The Fundamentals

Mark Kiszla of The Denver Post:  “”When all looked lost for the Nuggets, in a city built on big cinematic moments, forward Carmelo Anthony delivered the line destined to define this Denver team that refuses to give up on its crazy championship dream. ‘Keep fighting,’ Anthony insisted as he ran down the court, punctuating his order with an expletive, demanding that teammate Chauncey Billups listen. Denver beat the Los Angeles Lakers 106-103 on Thursday night for one reason and one reason only. Overcoming a 13-point deficit in the first half, the Nuggets kept fighting with all the stubbornness in a winner’s heart. On a night when Anthony one- upped Los Angeles superstar Kobe Bryant by giving the visitors 34 points, nine rebounds and four assists, this was the Denver star’s most beautiful line: ‘Keep fighting,’ Anthony urged Billups, with the arena going bonkers, at the precise moment when the Lakers looked most unbeatable, ahead 51-38 with 3 minutes, 45 seconds remaining in the second quarter. ‘That’s all we can do. Keep fighting,’ Billups replied, with a nod of affirmation. This is how basketball legends are born, athletes become friends for life, the momentum of a playoff series turns and a team begins to believe championship dreams can come true.”

Ramona Shelburne of the Los Angeles Daily News:  “Officially, it’s been playoff basketball for over a month now. But even as the undermanned Rockets pushed the Lakers to seven games in the Western Conference semifinals, it felt like it was more about the Lakers and their issues. Whether their toughest opponent on any given night would be complacency, hubris or rust. Every once in a while Aaron Brooks would creep into the scouting report, but for the most part it was a race to see if the Lakers could overcome their own shortcomings in time to stage a great NBA Finals against LeBron James and his band of Cavaliers from Cleveland. After the Orlando Magic’s shocking upset in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals and the Nuggets’ win to tie the best-of-seven series at 1-1 Thursday night at Staples Center, neither of those once-forgone scenarios seems as sound. ‘You guys can go home and play `NBA Live’ if you want to see (Kobe vs. LeBron),” Nuggets forward Kenyon Martin said. ‘Us and Orlando are going to have something to say about that.’ After the way Bryant and Nuggets forward Carmelo Anthony have been going at each other – after two rounds it’s Anthony 73, Bryant 72 on the scorecards – by the time this series is over, there may not even be a need for some sort of ultimate showdown between Bryant and James in the Finals.”

Dave McMenamin of NBA.com:  “While one weakness subsided, another sprung up as the Lakers came out flat in several of the Houston games and never gave themselves a chance to win. Now, after losing a game in which one of their self-inflicted problems resurfaced against a Nuggets team that’s rolling and presents a whole slew of problems of their own — Melo, Chauncey, an aggressive frontline, an equally deep bench — the Lakers are looking mighty vulnerable heading to Denver where the Nuggets are 6-0 in the postseason, winning by an average margin of 17.5 points up in their elevated altitude. ‘We’re not the best road team in the NBA for no reason,’ Bryant said after scoring 32 points. He was confident as he always is. He has the same inner spirit working for him on his mission for a fourth ring that the Nuggets do in their mission for the franchise’s first. He gets teammates involved, says the right thing, puts in the work, knows the reason why his last six seasons ended without lifting Larry O’Brien and has changed himself to make sure that streak ends this year. The same can’t be said for the rest of Bryant’s team. To borrow a term from Jackson, just as there was no ‘connective tissue’ in the lessons learned between rounds for the Lakers and there is no collective confidence in the group like the Nuggets have.”

Johnny Ludden of Yahoo! Sports:  “He has raised his game in these playoffs to a level where only the elite reside. After scoring 39 points in the series’ opener, he went for 34 in Game 2 and defended Bryant credibly in the final quarter – all while playing on a tender ankle. ‘It seems like his confidence then kind of spread to the other guys on the team,’ Fisher said. In truth, George Karl might have been the only Nugget in need of a self-esteem check after the team’s disheartening loss on Tuesday. As Karl sat in the coach’s office, door open, after that game, he looked like a beaten man. His morose attitude carried over to the post-game news conference, prompting, he said, a couple friends to call and question whether his children had died. ‘I was kind of in shock, I think,’ Karl said. ‘…We were one rebound, one free throw, one jump ball away from probably having the biggest win in Nuggets history.’ The Nuggets, fortunately, have learned to ignore their coach’s occasional pity parade. To show just how much they’ve grown from last season, Karl kept the Nuggets here after Thursday’s game. A year ago, he didn’t trust his players to police themselves and forced the team to jet home between its two games in L.A. The Nuggets simmered over that edict. Now, to disrespect these Nuggets is to embolden them.”

Brian Windhorst of The Plain Dealer:  “During the playoffs, Williams has had a couple of good games, but his shooting and overall production have been significantly reduced from previous levels. He’s shooting 42 percent in the postseason after hitting 47 percent in the regular season and his 3-point percentage is down about nine percentage points. The difference between his performance and Lewis’ and Turkoglu’s in Game 1 only padded that area. It wasn’t just Williams, either. Delonte West suffered a slump after a great series with the Atlanta Hawks, going just 4-of-13 shooting in Game 1. The backcourt of West and Williams is where the Cavs are in need of dominance in this series because Orlando’s frontcourt of Lewis and Howard has the advantage. ‘Nobody said it was going to be easy,’ West said. ‘We’re going to see what this team is made of. It’s too early to get your panties in a bunch just yet. It’s a seven-game series.’ Ultimately, the Cavs probably didn’t lose because West and Williams weren’t able to hit more shots. After all, they scored 106 points and shot 49 percent as a team. But James also had to set a team record for scoring to keep the Cavs in it and it is unrealistic to expect such play to continue even from the league’s Most Valuable Player.”

Brian Schmitz of the Orlando Sentinel:  “‘Rashard has not gotten enough credit for his competitiveness,’ Coach Stan Van Gundy said of his 6 foot-10, 230-pound power forward. ‘He’s a guy who’s been at his best in some of the biggest games. What happens is he’s not a big, physical guy, knocking people around, so they don’t take notice of his effort plays on the floor. ‘It’s unfortunate, because he’s a great, great player.’ The league’s leader in 3-pointers taken and made, Lewis doesn’t carry himself like a gunner. He’s a no-frills, laid-back old soul. ‘I’m not too outspoken, outgoing. I feel like I’m flying under the radar. I do what my coach wants me to do,’ he said. ‘At the end of the day, I may have had 22 points … not a flashy 22 points, but 22 playing by the rules, getting the rebounds and doing what it takes to win the ball game.’ Lewis is the poster boy for a Magic team that doesn’t feel it gets enough credit. Even after beating the Cavs, point guard Mo Williams proclaimed on Thursday, ‘I don’t see them beating us four times.’ Lewis said, ‘people are starting to recognize we are for real,’ but he believes the Magic will have to oust the Cavs before they become universally respected.”

Ronald Tillery of the Memphis Commercial Appeal:  “An Internet report that Spanish point guard Ricky Rubio may not want to play in Memphis remained just talk Thursday to the Grizzlies as team officials prepared to visit the potential No. 2 overall draft pick. Griz general manager Chris Wallace and head coach Lionel Hollins will board a plane bound for Spain this afternoon so they can watch Rubio play Saturday in an ACB League playoff game. Wallace referred to the trip as a routine scouting mission in which they also plan to interview the 18-year-old Rubio.’ We’re going to scout him. Lionel hasn’t seen him, and I haven’t seen him this year,’ said Wallace, who is seriously considering selecting Rubio since the Griz won the No. 2 pick during Tuesday’s NBA draft lottery. ‘As for the rumors, we’ve not talked to the player or his family or his agent.’ Rubio is represented by Dan Fegan, who unsuccessfully attempted to bully the Milwaukee Bucks into passing on Yi Jianlian in the 2007 draft. The Bucks took Jianlian anyway.”

Marc Berman of the New York Post:  “According to Scott O’Neil, MSG President of Sports Teams, the Knicks have sold 950 new season ticket packages since mid-April. That number is shocking considering that all of last offseason, the Knicks totaled 1,000 new season-ticket packages. O’Neil said renewals on season tickets are also up 5 percent over the first month of last season. If the Cavaliers are knocked out of the Eastern Conference Finals (they trail 1-0), King James likely won’t sign a contract extension July 1 and will be in play in the summer of 2010 when the Knicks have cap room for potentially two marquee free agents. O’Neil assigns the spike in season-ticket sales to the prospect of the Knicks having cap space for the first time since the mid 1990’s. ‘Donnie (Walsh) has a plan and he stuck to it,’ O’Neil told The Post. ‘And the style of play with Mike D’Antoni, it’s made it fun. We have the smartest fans in the league and they’re buying into the hope of this plan. It starts with Donnie setting it up for 2010.’ The Knicks finished seventh in the league in attendance with an average of 19,288. ‘That’s not bad for 32 wins,’ O’Neil said.”

Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer:  “Charlotte Bobcats majority owner Bob Johnson has stepped up efforts to sell the team, recently hiring a sports investment banker to look for a buyer. Sal Galatioto, president of New York-based Galatioto Sports Partners, confirmed to the Observer Thursday that he’s representing Johnson in a potential sale. Galatioto declined to comment further on the situation. Johnson told Observer columnist Scott Fowler last month that he’d like to sell controlling interest to minority owner Michael Jordan, the former NBA star who oversees the team’s basketball operations. Since then, according to multiple NBA sources, Johnson has begun looking for other potential buyers. Jordan wasn’t available for comment Thursday. An NBA spokesman confirmed that the league is aware Johnson is seeking investors and that Galatioto is assisting him.”

Paul Coro of The Arizona Republic:  “Dr. Pravin Dugel, Stoudemire’s surgeon with Retinal Consultants of Arizona, was able to drain thicker pockets of fluid in Stoudemire’s eye two weeks ago but there is more to wait on as Dugel follows a cautious approach to the 26-year-old’s recovery. The team initially had announced that the surgery would put Stoudemire out for eight weeks, leaving some playoff hope open until Dugel ruled that out two weeks later, saying the recuperation could take months. ‘It’s happening slowly but it’s headed in the right direction,’ Dugel said of the fluid resorbing. ‘The process is not just to let the retina be flat but the idea is to make it flat and resume his career. That bar is extremely high.’ Dugel performed a similar surgery on former Coyotes player Landon Wilson after a puck struck him in the eye in 2002. Wilson is still playing in the NHL but Dugel said Wilson’s torn retina and optic nerve damage was not as extensive as Stoudemire’s trauma.”

(AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)