With Kobe Bryant making everything from 3-pointers to a fadeaway jumper while falling on his backside, the Lakers ran away from the Jazz, winning 107-96 to finish the opening-round series in five games last night in Los Angeles.
Bryant scored 31 points and Lamar Odom had 26 points and 15 rebounds for the Lakers, who earned several days of rest before meeting the winner of the Portland-Houston series.
The Lakers didn’t want to have to go back to Salt Lake City, the site of their Game 3 collapse and their Game 4 bounce-back.
Although it wasn’t the most artistic game at times, the Lakers got the shots to fall when they needed them most. If there was any question that this was going to be the Lakers’ night on their home court, Bryant answered that in the closing seconds of the first half.
He drove the lane and passed to Pau Gasol. The ball was batted loose and Bryant grabbed it, turned and sank a fadeaway jumper as he fell on his rear end, giving the Lakers a 56-43 halftime lead.
By late in the third quarter, the Lakers were toying with the Jazz. Bryant made a layup, hit a 3-pointer and fed Gasol for a slam dunk. Odom added a bucket and just like that it was 80-58.
Paul Millsap led Utah with 16 points while Andrei Kirilenko and Deron Williams had 14 apiece.
Nuggets 121, Hornets 63
In New Orleans, Carmelo Anthony scored all of his 26 points in the first three quarters as Denver thoroughly dismantled the Hornets to take a commanding 3-1 lead in their first-round series.
The New Orleans Arena was mostly empty by the end of the third quarter, when Denver led 89-50 on its way to matching the most lopsided victory in NBA playoff history. The Minneapolis Lakers beat the St. Louis Hawks 133-75 in 1956.
The Nuggets stifled Hornets All-Star Chris Paul, whose four points and six assists amounted to one of the worst games of his career.
Hawks 81, Heat 71
In Miami, Zaza Pachulia had 12 points and 18 rebounds, and Atlanta raced out to a huge first-half lead and frustrated Dwyane Wade endlessly in tying its first-round Eastern Conference series with the Heat at two games apiece.
Mike Bibby scored 15 points, Joe Johnson added 14 and Josh Smith 13 for the Hawks. Wade scored 22 points, doing so on 9-for-26 shooting and wincing at times from a back injury.