- Steve Dilbeck of the Los Angeles Daily News: "The Celtics came into Staples Center on a roll, having won a franchise- record 19straight games. Still looking focused and determined, and playing with a mature consistency that has eluded the Lakers. But the Lakers needed this one more, needed to brush aside the perception they were soft, too weak mentally, just too inferior to the mighty Celtics. Despite the great run the Celtics were on, despite the glare of a nationally-televised Christmas Day game, this game was more important to the Lakers, and ultimately they played like it. They may not have been dramatically better, but it was the Lakers who answered the challenge, who made plays down the stretch and came away with the 92-83 victory that reeked of playoff intensity. The Lakers had been winning, yet somehow languishing. Their impressive start giving way to victories that felt too difficult, or losses to inferior teams they should have handled with relative ease. It shouldn't have been this way, but they clearly needed something to gain their attention, to challenge their imagined greatness."
- Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald: "They bickered openly, took bad shots and came up empty at a time of the game they have owned. Ahead by two points with 3:56 remaining, the defending champions looked defenseless as the Lakers scored 13 of the affair's last 15 points to cook the Green's Christmas goose. Both teams were wearing snowflake patches on their jerseys, but only the Celts melted when things got hot. Gone is their franchise-record 19-game winning streak, and they now have three losses to go with 27 wins."
- Mike Monroe of the San Antonio Express-News: "It was a good day and a bad day for Tony Parker on the technical-foul front. First, he heard from league officials that the technical foul he had been assessed in Monday's victory over Toronto, and the $1,000 fine that went with it, had been rescinded. Then, he was called for a technical foul with 1:01 remaining, and the score tied, in Thursday's game. Parker was angry that Steve Nash wasn't called for fouling him as he launched a "teardrop floater near the basket. 'Steve was riding me,' he said. 'I don't shoot air-ball teardrops, so I was kind of ticked off. But that's emotions, and I should know better. Even if it's a foul like that, at the end of the game the referees rarely are going to call the foul, so you have to play physical.'"
- Brian Hanley of the Chicago Sun-Times: "Derrick Rose's personality, while not exactly that of a shrinking violet, does not exactly scream TV pitchman given his reserved nature. Still, Rose admitted Thursday he wants to grab his slice of the endorsement pie. 'Of course, someday,' Rose said. 'If anybody called, and I liked doing it, for sure I'm going to take it. I really want to market myself out there so people don't think that I'm mean and stuck up all the time.' People think you are mean? 'A lot of people don't think I talk or none of that stuff,' Rose said. 'I'd like to prove them wrong. I like to be in commercials.' Rose, who already has shot yet-to-be-seen spots for Wilson and Adidas, will have the national spotlight shining on him today, when the Bulls are in Miami to play Dwyane Wade and the Heat."
- Chris Perkins of the Palm Beach Post: "Mario Chalmers will be able to state his case before a national audience Friday when the Heat (15-12) faces the Chicago Bulls (13-15) at AmericanAirlines Arena (5 p.m., ESPN). He will go head-to-head with Bulls point guard Derrick Rose, the No. 1 pick of the draft who so far this season is the league's best rookie. Call it 'The Steal' vs. 'The Real Deal.' And, yes, Chalmers will be motivated by what he considers a snub in the draft. 'It's been a big factor,' he said, 'and I think it will be an even bigger factor Friday for me to go up against the No. 1 pick in our draft, and one of the best players in our draft.'"
- Frank Zicarelli of the Toronto Sun: "People can question his moves, but Bryan Colangelo isn't the kind of person to make rash decisions. Above everything else, Colangelo is a calculating individual who will do whatever it takes to win. But he's not alone in an NBA climate that is ripe for change. Teams such as the Kings, Charlotte Bobcats, Chicago Bulls, Golden State Warriors, New York Knicks and Portland Trail Blazers, to name a few, appear poised to make moves. Whether it's as early as next week, when the Raptors return from their six-game odyssey, or closer to the Feb. 19 trade deadline, there will be roster changes. A philosophical change also must happen. ... The time soon will arrive, and some would argue the time already has arrived, when Colangelo has to modify his philosophy and acquire a player with an edge and toughness who plays on the perimeter. The list of potential suitors will grow, but it all begins with an admission that a change in philosophy is needed. ... With 2009 fast approaching, there will be new players and talk of a renewal. But until the Raptors change their culture, nothing meaningful will happen. That's not panicking. It's merely admitting the truth."
- Scott Howard-Cooper of the Sacramento Bee: "There is no such thing as shocking in the Don Nelson world, but quitting and walking away from $12 million would qualify. No one expects that to happen. Moving himself into the line of fire to become the seventh coach to get the ax, that's another story. He would get a sizable payoff and the freedom to swing a new deal elsewhere, if he suddenly feels tough enough again."
- Chris Tomasson of the Rocky Mountain News: "Only three NBA players have logged 20 or more seasons, and all stayed in college at least three years. Robert Parish and Kevin Willis lasted 21 and Kareem Abdul- Jabbar 20. If one considers the ABA, Moses Malone, who arrived directly from high school in 1974 before the trend soon took a 20-year break, played 21 seasons. Two were in the ABA and 19 in the NBA. Of the three NBA 20-year men, Abdul-Jabbar, at 42, was the youngest to retire. Malone said goodbye at 40. But consider that Garnett could play a 20th season when he's 38 and Bryant and O'Neal at 37. Heck, maybe we'll see the NBA's first 25-year man. Leave it to Jermaine O'Neal, though, to slow down this rocking-chair talk. 'I don't think so,' he said of a lot of teenage NBA players becoming 20-year men. 'I think guys are going to want to do other things and spend time with their families.'"
- Ronald Tillery of the Memphis Commercial Appeal: "O.J. Mayo's impact regularly puts him in Rookie of the Year conversations with media at every NBA stop despite Memphis' lack of nationally televised games. Mayo is unchallenged as the best rookie scorer, having displayed mid-range ability and surprisingly deft shooting from beyond the 3-point arc. And he's shown more passing abilit
y, averaging four assists, with his shot off in the past week. 'I'm not playing for the Rookie of the Year award,' Mayo said. 'I'm playing to get better each game up until my last game. It's not important to the team. And it's really early. I just want to stay healthy and help the team get better.'" - Jeff Rabjohns of The Indianapolis Star: "Trade rumors are part of life in professional basketball. In late November, there was speculation that he (Mike Conley) and Memphis forward Hakim Warrick would be traded to Portland, where Greg Oden plays. The Grizzlies heard about it as they were getting ready to play the Spurs in San Antonio on Nov. 28. 'Right before tipoff, Hakim Warrick came up to me and said, 'Pack your bags. We're going to Portland,' ' Conley said. 'I didn't know if he was making a joke, but he said, 'No, there's a trade rumor out there. 'I was like 'For real?' Then it was like, 'OK, forget about it and go out and play the game.' ' It's possible Conley's future could be elsewhere. The Grizzlies opened the year with four players capable of playing point guard in Conley, Javaris Crittenton, Kyle Lowry and O.J. Mayo. They traded Crittenton to Washington on Dec. 10 and currently are starting Lowry and Mayo in the backcourt. ... 'Of course, I hear the rumors, but Memphis is my home and where I feel I'll be for years to come.'"
- Eddie Sefko of The Dallas Morning News: "Gerald Green won the NBA's slam dunk contest in 2007, but said Thursday he's had enough of the All-Star Weekend show -- at least for now. 'I don't want to do it,' Green said. 'They can keep it.'"
- Brian Windhorst of The Plain Dealer: "I know this is hardly new information, but I still can't believe Caron Butler plays with a plastic straw in his mouth. He's out there chewing on it the whole game. I mean, what is there to prevent someone from hitting him in the head and forcing him to swallow it or something?"
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