Buck Harvey of the San Antonio Express-News: "A year ago, the Spurs and Suns drew blood and anger, and now one franchise will feel disgust and failure within two weeks. Duncan has never known this kind of loss. He's been the opposite of Tracy McGrady, getting out of the first round every year he's been in uniform, and his first time set the tone. Then, in 1998, Duncan pounded the Suns in a matchup similar to this one. Both teams won 56 games that season. After that, Duncan didn't face that kind of first-round fear. As a high seed, the Spurs drew beatable opponents. Even last year, when the Spurs were also a third seed, their first-round opponent, Denver, won only 45 games. This is different. The Suns had the conference's best record when they gambled on Shaquille O'Neal. Who knows? They might be the best again, even if the record doesn't show it, and what Shaq has done against Duncan suggests that. Duncan has gone 15 for 40 in their two meetings this year, both Spurs losses. But has Shaq found a way to control Duncan? Or did these games say more about what Duncan has become in the regular season?"
Richard Justice of the Houston Chronicle: "You're a lucky man, Tracy McGrady. You've been given something precious, something a lot of people never get. Can you guess what that is, Tracy? That's right. You're getting a second chance. The Rockets drew the perfect first-round opponent. They get another crack at the Utah Jazz. This one's for you, Tracy. Perfect, absolutely perfect. All those demons, all those insults and doubts and all the rest, can be kicked right out the window if the Rockets get by the Jazz."
Sekou Smith of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution: "... it's not like the Hawks won't have any role models when they take on the No. 1 seed Boston Celtics in a series that begins this weekend in Boston. 'We'd be fools to think it's not possible,' said fourth-year Hawks forward Josh Smith. 'We'd be bigger fools not to believe in ourselves, especially after the way people have bashed us the past few years. Why shouldn't we think we're going to shock the world? The Warriors showed everybody that it's not impossible.'"
Ivan Carter of The Washington Post: "When he chose the Cavaliers to beat the Wizards in a first-round playoff series that begins this weekend in Cleveland, TNT television analyst Charles Barkley called the Wizards 'the dumbest team in the history of civilization.' ... Before Wednesday's game in Orlando, DeShawn Stevenson dismissed Barkley's comments. 'Are we really going to listen to a guy who said Yao Ming would not be an all-star in this league?' Stevenson asked. 'I mean really. So who cares what he has to say? Tell Charles Barkley to chill and worry about other things. Don't worry about the Washington Wizards.'"
Mike Monroe of the San Antonio Express-News: "Guard Manu Ginobili, the top contender for this season's NBA Sixth Man Award, finished the season as the Spurs' top scorer, with an average of 19.6 points per game. In the process, he became the first NBA bench player to lead his team in scoring since Chris Gatling paced the Dallas Mavericks in 1996-97, with an average of 19.1 points. However, Chicago's Ben Gordon, another bench player, also led his team in scoring this season."
Bob Kravitz of The Indianapolis Star: "It's great that Herb Simon has chosen to transform himself from a hands-off owner to a hands-on kind of guy. And it's great that Simon hired Jim Morris, the noted businessman and philanthropist, to run the company's off-the-court operation. If Morris can survive Darfur, he can survive the Indiana Pacers. Probably. But all of the front-office shuffling will be rendered meaningless if the guy running the basketball operation, Larry Bird, doesn't accomplish two things this summer: He must get rid of Jamaal Tinsley. Trade, buyout, set him adrift on an Arctic ice floe. Whatever. He must trade Jermaine O'Neal. If those two players are still here when we meet again in October, the Pacers will have made no progress toward rebuilding this team, and the leash on Bird will become dramatically shorter."
Rick Alonzo of the St. Paul Pioneer Press: "As good as Timberwolves big man Al Jefferson was this season, there's one glaring weakness in his game: defense. Jefferson's scoring and rebounding were beyond reproach. But now it's up to him to take that same attitude toward stopping opposing power forwards and centers from scoring. 'No question,' Wolves coach Randy Wittman said. 'That's got to be his next step. It's got to be a step for us to win. For us to be good and continue to grow and go in the right direction, he's got to get better defensively.'"
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