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Zach McCann of the Orlando Sentinel reports:
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Jason Richardson played through considerable pain Tuesday night after stepping on glass at his home in Orlando in the afternoon.
The accident caused him to have seven stitches sewn into the bottom of his foot before the Orlando Magic’s 101-76 victory over the Atlanta Hawks on Tuesday.
When asked about how much it hurt, Richardson exhaled and said, “It’s tough. It hurts.”
The AP reports:
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Kobe Bryant scored 19 points and threw down two stirring dunks on a sprained left ankle, and the Lakers beat the New Orleans Hornets 106-90 in Game 5 on Tuesday night, taking a 3-2 series lead.
“He’s an incredible athlete, so that injury isn’t going to stop him,” said Ron Artest, who scored 11 points…
Andrew Bynum had 18 points and 10 rebounds, and Pau Gasol added 16 points as the two-time defending NBA champions roared back from a slow start in a pivotal game for their threepeat hopes with another dramatic playoff performance by Bryant, who injured his ankle in Game 4…
Trevor Ariza scored 22 points, Marco Belinelli added 21, and Chris Paul had 20 points and 12 assists for the seventh-seeded Hornets, who have lost three of four since their stunning Game 1 victory. Ariza hit five 3-pointers, but managed just six points in the second half as the Lakers took control of the game and perhaps the series.
Los Angeles also forced 19 turnovers by the Hornets, who were outscored 22-2 in second-chance points after dominating that effort-based statistic in Game 4.
The AP reports:
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Derrick Rose scored 25 points, Luol Deng added 24 and Chicago finally played like a top seed, knocking off the Indiana Pacers 116-89 in Game 5 to wrap up their first-round playoff series Tuesday night…
Rose seemed just fine after spraining his left ankle in Game 4. He had it taped and acknowledged he was a bit apprehensive at first, but he wound up hitting 8 of 17 shots. He dominated in the early going and came up big in the third after the Pacers pulled within four. He scored 10 points over the final six minutes after returning with four fouls, and Chicago ended the quarter on a 23-8 run to blow the game open.
The Bulls hit 14 of 31 3-pointers, including five by Keith Bogans (15 points) and three each by Deng and Rose. Deng also had seven assists and six rebounds.
Joakim Noah added 14 points and eight rebounds, and the Bulls won a playoff series for the first time since they swept Miami in the first round in 2007 and only the second time since the championship era. It was clearly their most impressive performance of the postseason even though Carlos Boozer scored just two points…
Danny Granger scored 20 for the Pacers and had some strong words afterward for Noah. He accused Noah of throwing elbows that ultimately led to a technical foul for A.J. Price after an altercation with Tyler Hansbrough and an ejection by Josh McRoberts later in the game.
The AP reports:
The Orlando Magic aren’t ready for their season to end just yet.
Facing their first opening round postseason exit since 2007, the Magic blew out the Atlanta Hawks 101-76 on Tuesday night.
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Jason Richardson scored 17 points and J.J. Redick added 14 off the bench to lead the Magic.
The win trims Atlanta’s series’ lead to 3-2 and keeps alive the Magic’s hopes of becoming the ninth team in NBA history to win a playoff series after trailing 3-1. If they can win Game 6 Thursday in Atlanta, they would host a decisive Game 7 on Saturday.
Magic center Dwight Howard battled foul trouble throughout the night and had just one field goal, finishing with eight points and eight rebounds. Orlando didn’t need his offense, though, as it broke out of a series-long shooting funk with 11 3-pointers…
Josh Smith scored 22 points to lead Atlanta, which shot below 40 percent for just the second time this series…
For the second straight game the Magic’s bench got some production led by Redick. It also got 11 points from Ryan Anderson and nine from Gilbert Arenas, who had erupted for 20 in Game 4.