- Richard Justice of the Houston Chronicle: "Funny how things work out. General manager Daryl Morey, who has done a phenomenal job rebuilding the roster around Yao Ming, signed Von Wafer because 'the scouting reports and data lined up.' 'We'd had our eye on him for awhile,' Morey said. 'He's turned out a little like Carl Landry. He has been better than we thought he'd be.' He helps give these Rockets a magical quality because every great sports story needs at least one unlikely hero. The Rockets thought Wafer was capable of pushing D.J. Strawberry for the final spot on the roster. That's it. They had no expectations beyond that. ... 'The Von Wafer of today is not the same Von Wafer from back in October,' Shane Battier said. 'He was lucky to be on the roster. He was aggressive on offense, but he was so lackadaisical on defense that you wondered if he'd ever see the floor on a team that had playoff aspirations. To his credit, he has really worked. He has studied himself on tape, and his aggressiveness has won him a spot in the rotation.'"
- David Moore of The Dallas Morning News: "Jason Terry chooses his words carefully. The line between confidence and arrogance is razor thin. He can't afford to slip and give the Mavericks first-round opponent additional motivation. 'I'm not making a guarantee,' Terry said. 'But I know if we play the way we've been playing of late, we're going to get out of the first round. That's not a question. How far we're going to go is the question. But we're going to go.' Here's my guarantee. If this group fails to move past the first round for the third consecutive year, if it fails to rediscover the promise generated by a trip to The Finals, this nucleus won't be together next season."
- John Denton of Florida Today: "Dwight Howard, who seemingly sets another NBA record with each game that he plays, is well on his way to one day seeing his No. 12 hanging in the rafters. Nearing the end of their 20th season tonight, the Magic have had their share of great players through the years. The starters on that 1995 NBA Finals team -- Shaquille O'Neal, Penny Hardaway, Horace Grant, Nick Anderson and Dennis Scott -- rival one of the greatest collections of talent ever. Tracy McGrady was a lethal scorer in Orlando from 2000-04, and the Magic have the makings now of being one of the NBA's best teams with Jameer Nelson, Hedo Turkoglu, Lewis and Howard. But Howard has the potential to be the best player ever to don Magic blue and black. In his eyes, by the time his jersey is raised to the roof of the new building years from now, there will be multiple championship banners up there as well."
- Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald: "For those who want to see Michael Beasley play a lot alongside Dwyane Wade and Heat starters even when Udonis Haslem returns, consider: Miami has outscored teams by 3 ½ points per 48 minutes with Wade and Beasley on the court together, compared with plus-2.4 for Wade/Haslem, 82games.com's Roland Beech tells us. Among Wade combos, only Daequan Cook/Wade (plus 8.2) has done better than Wade/Beasley. And consider this: The Heat's regular starting lineup (Wade, Mario Chalmers, Jamario Moon, Haslem and Jermaine O'Neal) has been outscored by 25 points. With Beasley in place of Haslem, that five-man unit has outscored teams by 15 points."
- Mark Bradley of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution: "The Hawks will face the world's third-best player in Round 1, and it was only three seasons ago that Dwyane Wade willed the Miami Heat to a championship. Do the Hawks worry he might pull a Dallas-in-the-finals on them? Said Al Horford: 'Yeah, I do.' Said Mike Woodson: 'Sure you worry about that. The great ones find a way. That's something we think about quite often.' Said Josh Smith: 'He's one of the game's greats, but I don't worry about that. I don't think that way.' As majestic as Wade can be, the Hawks have one of the world's best dozen players themselves, and Joe Johnson tends to rise to most moments. In the first three games against Miami this season, Johnson scored only 16 fewer points than the league's leading scorer, and he did it while taking eight fewer shots. And Johnson's team won two of the three."
- Mike Jones of The Washington Times: "When the Wizards take on the Boston Celtics at TD Banknorth Garden on Wednesday night, it will represent their final opportunity to avoid tying the 2000-01 team for the worst record in franchise history. 'It'd mean a lot, but it is what it is,' team captain Caron Butler said. 'Obviously, you'd rather not be associated as the team to not make it to the playoffs and with the worst record in franchise history, but at the same time you can hold your head high because you never gave up on the challenge, went out there night in and night out, suited up and were a professional.'"
- Chris McCosky of The Detroit News: "In a season full of disappointment, you probably have to rank the growth stagnation of Jason Maxiell and Amir Johnson fairly high on the list. That thought popped into my head Monday as I was watching young forwards Tyrus Thomas and Joakim Noah combine for 24 points and 21 rebounds in helping the Chicago Bulls steal a game from the Pistons at The Palace. While Noah and Thomas were wreaking havoc, Johnson recorded another DNP-CD (did not play, coach's decision) and Maxiell was hastily benched after seven uninspiring minutes."
- K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune: "Remember during training camp when critics accused Ben Gordon of pouting over failed contract negotiations and milking a jammed big right toe? Gordon does. 'That was a slap in the face,' Gordon said. 'Anybody who said that doesn't know me. I was hurt.' And now he's not. In fact, Gordon is poised to be the only Bull to play all 82 games this season, the third time in five seasons the durable guard will accomplish that feat. He has missed just 12 career games. 'I definitely take pride in that,' Gordon said. 'I think the way I train is a testament to how important this game is to me. I work very hard. I definitely don't like to miss games. So I'm happy that after all that has happened, I've played in all the games again.' Gordon's ability to take a pounding is underrated. The blow he absorbed from Antonio McDyess on his game-winning layup Monday night is another example."
- Chris Dempsey of The Denver Post: "With the wins should come the spoils. George Karl, 58, has said he wants to finish his career with the Nuggets, and barring a complete collapse in the playoffs, he'll likely be given that chance with a contract extension. He has one more year on his contract. Giving Karl the chance to get back to the playoffs was a decision the organization made last summer. Accord
ing to Mark Warkentien, there was no thought given to firing Karl, though fans were upset with the meltdown against the Lakers and Anthony said publicly that the team -- and the coaches -- quit during Game 3. 'While people were calling for the heads of George and our coaches, there was never a doubt that George was our coach,' Warkentien said. 'When you have a really good coach, you stay with him. It was never debated.' And the atmosphere around the team has seemingly changed for the better this season." - Brian Hendrickson of The Columbian: "All season, Nate McMillan resisted suggestions that any one game held more meaning than another. Until he reached tonight's season finale, that is. McMillan is now looking at tonight's game against Denver in a much different manner. He compares it to a playoff introduction, with the intensity and meaning similar to a series finale. Portland's playoff seed and the possibility of gaining home-court advantage will be directly impacted by the result. It's one game to determine the course of their future, and it gave the Blazers' preparations a playoff intensity on Tuesday. And rather than deny that added meaning, McMillan embraced it on Tuesday and sold it to his players as a motivational tool. 'Tomorrow is what you're playing for,' McMillan said on Tuesday. 'One-game series, you can get home court, you can advance. And if you lose, you lose home court. So it's really like the seventh game (in a series) and we have home court.'"
- Ailene Voisin of The Sacramento Bee: "Before an MRI later in the day revealed that Spencer Hawes suffered a strained left knee, not a serious or career-threatening injury, an angry Joe Maloof demanded an apology from Kenyon Martin, the Nuggets forward who knocked the Kings center to the ground during a fast-break sequence in Monday's game at the Pepsi Center in Denver. ... 'That was thuggery,' said Maloof, the Kings' co-owner, 'and you can quote me on that. Kenyon Martin wasn't trying to block the shot. He went right at Spencer when he was running full speed and at the (height) of his jump, when he was most vulnerable. Completely unnecessary. The Nuggets might not want to hear this, but there was no excuse for that, and he (Martin) needs to apologize to Spencer and our organization. That just wasn't right.' ... Maloof, who was traveling to the NBA board of governors meeting in New York when reached on his cell phone before the MRI, urged the league to look more closely at situations in which players are fouled while in the air, elevating for dunks, and at their most vulnerable, particularly when the contact is more than incidental."
- Diane Pucin of the Los Angeles Times: "Bob Miller, the hockey Hall of Fame broadcaster for the Kings, says there is no harder job than calling the action of an awful team, game after game, minute after endless minute. Ralph Lawler has been doing that for the Clippers for 30 years, but the losses -- 1,583 -- have not defeated him. Straight-backed and broad-shouldered, with a tan perfected by the desert sun at his La Quinta home, Lawler loves being the voice of the Clippers, who are 19-62 with one game left. Only his white hair and mustache hint at his age. Before a recent game, he walks around Staples Center with steps so long -- he's 6-foot-2 -- that people have to run to catch up. He is looking forward to the next four hours because, he says, the Clippers still could win. 'It's always more fun to do the winning broadcast, of course,' he says. 'But there's a certain satisfaction in knowing that you're prepared whether they win or lose.' ... 'When I got this job in 1978, I knew it was the last job I ever wanted to have,' he says. 'I am a Clipper for life.'"
- Dave Hyde of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel: "So Isiah Thomas bought the Continental Basketball Association. Within 18 months, he'd run it into bankruptcy. He became the Indiana Pacers coach, hired by his old friend, Larry Bird. That ended with disappointing basketball and finger-pointing all around. Naturally, with such a track record, Thomas got the marquee job of running the New York Knicks. By the end, New Yorkers didn't just want him fired for the way he'd ruined the team. They wanted him jailed for sexual harassment of the first black woman executive in the NBA, Anucha Browne Sanders. Say this for Thomas: He must interview well, because now FIU has hired him. Yes, people change. Lives evolve. He should be afforded that chance. But does FIU want to bank its reputation on that chance? And its students led by someone with his background? They've got to be joking, don't they?"
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