Terence Moore of FanHouse: “You don’t play the opponent. You play the game. That’s what Knight used to say, and that’s what these Cavaliers do, which is why only the Los Angeles Kobes will stand between them and the Larry O’Brien trophy in June. Until then, when LeBron James will use the NBA Finals to turn Kobe Bryant into just another superstar, there will be more Cleveland blowouts. James is the engine of the Cavaliers’ stifling defensive machine that generates enough offense from inside and outside to help crush opponents, too. In other words, what has happened so far during the postseason for the Cavaliers is neither a fluke nor a matter of the Cavaliers battling flawed teams in the Detroit Pistons and the Hawks. The Cavaliers get it, because their engine does. So there was James early Saturday, with that stare before he prepared to use that style and that substance to deliver his latest one-man pounding of the Hawks. ‘We don’t change our game plan for anybody, whether we’re at home or on the road,’ said James, daring the crowd around his locker to disagree. ‘We know how we’re going to come out tonight. They’re going to have to adjust to us.’”
Brian Windhorst of The Plain Dealer: “They are the first team in history to win seven consecutive playoff games by double figures. James, acting as if he has no intention of ever losing a playoff game again, was the biggest reason why. He didn’t quite match his famous 48-point double overtime game in Detroit two years ago, but he did assemble perhaps his second greatest playoff game on record. In the closing seconds, he got loud ‘M-V-P’ chants from the crowd. Riding his outside shot, which is usually the source of his highest-scoring games, James nailed 15 of 25 shots and five 3-pointers for 47 points. He added 12 rebounds and eight assists for his most prolific game of the playoffs thus far. ‘I gave it all I had, I knew how important this game was,’ said James, who was so tired after the game he wrapped his head in a towel and took a nap while going through his normal icing routine.”
Eddie Sefko for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram: “The Mavericks had battled hard in a game in which neither team led by more than six points and took a 105-101 lead with 31.1 seconds left on a Jason Terry 3-pointer from the corner. That’s when the craziness began. Anthony needed only 2.6 seconds to streak to the hoop for a dunk to make it a two-point game. ‘We didn’t want that to happen,’ Carlisle said. ‘It’s not as critical as the three, but we want to give more resistance.’ That was just one of many botched plays that could have prevented the final gut-wrenching moments. The Mavericks missed four free throws in the fourth quarter, just one fewer than they had missed in the first three quarters combined. In the final 3:50, they missed six of seven shots, all of them jump shots. They had been effective earlier posting Jason Kidd and sending Brandon Bass and others to the basket. But at crunch time, they fell back into the habit of hoisting jumpers. In that respect, they allowed it to come down to a judgment call by the refs.”
Chris Dempsey of The Denver Post: “‘This is what it’s really all about, playing games like this and winning ugly games like this,’ guard Chauncey Billups said. ‘I think our team really learned a lot, really grew up today.’ There were stretches in which it seemed as if the Nuggets would be swarmed under by a surging Mavericks team and a home crowd that tried its best to boost its team to victory. There were nine lead changes, the game was tied 11 times and the Mavs’ lead never got to more than six points. Chris Andersen fouled out. Baskets were extremely hard to come by as the Mavericks played their best defense of the series. A Josh Howard layup gave the Mavericks an early four-point lead. Nene got called for a traveling violation with 2:53 left. Billups missed a layup with 1:15 to go. A Jason Terry 3-pointer gave the Mavericks a 105-101 lead with 31.1 seconds left. And still, the Nuggets kept pressing.”
Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald: “The Celtics don’t want to go downplaying the ability of the Magic, but they still believe they are the main determining factor in the series score. ‘Well, we always give the other team credit,’ said Ray Allen. ‘We always give them credit for taking what we give them, taking advantage of our miscues. We definitely have culpability because of the things that we allowed them to do. It’s on us. Execution was pretty poor offensively. We didn’t get back on defense. I mean, the same things that ail us when we lose, we saw.’ The same things that make you wonder whether this team will go back to playing together or continue to drift toward individuality. When they broke from their team video session, some of the C’s were discussing who was at fault on certain plays and how many times people had missed assignments. It might help to realize that the Celtics were at fault. The loss was put in the right column next to the name Boston; no players were listed. And when the Magic scored 20 points in the paint in the opening quarter, it was a slap to all.”
Jerome Solomon of the Houston Chronicle: “If it is not the tarsal navicular, it’s the fifth metatarsal, or it’s the right anterior medial tibial plateau, or an infected big toe. Repeatedly, Yao, who has one year left on his contract, has come down with unfortunate injuries that have thrown the team off course. When you build around a star player, particularly a center, his absence from the lineup can’t be overcome. Not only do the Rockets not have another Yao Ming on the bench, there isn’t another Yao Ming anywhere on the planet. Believe it; a lot of people are looking for one. Yao is perhaps the hardest worker on the team. He is a leader in the locker room and on the court. He is a championship big man — when healthy. With every injury, fears that his career will eventually go where Bill Walton’s did must factor into the Rockets’ thinking.”
Jeff Miller of The Orange County Register: “Remember last postseason, when Gasol routinely complained about contact going uncalled, often stopping as play continued to demonstrate his disapproval? He doesn’t do that much anymore. ‘Sometimes I’m not aggressive enough,’ Gasol repeated. ‘I understand that. When I am aggressive, I can dominate the game.’ So why in the name of contusions and lacerations isn’t he aggressive all the time? Why doesn’t Gasol come out for the opening jump ball wielding a chain and broken beer bottle? Part of it is his nature, the essence of what makes Gasol Gasol. Another part — well, these are the Lakers, so the answer, much like always — is Kobe Bryant. ‘With him, I sometimes step back and let him do what he wants to do, what he needs to do,’ Gasol said. ‘That can work against my best interest and our best interest. I have to stay aggressive all the time.’”
Buck Harvey of the San Antonio Express-News: “He went from high school to the German army to the NBA draft. He was a Maverick five days after his 20th birthday, and he packed a towel for his first trip to Dallas. According to a story in the Dallas Morning News, he wasn’t sure a towel would be provided at the home of the Mavericks’ coach at the time, Don Nelson. A year later he still acted like a kid at summer camp. He slept catty-corner on a twin bed in his apartment, with a stack of unpaid bills and uncashed checks in the corner. He would get some assistance eventually, and he would upgrade to a Dallas mansion. Still, he kept exercise equipment in his den, because that’s what he knew. Just two years ago someone had to show him how to tie a tie. He often dined with staff when on the road. And two years ago, without a wife or a girlfriend, he was asked by a reporter if he had plans for the future. ‘Obviously I don’t want to be a 40- or 45-year-old (new) dad,’ he said. ‘So I’m sure in the next five or six years, something’s going to happen.’ Something happened, all right.”
John Reid of The Times-Picayune: “This summer, Paul can finally enjoy an offseason of rest. After the Hornets were eliminated by the Denver Nuggets in the first round last month, it appeared as if he could use it. During the series, Paul required treatment for a sore right knee and elbow and played a team-high 40.2 minutes per game. In a 107-86 loss in Game 5, Paul played 46 of 48 minutes and finished with 12 points. He played 45 minutes in the Hornets’ 95-93 victory in Game 3 at the New Orleans Arena. Throughout the regular season, Paul played extended minutes because of an inconsistent bench. He averaged 38.5 minutes, second-most on the team after David West’s 39.2-minutes-per-game. ‘I just want my body to recuperate,’ Paul said, regarding his summer plans. ‘It has been non-stop since the Olympics. I’ll be at home all summer long resting. I say I’m going to do that, but I’d probably go shoot. I’m going to limit myself from running, but there is nothing wrong with shooting.’”
Pete Thamel of Tne New York Times: “The first formal step for the basketball prodigy Jeremy Tyler to find a place to play in Europe next season begins this weekend. Tyler, a 6-foot-11 center from San Diego, announced last month that he would skip his senior year of high school to play professionally overseas. Sonny Vaccaro, who is advising Tyler, will fly to Athens on Sunday for meetings with Greece’s top basketball teams, Olympiacos and Panathinaikos. Vaccaro said the talks would be the first formal discussions about where Tyler would play, but interest remains from clubs in Italy, Spain and Israel. It had been thought that Tyler would play in Spain, but Greece has become a top option. Olympiacos surprised some in the N.B.A. by signing the former Atlanta Hawks forward Josh Childress last off-season. One of its owners, the billionaire shipping magnate Panayiotis Angelopoulos, said in an interview with The New York Times last fall that he would continue to try to make a big dent in the N.B.A. free-agent market.”
Howard Beck of The New York Times: “Artest’s powerful aggression has been channeled and slightly refined. His jaw is clenched, but his fists are not. An evolution is under way, and it was never more evident than in that brief and heated moment last week. Indeed, Artest has been working on how to cope with these sorts of situations since joining the Rockets. It has been a season-long effort, steered and assisted by Shawn Respert, the Rockets’ director of player programs. A former N.B.A. guard, the 37-year-old Respert now works with players on personal development and a wide range of life skills. He is a mentor, a sounding board and a confidant. And he has never been more proud of Artest. ‘Ron throughout his lifetime has been a brawler,’ Respert said of the Queens-raised Artest. ‘I think what he’s polished into is a fighter now. He understands to be more creative about how to confront the battle, versus just clawing and fighting his way. I think he has a technique, and it works for him this year.’ The technique is fairly simple. Artest now talks his way through emotionally intense moments, sometimes demonstrably, but always under control.”
Ken Berger of CBSSports.com: “Even Gasol, the alleged victim of Artest’s ejection-worthy foul at the end of Game 2, was surprised by the ruling on the court, which was upheld by crew chief Steve Javie on replay review. The league acknowledged Jackson’s point — that the on-floor officials ‘made more of it than it was’ — by downgrading it to a less-severe flagrant one. But Gasol wasn’t even sure the play warranted more than a personal foul. ‘It was a hard foul in the air,’ Gasol said. ‘I think I got hit a little bit in the head. It didn’t hurt me or anything. I hit the floor, got up, and I understand the situation was frustrating for them. They lost the game at home and down the stretch, it’s tough.’ Artest said Javie justified the flagrant-two ruling by telling him Gasol ‘hit the floor awkwardly.’ But that didn’t hold water for Gasol’s own teammate, Bryant, who said, ‘I don’t know what the hell that has to do with the foul. I thought it was a good, hard foul. I wouldn’t give him a flagrant one for it. … A guy’s going in for a layup. What the hell are you supposed to do? It’s a hard foul, and if a guy falls awkwardly, it’s a flagrant?’”
(Photo by Scott Cunningham NBAE/Getty Images)
