- Dave Krieger of The Denver Post: "Bring on the demons. The exorcism continues. Bring on the Lakers, the team that knocked out the Nuggets the last time they got this far, 24 years ago, a team the Nuggets have never beaten in a postseason series. Bring on the Rockets in the unlikely event they come back to upset the Lakers. The Nuggets would happily take the home-court advantage. Bring on whoever has next. The NBA may already be printing programs for its dream LeBron-Kobe Finals, but the Nuggets have a chance to give commissioner David Stern a nightmare or two. They have never had a better opportunity to purge the demons of 32 seasons of NBA futility. 'They've got a great shot,' vanquished Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle said Wednesday night. 'They match up well with both teams. They have the athleticism to match up with L.A., and they have the big guys to be a factor against Houston's size. Both would be great series. But Denver's legit.'"
- Jean-Jacques Taylor of The Dallas Morning News: "The Mavs, as has become their trademark in the last three months, played Denver tough until the end. They made the Nuggets work to beat them, trimming the lead to 99-93 in the fourth quarter. In the end, the Mavs exceeded expectations this season. They simply weren't good enough to go deeper in the playoffs. And they won't be good enough next year without substantial change. Carlisle has proved he's a quality coach, and the players respect him even if they don't always like him or agree with his substitution pattern. He needs better players. Mark Cuban and Donnie Nelson have five months to find them."
- Elliott Teaford of the Los Angeles Daily News: "No one was in a celebratory mood before, during or after the Lakers' practiced Wednesday afternoon. No one talked about the 40-point whipping they handed the Houston Rockets in Game 5 of their second-round playoff series Tuesday night. Well, they spoke of it, but only in terms of playing with the same sort of intensity and efficiency in Game 6 tonight in Houston. In fact, they talked about the need to play with greater intensity and efficiency if they hope to eliminate the Rockets. The Lakers lead the best-of-7 series three games to two. 'We have to come out exactly how we came out and how we played for 48 minutes (Tuesday),' Pau Gasol said. 'We have to come into the game knowing it's going to be a high-level competition and knowing that you're going to have to earn it. They're not just going to give it away, and we should know that by now.'"
- Jerome Solomon of the Houston Chronicle: "Around this time 15 years ago, we were deciding between Choke City and Clutch City. Clutch won out. This millennium has brought us a new moniker that has managed to become quite popular this time of year: Crutch City. The Rockets' 2008-09 season died Saturday when, on the eve of Game 4 of their second-round series with the Lakers, doctors told Yao Ming he needs two months off to heal a broken foot. That is why most of you expect to witness the Rockets' burial tonight against the Lakers. Go ahead and admit it. ... Today, the bodies have returned home to be laid to rest. The Red Rowdies will be pallbearers. Understandably, these dead Rockets -- Tracy McGrady gimping, Yao limping, and Dikembe Mutombo not skimping on perhaps the longest crutch in history -- claim they are not yet departed. I'm no doctor, buy I recognize sure signs of death -- no heartbeat and no measurable brain activity -- and I noticed both in the Rockets' 40-point embarrassment to the city Tuesday night."
- George Diaz of the Orlando Sentinel: "This isn't all on Stan Van Gundy. Dwight Howard, as great as he is on defense, has to own up to his shortcomings on offense: He's mostly muscle and no finesse, looking good on dunks and putbacks but lacking consistency on post-up moves. Three of his five baskets came on dunks Tuesday night. Howard has a hard time facing up to the basket and creating his shot. Celtics center Kendrick Perkins has something to say about that, keeping Howard out of position to set up deep where he is most effective. But ... if Howard fancies himself as Superman, all that hype is rubbish if your team folds in the playoffs. Dwight also calls himself 'Black Magic' - the wrestling nickname he picked out from a list of suggestions on his Twitter page. Um, wrestling is choreographed. In the real world of NBA basketball, here's what great players do: They get in their teammates' faces, scream for the ball, and ram it down the basket. They don't whine about it after the fact. Dude, you're gonna get bounced from the next local Tweetup the way things are unraveling."
- Mark Murphy of the Boston Herald: "Now that Dwight Howard has publicly criticized Stan Van Gundy for limiting his touches as well as his court time in this series, many consider it the death knell for the Magic against the C's, and maybe even for Orlando's emotional coach. C's coach Doc Rivers surely has heard the rumblings, but he won't let that detract from what the Magic can accomplish at home in Game 6. 'It's huge,' Rivers said of tonight's game in Orlando. 'We have to get it any way we can. We're really grinding it out right now. I don't know if people appreciate the minutes guys have played and the effect it has on the legs, but we have to come in with the right mindset.' In other words, a killer instinct would be nice. 'Obviously being the game that can send them home, you can't come in lightly,' Ray Allen said. 'Go in with a business approach knowing that every little thing, we have to do. They'll go on runs, but we know that sticking together is what makes us better throughout this series, throughout last series and hopefully going into the future.'"
- Sekou Smith of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution: "Raise your hand if you thought we'd all end up here. Go ahead, raise it up high. Let the rest of us see you. I need to make sure we count the hands. Good. Now that the roll call is over, it's time to get down the serious business that will be retooling this Hawks roster for next season. In case you missed it, nearly half the roster is going to be diving into the free agent waters this summer. That means there's a chance that the Hawks team you saw on the floor in the Eastern Conference semifinals against Cleveland will be no more as of July 1, the date the free agent negotiating season kicks off. That also means that the ball switches from Mike Woodson, Joe Johnson, Mike Bibby and Josh Smith's court to that of Hawks general manager Rick Sund. And judging by his 30-plus year resume in the league, Sund is well aware that now is not the time for snap decisions."
- Sid Hartman of the Minneapolis Star Tribune: "Glen Taylor is taking a long time to pick a Timberwolves general manager. He has been quoted many times that the new GM will pick the coach. While that might be true, I believe the new GM will be encouraged by Taylor to give strong consideration to
retaining Kevin McHale. McHale and Taylor have had a great relationship. Taylor has a lot of respect for McHale and his basketball knowledge. Taylor previously had said the choice to keep coaching was McHale's before backing off on that statement. It's my opinion that if McHale wants the job and Taylor will pay him a salary similar to what Flip Saunders is receiving from Washington -- $18 million over four years -- that McHale will remain the coach of the Wolves." - Frank Fitzpatrick of The Philadelphia Inquirer: "An enduring mystery shrouds the 76ers, one that has little to do with why they so rarely identify the right coach, draft the right player, or make a three-pointer. Why, in a city convinced it's a great basketball town, have the Sixers -- and the Warriors before them -- had such trouble filling their arena? Don't blame the franchise's recent legacy of losing. Pro basketball drew erratically here even when our teams were annual contenders and two of the game's most dynamic attractions -- Wilt Chamberlain and Julius Erving -- wore the local colors. ... The Sixers have tried all kinds of ways of lighting the locals' fire: They've hired Philly GMs (Jack Ramsay and Ed Stefanski), Philly coaches (Jimmy Lynam, Jim O'Brien, Chris Ford), and Philly stars (Chamberlain, Matt Guokas, Mike Bantom). They've used ad campaigns ('We owe you one'). They've had private ownership (Irv Kosloff, Harold Katz, Pat Croce) and corporate ownership (Comcast). They've tried 'Faith and Family Night' and every possible enticement from free hot dogs to Shawn Bradley. And still the fans stay away. Maybe we're not a basketball town after all. Maybe we're a Wing Bowl town."
- Michael Lee of The Washington Post: "Because I cannot fathom Griffin or Rubio slipping out of the top two, I'd have to say that Thabeet is the third-best prospect in this draft. He's a 7-foot-3 shot-blocking machine who led Connecticut to the Final Four as a junior. Problem is, he plays center and the Wizards are set at that position with Brendan Haywood and JaVale McGee, who could be a monster if he committed himself to being a shot-blocker and rebounder and stopped focusing on trying to score. But I digress. So the Wizards will have to either look into the viability of selecting Arizona forward Jordan Hill or Arizona State guard James Harden at such a high pick -- or consider moving it (which I've already said is a risky move). There always is a chance that a player can rise up the draft boards once teams start working out players (who saw Russell Westbrook going No. 4 this time last season?) So current draft positions are not set in stone. There is a lot of chatter here and elsewhere about the Wizards trading their top five pick to acquire an established all-star veteran like Stoudemire and/or Bosh. That is not happening. The Wizards would have to surrender the pick and at least one of their three all-stars in any package for a player of that caliber (expiring contracts are not going to cut it). And that still might not be enough."
- Melody Gutierrez of the Sacramento Bee: "Jim Kozimor, with his energetic personality and warm smile, was one of the Kings' most recognizable faces. Now he's a personification of the Maloof family's financial troubles. The TV and radio broadcaster was one of about a dozen Maloof Sports and Entertainment staffers laid off Tuesday as the Kings grapple with the weak economy and a disappointing NBA season that led to poor attendance at Arco Arena. Adding to the Maloof money woes, the family is heavily invested in areas now taking hits from the recession. Las Vegas, where the Maloofs own the Palms Casino Resort, has been hurt by declines in gambling and tourism revenues. ... 'I understood that I was front and center, and in some ways I was one of the faces of the organization,' an emotional Kozimor said in a phone interview Wednesday. 'I cared about that. This comes as a complete shock.'"
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