- John Jackson of the Chicago Sun-Times: "It's a best-of-three series now, and the Bulls remain heavy underdogs. Two of the final three games are scheduled for Boston, and to advance to the second round, they will need to pull off another road stunner and hold serve at home. But that's a topic for another day. The story after the Bulls' dramatic 121-118 double-overtime victory against the Celtics on Sunday at the United Center was how a young team picked itself up, dusted off and got back into the fight. There were numerous moments when the Bulls could have folded in Game 4 -- in regulation and the first overtime -- but they kept fighting, kept battling and somehow found a way to win. It was a far cry from Game 3, in which the Bulls never showed much fight en route to a 21-point humiliation on their home court. The loss was so bad that few expected them to recover, and everyone who predicted the Celtics would claim the best-of-seven series in five games started to feel awfully confident about their pick. But instead of folding, the Bulls had one of their most balanced efforts of the season."
- Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald: "Admittedly, the following sentence is as specious and unfair as it is true: If Paul Pierce makes two free throws, the Celtics series with the Chicago Bulls is over. That the set is 2-2 is more honestly a product of an overall failure to do as told in key situations, but the statement serves to point out just how fine is the line that separates victory from defeat, from sitting home and waiting for the end of the Orlando-Philadelphia series to a Game 5 tomorrow at the Garden and a Game 6 at the United Center on Thursday. And maybe more. People miss free throws. It happens. Hey, Ray Allen missed one in yesterday's 121-118 double-overtime loss, an occurrence as frequent as a comet sighting. Then again, the Bulls missed 9-of-35, so they could have rendered Pierce's 1-for-2 with 18.9 seconds left in the first OT moot. Mistakes in other areas cost the Celts more."
- Bob Wojnowski of The Detroit News: "It was great for a while, a good long while, and then it got old. The Pistons got old. Their attitude got old. And perhaps most telling, Rasheed Wallace got old, in every way. His legs. His act. The angry edge he brought to the Pistons five years ago was indeed the missing piece in their 2004 championship. So now that it's over, it's fitting that Wallace's edge is gone, and he should be too. The Pistons capitulated as we figured they would Sunday, swept by Cleveland and LeBron James, losing by a humiliating 99-78 as thousands of Cavs fans cheered wildly in the stands. The Superstar Era never really went away, but it finally swept away the Pistons, and sent them back where they started. People should appreciate what they had here -- six straight Eastern Conference finals -- because it could be a long time before the Pistons get back."
- Brian Windhorst of The Plain Dealer: "The Cavs are looking at least five days off before their next game and quite possibly as many as 10 depending on how the Atlanta-Miami series goes. It generates one of those grand questions in sports on whether getting rest or staying sharp is better in the postseason. The Cavs know this. Given a choice between getting rest or not, they will take the time off. 'I think it is great,' LeBron James said. 'That's what happens when you take care of business. There are a lot of bumps and bruises and you sometimes can't get rid of them because in the playoffs you go to the next series.' The biggest challenge may be from the coaching staff on how to mix in practices and rest. Coach Mike Brown said no plans have been made other than to give the team Monday off."
- Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle: "This season and this team have been about resilience, about fortitude and having the toughness to do things well when things are going badly. These past two wins looked very much like games the Rockets would so often lose, but in the final minutes, when games are won and teams are defined, the Rockets did just enough. They might not be able to win Game 5 while shooting 39 percent. Aaron Brooks will likely have to shoot the way he did in Portland. Artest, hitting just 38.3 percent in the series, will likely have to get going. The Rockets, however, seem able to win the hard way, and that's the way it usually is in the playoffs. They have to get that one more win, and if it comes to it, two of the remaining games will be in Portland. No team might better know how far away they are, even when they are this close. But this team seems to find a way, and up 3-1, now seems likely to finally find its way out of the first round."
- John Canzano of The Oregonian: "It was the game's biggest shot. Maybe the biggest shot of the entire season for the Trail Blazers. And so it's baffling that the player given the responsibility of attempting that crucial three-point attempt in the final meaningful possession on Sunday has been awful lately. Travis Outlaw is a great guy. And he's a superb athlete. But in the first three games of the Blazers playoff series he's clanked, and clunked, and struggled to make shots. He missed a big one with 5.9 seconds left in Game 4 on Sunday. Houston beat Portland 89-88 at the Toyota Center. The Rockets lead the series 3-1. Which is only to say they have a death grip on the Blazers season, and it's puzzling that Portland coach Nate McMillan wouldn't have used his final timeout to set up a play designed to get Rudy Fernandez, the team's best three-point shooter, an open shot with an eye toward overtime."
- Mike Bianchi of the Orlando Sentinel: "Everybody else lost confidence in Hedo Turkoglu. You did, I did, we all did. Stan Van Gundy did not. And that's why the Magic are alive and kicking in this playoff series. Because Stan Van Gundy did not. He still believed in his struggling forward. He still diagrammed the play and made the call to put the ball in Turk's hands at the end of Sunday's ultra-crucial playoff game. If Turkoglu doesn't hit the shot, the series is essentially over. If he does, it's tied up heading back to Orlando. 'It was an easy decision,' Van Gundy said of the call. 'It wasn't some genius thing I drew up.'"
- Sam Donnellon of the Philadelphia Daily News: "Had the Sixers converted just a few more putbacks, a few more bunnies, the postgame math would have centered around counting from three to four. As they had in three previous games, the Magic left enough open doors and open windows for the Sixers to once again steal something, but the Sixers played too often like a team that didn't need this game. If last year's trip to this part of the schedule taught them nothing else, it should have taught them that they did. In
the end it felt that way, their defense fueling a rally from 10 points down with less than 5 minutes left, tying it on Samuel Dalembert's dunk with 14.8 seconds left on the clock. When it ended, Orlando had scored five points over that final span, all from Turkoglu, including his incredible 24-foot bomb over Thaddeus Young with 1.1 seconds remaining. That Andre Iguodala even had a decent look from 28 feet out is indicative that this year might not end like last year, might not finish with the Sixers as bystanders. Four games. Four wars. Moves and countermoves, schemes trumping schemes." - Mike Bresnahan of the Los Angeles Times: "Salt Lake City has the Mormon Tabernacle, scenic snow-capped peaks and a clean, crisp feel to it. Kobe Bryant doesn't want to go back there, though. 'I love Utah,' he said, 'but I'd rather not see it again until next year.' Without disrespecting the most populous city in the beehive state, Bryant summarized what all the Lakers were thinking: End this thing now. The Lakers hold a 3-1 series lead over the Utah Jazz and can close out their first-round playoff series in Game 5 tonight at Staples Center. It should happen, and it probably will, though the Lakers don't want to take any chances. They're planning to get out ahead quickly, win for the 13th time in their last 14 playoff home games, and then turn their attention toward Houston or Portland. They have no desire for a Game 6 on Thursday in Utah. 'You don't give them any life, any hope. Set the tone early and control the game,' Pau Gasol said. 'Make the game yours, and that's what we're going to try to do.'"
- Jody Genessy of the Deseret News: "Fans often chant about the concept. It apparently wins championships. A certain tractor-loving coach frequently harps about the aspect, too. With that in mind, Jazz fans in the L.A. area might want to bring their signs with the fourth-letter of the alphabet and the picket slats to Staples Center for Game 5. Defense, Jazz players believe, is the key to shocking the Lakers on the road tonight and forcing a Game 6 in Salt Lake City. Not just any kind of defense, either. They need the so-called "nasty" style that helped them win Game 3 on Thursday, when their active, physical effort helped limit the Lakers to 86 points and 37-percent shooting. In Los Angeles' three double-digit wins, Kobe & Co. have averaged 113.3 points while combining to shoot 56 percent. Carlos Boozer even claims it's possible as long as the Jazz are more aggressive, like they were in Game 3. 'We came out attacked them defensively,' he said. 'It's a tall task. They're a very good home team. They've got a really good offense, but I believe if we, one-through-15, come with it defensively and share the ball offensively like we usually do we'll have a chance to win the game.'"
- Frank Zicarelli of the Toronto Sun: "Jermaine O'Neal is making up for lost time at a time when many believed the six-time all-star had lost his game and his place within the game. One game in the opening round of the playoffs, against an opponent that isn't very forceful in its frontcourt, isn't going to silence the legions of critics. However, O'Neal's play speaks about a veteran who is out to prove something. When the Miami Heat acquired O'Neal's battered body and reputation from the Raptors on Feb. 13, they knew what they were getting. They knew that O'Neal addressed an obvious post need on a team that lives and dies with Dwyane Wade. They knew when the post-season arrived, they had a presence in the paint that you could throw the ball into and watch as, hopefully, defences collapsed. What they didn't know was how much of an impact O'Neal could have on games. Miami got a glimpse, and the reeling Atlanta Hawks soon realized that O'Neal can serve as a complement to Wade's perimeter prowess."
- Sekou Smith of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution: "Heads have been dipped. Voices have been lowered. The excitement and bravado that accompanied the Hawks' 26-point win in their series opener against the Miami Heat has been replaced by whispers and uncertainty with today's vital Game 4 hours away. Back-to-back humbling defeats will do that to a team, particularly an emotionally fragile one like the Hawks, who are now playing for their playoff lives every remaining second of this series. 'We've got to play with a sense of urgency,' Hawks captain Joe Johnson said after practice Sunday, echoing what he and his teammates talked about before and after Saturday's 107-78 loss. 'Knowing what's at stake, we've got to do whatever it takes not to go back home down 3-1.' The Hawks are in need of more than just a confidence boost against the Heat, who own a 2-1 lead and the home-court advantage they snatched away with a Game 2 win in Atlanta. The Hawks have to find themselves after falling apart in two consecutive games against a Heat team they demolished in Game 1."
- Mark Kiszla of The Denver Post: "The NBA playoffs are an emotional roller coaster. How much stomach the Nuggets have for the inevitable dips and wild momentum swings will reveal much about how long they can hang in pursuit of a league championship. Denver is a better basketball team than New Orleans, as the Nuggets' 2-1 lead in this best-of-seven series would suggest. But growing up is so hard for a young team to do in the playoffs, because tenacity can trump talent. During their 95-93 loss in Game 3 to New Orleans, the Nuggets showed some emotional cracks. Nene got rattled by whistles from the referees. J.R. Smith seemed a little too casual while chucking 3-point jumpers. And, given a chance to bury the Hornets after taking a 22-6 lead to open the game, Carmelo Anthony was as guilty as any Denver player of letting his guard down and failing to maintain his intensity."
- John Reid of The Times-Picayune: "Despite urging his team to be aggressive at the outset of its Western Conference playoff series against the Denver Nuggets, it took three games for Hornets Coach Byron Scott to see his message resonate. After losing the first two games of their best-of-seven series, the Hornets returned home Saturday and finally did some bullying of their own for a 95-93 win in Game 3. Scott expects to see the same physical play from his team tonight in Game 4 at the New Orleans Arena. 'It's playoff basketball, and each game is probably going to be more physical,' Scott said. 'I think our guys are starting to get used to it. I think the first game, we were a little surprised. Denver has never been known as a physical basketball team. They have been a finesse, up-and-down team for a number of years. They changed their philosophy with Chauncey (Billups) coming over.'"
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