The AP reports: Thaddeus Young’s driving layup with 2 seconds left lifted Philadelphia to a 96-94 victory over the Orlando Magic on Friday night, giving the 76ers a surprising 2-1 lead in their Eastern Conference first-round series… Dwight Howard had 36 points and 11 rebounds for the Magic, who won 59 games during the regular season. Andre Iguodala led the Sixers with 29 points, though he missed two free throws in the final minute. Andre Miller added 24 and Young had six… Courtney Lee, coming off a career-best, 24-point effort in Game 2, didn’t score until 3:25 remained in the first half. The rookie finished with six. Turkoglu, still slowed by a left ankle sprain, had 11 on 2-for-12 shooting. He struggled against Iguodala on the defensive end.
Category: Games
Basketball games blog
LeBron lifts Cavs to 3-0 series lead over Pistons
The AP reports: LeBron James scored 11 of his 25 points in the fourth quarter, lifting the Cleveland Cavaliers to a 79-68 victory Friday night over Detroit and a 3-0 lead in the first-round series… The Pistons, whose collective heart was questioned by one of their players, played hard for three-plus quarters before being rendered helpless by James… James had 11 rebounds and nine assists. He said he learned he was just short of a triple-double after looking at the stat sheet… Joe Smith had a career playoff-high 19 points and 10 rebounds, and Zydrunas Ilgauskas scored 13 points… Richard Hamilton had 15 points, eight rebounds and six assists, while Rodney Stuckey contributed 12 points and five assists.
Boozer leads Jazz to 88-86 Game 3 win over Lakers
The AP reports: After struggling with his shot all night, Deron Williams found his touch just in time. Williams’ fadeaway jumper with 2.2 seconds left lifted Utah to an 88-86 win over the Los Angeles Lakers on Thursday night, getting the Jazz back in the first-round playoff series they opened with two losses. Williams took the shot instead of passing to Carlos Boozer on the Jazz’s staple pick-and-roll, hitting just his third field goal of the night and reviving Utah’s postseason hopes. “I just wanted to make up for it a little bit on that last shot,” said Williams, who finished with 13 points and nine assists. Boozer led the Jazz with 23 points and tied a franchise playoff record with 22 rebounds as Utah dominated the boards 55-40… The Jazz played again without Mehmet Okur, who has been out with a strained right hamstring, but survived without their second-leading scorer and outlasted the Lakers in a wild one.
InsideHoops.com notes: The Jazz shot 44.0%, the Lakers just 36.8%. Both teams were unimpressive from three-point range and awful from the free throw line… Utah had 55 rebounds, Los Angeles 40… For the Jazz, Carlos Boozer shot 9-of-17 for 23 points and 22 rebounds. Deron Williams was just 3-of-7 for 13 points, 5 rebounds and 9 assists. Ronnie Brewer scored 12 but on 12 shots, plus 7 rebounds. Off the bench, Kyle Korver scored 11 (but on 13 shots) and Matt Harpring had 10… For the Lakers, Lamar Odom (10-of-17) had 21 points, 14 rebounds off the bench. Pau Gasol had 20 with 9 rebounds. Kobe Bryant shot a miserable 5-of-24 for 18 points, 7 rebounds and 6 assists.
Mavericks rock Spurs 88-67, take Game 3
The AP reports: During a timeout early in the third quarter, Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and the rest of the San Antonio Spurs starters headed to the bench. They never returned. Humiliated since the opening tip, coach Gregg Popovich decided Game 3 of a first-round series against the Dallas Mavericks was a lost cause. Instead of hurting the Spurs with hard fouls—like Mavs center Erick Dampier threatened to do—Dallas slapped around San Antonio with tight defense, the return of Dirk Nowitzki’s shooting touch and the energy of their home crowd, producing an 88-67 victory Thursday night and a 2-1 lead in their first-round series… The Spurs’ backups weren’t much better, resulting in their fewest points ever in a playoff game.
InsideHoops.com notes: Dallas shot 47.2%, San Antonio just 32.1% and hit a disgustingly awful 2-of-17 three-pointers. Dallas had more rebounds, and double the assists San Antonio did… For the Mavericks, Dirk Nowitzki (8-of-12) had 20 points and 7 rebounds, Josh Howard (6-of-12) had 17 points, 8 rebounds, 2 steals and 2 blocks… For the Spurs, Tony Parker shot just 5-of-14 for 12 points and not much else. Francisco Oberto had 10 off the bench. No other Spurs even reached double digits. Tim Duncan shot 2-of-9 and did nothing.
Game 3: Pierce, Rondo lead Celtics over Bulls 107-86
The AP reports: Willing to defer in the first two games, Paul Pierce took the initiative and the Boston Celtics seized control. Pierce scored 24 points, Rajon Rondo added 20 and the defending champions beat the Chicago Bulls 107-86 on Thursday night to take a 2-1 lead in their first-round playoff series. The teams split two dramatic games in Boston, but this one never really was in doubt. The Celtics led by 11 after one quarter and 22 at the half on their way to an easy win behind Pierce and Rondo. Particularly Pierce… Rondo looked just fine for most of the night after spraining his right ankle in Game 2 and missing practice Tuesday. He hit eight of 15 shots, grabbed 11 rebounds, dished out six assists and collected five of Boston’s 16 steals, but afterward two teammates helped him down the hallway afterward. Even so, he insisted he’s OK… Ray Allen added 18 points after scoring 30 and hitting the tiebreaking 3-pointer to lift the Celtics to a 118-115 victory in Game 2 on Monday. Glen Davis chipped in 14 points, nine rebounds and six steals. And Boston hit 12 of 21 3-pointers—four by Pierce and three by Allen.
InsideHoops.com notes: The Bulls only shot 37.5%, while the Celtics shot 48.1% with an awesome 12-of-21 three-pointers… The Bulls dished just 14 assists for the game… Chicago had 22 turnovers, Boston just 13… The high scorer for Chicago was Ben Gordon, who had 15 on just 5-of-13 shooting. John Salmons had 14, and Kirk Hinrich had 14 off the bench… Derrick Rose shot just 4-of-14 for 9 points, just two assists and an awful seven turnovers.
Billups leads Nuggets to 2-0 lead over Hornets
The AP reports: Chauncey Billups led the Nuggets to another blowout of the New Orleans Hornets on Wednesday night, scoring 31 points in Denver’s 108-93 win. The best-of-seven series shifts to New Orleans for Game 3 on Saturday night with the Nuggets holding just the third 2-0 edge in their 33-year NBA history… Carmelo Anthony, quiet in Game 1 with just 13 points on 4-of-12 shooting, scored 22 points and dished out nine assists. J.R. Smith added 15 points. David West scored 21 points to lead the Hornets, but he needed 20 shots to do it. Peja Stojakovic added 17 points and Chris Paul had 14 points and 13 assists. Once again, the Hornets were hounded relentlessly by Denver’s defense, finding few answers to Kenyon Martin, Chris Andersen, Nene and Dahntay Jones.
Wade scores 33, Heat beat Hawks 108-93, tie series
The AP reports: With 13 straight points to close the first half and an unlikely 3-pointer off the backboard in the waning minutes, Dwyane Wade showed it’s hard to keep him down two games in a row. He scored 33 points in all, leading the Miami Heat to a 108-93 victory over the Atlanta Hawks that evened their playoff series at one game apiece Wednesday night… This was vintage D-Wade—6-of-10 from 3-point range, 11-of-20 overall, five rebounds, seven assists, two blocked shots and a steal… Unlike the loss in Game 1, when only one other Miami player scored in double figures, Wade had plenty of help this time. Daequan Cook scored 20 points, going 6-of-9 from 3-point range to make up for an 0-for-5 showing beyond the arc on Sunday night. Jermaine O’Neal scored 19 points, giving the Heat a presence on the inside. Michael Beasley added 12 and Udonis Haslem 10… Mike Bibby led the Hawks with 18 points, but the home team shot only 44 percent from the field and struggled at the foul line, making 19-of-30.
InsideHoops.com notes: The Hawks had nice offensive balance here, but needed better defense. They allowed the Heat to shoot 55.6% from the field. And Miami nailed 15-of-26 from three-point range. The Hawks shot 44.2% but just 6-of-20 three-points… Atlanta got to the free throw line more than Miami, but shot badly from there… All five Hawks starters scored double-digits, plus Filp Murray (just 4-of-15) had 15 off the bench… Al Horford and Josh Smith had double-digit boards for Atlanta… Both Dwyane Wade and Miami point guard Mario Chalmers dished seven assists. Wade did have five turnovers, though, but the ball is in his hands a lot, to say the least.
Magic hold off Sixers in Game 2 to even series
The AP reports: Rookie Courtney Lee had a career-high 24 points, Hedo Turkoglu added 16 and the Magic nearly blew another 18-point lead before beating Philadelphia 96-87 on Wednesday night to even the series at a game apiece. Dwight Howard had 11 points and 10 rebounds before fouling out, and Rashard Lewis made a pair of big jumpers in the final minutes to help Orlando get its fourth win in five chances against Philadelphia this season… Andre Miller had 30 points, and Andre Iguodala scored 20 of his 21 points in the second half for the Sixers, who closed the gap to five points and almost erased the same deficit they faced in the series opener. Game 3 is Friday in Philadelphia.
InsideHoops.com notes: Both teams shot OK from the field, but fairly badly from three-point range… Orlando got 30 free throws, hitting 22, while the Sixers were 12-of-18… The Magic controlled the boards, but dished just 14 assists in the game… The Magic blocked 7 shots (Dwight Howard 4), the Sixers only two… All five Magic starters scored in double-figures, plus Anthony Johnson had 11 off the bench… The Sixers got 30 points from Andre Miller, 21 from Andre Iguodala and 20 from Thaddeus Young, but the next highest scorer was Marreese Speights with five.
Lakers defeat Jazz 119-109 to take 2-0 series lead
The AP reports: The Utah Jazz played better and it still didn’t matter. Kobe Bryant scored 26 points, Pau Gasol added 22 and Lamar Odom had 19 off the bench in the Lakers’ 119-109 victory over the Jazz on Tuesday night, giving Los Angeles a 2-0 lead in the best-of-7 first-round Western Conference playoff series… Deron Williams scored a career playoff-high 35 points and Carlos Boozer had 20 points and 10 rebounds for the Jazz, who head home for Game 3 on Thursday. They again played without injured center Mehmet Okur… The Lakers stretched their lead to 96-81 early in the fourth. The Jazz relied mostly on Williams, and he scored six in a row to get his team to 105-99 with 5:22 remaining.
Roy scores 42 to even Rockets and Blazers series
The AP reports: After winning their first playoff game in six years, the Portland Trail Blazers couldn’t help but be a little amazed with their victory over the Houston Rockets. “We kind of laughed about it, `Man, it’s hard winning games in the playoffs. It takes a lot of work,”’ said Brandon Roy, who had 42 points in Portland’s 107-103 victory Tuesday night. The playoff series, now even at a game apiece, moves to Houston for Game 3 on Friday. Aaron Brooks led a late charge and finished with 23 points for Houston, which has not made it out of the first round since 1997. Von Wafer came off the bench to add 21. LaMarcus Aldridge had 27 points and 12 rebounds for Trail Blazers, who had never dropped the first two games of a playoff series at home and played one of their most physical games of the season… Rockets center Dikembe Mutombo injured his left leg in the first quarter and left the court on a stretcher.