NBA Playoffs Results
Western Conference
Los Angeles Lakers 2 – Utah Jazz 0
San Antonio Spurs 1 -New Orleans Hornets 2
Eastern Conference
Boston Celtics 2 – Cleveland Cavaliers 0
Orlando Magic 1 – Detroit Pistons 2
Orlando 111 – Detroit 86
Rashard Lewis, the Magic’s big offseason acquisition, scored a career playoff-high 33 points and the Magic beat the Detroit Pistons 111-86 to gain a little momentum in the Eastern Conference semifinals. Dwight Howard had 20 points and 12 rebounds for the Magic, and Jameer Nelson and Hedo Turkoglu both scored 18 points.
The Pistons still leads the series 2-1, though they suffered a tough injury. All-Star guard Chauncey Billups strained his right hamstring early in the first quarter and didn’t return. The Pistons were hopeful he could play in Game 4, but planned to re-evaluate him again.
Richard Hamilton scored 24 points for the Pistons and Tayshaun Prince had 22 points, while Rasheed Wallace scored 11 points on 4-of-15 shooting. With Billups out, rookie Rodney Stuckey stepped up big for the Pistons. He scored 19 points but he didn’t bring the same floor presence as Billups, Detroit’s steady leader and clutch 3-point threat. Billups was averaging 17.5 points in the postseason and had 28 against the Magic in Game 2.
LA Lakers 120 – Utah 110
Kobe Bryant couldn’t have asked for a better way to celebrate his first MVP award. He had 34 points, 8 rebounds and 6 assists, and the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Utah Jazz 120-110 to take a 2-0 lead in the Western Conference semifinals and remain the NBA’s only unbeaten team in the postseason. Derek Fisher, who played for the Jazz last season, added 22 points, Pau Gasol scored 20 points, and Lamar Odom had 19 points and 16 rebounds for the Lakers, who shot 57.4 percent from the field and made 35 free throws — 22 more than the Jazz.
Seven Jazz players scored in double figures led by Deron Williams, who had 25 points and 10 assists. Paul Millsap added a career playoff-high 17 points and 10 rebounds, Mehmet Okur had 16 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists and 5 blocked shots, and Andrei Kirilenko scored 14 points. Carlos Boozer was held to 10 points — all in the second half.
Boston 89 – Cleveland 73
Paul Pierce scored 19 points, Kevin Garnett added 13 points with 12 rebounds, and Ray Allen broke out of a seven-quarter scoring drought with 16 points to help the Boston Celtics beat the Cavaliers 89-73 and take a 2-0 lead in the Eastern Conference semifinals.
One game after going 2-for-18 from the field and missing his last 6 shots, LeBron James missed his first 3 tries and finished with 21 points on 6-for-24 shooting. Zydrunas Ilgauskas had 19 points for the Cavaliers, and reserve Anderson Varejao had 10 rebounds in 32 minutes after forward Ben Wallace went to the locker room just 3:40 into the game due to dizziness.
San Antonio 110 – New Orleans 99
Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili both scored 31 points to lead the Spurs to a 110-99 victory over the New Orleans Hornets in Game 3 of the Western Conference semifinals. Tim Duncan added 16 points and 13 rebounds for the Spurs. Bruce Bowen scored 12 points for the Spurs and Finley had 11 points.
Chris Paul led the Hornets, who still hold a 2-1 series lead, with 35 points and 9 assists. David West had 23 points and 12 rebounds for the Hornets, which was dominant in the first two games of the series. Peja Stojakovic finished with 8 points and Tyson Chandler had 12 points.
Source: ESPN: http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/
