NBA: Suns, Spurs advance
Amare Stoudemire scored 27 points and Shawn Marion added 26, and the Phoenix Suns overcame an inspired performance by Lamar Odom and a late scoring binge by Kobe Bryant to beat the Los Angeles Lakers 119-110 on Wednesday night in Phoenix.
The Suns won the best-of-7 first-round series in five games and advanced to a Western Conference semifinal matchup with the San Antonio Spurs.
Game 1 of the series is Sunday afternoon in Phoenix.
The Lakers never led, trailing by 15 points in the second quarter and 16 with 5:52 to go, but they kept coming back.
Odom, playing the whole series with a hyperextended elbow and torn shoulder cartilage, had 33 points and 10 rebounds for the Lakers, but it was Bryant who put the final scare into the Suns.
The NBA scoring champion, after an uneven night, made consecutive 3-pointers to cut what had been a 16-point fourth-quarter lead to 111-106 with 2:53 to play. Marion made a floater, Stoudemire hit 1 of 2 free throws, and the Suns came up with two crucial offensive rebounds on a late possession to help put the game away.
Bryant scored 34 points but was 13 of 33 from the field.
Spurs 93, Nuggets 78: Michael Finley set a San Antonio playoff record with eight 3-pointers and the Spurs advanced to the Western Conference semifinals with the victory over Denver at San Antonio.
Finley finished with 26 points, Tim Duncan had 23 points and 12 rebounds and Tony Parker added 16 points and 10 assists for the third-seeded Spurs, who dropped Game 1 to the Nuggets at home before winning the next four in the first-round series.
It was a virtual repeat of 2005, when the Spurs lost Game 1 at home before winning the next four to eliminate Denver.
Denver has not won a playoff series since 1994, when they beat Seattle in a best-of-5 to become the first No. 8 seed to knock out a No. 1.
Around the league
NBA spokesman Tim Frank said Stephen Jackson of the Warriors will not be suspended for Game 6 of Golden State’s series with Dallas. Jackson has been ejected twice during the series. … Stan Van Gundy interviewed this week for the Charlotte Bobcats’ coaching job, his first coaching interview since resigning from the Miami Heat in December 2005.