- Michael Lee of The Washington Post: "The question remains how much longer those who cover the league will make LeBron James wait before the fifth-year swingman wins his first most valuable player award. The competition for the award this season is considered a two-man race between James and the Los Angeles Lakers' Kobe Bryant, although Boston's Kevin Garnett and New Orleans' Chris Paul have also been in the discussion. No matter who wins the MVP, Detroit Pistons forward Tayshaun Prince said James has established himself as the league's most difficult player to guard. 'It's not even really close,' said Prince, a three-time NBA all-defensive team member. 'What he can do without the ball, what he can do with the ball, what he can do when he gets the rebound and take it up the court. He gets 16, 18 points a game that's pretty much baskets other people can't get -- and it comes easy to him.'"
- Brian Windhorst of The Akron Beacon-Journal: "... the back issues are part of the reason (Zydrunas) Ilgauskas struggled in back-to-back games in the past several seasons. Now he's got a bulging disc and he's treating it and crossing his fingers that rest and painkillers will improve it enough to get back on the court. There's no guarantee that it won't recur later in the season. This setback for Ilgauskas might affect his decision to attempt to play for the Lithuanian National Team in the Olympics this summer. Right now he and the Cavs are sort of at an impasse -- they don't want him to play and they don't have to let him because his back and feet are not covered by insurance in his contract. The Lithuanians have offered to pay for special insurance. Yet it isn't just an insurance issue; the Cavs believe Z needs the entire offseason to recover from the pounding his body takes."
- Fred Kerber of the New York Post: "The tragic number for the New Jersey Nets ' playoff elimination is 20. Any combination of Nets' losses and Atlanta victories equaling 20 puts the Nets back into the realm of determining ping-pong ball odds. With 19 games remaining, the Nets (26-37) insist they still can make the playoffs. In light of a five-game losing streak, with a game against the Rockets here tonight, then meetings with Cleveland and Utah awaiting at home, the outlook is more like a half-empty and hemorrhaging glass, rather than one half-full. 'All the games are so important now,' team president Rod Thorn said. 'We just have to play better and win if we want to have any kind of chance.'"
- Richard Justice of the Houston Chronicle: "Rafer Alston and Battier are arguably having the best years of their careers. Tracy McGrady is a superstar in every sense of the word. And there's Scola, Landry, Bobby Jackson, etc. The Rockets don't win without McGrady's greatness, but they also don't win without a bunch of guys doing their jobs better than almost anyone thought possible. They tried to tell us this season wasn't going to end just because Yao got hurt. 'Nobody is going to replace Yao,' Scola said. 'Everybody has got to do a little better, a little bit stronger and try a little bit harder.' Scola isn't the only amazing thing about this season. He's neither the best thing nor the worst thing. He's simply part of an incredible story. And the story continues."
- Jonathan Abrams of the Los Angeles Times: "Derek Fisher, enforcer? Even without injured center Andrew Bynum, the Lakers still start a frontline of three players who are nearly seven feet tall. Still, Coach Phil Jackson said his team lacks a physical interior presence and, if pushed, would give the nod of enforcer to his 6-foot-1 point guard. 'We really don't have a person like that on this team,' Jackson said. 'That's one of the things we don't have. I think guys foul, there's no one that delivers a blow on this team. Maybe [Fisher] is the best enforcer.' Lamar Odom agrees. 'He plays with a lot of guts,' the 6-10 forward said of Fisher. 'He puts his body out on the line. ... We've been doing a great job of getting after it and he's one of those guys that when you see him get after it, people follow.'"
- Brian Schmitz of the Orlando Sentinel: "Whether it's the national media, opposing players or referees, the Magic feel, almost to a man, that they aren't truly being taken seriously. Then again, they haven't been on the marquee for a while. They made the playoffs for the first time last year since 2003 -- and were swept by the Detroit Pistons. 'A lot of people don't respect us, but we respect ourselves, first and foremost,' said point guard Jameer Nelson, who sat out Sunday's practice with a sore right foot and is questionable to play against the Atlanta Hawks tonight. 'When you have confidence in yourself, I could care less who else has confidence in us. Everybody can say what they want about us. And quite frankly, we've just been flying under the radar.'"
- Scott Bordow of the East Valley Tribune: "More than anything, the win was a psychological boost for the Suns -- and a chance to breathe for Mike D'Antoni, who has been criticized more in the past three weeks than he has in the past three years. To lose to San Antonio after coughing up a lead against Utah would have further punctured the team’s belief system and brought fans one step closer to the ledge. ... The Suns play their next three games at home, against Memphis, Golden State and Sacramento. Win all three, and then we'll say they’'re on the right track. But in winning a bare-knuckle brawl Sunday, Phoenix showed us something. It may still have some fight left come the playoffs."
- Monte Poole of the Contra Costa Times: "Team president Bob Rowell and at least four players -- Stephen Jackson, Al Harrington, Monta Ellis and Chris Webber -- are scheduled to appear for a 'Silence the Violence' rally today at 5 p.m. at Oakland Tech. It's a magnificent gesture, noble and necessary, and a cause other organizations might consider. 'We're not just going to show up once,' Rowell said Sunday. 'We'll come back to the school, sit down with the leadership group and start developing programs to continue to touch these kids.' The concept is to use a familiar brand (the Warriors) and a popular sport (basketball) as a means to reach youngsters and show them alternatives to violence while pointing out the senselessness of it all. In this case, the focus is on freshmen and sophomores. Though the rally is at Tech, students from other Bay Area schools will be in attendance."
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