Lakers silence Jazz
Kobe Bryant scored 34 points and the Los Angeles Lakers held off a furious rally by Utah in a 108-105 win on Friday night at Salt Lake City, putting the Lakers in the Western Conference finals for the first time in four years.
The Jazz trailed by 19 at halftime and 16 at the end of the third quarter, but hit a flurry of 3-pointers to get within two points in the final minute. The Jazz had a chance to tie it at the end, but Mehmet Okur and Deron Williams missed 3-pointers in the closing seconds and Utah’s season was over.
It was the only win by the visiting team in the series and kept the Lakers from having to host a Game 7 on Monday. Bryant will get a chance to rest his ailing back. The Lakers made 11 of 13 foul shots in the fourth quarter while barely holding off Utah’s rally.
Bryant also had eight points and six assists. Pau Gasol added 17 points and 13 rebounds for the Lakers.
Williams led Utah with 21 points and 14 assists.
Carlos Boozer had 12 points and 14 rebounds, and Mehmet Okur had 16 points and 10 boards, hitting two 3-pointers in the fourth quarter during Utah’s comeback.
The Jazz were 5 for 8 from beyond the arc in the final period, but could not quite overcome the huge lead the Lakers had built through the first three quarters.
Los Angeles stopped Utah’s pick-and-roll and just about everything else the Jazz tried inside until the fourth. The Jazz started hurrying outside shots, which weren’t going in, and the rebounds seemed to always bounce Gasol’s way. Nine of his 11 rebounds in the first half were defensive.
Utah finally started hitting from the outside and getting inside the lane for points in the fourth, but Bryant kept the Lakers from blowing the lead by scoring 12 in the period.
Cavaliers 74, Celtics 69: At Cleveland, LeBron James scored 32 points – 19 in the second half – and the Cavaliers forced a decisive and fitting finale to this home-sweet-home playoff series with a victory over Boston, which has gone from regular-season road king to postseason road kill.
James, whose jump shot has mysteriously been missing in this series, made two key baskets midway through the fourth quarter to slow a Boston comeback, Wally Szczerbiak hit a 3-pointer with 2:10 remaining and Joe Smith dropped two free throws with 14 seconds left as the Cavs moved the series back to the East Coast.
The Cavs are attempting to become the 14th team to overcome a 0-2 deficit and win a series, and to do so, the defending Eastern Conference champions will have to win in Boston, where the Celtics are 7-0 in the postseason and play like a team with title potential.
On the road, they’re just ordinary.
The Celtics are 15-2 in Game 7s at home, but the Cavaliers may have some confidence playing on the parquet after nearly winning Games 1 and 5.
Kevin Garnett scored 25 points, Paul Pierce 16 and Ray Allen just nine on 3-of-8 shooting. The Celtics got just two points from guard Rajon Rondo, who scored 20 in their Game 5 win. Boston’s point total was the second lowest in franchise playoff history and the fewest points given up by Cleveland in the postseason.
Suns will interview a third
The Phoenix Suns will interview Houston Rockets assistant Elston Turner as a replacement for former head coach Mike D’Antoni.
The interview will be next week, the team said.
The 48-year-old Turner has been an assistant to coach Rick Adelman for 11 years with Portland, Sacramento and Houston.
Turner joins Terry Porter and Mark Jackson as candidates.