Pau Gasol set NBA playoff highs with 36 points and eight assists and added 16 rebounds as the Los Angeles Lakers took command early in the third quarter and beat the Denver Nuggets 128-114 on Sunday.
Gasol, the Spaniard acquired from Memphis on Feb. 1 after spending six-and-a-half seasons with the Grizzlies, was winless in three previous post-season appearances.
Kobe Bryant scored 18 of his 32 points in the final eight minutes to keep Los Angeles safely ahead. Lamar Odom had 17 points, 14 rebounds and six assists for the Lakers, the No. 1 seeds in the Western Conference.
PHOTO: AFP
Carmelo Anthony had 30 points and 12 rebounds for the eighth-seeded Nuggets. Allen Iverson also had 30 points before picking up two technical fouls with 2 minutes, 10 seconds remaining, calling for immediate ejection. Linas Kleiza scored a career playoff high 23.
The Nuggets should have it known was not going to be their day when several players were stranded on the Santa Monica Freeway for about 30 minutes when the team bus broke down on the way to the game.
Game 2 will be tomorrow.
Magic 114, Raptors 100
In Orlando, Florida, Dwight Howard had 25 points and 22 rebounds and Jameer Nelson added 24 points to help Orlando beat Toronto in the opener of their first-round series.
Howard scored six straight points in a 10-0 fourth-quarter run that sealed Orlando’s first playoff win since 2003. He also blocked five shots and made nine-of-11 free throws.
Anthony Parker had 24 points and eight rebounds for Toronto, Chris Bosh scored 21 and Rasho Nesterovic had 16 points and eight rebounds.
The Raptors, who trailed by 20 points after the first quarter, drew within five with 10 minutes, 24 seconds left in the fourth. But Toronto went scoreless for the next 3 minutes, 16 seconds as Orlando pulled away.
76ers 90, Pistons 86
In Auburn Hills, Michigan, Andre Miller scored 20 points and Willie Green had a career playoff-high 17, helping Philadelphia stun Detroit in Game 1 of their first-round series.
After the Sixers trailed 62-47, Green made two baskets to start a 10-0 run that sparked a comeback.
Miller gave Philadelphia a lead midway through the fourth quarter for the first time since late in the first.
The Pistons trailed by only one with 45 seconds left, then Philadelphia’s Andre Iguodala made one of two free throws with 11 seconds left and Rasheed Wallace missed a shot near the basket that would have tied it at 88-88.
Iguodala then made two free throws with seven seconds left to seal the win.
Wallace had 24 points, nine rebounds and matched a franchise playoff record with seven blocks.
Detroit will host Game 2 tomorrow.
Celtics 104, Hawks 81
In Boston, Ray Allen scored 18 points and Kevin Garnett had 16 as the two newcomers who led Boston to the NBA’s best record sparked them to a win in their playoff opener against Atlanta.
Garnett stopped a 14-3 Hawks run with a jumper, starting a six-point Boston surge that made it 35-27 in the second quarter. And Allen scored 10 straight Celtics points midway through the third that extended a 13-point lead to 67-48 with 5 minutes, 39 seconds left in the period.
The top-seeded Celtics’ lead ranged from 12 to 27 points the rest of the way.
Eighth-seeded Atlanta, who ended the NBA’s longest playoff drought with their first appearance in nine years, were led by rookie Al Horford with 20 points and 10 rebounds.
Game 2 is tomorrow.
The pressure was already on Real Madrid coach Xabi Alonso before their 2-1 defeat to Manchester City on Wednesday in the UEFA Champions League raised further questions about his future. Arsenal remain perfect in this season’s competition and three points clear at the top of the standings after a 3-0 win against Club Brugge, while defending champions Paris Saint-Germain were held 0-0 at Athletic Bilbao. The clash between Madrid and City was the standout game of the round amid reports this week that Alonso had lost control of the locker room. Speculation over his position is likely to intensify after the latest
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