Hornets vs. Spurs John DeShazier of The Times-Picayune "On to Game 7, because the defending champs go down about as easy as a mouthful of rocks. Back to New Orleans Arena, because home has meant everything in this hold-serve series. One more game...

There really is no good way, that I know of, to use publicly available numbers to tell how good a player is at playing defense. You can see how many blocks a guy gets, how many rebounds, or how many steals. Some teams have things like Pat Riley's...

They'll be facing each other in some kind of death match this evening. But today, Tyson Chandler has nothing but respect for his opponent, writing on his NBA.com blog: Tim Duncan may be the toughest cover in the league. He's just so fundamentally...

Ross Siler of the Salt Lake Tribune : "... the Jazz had five chances to take the lead in the second half of Game 5 and couldn't come through once." Steve Kerr talked coaching candidates with Fred Mitchell of The Chicago Tribune: "What's interesting...

Jason Friedman covers the Rockets, for the Houston Press. But today -- with San Antonio facing an elimination game tonight -- Friedman admits to a secret: He has long loved the San Antonio Spurs. Friedman writes : I have to admit, I've never...

Here's a fun little NBA thing you can do while watching NBA basketball with friends and a Tivo: After any rebound in traffic, announce loudly "That was a FOUL!" Somebody -- a fan of the team that ended up with the ball -- will disagree. Then rewind...

Jazz vs. Sixers Kurt Kragthorpe of The Salt Lake Tribune: "This was the Jazz's best shot, the game they will remember all summer. Wednesday's Game 5 of their playoff series with the Los Angeles Lakers will tease them, bother them, torture them...

Elite defense, shooting with range, disappearing on offense down the stretch ... Rasheed Wallace can do the things that Kevin Garnett and Dirk Nowitzki do. For two Americans in the Lithuanian finals, DC Collins and Marcus Brown, elite game...

TrueHoop reader Kurt emails: I was a little frustrated with the home team dominance of the second round of the playoffs (home teams are 17-1). So I started to look around for people to blame for this phenomenon. Naturally, I landed on the NBA refs....

Recent Knick media policies would lead you to believe that James Dolan would like every journalist to write nothing but pro-Knick puff pieces. Now Dolan's Cablevision is the corporate parent of the New York Daily News. The New York media is waiting...

Some things I noticed last night: Early in the game the Hornets were clearly determined to get Peja Stojakovic going. Stojakovic has been a non-factor ever since the Spurs switched Bruce Bowen onto him to start Game 3. Here's why I hated what the...

Pistons vs. Magic Rob Parker of The Detroit News: "A lot of the credit for this team has to go to president Joe Dumars, who has put this well-oiled machine together. It's not often a team without a bona fide superstar and with three different...

Michael Grange of the Globe and Mail : "Last night as the Celtics were sputtering against the Cavaliers it was pretty amazing to see how little Garnett asserted himself in the second half. He kept letting Ben Wallace and Varejao tie him up on the...

The defending champion San Antonio Spurs are tied at 2-2 with the New Orleans Hornets, with Game 5 set for 9:30 ET tonight. Should be a wild one, with the Hornets looking to recapture the momentum they had in the first two games at home. ESPN's...

You know the play I'm talking about . In the waning moments of Game 4 against the mighty Celtics last night, you were surprised to find yourself wondering ... wait, is this nailbiter becoming a blowout? It was a contest that was all about defense,...