The two-time reigning NBA champion Los Angeles Lakers and Dallas Mavericks booked a second-round Western Conference playoff matchup with impressive road triumphs on Thursday. Kobe Bryant scored 24 points and Andrew Bynum added 18 points and 12 rebounds to power the Lakers past New Orleans 98-80 while Dirk Nowitzki scored 13 points and grabbed 11 rebounds to lead Dallas past Portland 103-96.
Spanish star Pau Gasol contributed 16 points for the Lakers while reserve Lamar Odom added 14 as the defending champions, who lost game one at home, eliminated the Hornets four games to two in their best-of-seven series. The Lakers will open round two at home Monday against the Mavericks while Oklahoma City will meet either top seed San Antonio or bottom seed Memphis in the other West second-round series.
Memphis has a chance to eliminate the Spurs at home in game six on Friday. At Portland, the Mavericks won a road playoff game for the first time since the opening round in 2009 and snapped a run of 18 losses in their past 20 road games after the Trail Blazers pulled within one point in the closing minutes. Eastern Conference: One year after the Orlando Magic inflicted the most lopsided four-game playoff sweep in NBA history on Atlanta in the second round, a much-improved Hawks squad took a measure of revenge.
Joe Johnson scored 23 points and Jamal Crawford added 19 to power Atlanta past Orlando 84-81 in an NBA playoff game Thursday, advancing the Hawks to a second-round series with the Chicago Bulls. The Hawks eliminated the Magic four games to two in their Eastern Conference best-of-seven first round series, advancing to round two for the third year in a row while the Magic suffered its earliest playoff exit since 2007. The other East second-round series will send the Miami Heat against the Boston Celtics. That winner will face Atlanta or Chicago for a berth in the NBA Finals.
Kirk Hinrich added 11 points while Al Horford had 10 points and 12 rebounds for the Hawks, who led 82-77 before Jameer Nelson sank back-to-back layups that pulled Orlando within a point with 34 seconds remaining. Atlanta’s Marvin Williams missed a late 3-point shot but Johnson batted the rebound to Crawford, who sank two free throws with 8.2 seconds remaining.
