NBA Games Recap 4/19/09
The last 4 play-off series started on Sunday and everyone game went to the home team bar one.
First up in Los Angeles the Lakers easily beat the 8th seeded Utah Jazz 113-100 to take a 1-0 lead in the series. L.A were on top from the start and went into half time with a 22 point lead and while the Jazz did out score them by 9 in the 3rd quarter they were never in doubt. Kobe Bryant started his play-off run with a solid 24 points in 40 minutes on court. Kobe shot 9 of 17 from the field but arguably the best performance of the night came from his less flashy sidekick Pau Gasol. Gasol scored 20 points and just missed out on a double double with 9 rebounds, shooting 7 of his 11 shots from the field along with all 6 of his foul shots. With another their second home game of the series being played next the Lakers will hope to wrap this one up in 4 games which looks a distinct possibility the way Utah are playing.
Next up the biggest shock of the night as a 6th seed went to a 3rd seed and beat them for the second consecutive night. This time it was in the Eastern Conference at Orlando where Philadelphia inflicted some damage to Dwight Howard and his team. The ‘Sixers came back from 18 points down to win this one 100-98 thanks to an Andre Iguodala 2-point jumper with only 2.2 seconds left to play. Iguodala had 20 points, 8 rebounds and 8 assists while Lou Williams came off the bench to score 18. Despite hitting 11 of 13 from the field to drop 31 points on the night Dwight Howard couldn’t carry the Magic, who with this loss surrender the home court advantage they had.
In Atlanta the Hawks gave a performance worthy of a play-off place and the home court advantage they battled for all season as they beat the 5th seeded Miami Heat 90-64 in a blow out. Josh Smith and co. held Miami to their lowest points total of the season including only 7 points in the 4th quarter. Atlanta had a 20 point lead at half time and never looked back, Josh Smith top scored for the Hawks with 23 points and 10 rebounds for a double double while Joe Johnson dropped 15 to see the Hawks to a 1-0 lead in the best of 7 series.
Finally in Denver the 2nd seeded Nuggets showed why they were so high up in the regular season standings with a 29 point victory over the New Orleans Hornets, 113-84. Chauncey Billups led the Nuggets with 36 points and 8 assists while center Nene grabbed a double double with 12 points and 14 rebounds. Denver will look to wrap this one up in 4 or 5 games to give themselves some rest for the Conference Semi-Finals and after this display they will be confident that they can go into New Orleans and win at least one game.
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