NBA Playoffs 2008 tips off!
NBA Playoffs Fixture
Western Conference
(1) Los Angeles Lakers – (8) Denver Nuggets
(2) New Orleans Hornets – (7) Dallas Mavericks
(3) San Antonio Spurs – (6) Phoenix Suns
(4) Utah Jazz – (5)Houston Rockets
Eastern Conference
(1) Boston Celtics – (8) Atlanta Hawks
(2) Detroit Pistons – (7) Philadelphia 76ers
(3) Orlando Magic – (6) Toronto Raptors
(4) Cleveland Cavaliers – (5) Washington Wizards
Washington Wizards 83 – Cleveland Cavaliers 93
The series that tipped off to a physical start and appears to have a long way to go. James scored 20 points in the second half to lead the defending Eastern Conference champions to 1-0 lead on the best-of-seven first round series.
Score tied at 84-84, James slashed down the lane and hit a layup between Antawn Jamison and Brendan Haywood with 1:37 remaining. Following a miss by Gilbert Arenas, James powered past Stevenson and dropped a floater with 55 seconds left in the game and one second to spare on their shot clock.
Wiz’s went on a 1 for 8 shooting starting from the 2:18 mark, as their offense went cold at the worst time possible, eventhough Daniel Gibson split his charities and James missed both of his during the dying seconds. Delonte West shot 4-4 from the line in the final 15.1 seconds to seal the Cav’s win.
Phoenix Suns 115 – San Antonio Spurs 117
Tim Duncan’s first 3 pointer of the season with just seconds left sent the Spurs into double overtime against the Suns.
Then it was Manu Ginobili’s turn, and his layup with 1.8 seconds left pushed the defending champions past the Suns 117-115 in Game 1 of their first-round playoff series. Now the teams have two days to rest from their marathon best-of-seven Western Conference opener before meeting for Game 2 on Tuesday night.
With 1:10 to go after Leandro Barbosa’s fast-break layup, Suns were up 93-90. Then with 15 seconds left on the game clock, Michael Finley tied it at 93 for the Spurs to send it to the first overtime. With the Spurs down 104-101, Duncan found himself all alone at the 3-point line and after a slight hesitation, he fired the ball and made it with 3 seconds to play, sending the game to its second overtime.
With 15 seconds left on the second overtime and the Spurs leading, 112-115, the Suns went to Nash, who sank a 3-pointer from the corner that tied it at 115-115. Then Ginobili drove to the lane against Raja Bell, with a layup sealed the Spurs victory over the Suns.
Dallas Mavericks 92 – New Orleans Hornets 104
Chris Paul scored 35 points, had 10 assists and 4 steals in his debut playoff game, lifting New Orleans to a 104-92 come-from-behind victory over Dallas in Game 1 of their first-round series.
Dirk Nowitzki had his way with New Orleans on the early stages of the game and finished with 31 points, but scored only 4 points during Dallas’ fourth-quarter collapse, Josh Howard added 17 points for the Mavs while Jason Kidd finished with 11 points and 9 assists.
The Hornets desperately needed a player to rise to the occasion on offense in the third quarter and Paul came to the rescue. He had a 7-0 run by himself on a jumper, driving floater and fast-break layup as New Orleans outscored Dallas 36-20 during the third quarter ending it at 76-72. From then on Hornets were in control of the game.
Utah Jazz 93 – Houston Rockets 82
Andrei Kirilenko scored 21 points, Carlos Boozer had 20 points and 16 rebounds and the Jazz topped over the Rockets 93-82 to take a 1-0 lead on their best-of-seven series. Deron Williams had 20 points and 10 assists as Utah won its second straight playoff game in Houston.
All-Star center, Yao Ming, is out for the series with a foot injury and the Rockets are wondering how they will be able compete with the Jazz inside. Utah had a 34-29 rebounding edge through three quarters and Boozer hit 10 of 20 shots. The Rockets are also playing without their starting point guard Rafer Alston, who strained his right hamstring late in the season.
Kyle Korver hit two 3-point shots in the final 2:29 of the third quarter and the Jazz led 68-60. The Rockets went 6-for-12 from the free-throw line in the quarter that hurt them alot. Williams sank a 3-pointer with 9:29 left to extend Utah’s lead into double digits again. The Rockets never made a serious threat after that.
Source: ESPN: http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/
