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Game 2: Short-handed Jazz beat Nuggets

The AP reports:

With Utah running out of big bodies, Deron Williams carried an even bigger load.

Williams had 33 points and 14 assists while chalking up nearly 45 minutes to lead the Jazz to a 114-111 victory over the Denver Nuggets on Monday night in Game 2 of their Western Conference first-round series.

“He took over from the beginning of the game, which is huge for us,” said Carlos Boozer, who added 20 points and 15 rebounds as the injury-riddled Jazz tied the series before it shifts to Salt Lake City for Game 3 on Friday night…

Utah was playing without two of its most experienced playoff performers in forward Andrei Kirilenko (calf), who is out for this series, and center Mehmet Okur, who tore his left Achilles’ tendon in Game 1 and is done for the playoffs…

Kyryo Fesenko played admirably on Nene, and Carmelo Anthony was flustered despite scoring 32 points just 48 hours after his playoff-best 42-point performance in the opener.

Anthony made 14 of 15 free throws but was just 9 of 25 from the field and was whistled for four offensive fouls.

Game 2: LeBron scores 40, Cavs beat Bulls

The AP reports:

“They were telling me I can’t make jump shots,” LeBron James said. “They asked me to shoot a jumper so I did that. Over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over again.”

James scored 40 points—15 in a tour-de-force fourth quarter—as the Cavaliers, fueled by a rabid home crowd that booed every move by Joakim Noah, maintained home-court advantage by beating the Bulls 112-102 on Monday night to take a 2-0 lead in the Eastern Conference playoffs.

James added eight rebounds and eight assists for the Cavs, who led 96-93 with 4:30 left before the league’s soon-to-be-two-time MVP took over. He hit his 3 with the 6-foot-11 Noah coming at him and followed with a quick dance move and wink directed at Chicago’s talkative bench…

Noah, who drew the ire of Cleveland fans by criticizing the city’s lack of downtown activity, had 25 points and 13 rebounds…

Derrick Rose added 23 points and Luol Deng had 20 for the Bulls, who will head home for Game 3 on Thursday night.

Robin Lopez out at least another week

Phoenix Suns center Robin Lopez was seen today by specialist Dr. Christopher Huston of The Orthopedic Clinic Association (TOCA) in Phoenix. Lopez, who has not played since March 26 due to an injured back, is progressing well. He will begin light, de-weighted jogging and more light court work, including easy jumping. Lopez will be re-evaluated in one week.

The second-year player was the Suns’ first-round pick (15th overall) of the 2008 NBA Draft. The 7-0, 255-pound center blossomed after being inserted into the Suns’ starting lineup on Jan. 18, helping to lead the Suns to a 22-9 (.710) record in his starts. Lopez averaged 11.3 points, 6.3 rebounds and 1.1 blocks in 24.5 minutes as a starter in 2009-10.

For the season, the Stanford product posted career highs in points (8.4), rebounds (4.9), blocks (1.04) and minutes (19.3). His 58.8-percent field-goal accuracy (171/291) would have ranked third in the NBA if he had reached the statistical minimum needed to qualify (min. 300 field goals made).

Containing Melo will be hard for Jazz

Jody Genessy of the Deseret News reports:

With Andrei Kirilenko and his strained calf out, the enormous challenge of containing the explosiveness of one of the NBA’s elite scorers will still mostly fall on the shoulders of 23-year-olds C.J. Miles and Wesley Matthews.

Carmelo Anthony, flashing his trademark wide smile, recently told ESPN what he’d do if he were in a situation similar to the young Jazz players’.

“If I had to guard me,” Melo said, “I would take the night off.”

Even though the confident-for-good-reason Anthony had a huge Game 1 at their expense, Miles and Matthews don’t plan on taking that easy way out.

“I got a rude awakening, a huge wake-up call in that regard, Carmelo, and just playing the Denver Nuggets on the road,” a more seasoned-feeling Matthews said.

“But I’m excited for (tonight). I’m more excited for (tonight) than I was Saturday.”

Rose wants Bulls to get physical with Cavs

John Jackson of the Chicago Sun-Times reports:

”We’ve got to go out there and be totally opposite of what we did last game,” point guard Derrick Rose said. ”I didn’t think we were aggressive on the defensive end. We talked about it, and we have to have some type of swagger or nastiness about ourselves.

”[Tonight] I think it’s gonna be totally different. I think now that we got our feet wet a little bit, I think some of the guys will be a little more comfortable in the game and we’ll get a groove to our game. We have to just start hitting people. No ‘[basket]-and-ones’ or anything like that. We have to start hitting people.”

Rose isn’t talking about becoming the modern-day Detroit Pistons Bad Boys or playing dirty. He’s simply pointing out that the Bulls were too passive and need to do a better job of matching the Cavs’ physicality.

Jerryd Bayless shines for Blazers

Joe Freeman of The Oregonian reports (via blog):

With 20 family members and friends watching from the US Airways Center stands, Jerryd Bayless produced one of the most important and impressive performances of his young career.

The Blazers stole home court advantage — and momentum — from the Phoenix Suns on Sunday night with a 105-100 victory at US Airways Center, and a significant part of the stunning win came courtesy of the resurgent Bayless, who helped Rip City make up for the absence of All-Star Brandon Roy.

Bayless finished with 18 points and four assists off the bench, flashing the aggressive, attacking style that allowed him to break out earlier this season. Most importantly, Bayless, who made 6 of 10 field goals, played all but three seconds of the pivotal fourth quarter, as Rudy Fernandez watched from the bench.

Spurs try Hack-a-Damp

Mike Monroe of the San Antonio Express-News reports:

Unable to stop Dirk Nowitzki, who finished with 36 points on 12-for-14 shooting, the Spurs intentionally fouled Mavericks’ center Erick Dampier on three straight possessions. Popovich has been a frequent employer of the tactic in previous playoff series, most notably against center Shaquille O’Neal, when he played for the Lakers and Suns.

Dampier made four-of-six free throws, finishing off by making both on the third intentional foul.

The Mavericks weren’t surprised by the ploy.

Artest locks Durant down in Game 1

Frank Isola of the New York Daily News reports:

Ron Artest fancies gimmicks as well but on Sunday in the Lakers’ 87-79 Game 1 victory against the Oklahoma City Thunder, Artest’s defense and not his hair was the difference. He was, if you will, Goldie Lock-down defender.

He made life absolutely miserable for Kevin Durant, who became the NBA’s youngest scoring champion by averaging 30.2 points this season. Durant’s playoff initiation is something the lean and long 21-year-old will never forget. Durant scored 24 points on 24 shots. He made just seven shots, fired up a couple of air balls and never found a rhythm.

“I was frustrated,” said Durant, who made 9 of 11 from the foul line. “I was missing shots I normally make. They felt good leaving my hand. If I made 4-5 more shots, maybe it’s a different game.”

Game 1: Miller scores 31, Blazers upset Suns 105-100

The AP reports:

Andre Miller scored 15 points in the fourth quarter and tied his career playoff high with 31 points as the short-handed Portland Trail Blazers stole homecourt advantage from Phoenix with a 105-100 victory over the Suns on Sunday night.

Methodical Portland was a tough matchup for the Suns all season and it was no different in Game 1 of their first-round playoff series, despite the absence of the Blazers’ scoring leader, Brandon Roy.

LaMarcus Aldridge added 22 points and Nicolas Batum 18 for Portland. Jerryd Bayless also had 18 for the Blazers, 10 in the fourth quarter, but missed two free throws with 12.2 seconds left to give Phoenix a shot to tie. Steve Nash’s 3-point try was well short, though, and Miller’s two free throws iced the victory.

Marcus Camby grabbed 17 rebounds for Portland, two shy off his career playoff best.

InsideHoops.com Adds:

For the Suns, Steve Nash had 25 points and nine assists. Amar’e Stoudemire had 18 (but on 19 shots) with eight rebounds. But Jason Richardson (4-of-12) and Grant Hill (2-of-9) struggled, and the Suns got very little from centers Jarron Collins and Channing Frye.

Portland got to the foul line 31 times, Phoenix just 16.

Game 1: Nowitzki leads Mavs past Spurs 100-94

The AP reports:

Dirk Nowitzki opened the playoffs in a high gear, making 12 of 14 shots and scoring 36 points to lead the Dallas Mavericks to a 100-94 victory over the San Antonio Spurs on Sunday night.

Caron Butler scored 22 points and Brendan Haywood added 10 in their playoff debut for Dallas. Both were part of a major trade in February that turned a good Mavericks team into a much better one…

Duncan had 27 points and eight rebounds, Ginobili scored 26 and Parker had 18 points and four assists. George Hill started at point guard, but was scoreless with two turnovers in 18 minutes…

Jason Kidd had 13 points, 11 assists and eight rebounds for the Mavericks, and Erick Dampier had five points, 12 rebounds and lots of bruises from bumping against Duncan.

MAVERICKS NOTES

– Dirk Nowitzki matched his 1st half regular season high of 19 points (at IND, 11/27) with 19 in 20 minutes on 7-9 FGs, 5-5 FTs. He added 6 rebounds and 1 block.
– Nowitzki finished the game with 12th 35-point game of his playoff career with a game-high 36 points (12-14 FGs, 12-12 FTs) and 7 rebounds in 40 minutes.
– Jason Kidd recorded his 35 playoff points-assists double-double with 13 points (5-12 FGs, 3-6 3FGs), 8 rebounds, 11 assists and 4 steals in 41 minutes.
– Erick Dampier scored all 6 of his points at the free throw line tonight. His 12 FTAs were a career-high (previously 10). He added a game-high 12 rebounds and 1 block in 30 minutes.
– For the 9th time in his playoff career, Caron Butler scored 20 points. He contributed 22 points (8-19 FGs, 1-3 3FGs, 5-6 FTs), 6 rebounds and 3 steals in 40 minutes.
– The Mavericks forced 10 steals tonight led by Kidd’s 4. During the regular season, Dallas was 19-2 when coming away with 10+ steals.
– Dallas improves to 1-0 in the postseason when shooting a lower percentage than the opposition. San Antonio outshot Dallas 50.0% (39-78 FGs) to 47.3% (35-74 FGs). In the regular season, the Mavs were 13-23 when shooting worse than their opponent.
– Tonight’s attendance was 20,372 fans (19,200 capacity). The Mavs have sold out 358 consecutive regular season games at AAC. Dallas currently owns the longest running sellout streak in the NBA. Dallas has sold out all 41 games in each of the past eight seasons. The Mavericks have now sold out 45 consecutive playoff games dating back to 2002.