TNT’s NBA coverage continues Thursday, Feb. 16 at 8 p.m. (ET) with an exclusive doubleheader featuring the Boston Celtics @ Chicago Bulls (8 p.m. ET) followed by the L.A. Clippers @ Portland Trail Blazers (10:30 p.m. ET)
***CLIP OF THE NIGHT***
(Please click the link below to view)
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Game 1: Los Angeles Lakers (88) @ Boston Celtics (87) – OT
Announcers: Marv Albert (play-by-play), Steve Kerr (analyst), Mike Fratello (analyst) and Craig Sager (reporter)
Kerr on Lakers forward Pau Gasol: “Gasol has been a little maligned this year in L.A. but I think he is phenomenal. To me, he is the most skilled big man in the league. He’s a wonderful passer. He’s been a little out of sorts without Lamar Odom and without the Triangle Offense but he’s still a great player.”
Kerr on Kobe Bryant trying to find a balance with his role on the Lakers: “Kobe goes back and forth with being a facilitator at times and being a scorer, especially with this club. Kobe is trying to find the right balance…he just has to figure out what’s needed.”
Kerr on the wide open playoff race: “I think anyone that makes the playoffs and is healthy this year is going to be a factor.”
Kerr on Celtics general manager Danny Ainge: “Danny Ainge did a really nice job of fortifying this Celtics bench between [forward Chris] Wilcox and Brandon Bass coming over from Orlando and [E’Twaun] Moore, Avery Bradley…they’re athletic, energetic. They’ve really saved this club during these injuries to [Paul] Pierce and [Rajon] Rondo.”
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Halftime
Johnson, Barkley, O’Neal and Smith
O’Neal on the level of play in the first half of the Lakers vs. Celtics: “They’re actually playing like it’s a playoff game.”
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Kerr on the Celtics play in the middle: “The Celtics, other than Paul Pierce, really don’t have a post-up threat.”
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Game 2: Oklahoma City Thunder (101) @ Sacramento Kings (106)
Announcers: Kevin Harlan (play-by-play), Reggie Miller (analyst), Chris Webber (analyst) and Cheryl Miller (reporter)
Miller on Kings head coach Keith Smart: “He’s putting in a lot of trust with his young players.”
Webber: “He’s had his ups and downs [as a player]. If anybody understands what it’s like to be a player it’s that coach and he hopes to translate that both on-and-off the court.”
Miller on the youthful Kings: “When you have a young team, obviously you’re going to have your ups and downs, more downs than ups, but someone on this team is going to have to grab hold of these young players.”
Webber on the financing to build a new arena in Sacramento: “I think [Sacramento Mayor] Kevin Johnson is a great leader. I know this whole community, we are collectively holding our breath hoping something happens but I think it’s going to have to be a miracle at this point.”
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Halftime
Johnson, Barkley, O’Neal and Smith
Smith on what it could take for the Oklahoma City Thunder to win a championship: “The tough thing about winning a NBA championship…you have to have guys on your second unit that can come in and actually produce…like first teamers.”
Smith on the type of player the Thunder could add down the stretch in order to compete for a NBA championship: “The biggest thing for them [OKC] – between the All-Star and trade deadline – has to be a guy that is comfortable scoring.”
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Miller on the Thunders’ chances for a NBA championship: “When I look at them, I think of the playoffs in a best-of-seven game series. They average 17 turnovers. You need possessions when it comes to playoff time. They can’t continue to turn the ball over if they want to have championship aspirations and win a ring.”
Miller on Kings center DeMarcus Cousins play tonight: “Win or lose…his effort has been superb tonight.”
Webber on Kings head coach Keith Smart and the way he has led his young team so far: “Keith [Smart] didn’t get a training camp. He didn’t get a chance to work with these players and develop them himself so they may be coming into their own right now. You have to give coach a little bit of credit.”
TNT’s Cheryl Miller interviewed Sacramento Kings head coach Keith Smart, Marcus Thornton and DeMarcus Cousins following the game
Smart on the win and his young players: “These two guys [Marcus Thornton and DeMarcus Cousins] are the stones right here and they gotta play great all the time. They have to build [on this win]. If they can keep this process up, they’re going to get there.”
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Inside the NBA presented by Hyundai
Johnson, Barkley, O’Neal and Smith
O’Neal comments on whether the Kings can play at a higher level more consistently: “They were really fired up but were they fired up because they were playing a younger, better team or were they fired up because they were on national TV? Can they continue to play like that? If they play like this [consistently], they should be in the running for the playoffs. They’ve been very inconsistent.”
TNT’s Craig Sager interviewed Lakers guard Kobe Bryant following the Lakers/Celtics game
Bryant on Memphis Grizzlies’ Marc Gasol making the All-Star team over his brother Lakers’ Pau Gasol: “[Pau Gasol] deserves to be an All-Star every year because of how good he is. Next time we play Memphis should be interesting.”
O’Neal on why Kobe Bryant is the greatest Lakers player of all time: “In this world we live in today where everything is celebrated with championships and stats, [Bryant] has passed everybody up. On that basis alone, that makes him the greatest Laker [player of all-time].”
Barkley on the Los Angeles Clippers signing free agent forward Kenyon Martin: “He puts them in the conversation of getting to the Western Conference Finals.”
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