The AP reports: Pau Gasol had 22 points, leading MVP candidate Kobe Bryant added 20, and the Lakers beat the short-handed Sacramento Kings 124-101 Tuesday night to clinch the No. 1 seed in the West and home-court advantage throughout the conference playoffs… Lamar Odom added 15 points and 12 rebounds, Vladimir Radmanovic scored 14, Jordan Farmar added 13 points, and Ronny Turiaf had 10 points and six assists for the Lakers, who went strictly with reserves in the fourth quarter. Quincy Douby led the Kings (38-44) with a career-high 32 points. Beno Udrih scored 22 points, Francisco Garcia added 15 and Sheldon Williams had 12 points and a season-high 11 rebounds… The Kings played their final game of the season without their top three scorers: Kevin Martin, Ron Artest and Brad Miller.
Category: Games
Basketball games blog
Apr. 15: Blazers 113, Grizzlies 91
The AP reports: Brandon Roy had 16 points and 11 assists for the Blazers (41-40) who play their final game of the season Wednesday at Phoenix. Portland has not finished with a winning record since the 2002-03 season. James Jones hit six 3-pointers to lead Portland with 20 points. Jarrett Jack scored 18 points and Channing Frye added 16 for Portland… Hakim Warrick led Memphis with 17 points and 14 rebounds. Rudy Gay and Andre Brown each added 16 points… The Grizzlies were without veteran guard Mike Miller because of back spasms, and guard Javaris Crittenton, who has a sprained right thumb.
Apr. 15: Hornets 114, Clippers 92
The AP reports: The New Orleans Hornets gathered in front of their bench, wearing ball caps and T-shirts commemorating the first division championship in the franchise’s 20-year history… David West scored 32 points and Chris Paul had 12 during a decisive run in the third quarter as the Hornets beat the Los Angeles Clippers 114-92 on Tuesday night… Chris Paul finished with 22 points and 12 assists, while Chandler added 11 points and 11 rebounds. Rookie Julian Wright scored all 14 of his points in the fourth quarter, including a thunderous dunk. Rookie Al Thornton led the Clippers with 26 points. Corey Maggette contributed 13 off the bench.
Apr. 15: Nets 112, Bobcats 108
The AP reports: For the New Jersey Nets, missing the playoffs took a lot the fun out of rallying from a 20-point deficit to beat the Charlotte Bobcats. Richard Jefferson scored 28 points and hit a go-ahead jumper in overtime and the Nets limited the Bobcats to 47 points in the final 29 minutes in a 112-108 meaningless victory on Tuesday night… Vince Carter added 18 points, Devin Harris had 17 and eight assists and Bostjan Nachbar added eight of his 10 points in the fourth quarter and overtime as the Nets won their second straight… Jason Richardson had 31 points (and 8 steals) to lead Charlotte in the game between two non-playoff teams. Nazr Mohammed added 19 points, Raymond Felton had 18 and Okafor had 15 rebounds.
Apr. 15: Pistons 115, Wolves 103
The AP reports: Flip Saunders only cares about one more thing in the regular season. He wants his Detroit Pistons to get through Wednesday’s game in Cleveland without an injury… Tuesday, Detroit got 55 points from the reserves, including 20 from Jarvis Hayes and nine each from three others. “We’re having a good time out there right now,” said Richard Hamilton, who led the starters with 18… Billups added 17 points and six assists against his former team, while Al Jefferson led Minnesota with 30 points.
Apr. 15: Magic 121, Hawks 105
The AP reports: Maurice Evans had a career-high 27 points and six of his Orlando teammates also scored in double figures, leading the Magic to a 121-105 victory over the Atlanta Hawks on Tuesday night. Evans scored 23 points in the second half as both playoff-bound teams substituted liberally, knowing the game had no impact on their postseason positioning… Orlando shot 57 percent from the field (47 of 82), getting 17 points from Hedo Turkoglu, 15 from Dwight Howard and 14 from Jameer Nelson. Rashard Lewis added 12 points, while Keyon Dooling and J.J. Redick had 11 each. Marvin Williams and Salim Stoudamire led the Hawks with 16 points apiece… Dooling had nine assists, one off his career high.
Apr. 14: Suns 122, Warriors 116
The AP reports: While Baron Davis just sat and watched. Fighting off a cold that he said sapped his energy, Amare Stoudemire scored 11 of his 28 points in the fourth quarter and Phoenix recovered after blowing a 17-point lead for a 122-116 victory Monday night. The Warriors’ loss clinched the final playoff spot in the West for Denver. Steve Nash nearly had a triple-double with 13 points, 14 assists and nine rebounds as the Suns remained in the midst of a scramble for playoff positioning and a possible home-court advantage in the first round. Stephen Jackson scored 16 of his 23 points in the Warriors’ third-quarter comeback. Monta Ellis added 20 points, Kelenna Azubuike 17 and Andris Biedrins 16… Shaquille O’Neal had 19 points and 15 rebounds for Phoenix, but sat while coach Mike D’Antoni went with a smaller lineup during the decisive late stretch. Barbosa scored 19 and Raja Bell 16.
Apr. 14: Spurs 101, Kings 98
The AP reports: Tony Parker tied his season high with 32 points and added 11 assists as the struggling Spurs managed to pull out a 101-98 victory Monday night against the depleted Sacramento Kings… Playing only 24 minutes due to foul trouble, Tim Duncan had 17 points for the Spurs. Mike Finley scored 19 points and Fabricio Oberto had 17. John Salmons led the Kings with 29 points and 11 rebounds, Spencer Hawes had 17 points, Beno Udrih scored 16 and Garcia added 15… The Kings played without injured Kevin Martin and Ron Artest, their two leading scorers. Starting center Brad Miller also did not play.
Apr. 14: Jazz 105, Rockets 96
The AP reports: The Jazz went 37-4 at home, where they hope to be playing this weekend in the first round of the playoffs. “It changes every day, so we’ll see what happens,” said Carlos Boozer, who had 21 points and 11 rebounds in his 51st double-double of the season Monday… Mehmet Okur added 12 points and 13 rebounds and Deron Williams finished with 17 points and nine assists for the Jazz, who won for the sixth time in seven games and finished with their best home record since winning 38 games in 1996-97. Tracy McGrady and Luis Scola scored 22 each for Houston, which fell short with a late rally after trailing by 17 at the end of the third quarter. The Rockets made six 3-pointers in the fourth quarter to make it closer, but couldn’t overcome Utah’s huge lead.
Apr. 14: Bulls 151, Bucks 135
The AP reports: The Chicago Bulls couldn’t miss, thanks to the defensively inept Milwaukee Bucks, who haven’t been able to stop anyone all season. Luol Deng scored 32 points and Ben Gordon added 29 as the Chicago Bulls barely fell short for most points in franchise history in a 151-135 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks on Monday night… Chris Duhon had 22 points and 15 assists for Chicago, which fell five points short of its scoring record of 156 set March 16, 1984 at Portland, and four points short of its regulation record set against Phoenix on Dec. 4, 1990… The lone bright spot for the Bucks was rookie Ramon Sessions, who set a franchise record with 24 assists, three more than Guy Rodgers had in Milwaukee’s sixth game as a franchise on Oct. 31, 1968 against Detroit. Sessions also scored 20 points—the first 20-20 with points and assists in franchise history.