Joseph Duarte of the Houston Chronicle: “Rockets forward Shane Battier said it was a smooth transition when Brooks became the starting point guard. ‘Aaron is talented,’ Battier said. ‘He knows it, but sometimes forgets it. There are times we have to tell him, ‘Hey, you’re our guy. We don’t want anybody else. We just want you. We think you’re the guy to lead us.’ The next step for Brooks: consistency in his overall play. The speedy guard has shown flashes during the Lakers series, beating defenders off the dribble and creating the options to score or pass to the open man. His 41 assists to 26 turnovers has shown he not’s afraid to take chances. ‘He’s learning on the go,’ Artest said. But there has been a link between the Rockets’ play and when Brooks has a poor night scoring. In the three losses, Brooks averaged 11.3 points and shot 35.3 percent. ‘I don’t think it’s the amount of points I score, but the efficiency,’ Brooks said. ‘If I’m aggressive and don’t have that many turnovers we tend to win the game.’”
Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle: “A few blocks removed from the moment that nearly took everything from him, Carl Landry was flying. He was soaring and scoring and as always, he was smiling that broad, toothpaste commercial smile. Landry nailed tough jumpers and bent Toyota Center rims. He drove the Rockets through their final run past the Lakers in Thursday’s Game 6 triumph and to Sunday’s Game 7 in Los Angeles. Never in the glow of success that followed did he think of how it all could have been lost when he was shot in his left leg after unknown assailants rammed his SUV near downtown in the early hours of March 17. It was an inexplicable and terrifying night when he went from being a young and gifted Rockets power forward in the second year of a promising NBA career to the victim of a senseless crime lucky to be alive. ‘I would say I’m blessed,’ Landry said. ‘God’s arms of protection were around me. I could be in a different situation. It could be worse. It’s just life.’”
Jeff Eisenberg of The Press-Enterprise: “The Lakers missed their first eight shots and didn’t manage a field goal for nearly six minutes, a stretch that seemed even longer because Houston’s Luis Scola was having his way down low on the other end of the floor. While the Lakers offered little in terms of an explanation for their early ineptitude, a look at the film provides a few hints. Three turnovers in the opening four minutes helped fuel the Rockets’ surge, as did Pau Gasol hoisting 17-footers instead of exploiting his size advantage in the paint, and Kobe Bryant settling for contested jumpers instead of driving to the rim. ‘What they saw was the difference between the type of shots Houston was getting and the type of shots we were getting,’ Jackson said. ‘A lot of their shots were in the paint and a lot of our shots were outside the paint. And the ones we did get in the paint were either contested or we got taken down or fouled. That was the kind of message they needed to see and hear.’”
Elliott Teaford of the Los Angeles Daily News: “Farmar revealed that Jackson showed the team a montage of highlights of Michael Jordan, a sort of best-of package from his days with the Chicago Bulls. The message was straightforward: go out Sunday and take the game from the Rockets. ‘He showed us clips of a playoff series and Michael Jordan making spectacular plays,’ Farmar said. ‘He just said we have to go out there and make things happen. Sometimes it’s not going to work. (But) one play can change the whole game.’ In addition, Farmar revealed that Kobe Bryant was not as calm, cool and collected with his teammates as he was with reporters Thursday. Farmar said Bryant delivered a halftime pep talk that peeled the paint off the locker-room walls. The Lakers made an all-too-brief charge in the third quarter, narrowing an 18-point first-half deficit to 54-52. The Rockets regained their momentum, however, and the Lakers never threatened them again seriously in the fourth quarter.”
Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald: “The Celtics will have two decided advantages over the Magic in Game 7 tomorrow night. And homecourt is just one of them. Indeed, the Celts will have familiarity with the surroundings. They will have a Garden crowd that will encourage them while reminding Dwight Howard his post moves resume could fit on a cocktail napkin. Folded three times over. But what may be of most help to the Celtics is that, when it comes to such concerts, they have been here and done this. The Eastern Conference semifinal constitutes the sixth playoff series in which the Celts have participated the last two years and fourth that has gone to a Game 7. The Magic? They’ve been to just two Game 7s in the history of the franchise. The last one, a loss to the Pistons to blow a 3-1 first-round series lead, came in 2003 when Howard was a junior in high school. Rajon Rondo is working on a 4-3 ratio of Game 7s-to-years in the NBA. ‘Yeah, I guess I’m pretty much a seasoned vet,’ he said.”
Brian Schmitz of the Orlando Sentinel: “The Magic don’t feel they have a player who fits the NBA description of a star go-to guy. As Coach Stan Van Gundy says, ‘We have to find a way.’ Coming closest to holding the title is Hedo Turkoglu, a k a ‘Mr. Fourth Quarter.’ He often serves as the Magic’s playmaker, particularly with the loss of point guard Jameer Nelson. What’s the definition of a marquee go-to guy? A guy you can give the ball in order to win a tight game — just stand back and watch the show on the Jumbotron. A guy who can create his own shots and amaze, like David Copperfield. A guy who can make something out of nothing, like MacGyver. Aw, heck. Like Paul Pierce of the Celtics. And therein lies the most startling difference between the Magic and the Celtics heading into Game 7 on Sunday night at TD Banknorth Garden. The Celtics have Pierce — the seven-time all-star and last season’s NBA Finals MVP — and the Magic don’t. Advantage, Boston. At least that’s the perception. If it’s to be decided down the stretch, it likely will be Pierce vs. Turk, the spotlight shining on the small-forward match-up.”
Jonathan Abrams of The New York Times: “The notion that Redick could capably defend an elite player like Allen seemed like a stretch before the series started. He has held his own on the defensive end, but he has lost his shooting touch at the same time. Redick is starting in place of the rookie Courtney Lee, who missed the start of the series while recovering from a fractured sinus cavity. Lee is back, but Van Gundy now prefers to use him as the primary defender against Eddie House when he comes off the Celtics’ bench. As a starter, Redick is shooting 3 for 25 in the last four games of the series. ‘Ray has not gotten off to a fast start yet,’ Van Gundy said. ‘J. J. will play him as well as he can and Ray can still have 20 points in the first quarter. I know what a great player he is. But I’m a little hesitant to make that change in a matchup that has been — especially at the start of a game — not a problem for us.’”
Chris Dempsey of The Denver Post: “The general consensus among the Nuggets is that the Lakers will be their next opponent, but Denver coach George Karl isn’t ready to count the Rockets out. ‘I tell you what, I’m not going to doubt Houston after (Thursday) night,’ Karl said. ‘I saw a team that just seems like, they subtract something, they get stronger. They have such an attitude that they are going to beat you and overcome, and I’m very impressed by that.’ Still, he’s more worried about the Nuggets than anything else. Extended layoffs have historically hurt teams in the past, no matter the sport. Cleveland, which clinched its spot in the Eastern Conference Finals on Monday, is in the same situation. By the time the Cavaliers play another game, it will have been nearly 10 days. The Cavs also had a lengthy layoff between the first and conference semifinal round. That was eight days between games.”
Jim Reeves of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram: “It’s pretty obvious that decision already has been made. The owner apparently wants him back. The general manager wants him back. The coach is begging both of them to bring him back. It’s really just a matter of the two sides getting together on a new contract at this point. ‘If you want to be successful in the postseason, you have to have a great quarterback,’ GM Donnie Nelson said Friday. ‘Jason provides that. Jason is really the straw that stirs the drink as far as getting guys in the right position, and that’s just the on-the-court stuff. The off-the-court stuff is even more important. Guys in the locker room know they’re going to get great leadership [from Kidd] every night.’ It’s just that the drink Kidd stirs too often ends up with a bitter aftertaste.”
Casey Holdahl of Blazers.com: “What Roy has accomplished in his first three seasons, at least as it pertains to awards and All-Star appearances, is not unprecedented. There have been 24 players in NBA history who have won Rookie Of The Year, been named to two All-Star teams and at least one All-NBA team in their first three seasons. That number goes up to 25 if you count Tim Duncan, who would have surely made the All-Star team in 1999, his second season, had it not been for the lockout. Being the 26th player to receive that combination of distinctions is nothing to discount, especially considering thousands of players have come and gone through the history of the NBA, but it’s not as rare an achievement as one might think. But scarcity doesn’t really tell the story; names do. With his combination of accolades, Roy joins the likes of Elgin Baylor, Wilt Chamberlain, Oscar Robertson, Willis Reed and Bob McAdoo. Or on a more contemporary tip, there’s Larry Bird, Michael Jordan, David Robinson, Shaquille O’Neal and LeBron James. All members of the Rookie Of The Year/Two-time All-Star/All-NBA in the first three years club.”
Joe Davidson of the Sacramento Bee: “In the early 1980s, Tisdale placed Norman, Okla., better known as a football factory, on the basketball map. His 61-point game in 1983 for the Sooners eclipsed the Big 8 Conference mark set by Kansas’ Wilt Chamberlain and still stands as the conference record. Upon his arrival at Oklahoma earlier this decade, Blake Griffin received permission from Tisdale to unretire his No. 23 jersey. After an All-America career, Griffin could be the No. 1 pick in next month’s NBA draft. ‘I spoke with him pretty frequently this past season, and he helped me in ways he probably doesn’t even know,’ Griffin said. ‘He’s touched so many lives.’ While receiving an award last month in Tulsa, Tisdale acknowledged his family – which includes four children – in a tearful address to the crowd. He needed help to get out of a wheelchair. Those who knew him said Tisdale loved family, faith, music and basketball, in that order.”
Charles V. Bagli of The New York Times: “An hour after learning that a state appeals court had dismissed a major challenge to his long-delayed Atlantic Yards development project, the developer Bruce C. Ratner said he planned to break ground by October on an $800 million basketball arena for the New Jersey Nets in Brooklyn. The 20,000-seat arena is only one piece of a proposed 22-acre development at the intersection of Flatbush and Atlantic Avenues that would include an office tower and more than 6,000 apartments, including as many as 2,250 for low- and middle-income families. Given the anemic economy, the housing and the commercial building may have to wait for some time. But Mr. Ratner said he planned to complete the design for the arena, obtain final government approvals and issue the bonds for the project by fall. ‘I’m honestly overjoyed,’ Mr. Ratner, chief executive of Forest City Ratner Companies, said of the court decision, made on Tuesday and released on Friday. ‘This is a weight off my back.’”
(AP Photo/Pat Sullivan)
