First Cup: Monday: Bob Ryan of The Boston Globe: "It was won in the beginning.

It was preserved in the end. "Leads come and go in the NBA, where great shooters reside and where the 24-second clock eliminates the idea of holding the ball. Funky stuff happens at the end of games. Who makes or misses free throws usually seals the deal. But what people so often dismiss when a team such as the Celtics gets ahead of a team as powerful as the Magic by 20 points in the third quarter, and then hangs on to win by a 92-88 score, is how tremendously efficient and dedicated to the task they were in order to acquire that 20-point lead. Sure the Magic made a run. But it wasnt good enough. The hill was too big to climb. 'Once we settled down and started playing our brand of basketball, we were OK, said Orlandos Vince Carter. 'But we were 20 points down. Thats tough. " Chris Forsberg of ESPNBoston.com: Dwight Howard finished 3-of-10 from the field for a pedestrian 13 points and a condemning minus-9 in the plus/minus category. But thats not the most impressive nine on the stat sheet. That would be the nine fouls the Celtics committed on Howard, whacking him four times in the first quarter alone and letting him know that hell have to earn every point he accrues this series. You gotta be physical, he plays physical, said Rasheed Wallace. That was the thing we looked at on film; over the last two series, guys just let him do whatever he wanted to do down there. Were definitely going to fight him. The Celtics entered the series with a lengthy defensive checklist,

including contesting Orlandos 3-point shooters and stopping dribble penetration by Magic point guard Jameer Nelson. But being physical with Howard had to be at the top of that list in bold print, underlined twice, and smeared with yellow highlighter. Ron Borges of the Boston Herald: In professional sports, business is business, but it might not be as good business as some think to just let Ray Allen Allen walk out the door when this interminable NBA season ends. Allen reminded both the Celtics and the rest of the NBA of that by showing again what he brings to the arena on so many nights reliability, adjustments to the nights problems and coolness in the face of mounting hysteria around him. Allen responded to Orlandos early efforts to take his shot away by driving to the basket for all 12 of his first-half points, not hitting his first jumper fittingly a 26-foot 3-pointer until 6:12 of the third quarter. But when the Celtics needed him to put down shots from long range he did in two of the games most critical moments of the fourth quarter at a time when his teammates were unable to make a shot. 'Theres a lot of things I believe I can do and a lot of things I believe I will do, but a lot of times I just keep it to myself and just quietly work on them and prepare myself,' Allen said after his dead-eye shooting finished off the Magic. 'As a team we feel the same way. When we started the playoffs, Doc wrote on the board resolve. He said we have to have resolve if we want to go where we want to go.' Yesterday they spelled resolve R-A-Y A-L-L-E-N. Somebody in Boston better remember that." Mark Murphy of the Boston Herald: "No matter what they do in this series, the Celtics are not entirely going to escape LeBron James shadow. And for the most part, they simply dont care. 'Theres no disrespect to him,' Ray Allen said. 'Hes been one of the biggest stories of the year in the NBA. But now everyone has to watch us. I dont need someone to look at us and say that were great. It will take care of itself. The bottom line is: Who cares? We have one goal: not for people to think about us, but to say that were the last team standing.' There is, however, some lingering empathy for the Cavaliers star. 'Hey, listen, we still win no matter what happens,' coach Doc Rivers said. I feel bad in a lot of ways not bad about beating Cleveland and LeBron but its the coverage the kid gets. Its funny, when he said the other day Im 25 and you guys are talking about my legacy, it made me stop and say, Hes only 25? And then my second thought was, He is literally just a kid still. Its almost sad in some ways with the stuff you read and hear and the pressure. My God, I guess its the curse of being great at 25.' " Mike Bianchi of the Orlando Sentinel: The worst thing that was required from the last playoff perfect team on Sunday was that they were forced to play perfect. The Orlando Magic were so far behind that a late comeback needed to

be error-free, every shot had to fall and every stop defended. Even the beer vendor couldnt spill a drop. You can perhaps pull off that against lesser teams, but not against the Boston Celtics, who wrote the handbook on how to win titles. The fact is, the Magic had to mount a furious, fourth-quarter rally just to make their 92-88 loss seem respectable in the opening game of the Eastern Conference Finals at Amway Arena. This was as thorough a four-point beating as youll ever see. The Magic never led at any point, dug a 20-point hole and looked as if they were caught flat-footed when the Celtics charged out with a Paul Pierce haymaker of a 3.

Mike Bianchi of the Orlando Sentinel: Now we get to see. Now we get to find out. Now we finally learn if the Orlando Magic really and truly are championship material. We know what the high-flying, free-wheeling Magic can do when opponents lay down and play the role of frustrated foot wipes in the playoffs. Now lets see what the knocked-down, beaten-up Magic can do when they get punched in the teeth during the playoffs. We interrupt the clamor about where LeBron James will play next season to bring you this update from the Eastern Conference finals: Celtics 92, Magic 88. And to make it even more icky, Orlando Magic dancer Megan Clementi was one of the first contestants eliminated from the Miss USA pageant Sunday night. Whats worse: The Magic losing to the Celtics or a Magic dancer losing to Miss Maine? Coming soon: Stuff the Magic dragon getting his head ripped off by UCFs Knightro in a loser-leave-the-city mascot death match? It was bound to happen sooner or later. They had to lose eventually. Come on, you knew they werent going to go through the playoffs with a perfect 16-0 record, right? These guys are good, but theyre not the 72 Dolphins. Dan Bickley of The Arizona Republic: When Steve Nash takes the floor for Game 1 against the Lakers, hell discover much has changed since his dramatic injury. Robin Lopez will be back in uniform. The Suns are underdogs once again.

And with his team just four wins removed from a spot in the NBA Finals, the gritty point guard will feel the embrace of the nation. Of all the main characters left in the NBA playoffs, Nash is the most sympathetic figure by far. During his 14 years in the league, he never has been to the NBA Finals. No one ever has participated in as many playoff games (112) without playing for a title. Charles Barkley, Karl Malone, Patrick Ewing, Reggie Miller and John Stockton never won a championship ring. Nash has never even had the chance. Already a highly popular player among NBA fans, Nashs quest will be one of the focal points of the Western Conference finals. And his determination will be defined by the stitches he took in San Antonio, returning to play the entire fourth quarter with an eye that was swollen shut by the end of the game. Sports fans across America love that kind of moxie. E. J. Montini of The Arizona Republic: Quick, answer this question: The Phoenix Suns would not be in the Western Conference finals Monday without ? No. Its not Amare Stoudemire. Nope, not Steve Nash either. Steve Kerr? Uh-uh. Robert Sarver? No siree bob. Give up? Its simple. The Suns would not be in the conference finals Monday without Jerry Colangelo. The fact is, without Colangelo, there might not even BE a Phoenix Suns. Colangelo moved here in 1968 to become the expansion Suns first general manager, the youngest (at 29) in professional-sports history. He saved the franchise in 1987, when the team suffered through a drug scandal. He brought in the kind of quality players that got the team to the league finals in 1976 and again in 1993. Without Colangelo, the Suns and the city of Phoenix would be something very different. And not quite as good. While Colangelo only severed his long relationship with the team in 2007, I have a sense that people here already are fuzzy on the details of his involvement. If they remember at all. Thats just how we are. Mike Bresnahan of the Los Angeles Times: Finally, there will be a game. The Lakers havent played since completing a sweep of Utah a week ago, but the circumstances are more considerable, the results more weighty when they begin the Western Conference finals Monday against the Phoenix Suns at Staples Center. Theyre four victories away from a 31st appearance in the NBA Finals, but theyll get there only if Kobe Bryant and Andrew Bynum shake off knee injuries that have basically kept them off the practice court the last week. Bryant recently had a significant amount of fluid drained from his swollen right knee, The Times has learned, and hasnt practiced since the last round. Bynum practiced only once and said the torn cartilage in his right knee was getting a little worse after making it through Saturdays scrimmage. Ready or not, here come the run-and-gun Suns. Vincent Bonsignore of the Los Angeles Daily News: Tag, Derek Fisher, youre it. Again. First it was the young legs and ridiculous athleticism of Russell

Westbrook. Then came the polished, dominant Deron Williams. Now comes crafty Steve Nash, whose perfection of the pick and roll, among other things, might one day land him in the Hall of Fame. Elite point guards, all of them. And each the responsibility of Fisher, whose success in neutralizing Westbrook and Williams in the first two rounds helped the Lakers reach the Western Conference finals. Now he must craft a defense to slow down Nash, the sly quarterback of the Phoenix Suns, as the Lakers try to advance to their third consecutive NBA Finals. Pressure, to be sure, but nothing new to Fisher, who has been down the road so many times its hard to keep track anymore. Jeff Miller of The Orange County Register: "The Lakers are the ones in this series with the best player. And the best player must be feeling better than he has in weeks. But who knows for sure? Kobe Bryant chose not to talk Sunday. But honestly, was he suddenly going to start revealing things now? If the Lakers advance the prediction here is they will in six games lets hope someone asks Andrew Bynum about his knee again. Just to see if hes learning anything. Personally, this past weekend, we would have preferred hearing Bynum answer like this: 'The knees OK, wont hold me back any and Im not gonna agree Steve Nash carries the ball a lot, but I just saw where he led the NBA this season in rushing. Behind 28 points from Carmelo Anthony, his best output in two months, the Knicks put the defensive squeeze on the Milwaukee Bucks and beat them at Madison Square Garden, 89-80. But it was little more than a silver lining on a difficult day, with the teams path to the playoffs suddenly littered by an uncompromising injury report. Ninety minutes before the game, the Knicks announced that forward Amare Stoudemire had a bulging disk in his lower back. While surgery is not planned, Stoudemire headed to Florida for a second look and is out indefinitely. You dont wish it on any player, Coach Mike Woodson said. Especially Amare, whos a big part of what we do. All we can do is hope its not as serious as it may be, and wish for a speedy recovery. Point guard Jeremy Lin also missed the game, his first absence since the birth of Linsanity 26 games ago. Lin said his knee had been sore the previous two games, but thought he would play Monday after taking part in the teams shootaround earlier in the day. He and team trainers later opted for a cautionary approach. It feels way better than it did two days ago, Lin said. I want to make sure that when I come back, Im 100 percent.

And even Anthony, seeming rejuvenated by the burden of carrying the team, felt a twinge in his groin. It is the same injury that reconfigured the Knicks lineup in February, leading to Lins out-of-nowhere rise to stardom and the Knicks resurgence to playoff contenders.

Anthony, after an hour in the training room Monday, said the injury was not nearly as bad as it was the first time, when he missed seven games in February. He was hoping to play Wednesday against Orlando, he said. The latest rash of ailments tainted the enthusiasm over the Knicks seventh victory in the eight games since Woodson replaced Mike DAntoni this month. It just seems like its not stopping, center Tyson Chandler said. You get that bug and it seems like it transfers from one guy to another. The game with the Bucks had enough intrigue without the injuries. With about one-quarter of the shortened regular season to play, the Eastern Conference appears to be a nine-team game of musical chairs for eight playoff seats. The victory moved the Knicks, with 16 games to play, two and a half games ahead of the Bucks for the final slot. The slight cushion may come in handy. While nagging injuries to Lin and Anthony are a concern, Stoudemires long-range health is by far the most worrisome. The Knicks hope his injury is not a repeat of last season, when Stoudemire pulled a muscle in his back during warm-ups for Game 2 of a playoff series with

the Boston Celtics, and the Knicks hobbled meekly to an early vacation. It took Stoudemire about seven months to fully recover. He left Saturdays game against Detroit in the third quarter with a sore back, and played down the injury afterward. But he flew to Miami on Monday to meet with one of the doctors who treated him last summer and fall. Baron Davis, who had 13 points and 7 assists and 9 turnovers in replacing Lin, was out for most of a year, including the first 32 games of the season, with a herniated disk in his back. Bulging disks are less severe, and most do not require surgery, according to Dr. Andrew Hecht, the co-chief of spinal surgery at Mount Sinai School of Medicine. Treatment options can include anti-inflammatories, physical therapy and, in some cases, a spinal injection. Recovery can take days, weeks or months, Hecht said. Of Stoudemire, Lin said: Hes one of the leaders on this team. Hes one of the voices on this team. We definitely need him back as soon as we can get him. Without Stoudemire and Lin, major sources of the Knicks surge the past two months, the Knicks relied on Anthony, who had his highest offensive output since scoring 35 in a loss to the Bucks on Jan. 20. With 12 rebounds, he had his first double-double since Jan. 21. He scored on the first possession, a short turnaround jumper off a pass from Davis. He quickly added a 15-foot jumper, then another. By the end of the quarter, he had taken 9 shots and scored 10 points. Maybe, with Lin and Stoudemire out, he was more comfortable reprising his former role as the center of the Knicks attention. Ive got to step my game up, he said. The Bucks led by 5 at halftime, on the strength of Mike Dunleavys 24 points. But the Knicks held Dunleavy to only 2 points after halftime, and the Bucks to only 28 over all. Brandon Jennings and Monta Ellis combined for 19 points, less than half their average, and shot 8 of 36. It has been a rough 12 months for Stoudemire. The pulled back muscle last April kept him off the court for months, and he compensated by adding bulk to his frame. But the heft made him slow, and for the first time in six years Stoudemire was not an All-Star.

Only recently, as he shed 10 pounds, did he regain the spring that had made him one of the N.B.A.s most explosive players. Off the court, things were much worse: Stoudemires older brother, Hazell, was killed in a car accident in early February. Now Stoudemire is looking for answers about his ailing back. And in this, already one of the more memorable seasons in team history, the Knicks may be left wondering about the fate of their push toward the playoffs. Howard Beck contributed reporting.