The AP reports: Kobe Bryant had 49 points and 10 assists, and the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Denver Nuggets 122-107 to take a 2-0 lead in their first-round playoff series… Bryant, who was 18-for-27 from the field and finished one point off his career playoff high, scored 20 points in the first quarter to get the Lakers off to a fast start, and 19 over the last seven minutes to keep them safely ahead… Pau Gasol added 18 points and 10 rebounds and Luke Walton scored 18 points for the Lakers. Lamar Odom, hampered by foul trouble throughout the second half, was held to four points, four rebounds and six assists, but in the end it didn’t matter. Allen Iverson had 31 points and six assists to lead the Nuggets. Carmelo Anthony added 23 points, J.R. Smith had a career playoff high 21 and Marcus Camby had 17 rebounds for Denver. Kenyon Martin, who fouled out with 5:47 remaining, scored 10 points… Linas Kleiza made just his 14th start of the season in place of Anthony Carter, giving Denver more firepower and additional size.
Category: NBA Teams
NBA teams blog
InsideHoops talks with Darrell Armstrong
The New Jersey Nets finished the 2007-08 regular season with 34 wins and 48 losses, failing to make the NBA playoffs. Veteran point guard Darrell Armstrong, whose pro career began in 1994, played 11.0 minutes per game as a backup. While his stats are low, his leadership drive is high. InsideHoops.com contributor Randy Zellea recently met with Armstrong for an exclusive interview.
Read it here.
Apr. 23: Celtics 96, Hawks 77
The AP reports: Rajon Rondo outplayed Mike Bibby and helped the Boston Celtics silence Atlanta and its blustery point guard. Kevin Garnett had 19 points and 10 rebounds, and Rondo added 12 points, eight assists and six rebounds to lead Boston to a 96-77 victory over Atlanta on Wednesday night and a 2-0 lead in the first-round series. Paul Pierce returned from a first-quarter knockdown to score 14 points, and Kendrick Perkins added eight points and nine rebounds for the Celtics. Josh Smith, who helped take Pierce down and appeared to land on him and roll over his head, had 13 points and eight rebounds for Atlanta. But it was Bibby, who called the locals fair-weather fans during the week, who drew the ire of the sold-out Boston Garden crowd… The Hawks came out feisty and physical. Just 82 seconds in, Joe Johnson fouled Pierce to keep him from an easy layup. Smith came in from the side and slammed Pierce to the floor and landed on top of his chest before rolling over his head.
InsideHoops.com Notes: Bibby shot 2-of-7 for 12 points and just one assists. The entire Hawks team had just 10 assists, while the Celtics had 23. The Celtics had 15 steals, the Hawks just 4. The Hawks didn’t hit a single three-pointer.
Apr. 23: Pistons 105, Sixers 88
The AP reports: The Detroit Pistons looked a lot like the team that reached the last five Eastern Conference finals. Rasheed Wallace scored 11 of his 16 points in the first quarter and had plenty of help at both ends of the court in a 105-88 series-evening victory over the Philadelphia 76ers in Game 2 on Wednesday night… Wallace was one of four Pistons scoring in double figures as they took a 17-point halftime lead, while the 76ers had only Andre Miller, who scored 11 of his 14 points in the first half… Richard Hamilton finished with 20 points and seven assists, Tayshaun Prince and Antonio McDyess both added 16 points and rookie Rodney Stuckey had 12 after being held scoreless in his playoff debut… Philadelphia reserves Louis Williams (17), Reggie Evans (13) and Rodney Carney (11) all scored career playoff highs.
InsideHoops.com Stat Notes: The Pistons shot 54.9%, the Sixers just 39.5%. Both teams struggled from three-point range but the Sixers were worse at just 1-for-6. The Sixers got 35 free throw attempts but only hit 23, while the Pistons went 11-of-15. The Pistons dished 26 assists, the Sixers just 12.
CP3 is owning J-Kidd
The Fort Worth Star-Telegram (Jeff Caplan) reports on the first two games of the Hornets-Mavericks first round playoff series: Jason Kidd, the veteran playmaker the Mavs acquired in February to better compete in the playoffs, has been a non-factor offensively and has struggled defensively to hang with Hornets point guard Chris Paul. “I have to do what I do best,” Kidd said. “I have to try to control the tempo and somehow try to get my fingerprints on the next 48 minutes of the game.” Kidd finished the Game 2 debacle with seven points on 3-of-10 shooting and eight assists. His younger counterpart shined again with 32 points and 17 assists. In the two games, Paul has outscored Kidd 67-18 and has dished 10 more assists. “We have to look at the defensive side first before we look at the offensive side,” Kidd said. “We have to get stops.”
Bulls mascot sued for errant high five
The AP reports: An errant high five has prompted a dentist to sue the Chicago Bulls for the actions of mascot Benny the Bull. Don Kalant is alleging in the lawsuit filed Monday that he raised his hand to get a high-five from Barry Anderson, who plays the mascot. But instead of slapping Kalant’s palm on February 12th, Anderson grabbed his arm as he fell forward, hyperextending Kalant’s arm and rupturing his biceps muscle.
Apr. 22: Spurs 102, Suns 96
The AP reports: Tony Parker scored 32 points to lead the Spurs to a 102-96 victory in Game 2 on Tuesday night after the Suns gave away another double-digit, first-half lead… On Tuesday, the Spurs were down by as many as 14 in the first half before outscoring Phoenix 27-11 in a breakout third quarter… Amare Stoudemire led the Suns with 33 points but struggled after halftime, when he shot 2-of-11 from the field. The Spurs went up by as many as 17 points in the fourth quarter after taking control in the third. But Steve Nash led a 10-0 run to bring Phoenix within 96-91 with 2:44 left on the clock… Tim Duncan, who finished with 18 points and 17 rebounds, had a monster dunk with 1:47 to play and Parker followed with a bucket to put San Antonio back up 101-93… Nash had 23 points and 10 assists for the Suns. Shaquille O’Neal had 19 points and 14 rebounds. Manu Ginobili, who won the NBA’s sixth man award on Monday, scored 29 points for San Antonio.
Apr. 22: Magic 104, Raptors 103
The AP reports: Two playoff games, two 20-point, 20-rebound outings for Dwight Howard. This time there was no question he was the difference maker. Orlando’s 3-point touch evaporated, but Howard’s 29 points and 20 rebounds powered the Magic past the Toronto Raptors, 104-103, Tuesday night for a 2-0 lead in their first-round playoff series… Chris Bosh had 29 points and 10 rebounds for Toronto, but missed a 19-footer with 1.9 seconds left that could have won the game. Jason Kapono scored 20 points, Jose Calderon had 18 and Carlos Delfino added 16 for the Raptors… Jameer Nelson and Rashard Lewis each scored 18 for Orlando. Hedo Turkoglu made the go-ahead layup and finished with 12 points and nine rebounds. Orlando won despite shooting 9-of-31 from 3-point range—including a combined 0-of-13 for Turkoglu and Lewis. The Raptors made 11 of 29 3s, four by Kapono.
Apr. 22: Hornets 127, Mavs 103
The AP reports: Chris Paul had 32 points and a franchise playoff-record 17 assists, leading New Orleans to a 127-103 victory over the Dallas Mavericks on Tuesday night that gave the Hornets a 2-0 lead in their first-round series… David West scored 27 points and Peja Stojakovic 22 for New Orleans, which took a double-digit lead in the second quarter, led by as much as 25 in the third and never looked back. Tyson Chandler had his second double-double of the series with 10 points and 11 rebounds, despite playing with foul trouble. Morris Peterson added 12 points and reserve guard Jannero Pargo had 10 for New Orleans, which was 10-of-18 on 3-pointers, with Stojakovic hitting 5-of-7… Dirk Nowitzki led Dallas with 27 points, but spent most of the night looking frustrated, yelling at no one in particular after he threw one pass out of bounds. Brandon Bass was another bright spot for Dallas, muscling inside for 19 points. Reserve Jason Terry added 16 points and Josh Howard scored 10… The Mavs hoped Jason Kidd would be a bigger factor in this game, but he finished with only seven points and eight assists.
Garnett named season`s best defensive player
The NBA announced today that Kevin Garnett of the Boston Celtics is the recipient of the 2007-08 NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award presented by Kia Motors.
The 6-11 forward led the Celtics in rebounds with a 9.2 average (7.3 defensive rpg), to go along with 18.8 points, 1.2 blocks and 1.4 steals. He recorded a team season-high seven blocks against Chicago on Dec. 12.
Garnett received 493 points, including 90 first-place votes, from a panel of 124 sportswriters and broadcasters throughout the United States and Canada. Denver’s Marcus Camby, who won the award last season, finished second with 178 points and Houston’s Shane Battier finished third with 175 points. Players were awarded five points for each first-place vote, three points for each second-place vote and one point for each third-place vote received.
More info about the results will be posted on insidehoops.com’s front page and awards section shortly.