- Richard Justice of the Houston Chronicle: "They're good, really good. Maybe the Rockets aren't championship good, but they play with passion and smarts and lots and lots of energy. Here's some free advice from your friendly neighborhood know-it-all. Don't focus on next week or next month. Don't sweat the big guy's injury. Don't look ahead to San Antonio or Dallas or Los Angeles. There's plenty of time for hand-wringing later. Just sit back and enjoy this amazing run. Enjoy the teamwork and toughness and sheer joy this group brings to the floor each and every night."
- Mark Heisler of the Los Angeles Times: "Aren't the Lakers something? Just to show I can jump on a bandwagon with anyone, I not only think they'll win the title, I think they may be the greatest team ever. Kobe Bryant is not only a lock for most valuable player, he's up for Sports Illustrated's Sportsman of the Year, Time's Person of the Year and People's Sexiest Man Alive. Not to mention owner Jerry Buss, whose deft handling of this troublesome situation has to have him in the running for the Nobel Peace Prize. Yes, it's a new day for the Lakers, who suddenly find a folk movement bubbling under them after spending recent seasons in relative eclipse. Imagine how it must feel. ... Gratifying after all the hard times? Moving as they feel the love pouring from the community? A pain in the neck? All the above?"
- Gregg Patton The Press-Enterprise: "Jack Nicholson was so animated, jumping up and gesturing at the officials from his courtside seat, you wanted to check the calendar. What was this, a Memorial Day weekend game -- something deep into the postseason? At the end of Sunday's Lakers-Dallas thriller at Staples Center, the teams each asked their best guy to sweat even more, and too bad if they had already given playoff-type minutes -- more than 46 for Kobe Bryant and more than 39 for Dirk Nowitzki in the Lakers' 108-104 overtime win. The NBA regular season often gets dismissed as a yawning exercise, mere jockeying for postseason spots, with an occasional grudge match breaking out. Maybe not this year; at least not in the Western Conference. The fun has started early."
- Peter May of The Boston Globe: "We've been hearing it now for a while. Somehow, Kevin Garnett no longer is a consensus choice for Most Valuable Player because he (a) had the temerity to suffer a serious injury for the first time in his career and (b) his team had the temerity to win seven of the nine games he missed. But after last night's 98-88 grinder over the Hawks, the Celtics are, ahem, 39-10 when Garnett does play. And when he plays like he did yesterday, you'd like to send the game film to all those who have elevated Kobe Bryant and LeBron James to exalted status. They're both terrific, as they proved yesterday with tour de forces on national TV."
- Brian Windhorst of The Akron Beacon-Journal: "I do understand that Larry did make sacrifices when he played for the Cavs. I do understand that he was not playing in a system that thrilled him. But I cannot believe he is saying he would rather have fun -- read: getting to run around the way he wants and take lots and lots of shots -- than win. I thought winning is fun, sitting at home at watching the playoffs is no fun according to most NBA players I've known. ... As long as Larry was being paid what he was being paid, I'd think some settling would've been acceptable. That's the other thing, the comment about just winning and getting paid. Larry earned $4 million in bonuses over the last two years because the Cavs hit win targets in his contract. The more the team won, the more he did get paid. That said, in the playoff run last season, even before he got hurt, I didn't get the sense that he was happy. I never saw that joy from him, so I think this is probably more than just lip service, I think he really means it."
- Brian Hanley of the Chicago Sun-Times: "Larry Hughes was given a less-than-warm welcome in his first return to Quicken Loans Arena since the trade that sent him and Drew Gooden to the Bulls for Ben Wallace and Joe Smith. Wallace is well aware that what likely awaits him Thursday from the United Center faithful will make Hughes look like a Cleveland crowd favorite. ''The only thing I would be disappointed about is if I get no reaction at all,'' Wallace said. ''Because I deserve it, one way or the other. If they come out and they boo like they mean it, then I'll live with that. If they come out and cheer like they mean it, then I'll live with that. But no reaction? I'm not going to like that.'"
- Marc Narducci of the Philadelphia Daily News: "Fans continue to be put off by his (Andre Iguodala) contract demands. Despite not agreeing to an extension in October, it's hard to see the Sixers and Iguodala not coming to an agreement. It has to be repeated -- the Sixers can't afford to lose him. And realistically, there isn't a team that would be able to offer him as much as the Sixers. The two sides realize they need each other. It would be shocking if a deal isn't done this summer. Whether anybody likes him or not, it can't be disputed that Iguodala has improved in each of his four NBA seasons. He might not be able to put the team on his back every night, but he offers a variety of skills."
- Mark Montieth of The Indianapolis Star: "If there was any doubt about the desire of the Indiana Pacers' front office to make the playoffs this season, it was answered with the signing of Flip Murray. ... The Pacers are within 2 1/2 games of the eighth and final playoff position in the Eastern Conference. Although some fans argue for missing the playoffs and getting a lottery pick in the next draft, team president Larry Bird remains firm in his opposition to that philosophy. 'I want to win as many games as we possibly can,' Bird said. 'You never want the mindset here that you want to lose games to get a lottery position. I just don't believe in that. The balls are going to be thrown into a tube and they're going to come out however they come out. Wherever we draft we'll get a good player.'"
- Dave D'Alessandro of The Star-Ledger: "Whether he knows it or not, Marcus Williams has been called out. Richard Jefferson was talking about the Nets' new composition after the 93-83 loss to the Spur
s last night when he suddenly made a reverse-pivot into a long monologue about how they need to get more out of their second-year point guard. 'We have to make sure that Marcus keeps his confidence and stays aggressive. We need him. We need him,' Jefferson said without solicitation after Williams (eight points, four turnovers) had an unremarkable 18 1/2-minute performance. 'We can't have him do what he did last season and just kind of fade away. We need him to play, and to be productive, and to be aggressive. He needs to play like a second starter. He has to.'" - Frank Isola of the New York Daily News: "Isiah Thomas has 'reenergized the franchise,' according to his bio in the Knicks' official media guide. That is just one of the myths and embellishments that fill two pages. Garden chairman James Dolan's bio, by the way, fits on one page. In the fourth paragraph, there is a throwaway line about how 'Thomas scored again with the unprecedented signing of free agent Randolph Morris' last March after Morris' college career ended with Kentucky losing in the NCAA Tournament. The signing was such a stroke of genius that Morris has appeared in seven games over two seasons for a grand total of 50 minutes. ... That Morris wasn't in uniform against the Magic is a microcosm of the chaos surrounding the Knicks. The decision speaks to Thomas' inability to communicate with the team, manage the roster and develop his young players."
- Sekou K Smith of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution: "While I remain a skeptic of the Hawks' chances to make the Eastern Conference playoff party this season, others (most of them far more in-the-know than me) seem convinced otherwise. But as the final seconds ticked off the clock on the Hawks' 98-88 loss to the Celtics here Sunday night, the playoff atmosphere as thick as it's been during any game all season, the idea of this team in a playoff series started to sink in a little more. They are no sure shot. Not with the crew in Philly suddenly playing like gangbusters. And who knows what the Nets will look like once they get Devin Harris on the floor?"
- Dave Feschuk of the Toronto Star: "Primoz Brezec, who began this season a Bobcat before being traded to Detroit and Toronto, was lamenting the Bobcats' recent struggles. It was only a couple of years ago that the franchise, under coach-GM Bernie Bickerstaff, seemed to be heading in a decent direction. 'Bernie was building this team. He got me. He got Gerald (Wallace). He drafted Emeka (Okafor). He was putting the team together, we were on the right track,' said Brezec. 'Since they let him aside, see where they are now? A different direction. ... I guarantee you, man, if we stayed together we'd be in the playoffs right now ... but hey, I wish them well.'"
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