The AP reports: Rajon Rondo took the pass from Eddie House and bolted for the basket, cutting between 6-foot-11 Dwight Howard and 6-10 Rashard Lewis for a thunderous dunk. In a crucial game for the Boston Celtics, the little guys came up big. Rondo had 15 points, 18 assists and 11 rebounds for his third triple-double of the playoffs, and House scored a career playoff high-shattering 31 points on Wednesday night to lead Boston to a 112-94 victory over the Orlando Magic in Game 2 that evened the Eastern Conference semifinals… Howard had 12 points and 12 rebounds and Lewis had 17 points and 10 rebounds for the Magic, who stole Game 1 on Monday night despite blowing almost all of a 28-point lead. Orlando never led Wednesday night, trailing by 15 at halftime and by as many as 26 in the second… Rondo had 12 assists without a turnover at halftime and finished one assist short of his career high… Ray Allen scored 22 points for the defending NBA champions, who will have at least one more home game.
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Nuggets take Game 2, beat Mavericks 117-105
The AP reports: Denver didn’t trail again after J.R. Smith’s bucket, which sparked the Nuggets’ 117-105 rout Tuesday night that gave them a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven series that shifts to Dallas this weekend… Carmelo Anthony scored 15 of his 25 points in the fourth quarter, including 10 in a 16-2 spurt the Nuggets used to start the quarter and break open a close game… “I thought we were right there again like we were the other night and just things with this team can get out of hand quickly,” said Dirk Nowitzki(notes), who scored 35 points… Nene scored 25, Smith had 21 and Billups 18 for the Nuggets, who won for the 15th straight time at the Pepsi Center, where they haven’t lost since March 11.
Cavaliers Rock Hawks 99-72 in Game 1
The AP reports: LeBron James dunked the first time he touched the ball and scored 34 points—22 in the first half—as the Cavaliers, who waited nine days between playoff games after a first-round sweep, shook off some early rust and pulled away for a 99-72 win over the Hawks in their Eastern Conference semifinal opener on Tuesday. Showing why he was voted the league’s best player in a landslide, James added 10 rebounds, three assists and four steals as the top-seeded Cavs won their fifth straight lopsided game in a postseason that has so far mirrored the best regular season in franchise history… Maurice Williams added 21 points for Cleveland, which became the first team since the 2004 Detroit Pistons to win each of its five playoff games by double figures. With the Cavs up by 21, James was pulled with 4:29 left—extra down time before Game 2 on Thursday night at Quicken Loans Arena, where the Cavaliers are 42-2. Josh Smith scored 22 and Mike Bibby 19 for the Hawks, who needed seven games to get past Miami and are playing in the second round for the first time in 10 years. They weren’t happy with their start in this series, going 9-for-30 and scoring just 28 points after halftime.
Rockets outmuscle Lakers 100-92 in series opener
The AP reports: Although the Rockets absorbed some hits and shed the most blood, they outmuscled the Los Angeles Lakers 100-92 in Game 1 of the Western Conference semifinals on Monday night. Yao had 28 points and 10 rebounds, Ron Artest added 21 points and Aaron Brooks had 19 for the Rockets, who are in the second round for the first time since 1997… Bryant, who finished a distant second to LeBron James in NBA MVP voting announced earlier Monday, scored 32 points, doing his best to keep the Lakers in the game despite missing practice on Sunday with a sore throat. He scored 22 of the Lakers’ final 42 points.
Live fan discussion of this game took place in this forum topic.
Magic take opener from Celtics 95-90
The AP reports: Dwight Howard returned from his one-game suspension to get 16 points and 22 rebounds Monday night and Orlando, which led by as many as 28 points in the second half, held off the late-charging Celtics 95-90 in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinals… Orlando led 65-37 early in the third quarter, but Boston trailed by four points when Ray Allen’s 3-pointer rimmed out with 43 seconds left. J.J. Redick made two free throws with 14 seconds left before Paul Pierce’s high 3-pointer made it a three-point game with 6.6 seconds to play… Pierce scored 16 of his 23 points in the second half and Rajon Rondo had 14 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists… Kendrick Perkins had 16 rebounds for Boston, but Rondo and Allen both went 2 of 12 from the field.
Live fan discussion of this game took place in this forum topic.
Nene busts out, Nuggets beat Mavericks 109-95
The AP reports: Nene scored 18 of his career playoff high 24 points in the first half and the Denver Nuggets raced past the Dallas Mavericks 109-95 Sunday in the first day game in the Pepsi Center’s 10-year history. Carmelo Anthony scored 23 points, including a dunk off J.R. Smith’s behind-the-back assist that rocked the arena in the closing minutes. Smith added 15 points, leading a bench that outscored Dallas’ celebrated reserves 38-24 before both teams emptied their benches in the meaningless final minutes. Dirk Nowitzki led Dallas with 28 points and 10 boards and Josh Howard, Jason Kidd and Jason Terry each scored 15… Howard, who missed two 11-game stretches this season with a bum left ankle and probably needs surgery, turned his right ankle in the second quarter when he got tangled up with Billups. He went to the locker room but returned to action before halftime.
Live fan discussion of this game took place in this forum topic.
Hawks rock Heat 91-78, advance to 2nd round
The AP reports: After a mostly disappointing series, Joe Johnson finally showed up when the Hawks needed him most, making six 3-pointers and scoring 27 points to lead Atlanta into the second round of the playoffs with a 91-78 victory over Dwyane Wade and the Heat in Game 7 Sunday. Atlanta got past the first round for the first time since 1999. Their reward? A matchup with LeBron James and the top-seeded Cavaliers, beginning Tuesday night in Cleveland… Johnson finished 6-of-8 from beyond the arc, leading the Hawks to the final blowout in a series that was totally devoid of any drama. Every game was decided by at least 10 points… The Hawks turned the contest into a laugher in the final quarter. Flip Murray hit a 3-pointer to give Atlanta its biggest lead, 85-66, and both teams cleared their benches in the closing minutes… Dwyane Wade scored 31 points but the majority of those came after the Hawks had already built a comfortable lead.
InsideHoops.com notes: The Heat scored just 18 points in the first quarter, 18 in the second, and 16 in the third. The Heat were also very quiet in the first and third quarters, but won the second quarter 29-18… Joe Johnson had 27 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists and 5 steals. Josh Smith (7-of-12) had 21 points and 9 rebounds. Flip Murray (just 4-of-14, 3-of-9 three-pointers) had 15 off the bench… In the loss, Wade shot 10-of-25 for his 31 points, but he had 4 assists with 4 turnovers. Michael Beasley had 17 with 7 rebounds off the bench. Udonis Haslem had 14 points and 13 rebounds. Barely any other Heat players did much of anything… The Heat committed 17 turnovers and only had 12 total assists… Heat starting point guard Mario Chalmers shot 1-of-6 and was awful. Heat starting center Joel Anthony in 22 minutes had 6 rebounds and little else. James Jones shot 1-of-5… Both team shot badly, but the Hawks nailed threes, the Heat did not.
Live fan discussion of this game took place in this forum topic.
Celtics eliminate Bulls with 109-99 Game 7 win
Saturday night in Boston the Celtics defeated the Chicago Bulls 109-99 to win Game 7. The defending champions, playing without Kevin Garnett, move on to the second round to face the Orlando Magic.
Boston shot 44.9% and nailed 9-of-17 three-pointers, while Chicago only hit 39.0% of their shots and 29.2% threes.
In the win, Ray Allen shot 6-of-14 with 9-of-9 free throws for 23 points and 7 rebounds. Paul Pierce (just 6-of-17) had 20 points, 9 rebounds and 4 assists. Eddie House shot a perfect 5-of-5, including four threes, for 16 points and 3 steals off the bench. Glen Davis (just 6-of-16) had 15 points and just 2 rebounds. Kendrick Perkins shot 6-of-8 for 14 points and 13 rebounds.
In the loss, Ben Gordon (just 7-of-23 but 15-of-15 free throws) had 33 points and 4 assists. Derrick Rose (9-of-18) had 18 points but just 3 assists with 3 turnovers. Kirk Hinrich had 16 with 4 steals off the bench. John Salmons (just 3-of-12) had 12.
Chicago was outscored 29-11 in the second quarter.
Live fan discussion of the game took place in this forum topic.
Wade scores 41, Heat rock Hawks 98-72
The AP reports: Dwyane Wade scored 41 points, Michael Beasley busted out of a slump with 22 points and 15 rebounds, and the Heat stayed alive by routing the Atlanta Hawks 98-72 in Game 6 of their Eastern Conference first-round series Friday night. So a wild back-and-forth series—three routs for the Hawks, three routs for the Heat—will be decided Sunday in Atlanta… Mike Bibby scored all 20 of his points in the first half for Atlanta, which fell behind by 15 in the opening quarter, cut the deficit to nine by halftime, but never really challenged from there. Flip Murray and Joe Johnson added 13 apiece for the Hawks, who lost a first-round Game 7 last season against Boston… Hawks F Marvin Williams returned from a sprained right wrist. He played only 5 minutes, missing his lone shot. F Al Horford (sprained right ankle) warmed up but did not play.
Rockets advance, beat Blazers 92-76
The AP reports: For the first time in 12 years, the Houston Rockets advanced in the NBA playoffs. Ron Artest scored 27 points, Yao Ming had 17 points and 10 rebounds and Houston reached the second round for the first time since 1997, beating the Portland Trail Blazers 92-76 in Game 6 on Thursday night. Aaron Brooks scored 13 points and Shane Batter tied a career playoff-high with nine rebounds as the Rockets won for the first time in their last seven first-round series. They lost Game 6s the last two seasons, both to Utah. Houston put this one away with a big second quarter and moves on to play the top-seeded Los Angeles Lakers on Monday night at the Staples Center. The Lakers won all four meetings in the regular season. LaMarcus Aldridge scored 26 points and Brandon Roy had 22 for the Blazers, who were making their first playoff appearance since 2003. Portland improved 13 games from last season and reached its highest win total since 1999-00.