeful the start of a new series will change his luck. “This is a whole new story, a new series, and we don’t care about what happened against Utah or the Clippers,” Ginobili said. “Hopefully, I start off on the right foot."
• Darnell Mayberry of The Oklahoman: Kevin Durant on Wednesday shared his feelings on the violence that overshadowed Monday night's Game 5 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers. “Anytime violence is involved it's unfortunate,” Durant said of the shooting that left eight people wounded. “But the only thing I can do is pray for the victims and hopefully everything gets resolved.” Russell Westbrook was finishing postgame interviews when word spread of the shooting but said just before the announcement was made that the Thunder Alley watch party would end that he'd be disappointed to see it go. “It's crazy how many people were outside and how many people come and support,” Westbrook said. “So I think they'll be a little disappointed. So hopefully they don't cut it off.” Forward Serge Ibaka said he was amazed at the size of the crowd outside when he saw live footage of the gathering flash on the Jumbotron during the game. “I appreciate the fans and their support because it's something amazing. I've never seen it in my life,” Ibaka said.
• Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel: ESPN reported Wednesday night that Shaquille O'Neal will meet with Orlando Magic officials next week to discuss the team's vacant general manager job. ... The notion of O'Neal as the Magic's general manager seems absurd at first blush, second blush and third blush. He played his first four NBA seasons for the Magic, leading the team to the 1995 Finals, but he left the franchise via free agency in 1996. One of the first tasks for the new Magic general manager will be to try to convince Dwight Howard to remain with the team for the long term. That could be difficult. SheridanHoops.com, citing an anonymous source, has reported that Howard wants a trade. O'Neal's relationship with Howard has deteriorated in recent years. O'Neal has hurled barbs and veiled insults in Howard's direction in recent years. And O'Neal has said he thinks Howard should remain with the Magic.
• Tony Bizjak of The Sacramento Bee: Restaurateur Patrick Mulvaney got a shock a few weeks ago when he contacted a client, the Sacramento Kings, to discuss last-minute details for a banquet at his midtown eatery. A Kings executive told him they were canceling the lunch at Mulvaney's Building & Loan. They had just seen Mulvaney's signature on a letter from 21 Sacramento businessmen to the NBA urging it to push the Kings owners to sell. Mulvaney's name also appeared on a separate list of businessmen attending the press event where the letter was signed. But Mulvaney says he wasn't at the event and had not signed the letter. His signature was forged. The man who organized the April 12 letter signing was Greg Hayes, a local business consultant and member of Mayor Kevin Johnson's Think Big Sacramento arena task force. Hayes admitted when contacted by the Bee last week that five of the signatures were not signed by the people whose names are listed. Hayes declined to say who put their names on the letter. ... A spokesman for the Kings, Eric Rose, declined to comment on the private investigator, but characterized Hayes' letter as part of "relentless unwarranted attacks" on the Kings ownership since the arena deal fell through several weeks ago. ... Restaurateur Mulvaney, a proponent of a downtown arena, said the Kings ultimately set up another lunch at his restaurant after Hayes' apology, and after Mulvaney talked with Gavin Maloof. "My relationship with the Kings is still solid," he said. "I don't have any right to tell someone else how to run their business."

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

• John Hollinger (Insider) says the Bulls can get back into their series against the Sixers -- playing without Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah in the regular season they were much better than this. "The Bulls have to start Taj Gibson -- who is one of their best players anyway -- and play long stretches with Luol Deng at the 4. This frees up minutes for Korver, spaces the floor for everybody, and may even allow some small looks with C.J. Watson and sharpshooter John Lucas on the court together."
• Not too long ago, the Pacers were entirely unsure about Frank Vogel as a head coach. Tonight, they might be headed to the second round.
• Things are just getting brutal for Kings fans. Rob McAllister on Cowbell Kingdom: "With this public relations campaign already heading toward its own death bed, the Kings owners are going to need a tougher strategy to be granted relocation. Insert the lawyers. The family has someone with forty years of experience in anti-trust suits waiting to strike. Attorney Barry McNeil is no slouch and may be a formidable foe to Commissioner Stern and the league’s legal team. The Maloofs’ lawyers have sought email and phone conversations between the NBA and Sacramento all in an effort to build a case against the league if the owners attempt to block the move to Anaheim. There is no doubt this will get much uglier before it gets prettier."
• An overseas report of Danilo Gallinari saying, essentially, that everyone knows the Lakers get all the calls.
• You know how Metta World Peace elbowed James Harden? Could happen to anyone at work.
• Steve Kerr makes the case for raising the age limit to 20. And it all makes sense ... in theory. But in practice ... it simply doesn't work like that. Lawyer Michael McCann explains this best.
• 19-year-old 6-7 athletic French shooting guard, anyone?
• Charles Barkley says LeBron James is the best player in the world, has been closing games well for a long time, and was probably just tired at the end of the Finals last year. Also, he says Michael Jordan has texted him, angry that Barkley has said Jordan has not been a good owner.
• Of all those teams trailing 3-1, Memphis might have the best shot at getting to Game 6. Neil Paine's analysis (Insider) shows they have two edges that matter in regression models: Homecourt in Game 5, and an opponent that didn't play great defense in the regular season.
• Jan Vesely's famous kiss gets kind of meta.
• Wow. If you live in New York and want to see the Knicks play the Heat, the prices are similar whether you buy tickets to Madison Square Garden or similar seats in Miami -- along with airfare and hotel.
• Is a Brandon Roy comeback still theoretically possible? Also, a year into the Blazers' GM search comes news that one interview has been completed. It's a little more complicated than that, but the upshot is that they have some candidates they like and expect to make a hire before the draft.
• Uni Watch readers come up with new looks for New Orleans.

• Tyson Chandler is your 2012 Defensive Player of the Year. Check out the rest of the results. For my money, Joakim Noah, who anchors the second-best defense in the NBA, is a way better defender than Serge Ibaka and too far down on this list.
• John Hollinger takes aim (Insider) at the assumption that a compressed regular season schedule is responsible for all these playoff injuries: "We say this every year in the first round of the playoffs, how we've never seen anything like all these injuries. Um, anyone remember a year ago? New York lost Chauncey Billups after Game 1 and had a skeleton crew by the end of Game 2. The Lakers' Steve Blake missed Game 1 with the chicken pox. Atlanta lost Kirk Hinrich for the playoffs in Game 6. Miami lost Mike Miller for the first round after Game 2; he played a total of six minutes in that series. The Hornets lost Aaron Gray to an ankle sprain in Game 1, although he managed to gimp through. These players weren't as famous as the ones hurt this week, perhaps, but injuries make no distinction based on Q-rating."
• Valley of the Suns blogger Michael Schwartz with a smart, sympathetic look at everything that's happened to Amare Stoudemire, and the Suns, since he left the desert.
• What is the Bulls offense without Derrick Rose? A lot of pin-down screens and snappy ball movement. In the regular season, that was reasonably effective. But the 76ers absolutely demolished these sets in the second half of last night's blowout victory. Zach Lowe has the video evidence.
• R.R. Magellan of Forum Blue and Gold was pleased with Jordan Hill's effort and output last night. Hill's brightest moments as a pro are coming just as things are taking a turn for the complicated off the court.
• Watch Kyle Weidie's brief movie about JaVale McGee titled, "Can't Say I Do"
• Along with everyone else on the Bulls, Derrick Rose looked like he was having a terrible time last night. In a related story, Jrue Holiday went nuts.
• HoopSpeak's Brett Koremenos with some praise for Big Baby Davis in his keys to tonight's games: "Hibbert, who relies on deep positioning for much of his success, has found himself unable to get that prime real estate near the paint when Davis defends him. It has seemed as if moving Davis is like moving a tree stump, if that tree stump also was chained to four sedan-sized boulders. Without getting to a more favorable operating area, Hibbert has shot just 31.3 percent from the field so far this series, a far cry from his 49.7 percent during the regular season."
• The Spurs have been running this play, called "Weak," for about a decade. It still gets them easy buckets.
• Before the Magic face the Pacers tonight, they need to find an answer to a simple question.
• Keith Smart is taking suggestions on how to become a better coach.
• Milwaukee plans to re-sign coach Scott Skiles. To Jeremy Schmidt, that's a sign that the Bucks won't be looking to rebuild any time soon.
• The NBA: where large feet happen.
• Jeremy Lin has inspired myriad puns and nicknames. The Communicated Stereotype takes a look at a few that reference his ethnicity, and analyzes whether they are endearing, or "problematic."
• Lots of good points in this post, but this is what Zach Harper has to say about Andre Miller's posterior: "It’s a big man’s rear-end on a point guard’s frame. It allows him to no longer have to worry about being slow. He can move mountains to the side by shifting from hip to hip. Sometimes it looks like he has one of those flatbed carts at Home Depot and he’s going up and down the aisles with piles of 2x4s and concrete slabs on it. And the weight is just too much to handle on the turns. It’s veering right when he’s trying to stay to the left, like an out of control semi-truck. He’s bumping into shopping carts and coming close to sideswiping people in the doorbell aisle. Take your eyes off him for a second and you’ll find yourself going from hearing melodious chimes at the push of a button to shin bruises a plenty."
• An invitation to Avery Bradley's Block Party. (Side note: Bradley and Jeff Teague both made a number of thrillingly athletic plays last night, which made it a perfect game for Kevin Calabro, the voice of the Payton-Kemp era Seattle Sonics, to call on NBA TV. For the uninitiated, here's three minutes of Calabro's classic calls from the Sonics' 1996 run to the NBA Finals.)
• Down 0-2, Mavericks' coach Rick Carlisle is voicing his displeasure with the officiating. Daily Thunder's Royce Young just calls it whining.

• Paul Coro of The Arizona Republic: Even with Steve Nash at the helm, the Suns have missed the playoffs in consecutive seasons for the first time since 1988, as they were eliminated with a 100-88 loss Tuesday night at Utah. The Jazz (35-30) clinched the Western Conference's eighth and final playoff seed by snapping a seven-game losing streak to Phoenix and holding the Suns to 40.5 percent shooting with 15 turnovers. The Suns will miss the playoffs for the third time in the past four years and are left to play out the schedule Wednesday night against San Antonio, the West's top seed that likely will use stars lightly or not at all tonight. "You can't afford to not play well in a game like this," Suns coach Alvin Gentry said. "They did a good job overall on screen and rolls. They took (center) Marcin (Gortat) out of the game. We have to shoot the ball better from the perimeter. "They outplayed us." The Suns (33-32) had to fight from behind nearly all game because of a sloppy first half. They already were missing Channing Frye, who was present but out because of an injured shoulder, and then Grant Hill's comeback was cut short after a brief first-quarter appearance.
• Brian T. Smith of The Salt Lake Tribune: With the win, the Jazz (35-30) earned their 25th playoff appearance in franchise history. The victory cemented an unexpected resurgence by a small-market Utah franchise that went 39-43 during the 2010-11 season, failed to make the postseason, and lost coach Jerry Sloan and All-Star guard Deron Williams. ... The Jazz could finish as high as No. 7 when the regular season ends Thursday. Utah would then take on Oklahoma City in the first round, which starts Saturday. The Jazz are guaranteed at least the eighth seed, and would face No. 1 San Antonio. ... Al Jefferson scored eight points on 4-of-6 shooting during the fourth quarter, finishing with 18 points and a game-high 16 rebounds. During shootaround Tuesday morning, he called the matchup the biggest contest of his career, since he hadn’t been to the playoffs since his rookie season in 2004-05 with Boston. Against the Suns, Big Al formed a Big Three with Millsap and Favors, and they pounded in a combined 57 points and 42 rebounds. "Seven long years since I been in the playoffs. It’s a blessing," Jefferson said. "It’s a great opportunity to get here. A lot of people counted us out. Nobody thought this team would be in a position to get in the playoffs and we made it. It’s a great group of guys and everyone on our team deserves it."
• Berry Tramel of The Oklahoman: The NBA finally ruled on Metta World Chaos. Seven-game suspension for an elbow assault that gave James Harden a brain bruise and the state of Oklahoma a new Public Enemy No. 1. ... In the Hollywood Hills, they yell foul for too harsh a penalty. In Nichols Hills, they yell not harsh enough. Nothing short of a lifetime banishment would appease the Big Blue mob. Best to go to the man who always talks straight. “I think it's fair for what he done,” said the Thunder's Kendrick Perkins, no choir boy himself but also no brain bruiser, so far as I know. “A play that was uncalled for. Could have seriously injured someone.” Make no mistake. A seven-game suspension is stout. The Laker cuckoo bird will miss the regular-season finale at Sacramento on Thursday, then Los Angeles' first six playoff games, provided the Lakers last that long. Don't laugh. Without Chaos, the Lakers' task against Denver or Dallas just got a lot tougher. The Nuggets' Danilo Gallinari is a happy man today, knowing Chaos won't be in his grill should Denver draw LA. And if it's the Mavs, what do the Lakers do when Dallas goes small? Chaos won't be there to guard Dirk Nowitzki. ... If Harden's OK, then seven games seems a solid sentence. If Harden's not OK, the Thunder season soon will end, and Metta World Chaos becomes an even bigger villain in Boomtown.
• Jason Jones of the The Sacramento Bee: The Kings' coaching staff will look very familiar next season. Coach Keith Smart plans to bring back assistants Jim Eyen, Alex English and Bobby Jackson. Only English was hired after Smart replaced Paul Westphal, who was fired Jan. 5. "This group has been good," Smart said. "They've managed to blend with each other and work with each other and have an understanding of how each other functions." Smart said there also will be a role for special assistant Clifford Ray, who has been assisting with coaching the big men since last month. Smart said the schedule would dictate how much Ray would be with the team. "That guy will always be around me no matter where I'm coaching," Smart said. "Even if I'm coaching my kids, he's going to be around."
• Ryan Lillis of The Sacramento Bee: Mayor Kevin Johnson and Kings co-owner George Maloof spoke again Tuesday morning and have decided to meet in person within the next few days in what will likely be a make-or-break session. The mayor told reporters Tuesday that the next meeting will probably determine whether the city's collapsed arena deal is back on, or if "we don't have the makings of a deal." Asked how confident he was that a deal would be resurrected between the city and its NBA team, Johnson said he was "hopeful rather than confident." A Maloof spokesman told The Bee's Tony Bizjak that the meeting would take place Thursday morning in Sacramento. But aides to the mayor said they had not confirmed their schedule. Maloof told The Bee's Dale Kasler that he'll probably be joined at the meeting by his brother Gavin, plus minority partner John Kehriotis and John Rinehart, the team's senior vice president for business operations.
• Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe: For those seeking the intensity of a Heat-Celtics matchup, the best advice was to dig up a tape from the April 10 game in Miami or perhaps the April 1 game at TD Garden, because neither team was recognizable in Tuesday night’s game. Celtics coach Doc Rivers trumped Miami coach Erik Spoelstra’s decision to rest the Heat’s Big Three by sitting Kevin Garnett, Rajon Rondo, Mickael Pietrus, and Greg Stiemsma to nurse nagging injuries. Ray Allen had been scratched after Monday’s practice. Rivers said most of those players will return for Thursday’s season finale against the Bucks. Garnett’s absence was the biggest surprise. He told Rivers that a hip flexor injury that caused him to miss a Feb. 15 loss to the Pistons had flared up. Garnett also was held out of Friday’s 97-92 loss to the Hawks to get some rest. “Kevin never comes in, and when he comes in to say, ‘I think I need two more days,’ it speaks volumes,’’ said Rivers. Paul Pierce asked to play Tuesday after being held out of Friday’s game.
• Joseph Goodman of The Miami Herald: One more regular-season game remains, but the Heat is already in playoff mode. The team conducted an intense, playoff-style practice before Tuesday’s game against the Celtics, and LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh did not play against Boston. With the Heat’s playoff position secure, James, Wade and Bosh are saving their energy for the first round of the playoffs, which will begin either Saturday or Sunday in Miami. The Heat’s Big 3 likely will sit out Thursday’s season finale at Washington, as well. Mario Chalmers and Udonis Haslem started alongside Shane Battier, Mike Miller and Dexter Pittman on Tuesday in Boston. Heat coach Erik Spoelstra began resting his starters after the Heat’s victory against the New Jersey Nets on April 16. ... Haslem played in his 593rd game with the Heat on Tuesday, tying Alonzo Mourning for second on the Heat’s all-time list. “It’s huge,” Haslem said. “Just to think back to when I first came and being undrafted and having to work so hard and the blood, sweat and tears just to be a part of the organization and be a part of the team, and I never would have thought nine years later this is the situation I would be in.” Haslem trails Wade by three games on the games-played list.
• Chris Vivlamore of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution: The Hawks defeated the Clippers 109-102 in a game with major postseason seeding implications for both teams in a playoff atmosphere at Philips Arena. Joe Johnson’s 3-pointer with 1:28 remaining brought the home crowd to its collective feet. His desperation 3-pointer with 38 seconds remaining, with the shot clock expiring, was the final dagger. The Hawks (39-26) moved a game away from clinching home-court advantage in their first-round Eastern Conference playoff series against the Celtics. They need only a win in Thursday’s regular-season finale against the Mavericks or a Celtics loss against the Heat on Tuesday night or the Bucks on Thursday. The Hawks, winners of eight of their past 11, avenged a March loss to the Clippers in Los Angeles. They have now won three straight against the Clippers at Philips Arena. The Clippers (40-25) failed in an attempt to tie the Lakers for the Pacific Division lead and the third seed in the Western Conference playoff race. They lost for only the second time in the past eight games and are 14-4 since March 24.
• Broderick Turner of the Los Angeles Times: Clippers Coach Vinny Del Negro wasn't happy with his team, going off on players after a lackluster effort against the Atlanta Hawks on Tuesday night. "They outworked us. They outrebounded us," Del Negro said. "They got loose balls. We didn't really give ourselves a chance.… I didn't think our starters were very good. I didn't think our bench was very good and that's what you get." ... With so much at stake, Del Negro was asked why the effort was lacking. The Clippers knew they needed just one more victory to get the home-court advantage over Memphis in the first round of the Western Conference playoffs. Now the Clippers have to beat New York on Wednesday night to start the best-of-seven series at Staples Center this weekend. "Inexperience, young. You can make a bunch of excuses about it," Del Negro said. "The bottom line is you've got to go out and perform and I thought we got outworked tonight. Their (Hawks) backs were against the wall too and ours were. I thought they outworked us. Maybe we've got to take some more vitamins, some more energy drinks, whatever we've got to do. But I didn't like the start of the game."
• Marcus Thompson II of The Oakland Tribune: That the Warriors replaced general manager Larry Riley with protege Bob Myers comes as no shock. The big surprise is the timing. Why now? According to multiple team sources, a few factors came into play. The coming draft, and all the ensuing prep work. The pending free agent season, which kicks off July 1, and the Warriors’ need to woo someone though armed with nothing more than a mid-level. But perhaps the biggest factor, per the sources, was Myers’ as assistant general manager. It was part of the plan for Myers to succeed Riley when they lured Myers from the player agent side of the business a year ago this month. But at the time, co-owner Joe Lacob said Myers was in line for the job after Riley retired “in a few years.” It’s been 12 months. In that time, Myers, according to sources, has proved to Lacob he is ready now. Lacob is impressed with Myers’ connections around the league, his negotiation skills and the relationships he’s built in the organization. With the draft coming up, followed by an offseason where the Warriors need to add some key pieces, the decision was made to make the move now.

• If the MVP debate is about individual production, the conversation is already over. That's PER, which has various relevant shortcomings: It doesn't really account for wins or defense. If it's LeBron James vs. Kevin Durant, though, James wins the defensive battle, and wins will be equal or close.
• The CEO of the Sixers is asking people on Twitter to tell him which players to keep, and which ones to trade. Point that is far too wide-ranging for bullets: No business would do that for a key executive, right? Indeed, I doubt it would be seen as acceptable for the Sixers to welcome public negative feedback of the general manager, coach or, indeed CEO. So, what makes it OK to talk that way about players? (By the way, this is right out of the Drew Carey playbook.)
• Steve Nash says he has earned the right to really dig into free agency. He made positive noises about the coach, fans and his teammates in Phoenix. (Missing from that list, possibly innocently: Front office.) But he also left the door wide open to leaving, talking about titles and the like. I'm sure everybody who was so bitter at LeBron James' decision to leave in the name of winning will react identically should Nash leave.
• Rockets are scrapping like crazy to squeak into the playoffs, and because of the the way the draft works, their most ardent fans can't even decide if they want the team to make the cut. This is messed up.
• The NBA is getting pretty serious about having logos on jerseys. There have been mock-ups of uniforms presented to owners. There is a national deal for the D-League in this year's playoffs. There is also acceptance that a lot of fans will think it's insane. What I'd say is that fans of sports that already have this seem far less bothered by it. Might be one of those things, like say, rain, that is worse in concept than in reality. For the record, to me it's just a question of price. If they can raise crazy money, by all means.
• Russell Westbrook was shooting really well this season, but recently he is back to his old percentages. Which is the real Westbrook? Super dramatic end to this bullet: A title could hang in the balance.
• Derrick Rose, who hurt his ankle against the Pistons, tells the Sun-Times he is trying not to think about injuries: "If you put things into the universe they come true. I'm just trying to stay focused, stay happy, stay positive, keeping my spirits up. Hopefully, I'll be healthy in the playoffs."
• Interesting times for those intent on bringing a team back to Seattle.
• Talk of Larry Brown coaching at SMU, where I know for a fact they have nice practice courts. Pretty sure I left my wireless card there during the NBA Finals in June. in fact. Larry, if you see it, would be great to have it back.
• Honestly, this is a delightful sports moment. Jordan Hill, on the Lakers bench, can't contain himself from clapping for Tony Parker's deadly crossover, against his own team. The best part is after a few claps he quickly realizes what happened, and tucked his hands away, all innocent. Somebody somewhere will get all bent out of shape about this, talking about And-One culture, team identity and the importance of winning. I hear all that. But if you don't appreciate a nice move, what's the point of watching hoops?
• A fine line between global domination and world peace.
• Mavericks offense is "in shambles."
• On Twitter I asked people for their thoughts about the news that a lot of athletes smoke marijuana. Check responses to @TrueHoop when you read this. By my count it's about 30 people saying, in various ways, that they don't care at all. Don't think there's one sincere response from anybody upset.
• Which West teams are most scared of other West teams? Grizzlies are scary, especially to Spurs, I'd think. Who wants the Lakers? Nobody ... Lakers would have a lot at stake, reputation-wise, if they faced the Clippers. I'm thinking the Nuggets could be very tough, too.
• Just in time for the playoffs: The Clippers can play defense.
• Wow. Kevin Love doing some crazy workout stuff.

Basketball geekery has delved into crunch time in various ways.

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

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

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

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



Some of what we noticed:

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

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

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

• Watching the Bulls in overtime on Sunday night I had something of an epiphany. They just played so hard and together on both ends. So many Bulls seem to love that very intense time of the game. The Pistons got the first rebound of overtime, and then no more. The Bulls played very tough defense, and on offense, they created one good look after another. Joakim Noah was everywhere on both ends, even making fabulous passes. Nobody forced anything. And things were chippy and intense and they appeared more than OK with what. The whole thing was just nasty. Shortly we'll be making all kinds of playoff predictions. It'll be tough to pick against Chicago.
• Having left the Kings, J.J. Hickson is back to showing all kinds of promise, like he once did in Cleveland. Kind of weird, huh? He does his best to explain.
• The suggestion that Dwight Howard has his eye on Warriors assistant Michael Malone as his next head coach.
• Bill Simmons, talking tanking on Grantland on Friday: "You can expect David Lee to get shut down any day with 'knee tendinitis' or some equally bogus injury." The Warriors need to lose some games, and Lee is a pretty good player. The end of Lee's season was announced at essentially the same time.
• More charges are being called in the NBA, which could be a sign of flopping.
• It's just possible the Maloofs aren't acting with the city of Sacramento's best interests at heart. It'll be tough for the Kings to stay in Sacramento ... but it'll also be tough for them to move.
• Pau Gasol's 3s are heroic. Andrew Bynum's are dastardly. Is this really a tale of shot selection ... or makes?
• Lots of talk about what it will take for the Knicks to reach their full potential. They have improved mightily on defense, won a lot of big games, endured some injuries and questionable signings. They were never going to be that great anyway. Just wondering if, instead of hand-wringing, it's time for celebrating. A pretty good team is looking pretty damn good. That's no sign of trouble. All that is out of whack is the expectations.
• This is a question that comes up in sports as much as anywhere. Who cares what your gender is? Why does that matter? Why do official bodies need to know that?
• Are the Celtics contenders?
• Rodney Stuckey talking with a lot of poise about the value of seeing a therapist. This is far more macho to me than the traditional macho approach, which is denying you're seeing a therapist. Kudos.
• Jan Vesely gets everywhere on foot.
• A little video of John Wall's blazing speed -- leading to an airballed midrange jumper.
• On Hardwood Paroxysm Jared Dubin notices that the Spurs' best defensive lineups feature Danny Green: "You can do a lot of things with Danny Green. You can ask him to shoot, you can ask him to pass, you can ask him to rebound and you can ask him to defend. You can start Danny Green and you can bring him off the bench. You can yank his minutes around. You can run plays for Danny Green, but you don’t have to. You can ask him to fill in the blanks and you can count on him to make the right play. You can win games with Danny Green. That’s for sure."
• Lakers up and down the roster played well. How often has that been true this season?
• Jamario Moon promises to play his legs off, and pretty much does.
• The Pacers have a shot at emerging as the ultimate winners of all this playoff positioning -- with the potential for homecourt advantage against the compromised Magic. Check it out in the playoff odds. The Pacers play their brains out, too -- kind of emerging as the Grizzlies of the East.
• The Thunder players talk about tornadoes. And on the topic of safety, Royce Young and I have the same first thought on seeing this video: Be careful up there, Kevin Durant!

• 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.

NEW YORK -- There’s good news and bad news; which do you want first?

Even as NBA commissioner David Stern shared the happy news that the Hornets were finally moving out of their parents' basement, the owners of the Sacramento Kings were a few blocks away in Manhattan with Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson trying to salvage a deal to build a new stadium and keep the team in place.

It didn’t work. Instead, on a Friday the 13th when one NBA franchise found a stable home, another was in shambles.

“Unfortunately it's not going to happen,” Stern said of the talks between Johnson and the Maloofs. “But I can say [Sacramento] has stepped up, and you know, I'm extremely protective of the Maloofs' rights to do what they did as owners. I'm sorry that the parties were not able to make a deal. ”

It was only a few weeks ago at the NBA All-Star Game that Johnson, the former Suns guard, affectionately put an arm around Stern as all parties celebrated the framework of a deal. But as the NBA’s Board of Governors met in the ornate setting of the St. Regis Hotel, the likelihood of a conclusion satisfying to both parties became starkly remote.

Even Johnson didn’t have a last-second shot to save this game.

“Is the deal dead? As we know it, absolutely,” Johnson said.

Earlier in the day, the Maloofs had gone rogue in an attorney’s office in Rockefeller Center. An agitated George Maloof brought out an economist, letters from the city, and legal documents with yellow flags and highlighters worthy of Alice’s Restaurant to illustrate how difficult it was to flesh out that framework.

"I am defending myself, I’ll tell you why,” Maloof said, “because the mayor this morning called me a liar.”

The Maloofs questioned whether the city had the funding. Johnson questioned whether the Maloofs have the money and whether they had ever been negotiating in good faith. Maybe Anaheim, Seattle or some other midlevel American market was the goal, Johnson said, and Sacramento’s efforts were expected to fail.

“Our intention is to get a deal done,” George Maloof said. “Not to kill a deal, but to get a deal done.”

In his own news conference, the last one of the long day, Johnson called the scene bizarre, and in terms of professional teams wanting to keep the dirty laundry in the locker room, the Maloofs were breaking the code. Still, the commissioner for the owners defended their right to defend themselves to the people of Sacramento -- a city that scraped up $260 million in a tough economy to help fund a new stadium.

“It's probably not the weirdest press conference we've ever had in the NBA,” Stern said.

But this isn’t what a league in search of consistent profits needs, another drain on emotional energy and resources. Stern agreed to donate $7 million to help lubricate progress, but now things could get much more expensive.

Do the Maloofs move the team? Johnson said again that Sacramento was committed to a franchise, so does the NBA try to get another team in the market? Stern seemed tired enough of all the what-ifs that he posed a question of his own.

“You want to talk about jerseys?” Stern said.

Um, no.

On the day of a Board of Governors' meeting, the NBA was not in control of the message. Business negotiations that usually take place behind closed doors were being played out in news conferences, needing only PowerPoint presentations to complete the picture.

Few NBA fans likely have the stomach to digest the numbers and the payment schedules, but they know chaos when they see it.

All three parties -- Stern, George Maloof and Kevin Johnson -- could agree on one thing: There is no clear path moving forward.

Remember this scene on February 28^th?

The Maloofs and mayor Kevin Johnson had just returned from Orlando, Florida with a newly agreed upon arena deal hammered out. At All-Star Weekend, David Stern and the NBA sat in a room with the owners of the Kings and the Mayor of Sacramento and came to an agreement. The deal allowed the Kings to stay in Sacramento after a year of serious doubt that compromise could ever be in place.

This scene is the opposite of what you saw from Warriors fans during Chris Mullin’s jersey ceremony in which the fans showed their displeasure with the direction of the team and the failed promise of playoffs. This was a city congratulating the owners of their favorite franchise on finally doing what’s right in this situation and keeping the direction of the franchise firmly planted in Sacramento. This was a fan base rejoicing that they wouldn’t be treated like Seattle. They would get to keep the team they love with their own public funds.

They were happy to pay their fair share.

Joe and Gavin Maloof stand at halfcourt, basking in the warm wave of cheers, applause and elation that gently ran from the highest of upper deck seats, down to the floor in which many basketball battles have been fought. Watch the video. Watch them enjoy the moment. Look at them soak up the praise that should have been going to Kevin Johnson, AEG, and David Stern more than it should have reached a family of seemingly incompetent businessmen who tried to weasel their way out of a town that was desperate to keep their business.

“At the end of the day, it’s all about this,” Gavin Maloof exclaimed as he ran his hand under the “Sacramento” on his shirt. “Thank you for all you do. Thank you for the love you’ve shown our family. We still love you, we’ve always loved you, and we always will love you. Thank you!”

Those were the words from a man whose family tried to move the team to Anaheim without many of the team’s employees knowing if they’d have jobs in the next couple of months. Fast forward a month from this celebration of Kings basketball staying in Sacramento, and those awkward words from the Maloof family now look like the same pathetic lies everyone assumes have been spewed during much of the arena process.

This week, the NBA Board of Governors meeting is being held and part of that meeting will be the Maloofs trying to convince the board that the deal they agreed to at All-Star Weekend has major concerns and potential delays that could derail the 2015-16 expected debut of a new downtown arena in Sacramento. And if that happens, they’d like the team to be allowed to move to Anaheim, the place that tried to capitalize on a disorganized and failed money grab of the Kings’ owners less than a year ago.

Here’s the problem with these claimed delays and issues potentially blocking the needed opening of the new arena in Sacramento: it appears that the Maloofs are the ones trying to cause such delays.

Aaron Bruski from Pro Basketball Talk breaks down the current break down in the Maloofs operating on good faith:

The Maloofs’ attorney, Scott Zolke, followed Rose’s statements by issuing a letter to Sacramento assistant city manager John Dangberg, providing specific legal notice to the city about issues the family had with anything and everything. In fact, if you wanted to derail an arena project you would want to start a checklist using the items on that list. From the timing of environmental reviews to the ability of arena opposition groups to delay the process or stop it in its tracks – items that could have been discussed behind closed doors were now floating around in an increasingly hostile public domain.

The city responded to this first initial red flag, explaining to the lawyer that he had compiled information for his complaint from six-month old estimates from the city manager’s office that had since been publicly updated. The 88-page letter went on to address the numerous issues raised by the Maloofs, but made one key point: “It is critical that all parties are pulling in the same direction.”

If it wasn’t clear after Rose’s newspaper run, it became abundantly clear where the Maloofs stood following their April 2 response to the 88-page letter, when they admonished the city for not responding to its concerns over an arena opposition group.

During the lockout, there was an issue of both parties not operating in “good faith.” The owners seemed to fire at the Players’ Union that they weren’t willing to deal in good faith and it was causing the negotiation process to never get off the ground. The Union felt it was the NBA who was in fact not operating in good faith. It was basically a he said, he said kind of circular argument that got nowhere.

If you wanted an example of not operating in good faith then look no further than what the Maloofs are doing here. I get the motivation. Sacramento is a very small market, especially when lined up side-by-side with the city of Anaheim. The television contract alone would help the Maloofs recover the assumed loss of wealth from their alleged failed business ventures over the past few years.

When you’re bad at business, you need to find a way to get good at it and improving the market in which your business is based is a good way to start. The problem is they’re trying to move into a market that doesn’t really need a third team. Most major markets don’t even have two teams, let alone a third.

The Maloofs are saturated in bad faith dealings right now because just a month and a half ago, they emerged from the negotiations with the NBA and Kevin Johnson saying that this was a “fair deal.” Now, they appear to be looking to get any little loophole they can find to weasel out of a handshake deal that gave the Maloofs a chance to repair what their word means to the public and the consumer.

Kevin Johnson has always been good at what he does. He was an excellent NBA player who climbed mountaintops on the hardwood floor to provide legendary highlights and probably would have made the Basketball Hall of Fame if injuries didn’t derail his career. He’s also been a very good mayor in Sacramento, succeeding in areas that most figured he never could – like building a downtown arena.

To beat Kevin Johnson at something, you have to be at the top of your game. That’s how it’s been his entire life. He’s just often better than the people he faces off against. The Maloofs are not at the top of their game, especially when it comes to the dealings with this team. They helped build a franchise up and then through horrendous decisions and a lack of savvy in their field, they let it crumble down.

Mayor Johnson is not taking to the poor business and unethical tactics the Maloofs are employing right now. He’s fired back to their concerns and scheming as they try to plead with the Board of Governors to ignore the facts and just give them what they want with a letter to the family, explaining the city’s position. You can read the entire letter at Sactown Royalty, but here is a long excerpt that is essential to understanding what is going on right now:

Third, and most critically, under no circumstances will the City make material adjustments to the current terms of the deal. Put simply, we have done our part.

We are 100% committed to moving forward under the framework laid out in the term sheet.

And there should be no expectation in tomorrow’s conversation that this deal is subject to further negotiation.

In light of these facts, the ball is in your court.

Our community stands ready to support the Kings and do our part to bring a state-of-the-art entertainment and sports complex to our downtown.

We look forward to the thousands of jobs, millions in new visitors, and billions in new revenues such a facility promises for our community.

We take you at your word that you are committed to Sacramento as you've said repeatedly in recent weeks.

The best - and only - way to demonstrate that commitment is to honor the "fair deal" as all other parties have done. Your handshake is your handshake. Your promise is your promise.

Given all that the people of Sacramento have endured and achieved on your behalf, we deserve nothing less than a partner who will work with the city in good faith and as a true partner.

It’s now seemingly up to David Stern to keep firm on his work from All-Star Weekend. That weekend they came to an agreement that was suitable for every side involved. Now the Maloofs are claiming it’s not good enough and essentially that what Stern has done for them isn’t acceptable moving forward. I would like nothing more than for Stern to either convince the Maloofs that this deal is going to move forward as agreed upon or figure out how to get an ownership group that knows how to run a business, especially in good faith, to purchase the franchise.

The Maloofs’ proclaimed “fair deal” is now in question for no reason at all. Once again, their word appears to have no value in any form and their handshake is nothing more than the cold, clammy embrace of lying and bad faith. Mayor Johnson is going to meet with the Maloofs and the NBA once again, to figure out how to make this situation work.

It’s time for David Stern to put his foot down and show that a handshake is actually worth some good faith. After all, it’s all about Sacramento at the end of the day. The Maloofs said so themselves.

• Rick Morrissey of the Chicago Sun-Times: Try as Thibodeau might to lower the flame on the burner, Thursday night’s game was everything a game between the best teams in the Eastern Conference is supposed to be — perhaps not aesthetically but at least emotionally. When C.J. Watson hit a three-pointer with 2.2 seconds left to help send the game to overtime, the United Center sounded like a Harley convention stuffed into a three-car garage. The Bulls went on to win 96-86. Sure. Just another game. Watson called it one of the bigger shots of his life, “if not the biggest.’’ “It was a big game on a big stage,’’ he said. “It’s a big win for us.’’ Every coach tries to sell the one-game-at-a-time philosophy, which was around when Aristotle was in the third grade, but nobody was buying Thibs’ stab at level-headedness. We might not have witnessed the greatest basketball Thursday night, but we did witness two teams that knew this was more than another game on another weeknight in the NBA. If it weren’t a big game, Derrick Rose would have been resting whatever it is that ails him. And after watching him struggle all night, that might not have been a bad thing. It wasn’t wrong to take a pass on the fiction the Bulls coach was selling. Thank goodness for that. Thank goodness for two teams taking it to each other as if it were a playoff game. Did it have meaning? It’s silly to think it didn’t.
• David Haugh of the Chicago Tribune: We already knew the Bulls had better reserves. The biggest thing the first game between both teams at full strength proved was that Rose and Rip Hamilton need more time in the same backcourt. More rest only would add another layer of rust — a fact reinforced by Rose's shaky 1 of 13 shooting. More than anything, lingering injury issues have prevented Rose and Hamilton from jelling. To think those medical problems suddenly will disappear once the NBA calendar flips into postseason borders on blind faith. If Bulls officials honestly ranked team concerns as the regular season comes to a close, health might rank ahead of defense and rebounding. Last year the sight of Rose produced chants of "M-V-P!" This year, we think MRI. Rose has yet to play in more than 11 straight. Hamilton's longest consecutive games streak is five. Can the Bulls feel comfortable knowing Rose and Hamilton both will be playing by the Eastern Conference finals? Anybody in the Bulls organization who answers yes has a rabbit's foot in his pocket and a four-leaf clover on his lapel — and is fibbing. If the Bulls are lucky they never will need Watson more than they did Thursday. Healthy, I agree the Bulls will enter the playoffs more equipped than last year to beat the Heat. They improved more. They have more motivation fueled by last year's loss and a better head coach. They likely will enjoy home-court advantage.
• Ethan J. Skolnick of the Palm Beach Post: LeBron James and Dwyane Wade, mauled Thursday by something called the Bench Mob. Here they are, with two weeks and nine games to play, virtually locked into a No. 2 seed, and left with little to accomplish until the regular season mercifully ends. Here we go, following a 96-86 overtime loss, wondering when and how they'll pull it together. And here's the thing about Thursday: it was there for them. That "signature road win" that Erik Spoelstra said Thursday the he sought. The win that eluded the Heat in Los Angeles, against the Lakers and Clippers; in Oklahoma City; in Boston; and earlier, here in Chicago. ... It is what it is. The Heat will not have home court in the Eastern Conference Finals, if its opponent is Chicago. And, yes, while Miami won here twice in the last Eastern Conference Finals, it has not passed any road tests of significance this season. "Guys fought until the end," James said. They did. And they can keep fighting for the next two weeks. But they will not pass Chicago. "It's not perfect," Wade said of their situation. "But that's sports." Thursday, sports hurt. Hurt bad.
• Ronald Tillery of The Commercial-Appeal: The San Antonio Spurs were intent on scratching and clawing their way out of a funk. And Grizzlies forward Rudy Gay has the scars to prove it. “One of those games, man,” Gay said after the Grizzlies’ four-game winning streak ended Thursday night with a grueling 107-97 loss to the Spurs in AT&T Center. ... Lionel Hollins said he wished he could take back his decision to make substitutions when the Griz trailed 101-97 with 58.5 seconds left. At that point, Hollins inserted Gilbert Arenas for Conley, Pondexter for Mayo and Cunningham for Gasol. The Spurs had possession but the Griz didn’t need to foul. There was plenty of time on the clock to earn a stop, score and then start fouling with a two-point deficit. But Pondexter didn’t understand the circumstance and immediately fouled Ginobili, who buried two free throws to make it a six-point game. Hollins immediately went back to Mayo, Conley and Gasol as soon as Ginobili went to the foul line.
• Tim Griffin of the San Antonio Express-News: After watching his team humiliated on the boards in a convincing loss to the Los Angeles Lakers Wednesday night, Duncan guaranteed the Spurs would play with more effort against Memphis the following night. Duncan has been around the team long enough to know what he needed to say. But the Spurs’ captain didn’t need to mention anything to his teammates. And with a gritty second-half comeback, they fulfilled Duncan’s promise as they claimed a 107-97 victory over Memphis. “I didn’t tell them anything. I didn’t need to tell them anything about it,” Duncan said. “We can get playing ourselves, we refocus and come back and play better. We always do. It’s just the kind of guys we have.” Duncan provided a huge inspiration with a monster game that might have been the best of the season. Despite facing Marc Gasol, Duncan matched his season-high with 28 points, grabbed 12 rebounds and added two blocked shots. It was the kind of vintage performance that Spurs Nation has seen from Duncan throughout his career. One day, it will guarantee Duncan a spot in the Basketball Hall of Fame. And it showed he’s also a pretty good leader, too.
• Ray Richardson of the Pioneer Press: "I haven't seen anything like this," Adelman said of the Wolves' injury troubles. "The timing of it is the worst part. When Ricky went down, we were playing well. Then we had to go on the seven-game trip out west. During that time, we lost Pek, Michael, J.J. and Luke. I don't think people really understood how much Ricky meant to our group when we lost him. Luke stepped up for awhile. Then he got hurt." Ridnour, out since April 2 with a sprained ankle, might be in the same situation as Love. Do the Wolves really want to put them back in the lineup with the playoffs officially out of the picture? Before Thursday's game, reserve forward Anthony Tolliver injected a dose of reality when discussing the Wolves' injury problems. Tolliver, who said he exchanged texts with Love on Thursday before Love left Denver, viewed the situation as a final chance to make an impression on the coaching staff and management before the end of the season.
• Broderick Turner of the Los Angeles Times: It was as if Mo Williams had never been out, as if he hadn't missed the last 11 games because of a sprained left big toe. Williams scored 14 points off the bench on six-for-11 shooting, two for four on three-pointers Thursday night in the 95-82 victory over Minnesota. He also had five assists. He had not played a game in three weeks, but Williams was the same player he has been for the Clippers all season. Williams said credit for that goes to Clippers trainer Jasen Powell and his staff. ... With Williams back, Clippers Coach Vinny Del Negro now has a deep backcourt. It's a given that Chris Paul and Randy Foye will start. But now Williams wants playing time as the first guard off the bench. Then there is Nick Young, the biggest of all the guards at 6 feet 7, and second-year guard Eric Bledsoe, who has become the energizer and defender for the Clippers. How does Del Negro plan to rotate five guards? "They all better play well," Del Negro said. "Whoever is playing well will be out there. So they better play hard and execute. And it's about winning. We'll make it work somehow." All of the guards played Thursday night.
• Eddie Sefko of The Dallas Morning News: If the Mavericks had been more concerned with stats than a victory, they might have been able to get Jason Kidd his 107th triple double of his career. As it turned out, he finished a point shy, amassing 12 assists, 10 rebounds and nine points. Kidd missed a tough jumper in the final minute and also passed up a possible layup to kill more time off the clock. "At that point, I thought we needed to run clock,'' he said. He was right, of course. And Kidd wasn't upset in the slightest at coming up short of a triple double. His teammates seemed more concerned. "If we'd have known, we would have gotten him one or two more shots,'' Dirk Nowitzki said. ... The Mavericks were reminded just how much they missed Kidd when he was out for four games with a groin injury. "Never underestimate greatness,'' coach Rick Carlisle said. "I don't care if that guy's 29, 39 or 49. He's going to do something to help you win.''
• Rusty Simmons of the San Francisco Chronicle: There's also way more than has been reported about the link between Odom and Golden State, and those details have many thinking the disgruntled forward is much more than "on the radar" or a "long shot" for the 2012-13 Warriors. Here's the key: Warriors assistant coach Jerry DeGregorio is as close as anyone to Odom. DeGregorio coached Odom in high school, college and the pros and has been like a father to him since Odom was a 16-year-old prospect from South Jamaica, Queens, N.Y. DeGregorio was the best man in Odom's September 2009 wedding to Khloe Kardashian. ... Warriors head coach Mark Jackson doesn't allow his assistants to speak publicly to print media during the season, but he talked Thursday about Odom. "He's a New York City guy who's had an outstanding career and is a champion," Jackson said. "He's going through something right now, and I don't know what it is. But I'm pulling for him, and I'm looking forward to seeing him back on the court next season." Maybe in a Warriors' uniform.
• Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer: I wonder if Corey Maggette has played his last game as a Charlotte Bobcat. Maggette will miss the last 10 games of the season with an injured right Achilles tendon. He leaves as this season’s leading scorer, at 15 points per game. And when you think about all the change likely coming this off-season, I could see Maggette being waived as the Bobcats’ amnesty provision. The Bobcats have the option to waive one player and no longer count his salary against their cap or a potential luxury-tax bill. Maggette makes about $10.9 million next season, the last on his contract. So the Bobcats could drop considerably under the cap by using the amnesty clause on Maggette. ... I’d think twice before waiving Maggette, in that he is still a dependable scorer when healthy on a team that is last in the league in scoring. He doesn’t have a good shooting percentage this season (37 percent) but he still has a knack for getting to the foul line. He’s been more productive this season than Thomas, Diop or Carroll. This could simply come down to which free agents might be willing to sign here over the summer and how much cap space it would take to get those deals done.
• Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press: Pistons coach Lawrence Frank twice faced questions about the recent lack of production from center Greg Monroe. The drop-off was highlighted in consecutive blowout losses to the Miami Heat and Orlando Magic this week during which Monroe averaged only seven shots per game. Frank emphasized at Thursday's morning shoot-around and during pregame availability before the Pistons faced the Bobcats that a lot more was going on than the Pistons not calling Monroe's number. He insisted Monroe's big games come in the normal flow of the offense with Monroe making strong cuts and attacking the offensive glass. Whatever the cause of Monroe's decline, playing the Bobcats cured all ills. Monroe recorded 25 points and 11 rebounds in 26 minutes as the Pistons embarrassed the Bobcats, 109-85. "Greg's effort on both ends was at a high level," Frank said. "Again, I don't ever care about individual stats."
• Dale Kasler,Tony Bizjak and Ryan Lillis of The Sacramento Bee: For the second year in a row, Mayor Kevin Johnson will parachute into New York in an 11th-hour attempt to keep the Kings in Sacramento. Johnson will meet with Kings owners and NBA officials today for what appears to be an attempt at peacemaking following weeks of rancor that threaten to kill a tentative plan for a new downtown arena. ... Johnson declined to comment about the trip. The mayor's staff, however, released an open letter from the mayor to the Maloof family late Thursday night laying out Johnson's parameters for today's meeting. In the letter, Johnson reiterated the city's stance that the Maloofs had agreed to a deal more than a month ago and said "under no circumstances will the city make material adjustments to the current terms of the deal. Put simply, we have done our part. And there should be no expectation in (today's) conversation that this deal is subject to further negotiation."
• Editorial from The Sacramento Bee: The time has come for the Maloof family to sell all or part of their ownership in the Sacramento Kings. For the good of the league – and the good of a city and region that have been devoted supporters of professional basketball ever since the Kings first arrived – NBA owners must use their leverage to make this happen. As has been increasingly clear, the Maloofs lack the means and the will – or both – to pay for their share of a new sports and entertainment complex in Sacramento, even under terms that many would judge to be extremely favorable to them. Their financial status makes it difficult for them to field a competitive team, which means a franchise owned by the Maloofs will continue to drag down and distract the NBA, regardless of whether the team is in Anaheim, Seattle or another city.

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

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