ESPN NBA

• MJD has the all-NBA teams of 2011 up and going. That ought to get everyone talking. I'll be first: what, no Blazers? Sebastian or Martell--one of them will make it. Please?
• Piston and Heat writers swapping barbs.
• If there's some kind of massive power failure in Seacaucus this afternoon that prevents the draft lottery ping pong ball dispenser from working properly, the rules state that the ping pong balls are to be selected manually from a basketball lopped in half. What if the official basketball lopper isn't working? Also, you 'll learn from that article that all the executives know who won hours before. Which means on TV today will be bad acting.
• Wisdom from Dwight Jaynes: "No offense to anyone involved, but there is only one reason for a potential buyer to come forward at this point. And that would be the situation with the Rob Kremer-Terry Porter group — they’re still searching for more money. My experience in sports is that you never know who the true buyers are until they actually purchase the team. Nobody in Portland, for example, had a clue Paul Allen was buying the Blazers from Larry Weinberg until he sat down at a news conference with a signed deal. It was a total shock."
• I'm OK with being late to a story. Nash and Nowitzki play and sing.
• The Knick conjecture has reached the point of talking about what kind of offense Coach Isiah Thomas will use. Hold on kids...
• Here's my question about tinkering with the Nets roster. What's the goal? What's their window? When is their next shot at a title? Seems to me it's 2007, LeBron James, or bust. 'Cause Kidd won't be leading anyone to a title in 2008 or 9.
  
• John Feinstein on NPR.
• Las Vegas proved you don't have to have an NBA team to host the All-Star game. Now New Orleans, seemingly on the brink of maybe losing the Hornets, can follow suit.
• Pat Riley: "(Shaq) wants to win a championship. Dwyane's healthy and in shape -- we're all healthy and in shape. Let's go for it."
• Buck Harvey:
  

The Spurs were told not to foul or allow a 3-pointer, and Ginobili couldn't help himself. He went for the block. 

"I don't know how the ball went in," Nowitzki said. "Manu hit my hand. It was a lucky bounce."That word again. Lucky.

Those who blame Ginobili for the mistake should remember the other side. He's the one who surged in the fourth quarter, just as he's so often done, and he created the cushion he lost.

• John Hollinger picks Detroit.
• A tidbit of evidence that John Nash might be on his way out. Or Blazer salespeople are grasping at straws.
• Dirk Nowitzki's body is all shaved. Weird.
• FreeDarko has it figured out: "All I want, all I've ever wanted, is to have some fun." You and Sheryl Crow.
• Jeff Garcia keeps up a tradition by hating his Spurs team the second they lose. Note to self: never go to war with Spurs bloggers.
• Steve Kerr: "if there is a theme to these playoffs, it is that speed kills"
• This is why Tim Duncan was grabbing his leg at the end of the game. From Tony Parker: "Tim cramped up at the end of the game, we ended up using him a lot. He was definitely tired during overtime."
• Brian McCormick: "Every year, a player emergses in the play-offs and GM's immediately covet similar type of players. Since no LeBron James clones are available, Raja Bell is the player GM's likely covet because of his offensive efficiency and defensive toughness. One or more of these players will see their value skyrocket between now and draft day based on individual workouts where they exhibited Raja Bell-like skills and capture the imagination of an NBA GM who is mesmorized by Bell's impact of the 2006 play-offs. My guess is Shannon Brown and Hassan Adams play themselves into late teens/early twenty picks, not second rounders, and Brandon Bowman and Bobby Jones surprise and move from off the board to early second rounder."
• Playoff highlights.
• Russ Bengston: "I'm thinking the Commish would let Ruth Riley, Bill Laimbeer and Joe Dumars ref a deciding game rather than deal with Mark Cuban, NBA Champion"
• Neal Pollack: "...the series gave me no anxiety at all. The Clips were a worthy opponent, and there was something very funny about the "Mongo discovers fire" look on Chris Kaman's face every time he scored, but I had few doubts that the Suns would win, and that includes when they were behind by three in overtime with 1.7 seconds left in game five. As I've said before, this team appears touched by destiny. I will amend that destiny. It's to lose to the Pistons in the NBA Finals."
• Sekou Smith doesn't want Allen Iverson in Atlanta: "The only way the Hawks change their fate -– I’ve seen the comments that they’re irrelevant and a historic joke, etc. -– is to win games. If A.I. meant a guaranteed trip to the playoffs, then I say go for it. But Philly didn’t make the playoffs with him this past season, though he played at his usual elite level and alongside guys like Chris Webber, Andre Iguodala and Sam Dalembert."