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League-Wide

• Scott Fowler of The Charlotte Observer: "I lay the blame for this 50-loss season mostly at the feet of Michael 'Airball' Jordan, whose whiff on Vincent was only the latest example of the fact that he runs NBA basketball teams about as well as he hit a curveball. ... The Jordan myth is that everything he touches turns to gold. It wasn't a myth during Jordan's legendary playing career. But it's about 10 years out of date now. As good as he was when a basketball game was on the line, Jordan has shown no similar Midas touch as an NBA executive."
• Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel: "You root against the Mavericks and Suns not because of the so-called softness of Dirk Nowitzki or the defensive distain in Phoenix. ... Here's why: Jason Kidd. And Shaquille O'Neal. Both certainly have had their moments following their relocation, Kidd providing experienced guidance in Dallas, O'Neal offering proven power in Phoenix. But it's how they got there that would make payback the proper payoff. Kidd essentially quit on the Nets at a point when New Jersey very much remained in playoff contention. ... Similarly, O'Neal bailed on the Heat at the first sign of slippage. Instead of standing tall and trying to pick up the load for ailing teammate Dwyane Wade, O'Neal decided he simply couldn't cope with the humidity."
• Chris Perkins of The Palm Beach Post: "The last time Pat Riley was in a situation like the one he faces now -- trying to put together a championship team relatively quickly -- he did it largely in one summer, 2005, when he orchestrated a five-team, 13-player deal and acquired Jason Williams, Antoine Walker and James Posey. Look for Riley to display similar savvy in this rebuild. But look past this off-season. Riley might make his biggest move at the mid-February trade deadline, a period just as crucial in the rebuilding process as free agency. That is why Heat fans shouldn't obsess on the summer. The 2008 draft picks and free-agent signees should be checkpoints in a process that Riley wants completed in two years."

• Dave Krieger of the Rocky Mountain News: "Between the perception of the Nuggets from fans and the perception of the Nuggets from pros inside the NBA lies a chasm wider than the gulf between Kobe Bryant's current maturity level and Carmelo Anthony's. Within the association, the Nuggets are viewed as a zoo, a kindergarten run amok, a coaching nightmare. That they won 50 games is considered vaguely miraculous, their obvious offensive talent notwithstanding. One former player whose name you would recognize says not only has he never seen such a combination of talent and dysfunction in the NBA, he's never heard of one."
• Chris Dempsey of The Denver Post: "Many Nuggets players didn't speak to the media Sunday morning, the day after the team's 102-84 loss to the Lakers on Saturday. But those who did said they did not quit, as Carmelo Anthony suggested, in the second half of Game 3. ... 'I don't think he meant it,' Kleiza said. 'Nobody quit. Nobody quit on each other. It's just him being the competitor he is. Sometimes things like that come out of people's mouths after tough losses.' Added forward Eduardo Najera: 'That's just frustration. I wouldn't necessarily call it quitting. Different guys, they are going to have different opinions, and you've got to respect that.'"
• Benjamin Hochman of The Denver Post: "The mood Sunday, one Nugget said, 'was almost like somebody died.' A day before Game 4, the forlorn Nuggets convened for a Sunday film session while on the verge of their fifth straight first-round elimination. ... Sunday's film session started out gloomy until numerous coaches began making inspiring speeches. Assistant coach Tim Grgurich, in particular, calmed the players and helped them put more focus on Game 4, instead of focusing on the failures in Game 3."
• Chris Tomasson of the Rocky Mountain News: "When the Lakers arrived to use the Nuggets' practice court Sunday at the Pepsi Center, players and coaches looked through the glass into the weight room. Strung about were white signs with black lettering that looked to be fresh off a Xerox copier. Lakers coach Phil Jackson is known for being philosophical. But even he didn't have to get too complex. 'They have about 150 'I Believe' signs on all their machines,' Jackson said. 'I think they're trying to get the mentality that you've got to go out there and believe.'"
• Mike Bresnahan of the Los Angeles Times: "The latest confirmation that Andrew Bynum isn't close to returning: He is not with the team in Denver. There is only a remote possibility that Bynum, out since Jan. 13 because of a knee injury, will return to the Lakers this season."
• Steve Springer of the Los Angeles Times: "When (Jerry) West finally stepped aside in 2000, (Mitch) Kupchak felt he was qualified to take the reins from the front-office legend. Others weren't so sure. There was a perception that West continued to pull the strings, first as a Lakers consultant, then from the golf course in retirement, and even, went the uninformed chatter, from Memphis after West went there in 2002 to revive the Grizzlies. 'That perception is so grossly unfair,' said West, once again retired. 'Mitch is his own man.'"

Jazz vs. Rockets

• Ross Siler of The Salt Lake Tribune: "As they look ahead to a probable Western Conference semifinals series against Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers, the Jazz can appreciate the urgency of closing out the Rockets with a victory in Game 5 Tuesday in Houston. ... 'We definitely don't want to be playing while the Lakers are sitting there resting,'' Korver said. 'But at the same time, we can't be looking ahead like that. After these last three games, I'm guessing the next one is going to be just as tough as all these last ones were.'"
• Brad Rock of the Deseret News: "In this series, there are few uncontested shots and nobody who doesn't have bruises. Welcome to the Abrasion, Contusion, Laceration and Head Trauma Clinic. Take a seat in the wheelchair on your left. The doctor will see you in a moment. You thought the playoffs were basketball? Heavens no, they're roller derby in gym shoes."
• Richard Justice of the Houston Chronicle: "It looks like our happy family could use a few days apart. Why else would Tracy McGrady publicly call out his head coach? You'd think a guy with as much baggage as McGrady would know better than to offer a public assessment of someone else's job performance. That's clueless for you. Rockets coach Rick Adelman might not be thrilled with his disappearing superstar, either. This might or might not be the case because Adelman never has uttered so much as a negative syllable about his frequently wounded diva. That's professionalism for you."
• Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle: "... after four games and several marathon film reviews, Adelman was sure of his distaste for the way the Jazz had defended his offense and what the Rockets had to do about it. 'You have to look at the tape and send it in to the league,' Adelman said. 'Hopefully, they look at it and say this isn't right. But for the most part, that's asking someone else to do what you have to do. You have to respond.' The response to the physical Jazz defense that has limited Tracy McGrady and shackled the Rockets is the same as it has been to any offensive problem throughout the season."
• Fran Blinebury of the Houston Chronicle: "Leave it to Andrei Kirilenko to put a new perspective on Tracy McGrady's continuing inability to get the ball in the basket in the fourth quarter. 'That's become a tradition,' Kirilenko said, his eyes dancing behind a grin. 'Don't you think?' Perhaps, if your idea of warm, fuzzy traditions is grandma falling into the Christmas tree."

Celitics vs. Hawks

• Peter May of The Boston Globe: "... one could argue, Al Horford is the future face of the franchise. Joe Johnson is the All-Star and Josh Smith is the high flyer, but it was Horford, the rookie, who took it upon himself to call down to his alma mater in Gainesville, Fla., and ask the video guy to send him a 20-minute highlight film of 'When We Were Kings,' the documentary on Muhammad Ali's upset of George Foreman in Zaire. (They had it in the Florida vault, apparently.) The theme: anything is possible. Then the Hawks went out and proved it by taking apart the Celtics in the second half to climb back into the series. Game 4 is tonight. 'I just felt I had to do something to help us win,' Horford said. 'That's the only way I looked at it.'"
• Sekou Smith of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution: "This NBA postseason isn't suffering from any lack of demonstrative on-court behavior, and the Hawks and Celtics have certainly contributed their fair share. There's Kevin Garnett's non-stop chatter, to himself or anyone else willing to be engaged. There was Al Horford brushing the ball off after Josh Smith blocked Rajon Rondo in the fourth quarter of Saturday's Game 3 win. And Horford jawing with Paul Pierce late in the game. Emotions are stirring is the Eastern Conference playoff series. Expect it to continue tonight in Game 4."

• Dave Feschuk of the Toronto Star: "Primoz Brezec, Toronto's end-of-the-bench centre, walked into the locker room the other day and pumped a fist in celebration, expressing happiness in news that one of the banes of his existence as an NBAer, a coach named Sam, had just been fired. 'Sam Vincent!' Brezec kept repeating, rather excitedly. And Vincent, who coached the Charlotte Bobcats while Brezec was under their employ -- and who Brezec has criticized openly -- had, indeed, been axed Saturday. As for the only NBA coach named Sam left standing, it's the unsentimental nature of the business that the security of Samuel E. Mitchell's employment as Raptors head coach will be questioned in the coming days, perhaps unless the Raptors improbably escape their 3-1 post-season hole beginning in Orlando tonight."
  
• Steve Buffery of the Toronto Sun: "It's time for Sam Mitchell to try something drastic. He's got nothing to lose, except, perhaps, his job, which he may lose anyway. Down 3-1 to the Orlando Magic in the best-of-seven opening round of the NBA playoffs, the Raptors head coach needs to shake things up for the do-or-die Game 5 tonight, and the best way to do that is to change the starting lineup. Again."
• Michael Grange of The Globe and Mail: "Just as the gloss of the stock Disney characters, the Tooth Fairy and, yes, Santa Claus, is rubbed off over time, the Raptors' image as a young team rising fast is proving a rapidly thinning veneer. Three convincing losses in four playoff games will do that, even more than an indifferent regular season."
• Tim Povtak of the Orlando Sentinel: "Orlando Magic Coach Stan Van Gundy has no intention of suddenly uncorking forward Pat Garrity for a surprise appearance in tonight's potential close-out playoff game against the Toronto Raptors. Yet he used Garrity prominently at Sunday's practice, asking him to explain to his teammates what happens if a team with a 3-1 lead in a best-of-seven series grows overconfident too soon. These close-outs can turn into disasters. Garrity is the last remaining player from the upstart Magic team that took a 3-1 lead over the Detroit Pistons in the first round of the 2003 playoffs, only to drop the next three and start a three-year downward slide for the franchise."
• John Denton of Florida Today: "Nearly 12 years have passed since May 15, 1996, the date that Orlando last knocked another foe out of the playoffs. Over that span the franchise has played 36 postseason games and seven series and all they have to show for it is heartbreak, angst and a stack of Grant Hill X-rays. ... 'How long has it been?' Magic shooting guard Keith Bogans asked incredulously before being told the answer. 'Wow, really?' Tonight, when the surging Magic take on the Toronto Raptors at Amway Arena at 7:30, the drought could finally end."

Wizards vs. Cavaliers

• Ivan Carter of The Washington Post: "Gilbert Arenas, who has made plenty of clutch shots in his career, was kicking himself afterward for his decision-making on his final shot. From the moment the ball left his fingertips, Arenas knew it was off target. 'I should have shot it the first time, when I bumped off' West, Arenas said of the moment when he initially received Stevenson's pass. 'I should have taken that shot, but I really don't like fading back. Looking back on it, I had a better shot when I first caught the ball.'"
  
• Mike Wise of The Washington Post: "Don't get caught up in the numbers, because his 34-point, 12-rebound, 7-assist statistical line does not illustrate why the Cleveland Cavaliers are one game away from pulling down the curtain on 'The Gil, Caron and 'Tawn Show' before May. It's not the production; it's the poise, the ability for a composed 23-year-old to weather boos from 20,000 people. It's the focus to overcome chants and vulgarities and an open-hand, windmill flagrant foul from his rumble-at-the-park nemesis, DeShawn 'It's On' Stevenson."
• Tom Knott of The Washington Times: "With the season hanging in the balance, the Wizards inexplicably lacked energy, focus and determination in Game 4 yesterday. The Wizards allowed themselves to be pushed around in the three-second lane by the Cavaliers. They allowed senior citizens Ben Wallace and Joe Smith to amass a combined 20 rebounds, nine on the offensive end. They allowed the Cavaliers to collect 18 offensive rebounds that resulted in 20 second-chance points. And that was difference in the Cavaliers' 100-97 win over the Wizards."
• Brian Windhorst of The Akron Beacon-Journal: "After the game, LeBron said DeShawn Stevenson hit him with a closed fist on the flagrant foul in the first half. I have since seen some photos that support that but it was not clear. Also, he seemed to go for the ball. I suspect the Cavs will push hard to have him to have the foul upgraded but it probably won't happen. Here is the thing, people who know DeShawn have told me they think he's crazy enough to attempt to go head hunting for LeBron in Game 5 if he thinks it is over just because of how personal this has all gotten. Well see."
• Branson Wright of The Plain Dealer: "There has been tension between Stevenson and James since Stevenson's 'overrated' comments and since James compared himself to rapper Jay-Z and Stevenson to Soulja Boy. But the gloves almost came off after the hard foul. It reminded James of the no-blood, no-foul summer days at Elizabeth Park in Akron. 'I saw DeShawn coming and I didn't even know he hit me with a closed fist until one of my teammates told me,' James said. 'If we were in the park where I grew up, something definitely would have escalated. I guess that's what they want to do, hurt LeBron James in this series. It's not working.'"

Spurs vs. Suns

• Buck Harvey of the San Antonio Express-News: "The end is coming for Horry. He knows that. He wouldn't mind playing another season, but he also has joked about the prospects. 'Who is going to want a 38-year-old power forward who doesn't score in the paint?' he has said. That's Horry. Nothing bothers him short of the death threat he got last spring, and this past weekend in Phoenix was nothing like that. He was booed, sure, but that was it. 'I don't mind being public enemy No. 1 here,' he said."
• Paul Coro and Jason P. Skoda of The Arizona Republic: "Gregg Popovich believes the scrutiny that has enveloped the Suns' coaching staff is misplaced. 'People have too much of a tendency, just like a lot of areas in our country, if things don't happen instantly the way people want there's got to be a goat and there's got to be a hero,' he said. 'Both of those notions are a bit immature. In the years that we have won championships, we've lost the first game of the first round, and all of a sudden I'm an idiot. So I've heard of it before, so that's why I don't think it makes much sense.'"
• Dan Bickley of The Arizona Republic: "Once again, the star of the game was a Frenchman. And this time, the Suns coach was ejected from the contest and stormed off the court in a huff. Together, these two facts lead down only one logical path: Au revoir, Phoenix. Instead, it was Boris Diaw's best game in ages. Imagine that. Hope still lives."
• Scott Bordow of the East Valley Tribune: "It was arguably Diaw's best game as a Sun, and his timing couldn't have been better. 'I thought that Boris obviously dominated the game on both ends of the floor,' D'Antoni said. 'He was phenomenal.' Other adjectives have been used to describe Diaw in his three seasons with the Suns. Soft. Passive. Not worth the $45 million the Suns are paying him. (OK, so that last one wasn't an adjective. Sue me.) The criticism hasn't been without merit. Too often, Diaw has been an uninterested observer. He had 50 games this season with five rebounds or less and 51 games in which he scored in single digits. But Diaw was a different player Sunday."

Hornets vs. Mavericks

• Dan Ryan of The Times-Picayune: "It's not a good sign when the first guy off the bench has better stats than point guard Jason Kidd or reigning MVP Dirk Nowitzki. But Brandon Bass was all the Dallas Mavericks had going for them for most of the first half of Sunday's Game 4 against the Hornets."
• Randy Galloway of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram: "And then there's Avery Johnson, the head coach who almost certainly won't be by next weekend, barring some kind of miracle revival by his team. Big changes are on the way for the Cubans, changes that guarantee nothing, except the Mavs we once knew will be no more."
• David Moore of The Dallas Morning News: "The Dallas Mavericks' season isn't over. But let's not quibble over a technicality. Phoenix has a better shot of coming back against San Antonio than these Mavericks do of beating New Orleans. The reason: The Mavs have only three players who have bothered to show up in this series. Josh Howard isn't one of them. Question Avery Johnson's coaching ability all you want. Everything is fair game when a veteran team goes down 3-1 and looks this bad doing it. But you try devising a game plan when a player who averaged 20 points during the regular season, a player integral to the team's success over the past three seasons, gives you next to nothing."
• Jean-Jacques Taylor of The Dallas Morning News: "When the Dallas Mavericks lose this series to New Orleans -- Game 5 seems like a pretty sure bet to me -- their status as an elite team will officially end. As it should. Then Mark Cuban can spend the off-season blowing up this team that has a penchant for quitting. Did you forget its 25-point loss to Golden State in the final game of the first-round loss last season? Perhaps Cuban will fire Avery Johnson. Maybe he'll deal Josh Howard. Or Jason Terry. Who knows? All we really know is that after watching the Mavs play without passion and urgency in a pathetic, 97-84 loss to New Orleans, it's pretty obvious substantial changes must be made."

Pistons vs. Sixers

• Chris McCosky of The Detroit News: "The Pistons insisted they weren't playing tight in the first three games of the series, but it sure looked like it. It appeared that the weight of past disappointment and title-or-bust expectations were weighing on them. 'That's not even entered my mind,' Chauncey Billups said before the game. 'We are just trying to beat the Sixers. Bottom line, we need three more wins before they get two. The other stuff will all fall into place.' After they broke through in the second half Sunday, the Pistons admitted they were probably playing tight. 'We were just trying too hard,' Billups said. 'We just needed to relax and settle down. We had to stop trying to make the hero pass all the time. Hit a few singles and not worry about the home run. We just got back to playing Pistons basketball.'"
• Michael Rosenberg of the Detroit Free Press: "After watching six quarters of basketball here, I truly thought I had lost my mind. Nothing made sense to me anymore. Andre Miller had morphed into Chauncey Billups. Rip Hamilton, supposed to be one of the best shooters in the NBA, missed 12 of his first 13 shots Sunday. Philly, the toughest sports town in America, was cooing over its basketball team like some people coo over cuddly little puppies. Even the third-quarter comeback had a layer of weirdness to it: the Pistons couldn't hit a lay-up if you dropped the rim to 8 feet, yet they drained one three-pointer after another. But fundamentally, this was a classic Pistons comeback. It started with defense."
• Bob Ford of The Philadelphia Inquirer: "'Forty-eight minutes,' Maurice Cheeks said, 'is a long time.' Never quite so long as last night, however, at least the final 24 the 76ers played against the Detroit Pistons. They led the entire first half and held a 10-point lead when the third period began, but there was no way to run out the clock quickly enough, to make the time that remained work in their favor. 'It was amazing, the flip of that switch,' Cheeks said, 'the way it turned.' By the end, after the Pistons had evened the series with their 93-84 win, the Sixers were left looking for bright spots and finding them hard to find."
• John Smallwood of the Philadelphia Daily News: "Andre Iguodala knows he is struggling. He knows that the 10.5 points he has averaged through the first four games is barely half his regular-season average. He knows the 22.4 percent he is shooting from the floor isn't enough. Iguodala knows the Sixers could desperately use the 20 to 25 points he could give them on any given night right about now. Cheeks knows it, too, but he's not going to put that kind of burden on Iguodala, who last night had 12 points on 4-for-16 shooting. ... As the Sixers' coach, Cheeks has to think that way. There is too much at stake for him to lay everything at the feet of a player who has just eight career playoff games under his belt."