- Brian Windhorst of The Plain Dealer: "In case you forgot it was possible, the Cavs actually didn't play well tonight. They've had stretches of bad play in the playoffs but this one lasted about 48 minutes. They dealt with it and executed their way through it with tough defense and clutch shot making. You know, the stuff they are going to have to do against the Lakers/Rockets/Nuggets/Magic/Celtics. It is rare a team gets this far without battling the opponent or themselves down the wire. The way the Cavs dealt with it should give them even more confidence."
- Jeff Schultz of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution: "There's a tendency when teams are down 3-0 in a playoff series to play hard at the outset but fizzle quickly when the opponent steps it up. Give the Hawks credit. The Cavaliers might have been off their game a little, but Atlanta had chances to fold up and didn't. The last year the Hawks had won a playoff series was 1999, and the good feelings that season also didn't last long. They were swept by the New York Knicks in the second round. General manager Pete Babcock apparently was so distraught that he popped a spring and traded Steve Smith for Isaiah Rider. The rest is inglorious history. The chances of general manager Rick Sund blowing things up this summer are slim. But it's startling how much things are up in the air. That's rare to see when you have such a young team that has shown incremental progress over a period of years. The team's next direction is anybody's guess."
- Tim Cowlishaw of The Dallas Morning News: "There was nothing about a sweep of the Mavericks by the Denver Nuggets that made sense. Maybe that's why, despite a Game 4 that seemed to be going the other way, it didn't happen. The main reason it didn't happen? The real reason there will be a Game 5 (for what it's worth) on Wednesday night in Denver? No question, it was Dirk Nowitzki. The man who was supposed to be so burdened by the fallout from his personal troubles, which included the arrest of a woman at his house, was on fire Monday night. His final two free throws with 8.3 seconds to play gave him 44 points and raised Dallas' lead to four in a game they would win, 119-117. In the two home games against Denver, Nowitzki scored 77 points and added 29 rebounds. You can't ask for more than that. No one gives his team more than that."
- Chris Dempsey of The Denver Post: "In the three games the Nuggets played in Dallas this season prior to Monday night, the team's management has always been in the crowd but had never seen a scene quite like the one in Game 5. By its end, security was permanently perched by Kenyon Martin's mother. Martin himself, felt compelled to yell into the crowd in defense of his mom during a break in the second quarter. Carmelo Anthony's wife, La La Vasquez, was fed up to the point where she retaliated with words and by throwing an object before leaving the game altogether in the fourth quarter. Nuggets assistant coach Jamahl Mosley left the bench early in the night to make certain Martin's mother was alright. Obscenities were shouted nearly all night at Martin's girlfriend, Trina. And Nuggets director of team security, Bobby Simmons, scurried back and forth through it all. Rex Chapman, Nuggets vice president of player personnel, was among the Nuggets' brass who were all severely turned off by if all. 'Short of a game I saw in Belgrade a couple of years ago where they were throwing chairs and setting off flares, it was about as dangerous a venue I've been in,' Chapman said.'It's not fair to our players who have to sit there and worry about their families, friends, girlfriends and wives being, for lack of a better term, assaulted, verbally. It was really bad in there.'"
- Woody Paige of The Denver Post: "In a game of plots, conspiracies, subterfuges, gambits, feints and ploys, it came down to a one-on-one, face-to-face, mano-a-mano Star Wars lightsabers duel between Carmelo Anthony and Dirk Nowitzki. Nowitzki edged Anthony. The Mavericks edged the Nuggets. This was Frazier-Ali, Connors-McEnroe, Gibson-Drysdale, Ben-Hur-Messala, Skywalker-Vader, Russell-Chamberlain, Magic-Bird. Staring down, looking up. Point for point, rebound for rebound, big play for big play. Basketball is a team game, but there was an individual clash of the titans Monday night that was epic and classic, a pleasure to watch, an amusement park ride, a test of wills, drives and jumpers. If you don't like that, collect butterflies."
- Richard Justice of the Houston Chronicle: "Rick Adelman absolutely loves this team. It's not always smart, and it's not always a good team. This team is special because of its heart and effort and because it has a healthy collective ego. The Rockets attacked the Lakers from the beginning, caught them off-balance and led from start to finish. Now it's the Lakers who are considering how to adjust to the speed as the two teams prepare for Game 5 tonight at Staples Center. 'We know it's going to be a different game, but we have to play the same way,' Adelman said. 'We can't change the way we play. We have to expect them to be a lot better. We just want to stay in the game. We're not going to beat them with size and jumping ability and all that. We have to outwork 'em. All five guys have to do their job.' On Monday, the Rockets flew here, had a video session and met briefly with reporters. Perhaps they played so freely on Sunday because they had nothing to lose. To keep that mindset, to continue to be aggressive and force the action, may be the challenge in Game 5. 'We're going to go into the game dumb,' Aaron Brooks said. 'We're not to going to think about anything besides playing in the game and going out there and having fun. That's all we can do.'"
- Mark Heisler of the Los Angeles Times: "Lakers Coach Phil Jackson said the mood at Monday's practice was 'somber,' although he added his players 'recognize we went to Houston and did what we needed to do.' Yes, he's still upbeat! Not that that's getting old, but the Lakers' logo ought to be a smiley face with a Band-Aid over its eye. In the good news for Lakers fans, it's an act. Aliens haven't kidnapped Phil and Kobe Bryant and replaced them with smiling clones. In private, Jackson told his team he was 'dismayed' but hid his dismay from the media, like David St. Hubbins in 'Spinal Tap,' explaining how he relays suggestions from his brutally honest girlfriend to the band: 'She gives me the brutally honest version and I kind of tart it up for them.' What's going on -- and has gone on since last spring's debacle in the Finals -- is the result of Jackson's decision to keep the heat off his young players. Meanwhile, Bryant hasn't bitten a single teammate in the neck, like Dracula, although I'll bet he's eyed a few."
- Steve Bulpett of
the Boston Herald: "It's important for Paul Pierce to get his points and draw the defense to free up others. Kendrick Perkins has to be a force inside on both ends of the court now. Ray Allen always will draw defensive attention even when his shot is not falling. But under the current circumstances, Rajon Rondo is the most critical Celtics entity. Ruminate on that for a second. Pierce and Allen are locks for the Hall of Fame and Perkins is forced to do his own job and make up, too, for the defensive absence of Kevin Garnett. But the fate of the Celtics rests in the oversized hands of a 6-foot-1 guy so skinny that the very sight of him is a reminder to floss. On any given night this spring, you can most accurately track the possibility of Green success based on Rondo." - Brian Schmitz of the Orlando Sentinel: "Extracting a victory tonight in Game 5 at a place called TD Banknorth Garden could be just as historic for the Magic of the Dwight Howard era. They'll need to call on their prowess as one of the league's best road teams now that they've awakened all those green-shirted ghosts who moved from their famous haunt to inherit an arena named after a banking conglomerate. The Magic couldn't escape the clutches of the Celtics on Sunday night at Amway Arena, falling on a last-second shot by Glen 'Big Baby' Davis to send the semifinal series back to New England tied at 2-2. The Magic let their biggest opportunity in years slip away in the 95-94 defeat. They'll now have to win at least once in Boston -- possibly twice -- to advance to their first conference finals since 1996. And should that scenario unfold, the Magic will face this daunting statistic: The Celtics are 17-3 all-time at home in Game 7s."
Sort comments by: Most Recent | First Posted
Comments that include profanity, or personal attacks, or antisocial behavior such as "spamming" or "trolling," or other inappropriate comments or material will be removed from the site. We will take steps to block users who violate any of our terms of use. You are fully responsible for the content that you post.
TRUEHOOP CONTRIBUTORS
Henry AbbottTrueHoop ESPN Archive |
J.A. AdandeTrueHoop ESPN Archive |
Kevin ArnovitzTrueHoop ESPN Archive |
Chris BroussardTrueHoop ESPN Archive |
Chad FordTrueHoop ESPN Archive |
John HollingerTrueHoop ESPN Archive |
Chris SheridanTrueHoop ESPN Archive |
Marc SteinTrueHoop ESPN Archive |
