Spurs vs. Suns

• Jack McCallum of Sports Illustrated: "Mike D'Antoni, the NBA's Coach of the Year for the 2004-05 season and the man credited with reinvigorating fast-break basketball in a league gone stale, will not be back to coach the Phoenix Suns for the 2008-09 season, SI.com has learned. ... One landing spot for him would seem to be Chicago, where general manager John Paxson has not yet replaced Jim Boylan, who himself replaced Scott Skiles (now in charge in Milwaukee). The Bulls underachieved this season under both coaches but would seem to have the kind of offensive nucleus (Ben Gordon, Luol Deng, Kirk Hinrich, Andres Nocioni) with which D'Antoni could build. One other possibility is New York, where new president Donnie Walsh is taking his time making a head-coaching decision despite speculation that the hiring of former point guard Marc Jackson is a done deal. There has also been whispers of D'Antoni's taking over in Toronto, where Sam Mitchell's coaching future is an ongoing discussion and where Bryan Colangelo, D'Antoni's former boss in Phoenix and still a close friend, is calling the shots. But Toronto doesn't seem as comfortable a fit for D'Antoni as Chicago or even New York. Don't look for that to happen."
• Mike Finger of the San Antonio Express-News: "This wasn't the first time the Spurs have ended the Suns' season. It's now happened four times in six years, and the reasons have been the same every time. The Spurs have won because Tony Parker is fast, and because Manu Ginobili is a magician, and because Tim Duncan is the greatest power forward in the history of the NBA. The Spurs have won because Nash can't carry a team on his will alone, and because Stoudemire either can't stay on the floor or can't keep his focus, and because Boris Diaw isn't the Swiss Army knife Wonderboy commentators so often make him out to be ('He can do everything! Including passing the ball directly to the Spurs' bench on the most important possession of the season!')."
• Buck Harvey of the San Antonio Express-News: "Shaquille O'Neal walked down the court with some grace. No more words, no more bravado. He reached out with his fist, and there was Tim Duncan with his, and their fists tapped. Then O'Neal walked away, having not only lost a game but also a personal battle with the other great big man of this era. Now Duncan, after a series that was far tighter than the 5-game length suggests, is in position to become the greatest."
• Mike Monroe of the San Antonio Express-News: "With the Spurs leading 90-87, the Suns missed a vital offensive chance and were forced to foul to stop the clock on every Spurs possession thereafter. 'The biggest defensive play was Bruce Bowen's,' Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. 'He didn't play that much, and he sat there for a while. To be able to have that mental awareness and toughness to come in the game in that situation and create that turnover was just fantastic.' Bowen said he approached the play like he was a defensive back in a football game."
• Scott Bordow of the East Valley Tribune: "Remember this day: April 29, 2008. Years from now, when we look back on this era of fast breaks, 3-pointers and playoff heartbreak, we'll recall it as the day the Suns died. The day Mike D'Antoni coached his final game. The day the Suns quit being championship contenders. Phoenix didn't just lose a game or have its season ended by its 92-87 loss to San Antonio on Tuesday. No, the elimination by the Spurs -- and aren't you tired of reading those words -- likely will mean seismic changes within the organization. D'Antoni's future will be the first domino that falls."

Rockets vs. Jazz

• Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle: "This is how you send a message. Tracy McGrady had said it was time the Rockets made some sort of point, but he did not say what he had in mind, as if he was still formulating ideas ranging from strong drives to harder fouls. Instead, the Rockets hit the Utah Jazz on Tuesday night with a determined offense and tremendous defense to more than survive in their first-round playoff series."
• Kurt Kragthorpe of The Salt Lake Tribune: "Carlos Boozer knew what he was talking about, all right. The Jazz did not come back to Houston, according to the available evidence. Well, there were reports that they technically showed up at the Toyota Center for Tuesday's Game 5 of their playoff series with the Rockets, but that was about all. Acting like they did not want to be here and were willing to bank on a one-game chance to close out the series at home, the Jazz pretty much mailed in a 95-69 defeat that may have been predictable and understandable, but not quite forgivable."
• Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle: "Don Quixote had his windmill. The Rockets' brass has the Olympic Tower. At least that's how Rockets players have come to view efforts to influence those at the NBA's New York headquarters. As the bosses on the Toyota Center's third floor have prepared the DVDs and sent them to the NBA to point out what they consider officiating 'issues' in their first-round series against the Utah Jazz, players said don't bother. 'Don't send tape,' Tracy McGrady said. 'We just got to go out and play. It's not helping.'"
• Tim Buckley of the Deseret News: "And with the Houston Rockets complaining throughout their 2008 first-round playoff series with the Jazz about Utah's overly physical play -- with Matt Harpring being an obvious, even if unstated, focus of their complaints -- the veteran backup small forward felt compelled to play a different sort of defense Tuesday. Prompted by a question from a reporter, Harpring suggested 'dirty' is one thing he definitely is not. 'No,' he said after the Jazz's morning shootaround in advance of Game 5. 'I don't do anything malicious. You won't see me go out and try to trip someone. If a guy beats me, I won't hit him over the head and try to hurt him. You know, I don't do anything stupid like that. I just play hard, get up in you, and just irritate you. I mean, there is nothing wrong with that.'"

Pistons vs. Sixers

• Rob Parker of he Detroit News: "Rasheed Wallace gave the 76ers a killer stare Tuesday night. Wallace had just nailed a 3-pointer with the shot clock winding down to break the 76ers' backs with 3:44 left in the third quarter of Game 5. ... As he walked to the Pistons bench, Wallace stopped and stared down at the 76ers on the far end. No words had to be spoken. That's how chilling a look Wallace dropped on them. Clearly, Wallace wasn't pointing out the big 3 he had just knocked down. This was bigger than that. It was more about this series, that it was over and the Pistons were done playing around."
• Michael Rosenberg of the Detroit Free Press: "Just to clarify, in case you're wondering: I've seen the Pistons' team bus quite a few times, and Chauncey Billups does not actually drive it. But he might as well. When Billups plays poorly, you sometimes wonder why the Pistons even go to the arena. When he plays like he did Tuesday night, it's like he owns the place."
• Bob Ford of The Philadelphia Inquirer: "The series is not over. Not officially. Not mathematically. Not in a clean- out-the-lockers- and-exchange-off-season-phone-numbers kind of way. But it is over, at least if the Detroit Pistons want it to be over, which is always a question worth asking. Judging by last night, however, they are ready to dismiss this young team with its young legs and its fresh ideas about what this postseason might bring."
• Sam Donnellon of the Philadelphia Daily News: "The debate should now be settled among fans of the Philadelphia 76ers, between those who strongly believe Samuel Dalembert is just a misunderstood Haitian and those who believe just as strongly that he is from another planet. Alien nation, you win. Offered a fade by Willie Green's barber yesterday afternoon, Dalembert opted for, well, a forward. A highway-wide mohawk, to be precise. By itself, it was enough, but combined with the letters shaved into the side of his head, it placed a target on him, or at least a brighter beam than his play attracts on its own. 'The mistake Philadelphia made tonight,' rock 'n' roll legend Bob Seger said in a third-quarter interview during last night's 98-81 Pistons blowout, 'was the mohawk.'" UPDATE: Nice mohawk photo.
• Joanne C. Gerstner of The Detroit News: "Former Piston Chris Webber has made a stir with his commentary on TNT. Webber, who recently retired, was added to the network's in-studio playoff coverage. Webber took aim at the Pistons and Saunders at halftime of Game 4, saying the players don't listen to the coach. Webber then intimated Pistons president Joe Dumars might pay the team a visit at halftime to berate them into playing better. Saunders was asked what he thought of Webber's views of his former team. 'All I know is one thing: I talked at halftime, and there was no one else really talking, and I like the way our players responded,' Saunders said. 'So I guess that's enough said.'"

• Jeff Caplan of the Star Telegram: "A late-night party to celebrate Josh Howard's 28th birthday after Sunday's Game 4 loss turned Dallas Mavericks coach Avery Johnson livid and led him to cancel Monday's practice, two sources confirmed. Johnson, who stressed no partying during the series, was informed before Monday's scheduled practice that Howard handed out fliers to teammates in the locker room before Game 4, inviting them to his party at a Dallas nightclub. The two sources differed on how many players attended, either three or four, including Howard. Which players attended is unclear, although the majority of the team did not. Upon learning of the party, the sources said, Johnson entered the locker room and asked the players who attended to stand up. Infuriated, Johnson lit into his team and then called off practice. He told the team they'd meet on the flight to New Orleans."
• John DeShazier of The Times-Picayune: "Some might be tempted to call it destiny. Some might say New Orleans' National Basketball Association franchise, after surviving two rocky seasons since Hurricane Katrina, had ridden a tailwind of pixie dust during the first round of the Western Conference playoffs. But the team that represents the city -- the team New Orleans fought tooth and nail to retain, the team that returned and wove itself into the fabric of the city -- proved Tuesday night against Dallas that it is anything but a fairy tale."
• David Moore of The Dallas Morning News: "A season of atonement buckled under the weight of unfulfilled promise in the Big Easy. Now, a Mavericks franchise that was on the brink of a championship less than two years ago is faced with some painful decisions."
• Kevin Sherrington of The Dallas Morning News: "Avery Johnson's annual problem with point guards isn't the only reason he'll lose his job sometime soon. He lost this team even before his players called a players-only practice the day before they were eliminated by the Hornets. He'll lose his job because he told the owner he could get the most out of Erick Dampier. He'll lose it because he got out-coached in the playoffs three years in a row, each exit progressively worse. Losing in the Finals to Miami? Heartbreaking. Bounced by an eighth seed? Embarrassing. Out in five in New Orleans? Humiliating."
• Gil LeBreton of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram: "Remember that window, that window of opportunity the Dallas Mavericks geared their championship hopes around? Closed. Slammed shut by Chris Paul and the New Orleans Hornets, who won Game 5 Tuesday, 99-94. Pending further developments -- and we expect there to be many -- the Mavericks will have to use the dog's door. Which only seems appropriate. Two short years after they were two victories from the NBA championship, the Mavericks were overwhelmingly exposed as disorganized, inconsistent, air ball-firing pretenders in this opening-round playoff series."

Hawks vs. Celtics

• Sekou Smith of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution: "The Hawks have already done the unthinkable by drawing even at two games each in their playoff series against Boston. Now they have to do the improbable and win on the road in a hostile environment with everything on the line for both teams."
• Jeff Schultz of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution: "Playoffs represent a new season. Seldom are they an alternate universe. But a team that finished the season with 37 wins is holding serve with a team that had 41 wins by the All-Star break. But a coach thought to be walking the green mile of employment looks at his team after 224 losses and thinks, 'Maybe we should run.' But a roster, which for most of the season has resembled misplaced pieces from several puzzles, suddenly forms a picture."
• Jamie Gumbrecht and Christian Boone of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution: "By Tuesday morning, four games into the Hawks' improbable playoff run, Barrington Williams' voice was hoarse, his speech broken by long, deep yawns. He was up until 1 a.m., screaming for the Hawks' win over the Boston Celtics and cleaning up the fan shop inside Philips Arena. 'You heard nothing but Atlanta people cheering, saw nothing but green shirts walking,' said Williams, a retail supervisor at the store who compared the Hawks' rise to the University of Georgia's during the SEC tournament in March. 'Just like Georgia, worst to first. They're shocking the world.'"
• Gerry Callahan of the Boston Herald: "They beat every team in the league. Their average margin of victory was 10.3 points, best in the league by a wide margin. They earned the best record in the NBA, authored the greatest one-season turnaround ever, and entered the playoffs as the favorites to win it all. They appeared on more magazine covers than Miley Cyrus and received so much love from the national media that Obama was jealous. Now they are four games into the postseason, and the Celtics are staring their legacy in the face again. You don't need cryptic hand gestures to understand what they're up against: If they do not win two of their next three games, all of the above will be forgotten and the 2007-08 Celtics will be remembered for only one thing: The worst collapse in Boston sports history."
• Tony Massarotti of the Boston Herald: "They're not going to blow this thing, are they? Admit it: That was the question you asked yourself when the Celtics dropped Game 4 to the Atlanta Hawks on Monday night. That is the question you are asking yourself still with the Eastern Conference first-round playoff series tied at 2-2. Somehow, the Celtics have managed to play 86 games this basketball season without ever really facing the kind of crisis they currently find themselves in. Now comes the other question no one really wants to ask: Do we have a legitimate championship threat here or just a collection of front-runners?"
• Scott Souza of the MetroWest Daily News: "Showing no sign of concern after losing two straight games in Atlanta, that mindset held yesterday as they returned to HealthPoint in preparation for tomorrow night's Game 5. There was little talk of adjustments, or much anxiety about the tide turning in the series, despite being knotted with a consensus first-round rollover at two games apiece. On one hand, you could call it confidence. On the other, you could call it overconfidence from a team expecting the opposition to come crashing back down to the parquet after two games playing way over its head. 'I saw a lot of positive things, truthfully, besides the fact that we lost,' Paul Pierce said after watching film of Game 4. 'We saw a lot of good looks that we'll take. We will knock those looks down. We took one on the chin and I think at home we'll play better.'"
• Shira Springer of he Boston Globe: "Following practice yesterday, Paul Pierce did not address the gesturing incident. The Boston Police Department declined to comment about the matter, saying there are a wide array of hand-gesture interpretations. According to other law-enforcement sources, a hand sign similar to the one Pierce directed toward the Atlanta bench can indicate 'blood killer' or 'crip killer,' referring to the two major gangs with origins in Southern California. The three raised fingers stand for 'k.' A closed circle made by the index finger and thumb indicates 'blood.' A slightly open circle indicates 'crip.' The subtle difference in hand gestures used by rival gangs underscores how easily such signs can be misused or misinterpreted."
• Benjamin Hochman of The Denver Post: "Scoot over, Ted Turner and Evander Holyfield. I want to ride on this Atlanta Hawks bandwagon, too. Can you believe there even is an Atlanta Hawks bandwagon? But the Hawks gave a 1-2 punch to the Celtics in Games 3-4 of their playoff series, and suddenly, what looked like a Lakersesque sweep is now at least going to Game 6. How 'bout dem Hawks? I'm starvin' for more Marvin! I'm gaga for Zaza! Call me Benjamin Hawkman."

Cavaliers vs. Wizards

• Tom Knott of The Washington Times: "So Brendan Haywood has joined the trash-talking fun by calling LeBron James a crybaby, which is an accurate enough description of someone who believes the Wizards are torturing him with all kinds of medieval devices. The delusion of James is encouraged by Mike Brown, who coaches under another delusion, namely that James is destined to be the best basketball player there ever was. This forecast comes before James has won his first NBA championship and ignores the game's considerable history."
• Patrick McManamon of The Akron Beacon-Journal: "On Tuesday, two kids were shot and killed at a school in northeast Washington. Tornadoes destroyed homes in Virginia. Bombs went off in Iraq. That's real, not the garbage that has been tossed about in this series. Think about it: Guys making millions are whining about being disrespected while taking and giving cheap shots during a basketball game. Something wrong with that picture? It's time for it to end. The Cavs can do themselves and the rest of the world a large favor tonight. Win the game, end the series, send the Wizards back home."
• Mike Wise of The Washington Post: "Abe Pollin, 84 years old, frail, fighting a crippling disease, waited for the Wizards in his third-floor office at Verizon Center yesterday. Some climbed stairs past the concourse. Others took the elevator. They all gathered around to hear the franchise patriarch gather his strength and speak. In his 44 years of stewardship -- he bought the Baltimore Bullets in 1964 -- the NBA's senior owner told these Wizards he had been on both sides of the 3-1 equation. He knows what it's like to come back from a 3-1 deficit in a seven-game series and that awful feeling of losing a series after holding a 3-1 lead. 'He said he'll be anxious on Friday to see us back at the game,' Antawn Jamison said, referring to the day Game 6 will be played, if necessary. What else? 'He said, 'Win one for me,'' Jamison said."
• Ivan Carter of The Washington Post: "If the Washington Wizards don't do a better job of rebounding tonight when they face the Cleveland Cavaliers in Game 5 of their first-round playoff series, the season will be over. It's that simple."
• Mike Jones of The Washington Times: "Caron Butler has maintained a lower profile in the postseason, choosing to avoid the war of words that Arenas, DeShawn Stevenson and Brendan Haywood have waged with Cavaliers star LeBron James. He didn't come right out and criticize his teammates for the trash-talking, but he made it known he's not a fan. 'You have a lot of characters in this series, but we need to continue to focus on basketball,' Butler said. 'My main concern has always been about winning. I strongly feel we let Game 4 slip out of our fingers.'"
• Mike Jones of The Washington Times: "Despite Gilbert Arenas' struggle to contribute consistently during this series, he still has the trust of his coach and teammates. 'He is certainly in a different role for us, but he definitely is a catalyst,' Jordan said. 'He's shown he can still do some things, in the Philly game, in the first game of the series, in the first game back here. He's still the straw that stirs the drink. But I just thought that Antawn could've been the receiver or Caron could have been the recipient. It entered my mind.' Jamison and Butler didn't give the play call a second thought, however, because they're still confident of Arenas' abilities."
• Bill Livingston of The Plain Dealer: "When the Black Knight loses his left arm in a sword fight with King Arthur in 'Monty Python and the Holy Grail,' he says, 'Tis but a scratch.' And when his right is lopped off, he says, 'Just a flesh wound.' When the left leg goes, he proclaims, 'I'm invincible.' 'What are you going to do?' says the King. 'Bleed on me?' The Black Knight is black-bearded Washington Wizards guard DeShawn Stevenson. I believe we all know who King Arthur is in this first-round series."
• Mary Schmitt Boyer of The Plain Dealer: "Ben Wallace, a former Cuyahoga Community College player, commands respect by virtue of his experience, four Defensive Player of the Year awards, four All-Star berths and 2004 championship ring earned with the Detroit Pistons. In some ways, he reminds Cavs coach Mike Brown of another former Pistons star -- Dennis Rodman. Like Rodman, Wallace's best work is done without the ball. 'Some of the things he does never show up in the stat sheet,' LeBron James said of Wallace. 'His energy, his defensive effort on Antawn Jamison, the extra shots he allowed us to get [after offensive rebounds], his two assists for threes, means a lot to our team. He has shown why he's been one of the best players in this league.'"
• Bob Finnan of The News-Herald: "After Soulja Boy showed up at the Verizon Center for Game 3, what does James have in mind for Quicken Loans Arena tonight for Game 5? Well, it won't be Jay-Z. 'He's on tour right now (with Mary J. Blige),' James said. 'Don't expect him to be here.'"

League-Wide

• Heat Insider Interview With New Coach Erik Spoelstra: "Steve Colter was almost a cult figure in Portland when he played for the Trail Blazers. One time, he came over, I must have been in the 7th grade, and we played one-on-one (at my parent's home in Portland, OR). He actually dunked on me and broke our hoop. Until this day, we still haven't fixed the hoop. We bent it upward. It's still there, and it's a constant reminder of that one-on-one experience."
  
• Charles F. Gardner of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: "Andrew Bogut had this reaction to the hiring of former Chicago Bulls coach Scott Skiles as the Bucks' new coach: 'I'm very excited about coach; I know he will be tough,' the Australian wrote in an e-mail response. 'I think he will be the leader we need to set things straight and hold everyone accountable.'"
• Gery Woelfel of The Journal Times: "One of the toughest aspects of being a general manager is dealing with agents. Bucks general manager John Hammond shouldn't have much of a problem on that front, though. At least, that's the sentiments of Roger Montgomery. 'I really liked dealing with (former Bucks GM) Larry Harris, but if they had to replace him, John Hammond was a real good choice,' Montgomery said. 'I dealt with John and Joe (Dumars) in Detroit, and I was really impressed with how John handled things. ... I just liked his style; I liked how he went about his business. He always gave a fair representation of the situation and he was always truthful.'"
• Michael Wallace of The Miami Herald: "NBA executives, coaches and league analysts believe the pressure and expectations placed on new coaches might be at an all-time high, with a team's ground between pitiful and playoff contention expected to be closed in one season -- or less. In just the past 22 months, at least seven NBA coaches have been fired after no more than one full season. Three were dismissed in recent days: Charlotte's Sam Vincent, Milwaukee's Larry Krystkowiak and Chicago interim coach Jim Boylan. But many believe Spoelstra steps into a situation where he not only has the hunger and work ethic to succeed, but also the support, structure and talent. 'It's a tough environment now, where you've got to win or be gone in many respects,' an Eastern Conference general manager said Tuesday. 'But there are great opportunities, and I tend to look at this as one. The hardest thing to do is to get in that circle.'"
• Michael Grange of The Globe and Mail: "If you were investigating and Sam Mitchell and Bryan Colangelo were the suspects, who would take the fall, presuming a season that has fallen short of expectations is any kind of crime? It's the kind of barstool discussion that promises to fuel the Toronto Raptors' fan base in the off-season."
• Mike Bresnahan of the Los Angeles Times: "If Monday was defined by a flurry of fiery plays in the fourth quarter, Tuesday was the opposite, a day of relaxation in which the Lakers did as they pleased. No practice, no game videos to study, just time to reflect. 'It's been a fun series, but you can't really enjoy it until it's over,' said forward Luke Walton, who was a spark in all four games against Denver. 'So now, we took care of business, we can relax a little bit for a day or two and just really look back and enjoy what we just did.'"
• Jonathan Abrams of the Los Angeles Times: "Kenyon Martin asked the question. So, Eduardo Najera reflected and responded in cut-and-dried terms, in 11 easily digestible words. 'What's it like being the only Mexican basketball player in the NBA?' Martin asked his Denver Nuggets teammate. 'What would it be like,' Najera told Martin, 'to be the only black player?' Born in a country of 109 million and now in a league of 400-plus, Najera is the only active NBA player born in Mexico and just the second in league history."
• Tom Sorensen of The Charlotte Observer: "When the Charlotte Bobcats get one wrong, I write about it. When they get one right, I need to write about it, too. Hiring Larry Brown is the best move the franchise has made. Brown is among the greatest basketball coaches of all time, and he brings knowledge to an organization that has done nothing more than guess."