NBA Playoffs Results
Western Conference
Los Angeles Lakers 2 – Utah Jazz 1
San Antonio Spurs 1 -New Orleans Hornets 2
Eastern Conference
Boston Celtics 2 – Cleveland Cavaliers 1
Orlando Magic 1 – Detroit Pistons 3
Los Angeles Lakers 99 – Utah Jazz 104
Carlos Boozer scored 27 points and tied a career playoff-high with 20 rebounds to lead Utah to a 104-99 victory, cutting the Lakers’ lead in the Western Conference semifinals to 2-1. Deron Williams added 18 points and 12 assists for the Jazz, who host Game 4 and like their chances to even the series. Mehmet Okur scored 22 points for the Jazz while Andrei Kirilenko and Matt Harpring both added 12 points.
Kobe Bryant scored 34 points, dished out 7 assists and grabbed 6 rebounds for the Lakers, but was not enough to carry the load for his team. Lamar Odom had 13 points and 12 rebound, Derek Fisher scored 13 points, and Luke Walton had 11 points for the Lakers.
The Jazz handed the Lakers their first loss of this season’s playoffs and got back into the series by doing at home what they couldn’t do on the road.
Detroit Pistons 90 – Orlando Magic 89
Richard Hamilton scored 32 points and lead the Pistons as they beat the the Magic 90-89 to take a 3-1 lead in their Eastern Conference semifinal series. All of it happened with Chauncey Billups watching in a sport coat on the bench after straining a hamstring. Rasheed Wallace had 16 points and 8 rebounds, Tayshaun Prince scored 17 points, including an 11-foot runner for the go-ahead basket with 8.9 seconds left. Antonio McDyess added 8 points and 14 boards.
Dwight Howard had only 2 fouls shots, making both and finished with 8 points and 12 rebounds. Hedo Turkoglu scored 20 points and three players added 15 points for the Magic — Rashard Lewis, Maurice Evans and Nelson.
Boston Celtics 84 – Cleveland Cavaliers 108
LeBron James scored 21 points on another off-shooting night, but Delonte West scored 21, Joe Smith had 17 points and the Cavaliers raced to a large, early lead in Game 3 in a 108-84 victory over the road-challenged Boston Celtics to pull within 2-1 in their playoff series. Ben Wallace added nine points and nine rebounds.
Kevin Garnett scored 17 points, Paul Pierce 14 points and Ray Allen 10 points as the Celtic’s Big 3 of superstars combined for 41 points.
But the trio was no match for Cleveland’s Fab Four of West, Wally Szczerbiak, Smith and Big Ben who totaled 63 points, 20 rebounds and six 3-pointers. West made four 3s, Smith went 7-of-8 and Wallace gave Cleveland an inside presence while guarding Garnett.
Source: ESPN: http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/index
