Sure, James Harden finished fifth in the league in scoring this year, Chandler Parsons put up a LeBron-style line in Game 4 and Patrick Beverley has proven to be a major thorn in Scott Brooks' side over the past few games, but any major dude will tell you that the real key to stopping the Houston Rockets is slowing down their dominant center, Turkish delight Omer Asik.

So kudos to you, Thunder guards Derek Fisher and Thabo Sefolosha, for standing together in the face of impending doom as Asik rolled to the cup after setting a screen for Harden at the right elbow midway through the second quarter of Wednesday's Game 5. I mean, the sheer force of the collision sent both Fisher and Sefolosha to the deck so immediately, forcefully and dramatically that it's remarkable the Oklahoma City defenders didn't just disintegrate into dust upon impact:

Such courage — which resulted in a charging call against Asik — will surely land these two brave Thunderers letters of commendation from the league office. Maybe with invoices inside.

Later in the game — which the underdog Rockets controlled throughout, trailing for a grand total of 16 seconds in the first quarter and leading by double-digits for large chunks of the second half — Thunder coach Brooks again turned his defense's attention to Asik, instructing his players to intentionally foul the center with Oklahoma City trailing by 10 and 6:23 remaining in the fourth quarter.

Just after the final buzzer of the Boston Celtics' impressive Game 5 road win over the New York Knicks on Thursday, several players from the two teams got heated and started a small skirmish that had to be separated by coaches.

The primary participants seemed to be Celtics reserve Jordan Crawford, who didn't play a second in the Celtics' 92-86 win, Knicks point guard Raymond Felton and New York forward Carmelo Anthony. What exactly was said remains unclear, although the Internet's just chock full of colorful interpretations of Crawford's portion of the discussion, which some self-proclaimed expert lip readers have suggested might be related to the scuffle between Anthony and Celtics center Kevin Garnett that took place at Madison Square Garden earlier this season.

[Also: Damian Lillard wins the NBA’s 2012-13 Rookie of the Year Award]

Whatever words passed between the players, Anthony wasn't interested in elaborating.

"I’m not thinking about no Jordan Crawford," he said after the game. "I don’t even think he deserves for you to be typing right now."

That's a sentiment Charles Barkley shared on TNT's "Inside the NBA" postgame show.

"Raymond Felton, let that go," Barkley said. "Never argue with guys who don't get in the game."

Kenyon Martin told his New York Knicks teammates to dress for a funeral on Wednesday and J.R. Smith swore the Knicks would've closed things out if he'd played in Game 4. But the Boston Celtics are leaving Madison Square Garden very much alive after scoring an impressive 92-86 win in Game 5 of their best-of-seven series, and given the horrendous night Smith had, Knicks fans might've preferred he take this one off, too.

"We was going to a funeral, man, but it looks like we got buried," Smith said after the game. "I'm done with this black stuff."

The Celtics, though, aren't done. Not after Jeff Green scored 18 points, 10 of which came in the fourth quarter, to lead five Celtics in double figures in the win, which saw Boston take a page out of New York's playbook by shooting a sterling 11 for 22 from 3-point range to cut New York's series lead to 3-2. The Knicks, on the other hand, bore very little resemblance to the team that boasted the league's third most efficient offense during the regular season, shooting just 5 for 22 from distance and 39.5 percent from the floor overall to produce at a rate (95.8 points per 100 possessions, according to NBA.com's stat tool) that would've ranked below the Washington Wizards' league-worst unit this year.

The win made the Celtics just the 11th team in 103 NBA playoff series to fight back from an 0-3 deficit to force a Game 6, which will take place at what figures to be a rocking TD Garden in Boston on Friday.

Only three have pushed it to Game 7. None have won the series. Celtics coach Doc Rivers wouldn't mind changing that.

"I mean, I think that would be wonderful, and someone's going to do it and I want it to be us, obviously, since that's the situation we're in,'' Rivers said before the game, according to Brian Mahoney of The Associated Press. ''Someone will do it, and I really want to be a part of that.''

While Green's efficient scoring night — 5 for 8 from the floor, 2 for 2 from deep (both of them late in the fourth, keeping the Knicks at bay) and 6 for 6 from the line — topped the score sheet, it was the Celtics' veterans who really keyed the victory.

The Oklahoma City Thunder return home Wednesday night with a chance to finish off the Houston Rockets in Game 5 of their best-of-seven first-round playoff series. When they take the court at Chesapeake Energy Arena, though, they'll do so without starting point guard Russell Westbrook, who suffered a tear to the lateral meniscus in his right knee during the Thunder's Game 2 home win and had season-ending surgery before Game 3 at the Toyota Center in Houston. This will be the first time since Nov. 28, 2008, that Westbrook is not part of the Thunder's starting lineup for a home game.

[Also: James Harden's hot shooting vs. OKC lifts Houston to a Game 5 win]

But while Westbrook won't suit up alongside running buddy Kevin Durant, he will be in the house, taking in the action from a luxury suite, according to Daily Thunder's Royce Young. And the OKC faithful aim to let him know they miss him and hope for his speedy recovery in perhaps the most adorable way possible — by signing a giant "get well soon" card for him before tipoff.

D'awwwww. (Photo via @anthonyVslater)

Kind of a cool counterbalance to all the not-so-nice signage being displayed outside the Peake tonight, don't you think?

Hat-tip to Anthony Slater of the Oklahoman.

Kenyon and JET, just yappin'. (Greg M. Cooper-USA TODAY Sports)The Boston Celtics fought off a sweep at the hands of the New York Knicks on Sunday thanks in large part to reserve guard Jason Terry, who made two key contributions.

First, the 14-year veteran provided a chin so inviting that the Knicks' J.R. Smith just couldn't resist elbowing it during New York's Game 3 rout, resulting in a one-game suspension that took away an integral piece of the Knicks' offensive attack for Game 4. Next, Terry stepped up in a big moment (a rarity during his first season in Boston) to score nine of his 18 points in overtime to help push the Celtics to a 97-90 victory.

The ever-loquacious Terry's performance backed up what Knicks big man Kenyon Martin told Mitch Lawrence of the New York Daily News was quite a bit of pregame trash talk: "The guy was mouthing off before the game. He told me, 'You're not dancing at my funeral today.'"

With the scene shifting back to Madison Square Garden for Wednesday's Game 5, though, Martin told Lawrence he's very ready to put on his dancing shoes and step the whole night through, or whatever dance a dude with "Bad Ass Yellow Boy" tattooed on his chest prefers (perhaps the Rockaway?):

"We're ending it Wednesday," Martin said.

He even made it a point to tell teammates what to wear when the Knicks look to win this series in five, then get ready for the winner of Indiana-Atlanta. "Wear black," he said. "Funeral colors."

Sound like dancin' words to me. Also, a violation of the NBA's uniform policy, unless Martin has already received explicit approval from the league office to wear dark jerseys instead of the Knicks' home whites. But then, Kenyon's always been a bit of a rebel.

(Just kidding, you guys. Martin was talking about the clothes the Knicks would wear to the game, not what they'd wear during the game. And apparently, they actually did all wear black, which shows that they have a strong sense of symbolism but not a great sense of what's kind of dorky.)

One day after becoming the first openly gay active male athlete in major American pro sports, Jason Collins sat down with TNT's "Inside the NBA" to discuss his monumental announcement, the decision-making process behind it and how it felt to wake up Tuesday morning and, in the words of host Ernie Johnson, "not have anything to hide."

"It was amazing," the 12-year NBA veteran said. "It was a truly overwhelming experience — humbling, the amount of support I received. I'm truly blessed to have the people that I have [who] have my back, and just support me and lift me up."

[Also: Before Jason Collins came out the closet, there was Justin Fashanu]

Collins told Johnson, Barkley, Kenny Smith and Shaquille O'Neal about a variety of topics, including coming out to his twin brother Jarron ("It was, uh, an interesting conversation"), whether he thinks his announcement will have an impact on other sports and leagues ("I hope it will encourage others to live an honest and genuine life [...] it's important for everybody to make decisions in their life that makes them happy and to be honest") and how long he wrestled with the decision to make his sexual orientation public.

"It took me a while," he said. "It was a process. But I knew that going through last season, that I wasn't going to keep living my life in the closet. I knew that once my regular season ended with the Washington Wizards, that after the season was over, I was going to make this announcement and also tell everybody, you know, I can still play in this league. I want to still play in this league. I still have a love for the game, and I still feel that I can offer an NBA ball club that veteran leadership. And I think I've proven by doing this that not only will I talk the talk, but I'll walk the walk, and I think everybody in the league respects that."

Zach Randolph and Marc Gasol have had their way with DeAndre Jordan. (Andrew D. Bernstein/NBA/Getty Images)

When the Memphis Grizzlies stormed back from two straight losses at Staples Center to even their first-round playoff series with the Los Angels Clippers at FedEx Forum last week, the lion's share of national attention focused on the return to form of Memphis big men Zach Randolph and Marc Gasol, and deservedly so — after combining to average 29.5 points and 10.5 rebounds per game in losses in Games 1 and 2, the Grizzlies frontline duo dominated the proceedings in Memphis, kicking in 45.5 points and 20.5 rebounds in wins in Games 3 and 4. As has been the case throughout this season, and especially since the trade-deadline jettisoning of Rudy Gay, as Randolph and Gasol go, so go the Grizzlies.

But Randolph and Gasol weren't playing against air in Memphis (although it sometimes seemed like they were). They were playing against a Clippers front line manned by All-Star power forward Blake Griffin and starting center DeAndre Jordan, who largely won the interior battle in L.A. but were overwhelmed by the Grizzlies' physicality in Memphis. That was especially true of Jordan, who was whisper-quiet in Games 3 and 4 — just four total points on 2 for 6 shooting, 10 rebounds and four blocks — with the 6-foot-11 jumping jack managing just two rebounds in 17 minutes in the series-evening loss.

With the exception of general big-man rules like "get a body on him on the offensive glass" and "be aware of his shot-blocking," Jordan's not typically considered the kind of player opposing coaches have to scheme around. But when Grizzlies coach Lionel Hollins was asked how Memphis had stymied Jordan heading into Tuesday's Game 5, his reply laid bare just how invisible Jordan's become:

When asked what the key has been for taking DeAndre Jordan out of his game in Memphis, Lionel Hollins responded, "What is his game?" #zing

— Jovan Buha (@jovanbuha) May 1, 2013

Lionel Hollins on holding DeAndre Jordan to two rebounds: "Nobody holds anybody to two rebounds. You either get them or you don’t get them."

— Ben Bolch (@latbbolch) May 1, 2013

That downgrading might've stung Jordan, but probably not as much as hearing similar criticisms coming from his own coach. And yet, Vinny Del Negro seemed to basically agree with Hollins' assessment of Jordan before Game 5, according to Phil Collin of the Los Angeles Daily News:

Thanks to the promise of two awesome Western Conference matchups and the stirring conclusion to a thrilling episode of "Castle," we were pretty pumped up for the start of TNT's Tuesday night double-header. But when host Ernie Johnson tossed the pregame show's discussion of Game 5 between the Denver Nuggets and Golden State Warriors over to Charles Barkley, things went a bit sideways:

Luckily, Shaquille O'Neal is so cool under pressure that his immediate response is to throw his phone off-camera, a motion that completely messed with everyone on the studio floor and apparently dislodged his lapel microphone, requiring multiple fix-up trips from a sound technician. Even more luckily, Shaq's improv instincts kicked in on the second trip, when he recognized that the best and funniest (basically the same thing) he could do would be to hug said sound guy, turning into the skid and highlighting the gong show.