Johnny Ludden of Yahoo! Sports: “Yes, the Rockets plowed the Lakers on Sunday afternoon, routing them 99-87 in a game in which they led by as many 29 points. And, yes, they did so without Yao Ming, Tracy McGrady or Dikembe Mutombo. With Ron Artest missing 15 shots. With a starting center who needs a booster seat to reach Yao’s dinner table. But Jackson isn’t worried. Phil Jackson doesn’t do worry. Not even with the Rockets having squared the West semifinal at two games each. The series has been shortened to a best-of-three affair, but that’s no reason for the Lakers to sweat. They still have home-court advantage. ‘I don’t know what a red flag even means,’ Jackson said. That, of course, is the problem with these Lakers. From the top down, they’ve operated with a sense of entitlement for much of this season, as if a return trip to the NBA Finals were more birthright than battle. Their confidence now borders on hubris.”
Charley Rosen of FOXSports.com: “The tone was set on L.A.’s very first possession when Trevor Ariza fumbled the ball, wasn’t sure whether to try and rescue it or not and wound up making a foolish, blind pass that turned into a Houston layup. After that miscue, Houston’s blitzkrieg was relentless. As ever, the Lakers’ defense was virtually helpless in attempting to blunt the effectiveness of Houston’s high screen-and-rolls. No matter what they did, the visitors couldn’t prevent Aaron Brooks from turning the corner. And when the Lakers dropped the strong-side wing into the paint to help seal the basket, Brooks put on the jets and put up a layup or else kicked out an assist-pass to his abandoned teammate. On one occasion, Brooks foreswore penetrating in favor of simply stepping back and casting up another successful three-ball. The Lakers’ rotations were horrid every which way — in the lane, in failing to close out open shooters and in leaving the Rockets’ bigs unattended under the rim. Overall, L.A. was alternately out-quicked, out-hustled and downright bullied by Houston’s ferocious defense.”
J.A. Adande of ESPN.com: “The telltale numbers of who wanted this game more could still be found in the rebounding column, which the Rockets won 43-37 despite starting 6-foot-6 Chuck Hayes at center. It’s not often you’ll hear praise for a man who was outscored 30-2, but Hayes’ seven rebounds at halftime were more than any Laker, and Pau Gasol’s 18 fourth-quarter points were the equivalent of an A-Rod ninth-inning home run in a blowout. The other noticeable part of the stat sheet: The list of Rockets setting new playoff career highs was as long as the list of injured Rockets players. New marks were established by Aaron Brooks (34 points), Battier (23 points) and Luis Scola (14 rebounds). The Rockets have been running their offense through Yao ever since McGrady shut it down in February. Battier said his job had been to ‘get the ball to Yao.’ Before Game 4, the Houston coaches emphasized using penetration to set up outside shots instead of forcing shots or interior passes in the lane. It helped that Kobe Bryant strayed away from Battier (he usually leaves players he doesn’t respect) and Battier happily fired up 10 3-pointers and made five of them.”
Mike Bianchi of the Orlando Sentinel: “Mark it down as just another frustrating setback in the Magic’s topsy-turvy playoff run. The Magic were on the verge of turning that Celtic mystique into mirage. They had a 2-1 advantage in the series and were playing at home. Win and they would have been but one victory away from drumming the defending champs right out of the playoffs. Instead, they now must win another game in Boston if they expect to pull out this series. We saw Sunday night why the Celtics are champions and the Magic aren’t. Even after the Magic destroyed them 117-96 in Game 3, Boston star Paul Pierce told the Boston media his team would come back. ‘We feel we’re going to win this series,’ Pierce said. ‘We’ll make little minor adjustments and come back. This team is a really confident team. We feel like this is a team we should beat. We feel like we probably could win the next three in a row. That’s how confident this team is.’ It’s this sort of confidence and cockiness that the Magic have yet to develop.”
Dan Shaughnessy of The Boston Globe: “Baby went into Muhammad Ali overdrive after draining the shot. ‘You better know about me!’ he screamed to Magic fans in the section behind the Celtics’ bench. ‘It’s what I work on all the time,’ he said later, in a more composed moment. ‘It was just a feeling. I knew, ‘Hey, you’ve got to shoot this.’ When I shot it, I didn’t even hesitate. It was just a feel. ‘You always envision hitting the game-winning shot.’ This was the gut-check game we’ve all been waiting for in the Celtics-Magic series. If you closed your eyes and blocked out the yahoos, you could almost pretend you were in Chicago. It was a game with 16 ties and 17 lead changes – none bigger than the final one. It was a night when the Celtics reminded all that they are the defending NBA champs. That’s right, people. Even though it seems like the crown already has been placed on the head of King LeBron James in Cleveland, there’s still some basketball to be played and NBA wannabes are going to have to pass through Causeway Street to wrest the title from Paul Pierce and friends.”
Chris Vivlamore of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution: “‘At one point in the game, to me, [the Hawks] were in a man [defense] but they were basically in a zone,’ Cavs guard Mo Williams said. ‘The players were basically looking at Bron. We already know what type of player Bron is. That defense won’t win too many games against us.’ James is averaging 36 points a game in this series and leads everyone in playoff scoring with a 33.7-point average through seven games. By comparison, Joe Johnson and Josh Smith are tied for Atlanta’s highest postseason average at 16.2 points. That’s only good for 28th place in the NBA. Combined, Johnson and Smith don’t match James’ production. Fact of the day: James has played 108 minutes in this series and scored 108 points. ‘There is not a whole lot you can do,’ Hawks coach Mike Woodson said. ‘Everyone says double him but … he hit about eight, nine shots where you couldn’t even get a double team to him. They were way beyond the 3-point line. You’re talking about trying to get [the ball] out of his hands but you’ve got to do that at three-quarter court.’”
The AP: “The Atlanta Hawks sure know what they’re up against, having watched their most inspired showing of the series turned into just another loss by the MVP’s 47 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists. ‘Right now, he’s playing at such a high level,’ said Hawks coach Mike Woodson, sounding a bit disheartened as his team heads into Game 4 Monday night. ‘Man, it’s crazy how good he’s playing. It really is.’ James has that look Michael Jordan used to bring out at playoff time, a steely eyed determination to win a championship no matter what’s in the way. If that means taking every big shot, so be it. If that means turning the game into me against them, well, that’s the way it has to be. James has played 108 minutes in this series — and scored 108 points. As Brown said, stay out of the way. ‘He is making so many special plays,’ teammate Mo Williams said, meeting with the media on a patio at the team’s luxury hotel on warm, sunny off day. ‘We just try to give him some space.’”
Eddie Sefko for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram: “‘I give Denver credit,’ Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle said. ‘They’ve done things this year they have not done in previous years. They’ve improved in so many areas. They make it hard to beat them. They had the second-best record in the West, and that doesn’t happen by accident. They’ve become a consistent team and a better defensive team. And Chauncey Billups has certainly solidified a lot of things on their club. They’re more than formidable. They’re damn good.’ Nuggets coach George Karl suspected his team was maturing a long time ago. When they visited AAC in late March for their final regular-season meeting with the Mavericks, Karl said: ‘Someone is going to grow up in these playoffs. I don’t know if it’s going to be Orlando, Portland, Denver, Atlanta. But someone is going to grow up.’ Between Games 1 and 2 in Denver last week, Karl was reminded of that exchange. ‘I thought at the time it would be us,’ he said. ‘I just couldn’t say it then.’”
Chris Dempsey of The Denver Post: “Nuggets history awaits. Denver is one victory from advancing to its second Western Conference finals, joining a five-game loss to the Los Angeles Lakers in 1985. It could come tonight in Game 4 at American Airlines Center. But not easily. ‘We know Game 4 is going to be harder than Game 3, especially after everything that’s going on right now,’ forward Carmelo Anthony said, referring to the controversial ending Saturday. ‘We’re expecting another tough game. We just have to come in more focused than we were in Game 3.’ The Mavericks obviously are motivated to extend the series. But history is against Dallas. One major-league baseball team and two NHL teams have rallied from 3-0 down to win series. No NBA team ever has, though three have forced a Game 7. ‘I don’t think we’re going to get overly excited or overly happy about their position,’ Nuggets coach George Karl said.”
Darnell Mayberry of The Oklahoman: “Picture a beefed-up version of the NFL Combine, with players thrust into similar athletic testing that includes sprints, vertical jump measurements and agility drills. But the NBA’s version also engages players in shooting drills and competitive games of 1-on-1, 2-on-2 and 3-on-3. NBA rules permit teams to conduct workouts with up to six prospects per session, which limits the scope of the assessment but provides enough substance to form a more complete analysis. ‘Overall, it’s a small amount of information that you get,’ said Thunder general manager Sam Presti. ‘But it’s another piece to putting together the total evaluation of each player.’ Pre-draft workouts have caused players to shoot up draft boards or plummet on draft day. Presti, however, sounds like a GM who refuses to put too much stock into a workout, no matter how well or poorly the player might perform.”
Harvey Araton of the New York Times: “Walton also raised the case of the Lithuanian center Zydrunas Ilgauskas, whose early years in Cleveland were fraught with severe foot injuries and the fear that he would never withstand the rigors of an N.B.A. season. ‘He has all those screws in his feet, and now it seems as if he never misses a game,’ Walton said. But Jeff Van Gundy, who called Friday night’s game on television from Houston and who coached Yao for four seasons there, pointed out that Ilgauskas is 3 inches smaller and 50 pounds lighter. ‘A different body type, but they came up with a plan for Ilgauskas in Cleveland to give him the best chance,’ Van Gundy said. ‘I hope they come up with a plan for Yao now to move him forward.’ Phase 1 would have to be, without question, no more international play, but Chinese officials scoffed when there were reports last October that Yao would retire from the national team.”
(Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)
