Suns hold off Lakers
Kobe Bryant didn’t score, the Phoenix Suns couldn’t run.
Nothing was quite as it was supposed to be Sunday when the Suns escaped with a 107-102 victory over Bryant and the visiting Los Angeles Lakers.
“We certainly didn’t play very well,” said Suns point guard Steve Nash. “We look at that as a positive. We didn’t play well and we found a way to win, and we’ve got a lot of improvement to make.”
Tim Thomas had 22 points and a career playoff-high 15 rebounds for the Suns, who nearly succumbed to coach Phil Jackson’s game plan of taking the small Phoenix lineup inside, then turning to Bryant to finish it off.
Thomas was sent home by the Chicago Bulls for what they thought was a bad attitude for most of this season, then released and signed by Phoenix on March 3. He made his first eight shots and finished 8 for 10, 4 for 5 from 3-point range.
“I was just aggressive on both ends,” Thomas said.
Bryant, the NBA scoring champion with 35.4 points per game, scored 22 points – little more than half the 42.5 he averaged against Phoenix in the regular season – on 7-for-21 shooting, including 1 for 6 3s. But Lamar Odom had 21 points and 14 rebounds and Luke Walton matched his career best in any NBA game with 19 points.
Pistons 92, Bucks 74: At Auburn Hills, Mich., Rasheed Wallace scored 17 of his 22 points in the first half and Richard Hamilton scored 21 to lead Detroit to a win over Milwaukee in Game 1 of their first-round series.
The Pistons took control with a 13-2 run midway through the third quarter to take a 51-43 lead, but had to respond when the Bucks showed signs of life to open the fourth.
Milwaukee scored the first eight points of the final quarter to pull within four, but couldn’t stop four Pistons from combining for an 11-0 run to give Detroit a 79-64 lead.
Bucks star Michael Redd was held to 11 points on 4-of-15 shooting. Reserve Charlie Bell led Milwaukee with 13 points.
Mavericks 103, Grizzlies 93: At Dallas, the Mavericks shredded the NBA’s stingiest defense with 60 first-half points and got key baskets when they needed them the rest of the way in a victory over Memphis in the opener of their first-round series.
Dirk Nowitzki led Dallas with 31 points – 19 coming in the early surge – yet what really won this for Dallas was its energy and its depth. Backup center Erick Dampier exemplified both with 12 points, 12 rebounds and plays like a crowd-thrilling dunk off a loose ball just before halftime and an offensive rebound that turned into a three-point play early in the fourth quarter.
Clippers’ emotions mixed
Emotions were slightly mixed for the Los Angeles Clippers a day after their first postseason victory in 13 years. There was the good feeling that accompanies winning, of course. But there was also some discomfort that comes with blowing a 10-point lead in the last 4 minutes.
“I’m not happy with the way we played late in the game. The last quarter, we were terrible,” said Chris Kaman, who had 15 points and 13 rebounds in the Clippers’ 89-87 victory over the Denver Nuggets on Saturday.
The Clippers were outscored 21-13 in the final period, shooting 3 of 10 and being outrebounded 14-5.
“We played them good, we had them going. We’ve got to keep the pressure on, punish them,” Kaman said after practice Sunday. “We didn’t do that. I think it was a little bit of jitters, maybe.”
Kaman said the Clippers might have panicked a bit down the stretch, which wouldn’t be a major surprise since he and four teammates who played were making their postseason debuts. The team is in the playoffs for the first time since 1997.