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Larry W. Smith/Pool/Getty Images David Thorpe says Chris Bosh played championship defense in Game 2.In Game 1, the Miami Heat were merely solid on defense, and for David Thorpe that wasn't nearly aggressive enough. He wanted them to play with their ...

They're lurking. This time of year strategy can get really weird, with all kinds of stuff happening besides every team trying to win every game. Some teams are out of the playoffs and tanking. Some teams are trying like hell just to make the playo...

James Surowiecki of the New Yorker says it's time to legalize sports gambling: "The leagues insist that legalized betting will make people suspect that games are fixed, thus harming their brands. Yet in Vegas billions are wagered legally on sports ev...

Greg Bishop of The New York Times: So what was Tuesday's game, then? An annihilation or an aberration? A statement or a mirage? For Pau Gasol, defeat provided an example of what not to do should Spain meet the United States in the gold-medal game in ...

Mike Wise of The Washington Post: The great mano-a-mano duel between LeBron James and Kevin Durant was put on hold. This star-power series was reduced to who chipped the most paint off the rim and who would work harder and longer to cover their sudde...

John Rohde of The Oklahoman: The Beatles managed to stay together for 10 years (1960-70). If you believe some people, The Heatles might only stay together another 10 days (2010-present). When free agents LeBron James and Chris Bosh decided to join Dw...

Frank Dell'Apa of The Boston Globe: The Celtics are alternatively flawless and floundering during the Eastern Conference finals. But they were resourceful enough to even the series with the Miami Heat with a 93-91 overtime victory Sunday night at TD ...

Tim Griffin of the San Antonio Express-News: The whole question of rest versus rust has dogged the Spurs throughout the playoffs. They've had long breaks between series after first-round sweeps in the first two rounds. But in Sunday's 101-98 victory ...

Greg Cote of The Miami Herald: Alternate alliterative slogan now fitting for this Heat-Pacers playoff series: No blood, no bling. It's getting nasty in here. The team that gets through this second-round series - and that's looking unmistakably like M...

Bob Kravitz of The Indianapolis Star: Let me take you back to May 7, 1989, the day Chicago's Michael Jordan lifted skyward for The Shot over Cleveland's Craig Ehlo, the shot that catapulted his career into the next stratosphere. After the game, Cleve...

Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE/Getty Images A few games into the playoffs, Lionel Hollins and the Grizzlies are best at getting to the line. The Clippers are winning a reputation as some of the league's most consistent and spectacular floppers, which m...

K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune: "Banner No. 7," Brian Scalabrine said in a rousing pregame speech thanking fans. The next chapter of this condensed, lockout-shortened season begins at noon Saturday against the 76ers, who dropped to the eighth sp...

Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer: If you want to write off Michael Jordan as the guy who shouldn't be wearing a hockey jersey in Chicago when his NBA team is withering back in Charlotte, more power to you. If you want to conclude Rod Higgins is...

Geoff Calkins of The Commercial-Appeal: The Memphis Grizzlies clinched a second-straight trip to the playoffs Wednesday night by defeating the New Orleans Hornets, 103-91. And if it wasn't exactly a surprising development for Rudy Gay and company, it...

Rick Morrissey of the Chicago Sun-Times: Try as Thibodeau might to lower the flame on the burner, Thursday night's game was everything a game between the best teams in the Eastern Conference is supposed to be - perhaps not aesthetically but at least ...

K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune: The Bulls took their recent spate of slow starts to a new low Sunday afternoon, missing 11 of their first 12 shots, committing seven first-quarter turnovers and trailing 27-6 at one point. "It's a big concern," co...