- Gary Dzen of The Boston Globe: "Fantastic only begins to describe the duel Ben Gordon had with fellow UConn product Ray Allen down the stretch. With the game on the ropes, Gordon hit a long jumper with 46.9 seconds left to put the Bulls up, 113-112. Allen answered with 3-pointer with 25 seconds left to put the Celtics up. 'It was almost personal,' Celtics coach Doc Rivers said. 'That's what you felt. That neither one was going to give into the other guy. It almost looked like they turned it into a personal battle. 'Who's the best UConn player to ever play?' And it was amazing.'"
- John Jackson of the Chicago Sun-Times: "It was fitting that the Bulls and Boston Celtics were battling in a thrilling, hard-nosed and high-scoring playoff game Monday night, because it was the 23rd anniversary of Michael Jordan's 63-point performance in a double-overtime loss to the Celtics at the old Boston Garden. Of course, no one player approached that kind of point total in the Celtics' 118-115 victory in Game 2 at TD Banknorth Garden, but that doesn't mean there wasn't a Jordanesque performance. Actually, there were two as Ben Gordon of the Bulls and Ray Allen of the Celtics put on a second-half shootout that would have made Jordan's right arm fatigued. OK, maybe that was an exaggeration. Jordan's right arm never got tired, as he proved to the world 23 years ago with his first signature playoff moment. 'That was one of those surreal games that you play in, where you know something special is happening,' said Bulls general manager John Paxson, who was Jordan's backcourt mate that game."
- Buck Harvey of the San Antonio Express-News: "There's a reason Tony Parker always wanted to be the guy. Because he could be. He never saw himself as the next John Stockton. He saw himself someday becoming another Isiah Thomas, a blur with a jump shot. And as he began by playing within Gregg Popovich's system, and he started his career as a teenager passing to 7-footers, he waited for the time when he could display everything he had. Monday, he did. The catch, now, is that he has to do this three more times in this series for the Spurs to win."
- Jean-Jacques Taylor of The Dallas Morning News: "The Mavs talked a good game. They really did. They swore they weren't going to be satisfied splitting the first two games against San Antonio -- not after losing in the first round of the playoffs each of the last two seasons. They lied. The team Rick Carlisle has continually praised the last couple of months for being mentally tough, battling hard and competing at the highest level laid it down Monday night. San Antonio smacked the Mavs upside the head in the first quarter and again in the third quarter."
- David Whitley of the Orlando Sentinel: "Having played approximately zero NBA games, maybe I don't get it. But this wasn't a road game in Sacramento after playing the Lakers the night before. This was opening night of the playoffs. Shots may not fall, you may get out-played. But getting back on defense is a conscious decision. It shouldn't be a hard one, even if you have a guaranteed contract. Stan Van Gundy bears some responsibility for his team's mental state, but why should hustle even be an issue? If a guy's playing like it's January in Sacramento, I want the coach in his high-priced face. This is where Van Gundy has a perception problem. He treats even preseason yawners like they're Game 7 of the NBA Finals. It's not panic. It's coaching."
- Kate Fagan of The Philadelphia Inquirer: "A year ago in the much colder city of Detroit, these Sixers were in the same position: surprising winners of the opening game against the heavily favored Pistons. But last year, the Sixers lost that second game. They eventually lost the series. 'A lot of people didn't have us winning any games in this series,' general manager Ed Stefanski said one day after the Sixers beat the Magic, 100-98, to take Game 1 of the best-of-seven NBA first-round series. 'A lot of people said we came down here to get a split, but I'm greedy.' Stefanski said last year's team was content to make the playoffs, content with that achievement. He said this year's team was certainly happy to make the playoffs but hardly satisfied."
- Ramona Shelburne of the Los Angeles Daily News: "All season long, Trevor Ariza has been reminded of his impending free agency and the bearing his performance this year could have on his future fortunes. All season long he has said and done all the right things. All the things, frankly, that NBA players have been taught to say in the face of such questions since they were in high school. Cliches like 'As long as we win, I don't care' and 'I can only worry about myself on the court' or, it's longer, slightly more complex cousin, 'I can only worry about what I can worry about, the rest will take care of itself.' They make for great sound bites and even greater conversation enders. The cynics among us roll our eyes, waiting for the time when the young guy gets frustrated with a lack of playing time or a starring role and finally let his true feelings surface. But what if the young guy really means it? What if Ariza really does care more about the Lakers winning an NBA championship than himself hitting the free-agent jackpot this summer? His actions, more than his words, sure seem like it."
- Ross Siler of The Salt Lake Tribune: "It has been a frustrating three weeks for all involved, with the Jazz having lost eight of their last 10 games and facing the prospect of being halfway to playoff elimination if they can't beat the Lakers in tonight's Game 2 of their first-round playoff series. However infuriating the slide has been, though, Deron Williams has offered few clues as to what he's feeling inside as the Jazz's unquestioned leader and franchise cornerstone, the Olympic gold medalist who all of a sudden finds himself up against the Dream Team. 'It's tough when you're losing, especially in the playoffs,' Williams said, 'but this is not the time to break down and start fighting or start bickering between each other. This is the time we've got to stay together, try to fight through things.' ... 'We had a bad game,' Williams said of the Jazz's 113-100 Game 1 loss. 'It's not the end of the playoffs. It's not the NCAA Tournament where you lose and you go home after one game. We've got six more games to play, hopefully.' There is no greater concern in the NBA, however, than a frustrated star, as the Lakers can readily attest. Two years ago, Kobe Bryant rocked the league by not only demanding a trade but saying he'd play on Pluto if necessary after the Lakers' five-game ouster by Phoenix in the first round and a 42-40 finish to the regular season. Asked about Williams' plight Monday, Bryant dismissed the parallels -- 'They d
on't have Smush Parker on their team. It's not even close,' he said -- a slam at the former Lakers guard now playing in China who called out Bryant in a video last summer." - Richard Justice of the Houston Chronicle: "Rick Adelman doesn't seek attention, doesn't even seem comfortable with it. He does every interview, answers every question, but seemingly would be just as happy if it weren't part of his job description. 'You do get attention because you're coaching in the highest league,' Adelman said. 'I've been doing it for 18 years. I never in my wildest dreams thought this would happen. I thought I'd be at a community college my whole life or maybe a small college.' When he learned Monday he'd finished second to Cleveland's Mike Brown in the NBA Coach of the Year balloting, Adelman's reaction was to, well, shrug. 'That's nice,' he said. Nice? That's it? How about a little sizzle with the steak, Coach? Adelman surely knows he has done a terrific job. He knows it, but he's not going to say it. He'll only say that, yes, it was a tough season, a season in which the players and staff were tested."
- John Canzano of The Oregonian: "The Trail Blazers were awful Saturday night. The Houston Rockets were not. And so the fans at the Rose Garden watching Game1 of this NBA playoff series did what fans sometimes do. They booed the officials. Then they chanted, 'These refs suck!' Call Saturday's Game1 loss abysmal, be frustrated, but know that the worst part of the evening was provided by Blazers fans who went small time in a big moment. And that shouldn't happen again. This issue is bigger than basketball. It's about how Portland is perceived across the nation. And since we live here, it's about you and me."
- Benjamin Hochman of The Denver Post: "Heading into Wednesday's Game 2, a fascinating battle-inside-the-battle will be Chris Paul vs. Dahntay Jones: Denver's trash-talking defender and New Orleans' talkative all-star point guard. In Game 1, the Nuggets did a praiseworthy job on Paul, keeping him from taking over the game. Much of the credit goes to Jones, who had a little bark to his bite. OK, a lot of bark after Paul starting yapping early and often. 'Trash talk is not a part of what I try to bring out there, but I still am not going to let anybody talk to me in that kind of way,' Jones said. 'I respond. I'm a man, so I respond to certain things in the same manner you would. If somebody keeps talking to me, eventually I'm going to say something.'"
- John DeShazier of The Times-Picayune: "That stinging word -- 'effort' -- continues to rear its head with regard to the Hornets, and not in a good way. Because it means everyone knows -- New Orleans players and coaches included, and perhaps especially -- that the Hornets don't always put forth maximum effort, don't always match the intensity of an opponent. Certainly, New Orleans collectively was two or three steps behind Denver on Sunday night. The Hornets didn't measure up to the Nuggets in any facet of the game, from coaching to motivation to execution to effort. And an overall, thorough stomping just wasn't the way anyone expected the Hornets to debut in the playoffs."
- Sekou Smith of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution: "After a humbling Game 1 loss in Boston during the first round of the 2008 NBA playoffs, the Hawks were considered nothing but a momentary nuisance on the Celtics' road to a title. Five thrilling playoff games later, the Hawks and Celtics took the floor in Boston for Game 7. That's why as spectacular as the Hawks' 26-point Game 1 win was Sunday night, Wednesday's Game 2 at Philips Arena looms just as large as the opener for both teams. 'Having been in that position, you can't be a fool. Don't be a fool, man,' Hawks forward Marvin Williams said. 'Win or lose, it's just one game in a seven-game series. Everybody in this locker room realizes that, and I'm sure [the Heat] realize that. They're not going to just roll over and die because of one game. We know they're going to play way better than they played the other night. And we have to be ready to play as well.'"
- Israel Gutierrez of The Miami Herald: "If Miami has any chance of winning this series, whose shoulders does it fall on to carry the Heat from a 26-point drubbing to winning four games in six tries? It's actually a two-man job. The Heat's fate for the rest of this series will ride on Wade (surprise!) and Erik Spoelstra. What we saw from Wade on Sunday night was not just uncharacteristic of him, it was a bit uncomfortable to watch. Everything was status quo for about the first 10 minutes of the game, and you figured his thoroughly entertaining and near genius regular season was going to transfer seamlessly to the postseason. Then, just like that, it jumped the shark as fast as that show Heroes."
- Chris McCosky of The Detroit News: "The word that keeps coming to mind is penance. It's probably a loose usage of the word, but it's what this first-round series is for the Pistons. Getting their tails handed to them four times by the Cleveland Cavaliers is their penance for the sins of the regular season. It was the utter lack of urgency Detroit showed toward moving out of the eighth spot and avoiding a 66-victory Cleveland team that has come back to doom this team. Two giveaway losses to Chicago, the late meltdowns in Indiana and Philadelphia and the no-show in New Jersey -- all in the final month -- when they could have easily slid up to No. 7 and played Boston without Kevin Garnett, or even up to No. 6 and played Orlando, a team it has dominated."
- Mary Schmitt Boyer of The Plain Dealer: "In just his fourth season, Mike Brown, 39, led the Cavs to a league-best 66-16 record, the franchise's best-ever mark. His overall regular-season record is 211-117, his .643 winning percentage tops in team history and third-best among current NBA coaches, trailing only Phil Jackson and Gregg Popovich. Brown joins Bill Fitch, who won the award for the 1975-76 season, as the only Cavs coaches to be so honored. 'It's a great day,' LeBron James said. 'Congratulations to coach. It's unbelievable when you look at all the great coaches in the league -- Phil Jackson, Jerry Sloan, Gregg Popovich, Larry Brown -- all these coaches and Mike Brown is the coach of the year.'"
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