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Joe Johnson leads Hawks past Magic, into 2nd round

The AP reports:

A new season. A much different result. The Atlanta Hawks are moving on in the playoffs, knocking out the team that beat them so badly a year ago.

Joe Johnson leads Hawks past Magic, into 2nd round

Joe Johnson scored 23 points and came up with a huge offensive rebound, leading Atlanta past Orlando 84-81 in Game 6 Thursday night to finish off the Magic in the opening round.

The Hawks, who won the series 4-2, advanced to the second round for the third straight year, this time against the top-seeded Bulls. Game 1 is Monday night in Chicago…

The Magic had two chances to force overtime. J.J. Redick missed an open 3, then Jason Richardson had a desperation shot from the corner blocked by Smith.

Turkoglu had 15 points on 5-of-13 shooting. Nelson was the only other Orlando player in double figures with 11.

Crawford scored 19 points, including consecutive 3s that gave Atlanta its biggest lead, 71-59, with just over 9 minutes left. The Magic fought back with an 8-0 spurt, and Ryan Anderson had a chance to give the Magic their first lead since the opening minutes with an open look from outside the stripe…

The Hawks were up 42-36 at halftime, but the lead should have been a lot bigger. Smith was 3 of 12 shooting with three turnovers. Crawford hit only 3 of 11, Johnson just 4 of 12. The home finished just 39 percent from the field (31 of 79).

Durant scores 41, Thunder close out Nuggets 100-97

The AP reports:

Kevin Durant matched his best playoff performance with 41 points, including the final nine for Oklahoma City, and the Thunder closed out their first-round series against the Nuggets with a 100-97 victory in Game 5 on Wednesday night.

The Thunder overcame a nine-point deficit in the final 4 minutes, and Durant provided all the offense down the stretch to send the Oklahoma City franchise to its first playoff series win since it was still in Seattle in 2005…

Denver had two chances to duplicate the Spurs’ performance, but Durant blocked J.R. Smith’s potential tying 3-pointer with 9 seconds left and Arron Afflalo missed another 3 at the buzzer.

Afflalo, who missed the first two games of the series with a hamstring strain, led Denver with 15 points and Kenyon Martin added 14 points and 10 rebounds…

Westbrook had 14 points on 3-for-15 shooting, one game after he’d drawn criticism for attempting 30 shots.

Despite dreadful 37 percent shooting, Oklahoma City stuck with the Nuggets with a sizable edge in free-throw opportunities and offensive rebounds.

The Thunder made 34 of 42 foul shots—doubling the number of attempts Denver got—and also had 22 second-chance points off 16 offensive boards.

Spurs survive Game 5 OT thriller vs Grizzlies

The AP reports:

Catching the inbounds pass with 1.7 seconds left, Gary Neal forced overtime with a spectacular 3-pointer in the face of O.J. Mayo as time expired, and the top-seeded San Antonio Spurs staved off elimination by stunning the Memphis Grizzlies 110-103 on Wednesday night…

The straightaway 3-pointer was the second of two remarkable San Antonio baskets in the final 2.2 seconds of regulation. Manu Ginobili, who scored 33 points, hit the other with a long corner jumper while falling out of bounds in front of the Spurs bench, in what was originally ruled a 3.

Spurs survive Game 5 OT thriller vs Grizzlies

A video replay confirmed Ginobili’s left toe was on the line. That left the Spurs still trailing 95-94, and after two free throws by Randolph, San Antonio needed another miracle…

Zach Randolph led Memphis with 26 points and 11 rebounds. He scored 18 points in the fourth quarter and overtime, but the Spurs assured a Game 6 in the overtime behind Parker, who scored 6 of his 24 in the extra period…

Marc Gasol had 11 points and 17 rebounds for Memphis, while Mike Conley scored 20 points and Sam Young added 18.

Duncan began the game in vintage playoff form, looking keenly aware of the stakes. He scored 11 points in the first 9 1/2 minutes, but scored just two the rest of the way. He had 12 rebounds.

Wade scores 26, Heat advance past Sixers 97-91

The AP reports:

Wade scores 26, Heat advance past Philly 97-91

Dwyane Wade scored 26 points, Chris Bosh added 22 points and 11 rebounds, and the Heat advanced to the Eastern Conference semifinals by topping Philadelphia 97-91 on Wednesday night and ousting the 76ers in five games, four of them of the grueling variety, perhaps none more nailbiting than the finale…

Mario Chalmers scored 20 points off the bench and James finished with 16 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists for Miami. Joel Anthony—who played 39 minutes without a single field-goal attempt—made a pair of critical free throws with 16.8 seconds left for the Heat…

Andre Iguodala and Elton Brand each scored 22 points for Philadelphia, which got 13 from Thaddeus Young, 12 from Jodie Meeks and 10 from Jrue Holiday…

Mike Bibby and Zydrunas Ilgauskas only played 4:27 apiece, benched the rest of the way after another slow start, and Chalmers and Anthony started the second half…

The Sixers made nine of their first 11 shots, running out to leads of 16-5 and 20-10—before, as was the case throughout the series, the first substitutions for Miami started paying dividends.

Kobe dunks help Lakers beat Hornets 106-90 in Game 5

The AP reports:

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.

Rose, Bulls eliminate Pacers, 116-89 in Game 5

The AP reports:

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.

Magic extend series with 101-76 win over Hawks

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.

Magic extend series with 101-76 win over Hawks

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.

Tiago Splitter solid in NBA playoff debut

Mike Monroe of the San Antonio Express-News blog reports:

After watching the first three games of the Spurs-Grizzlies playoff series, Spurs rookie center Tiago Splitter finally made his postseason debut in Monday’s Game 4.

His performance turned out to be one of the few bright spots for the Spurs. The 25-year-old rookie from Brazil logged 21 minutes and 32 seconds and scored 10 points, with nine rebounds. He made 5 of 9 shots and committed only one turnover.

“I thought he was wonderful,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. “I thought he did a lot of good things out there.”

Popovich opened the second half with Splitter on the court instead of veteran Antonio McDyess, but Popovich said that was a tactical decision only.

“Antonio had three (first-half) fouls, and you need him at the end of the game to guard Zach (Randolph),” he said. “We didn’t want to start Antonio for that reason.”

Ty Lawson scores 27, Nuggets stay alive vs Thunder

The AP reports:

Ty Lawson scored a career playoff-high 27 points and J.R. Smith and Danilo Gallinari hit clutch shots down the stretch to help Denver beat the Oklahoma City Thunder 104-101 on Monday night as the Nuggets avoided a first-round sweep…

In denying the Thunder their first playoff series win since moving from Seattle in 2008, the Nuggets went to the hoop better than they had all series and relied on the smooth touch of Gallinari, who totaled just 13 points in the previous two games but finished with 18 Monday night to counter Durant’s 31 points and Westbrook’s 30…

Despite shooting just 31 of 44 from the stripe, the Nuggets sank eight straight during one key stretch in the fourth quarter as they grabbed control and then sank 6 of 8 in the final 23 seconds…

Durant’s four free throws pulled the Thunder to 89-87 with 4 1/2 minutes left, but Lawson’s layup sparked a clinching 8-0 run that included Gallinari’s fadeaway and 3-pointer.

InsideHoops.com notes: The Nuggets shot just 38.6% but hit 9-of-19 three-pointers and spent the night at the free throw line, where they shot 31-of-44… Raymond Felton shot just 2-of-10 for the Nuggets off the bench… Al Harrington and Wilson Chandler came off Denver’s bench and combined to shoot 0-of-8… Russell Westbrook took 30 shots for the Thunder, hitting 12. He was 0-of-7 from three-point range and finished with 30 points… Kevin Durant shot 8-of-18 for 31 points… Thunder forward Serge Ibaka had 13 points, 14 rebounds and five blocks… Aside from Westbrook, Durant and Ibaka, no other Thunder players scored more than seven… The Thunder still control the series. We at InsideHoops.com still expect them to advance.

Tyson Chandler steps up, Mavs win Game 5 vs. Trail Blazers

The AP reports:

Tyson Chandler wound up with 14 points and 20 rebounds, but his most important contribution might’ve been setting the aggressive, exciting tone the Mavericks needed to bounce back from a devastating loss and beat the Trail Blazers 93-82. Dallas leads the series 3-2, with two days to rest up before trying to close things out in Game 6 on Thursday night in Portland…

Dallas not only outrebounded its taller foe 49-37, the Mavs grabbed a whopping 20 offensive rebounds. Chandler had 13, and swatted several more to guards near midcourt. His offensive boards were the most ever by a Dallas player in the playoffs and the most for anyone in the playoffs since Shaquille O’Neal had 14 in 1995.

“They played like they wanted it more than we did,” said Portland’s Brandon Roy, who went from scoring 24 points in Game 4 to just five in 26 minutes…

Nowitzki led Dallas with 25 points, 11 coming in the third quarter, when the Mavericks broke open a tight game with a 15-5 run. Still, everyone was waiting to see whether they could protect it this time…

Jason Terry scored 20 points for Dallas and Shawn Marion added 14. Jason Kidd had 14 assists and four points, with his only basket coming long after the game was decided.

Andre Miller led Portland with 18 points and Gerald Wallace scored 18. LaMarcus Aldridge had only 12 points.