Game 4 Orlando - Cavaliers Preview

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) -- Tinted sunglasses concealing the cuts and bandages framing his puffy left eye, struggling Cleveland guard Mo Williams plopped down on a table inside a ritzy hotel ballroom on Monday and quickly proclaimed the Cavaliers were not in any trouble.
Far from it.

"We're the best team in basketball," he said.

Really? The Cavaliers, winners of 66 regular-season games and their first eight straight in the playoffs, certainly haven't looked superior to the Orlando Magic.

They can't stop Dwight Howard inside. They can't contain Orlando's squadron of outside shooters. They are missing easy, open shots. They're not giving LeBron James enough support, and they trail 2-1 in the Eastern Conference finals.

Williams remains confident.

"They deserve respect," he said. "They are a good team. But we are the best team in basketball. I don't feel that they've had to adjust to us one time in the series."

So, Mo. You're sure the Cavaliers will win Game 4 on Tuesday night and rally to win the best-of-seven series. Willing to guarantee it?

"Guarantee we're going to win the series? Yeah, yeah," he said. "We are down 2-1. But there is nobody on this team and definitely not myself that says we are not going to win this series. Yeah, it is going to be tough. We know that. We get this game tomorrow, go home, still got home-court advantage.

"We don't see ourselves losing two out of three at home."

The Magic brushed off Williams' boast.

"We just got to go out there and play," Howard said. "We can't worry about what other guys are saying."

James didn't flinch when told Williams had guaranteed the Cavaliers would advance.

"He should. There's no other reason why we should be here," he said.

Orlando, relishing the underdog role in its first conference finals appearance since 1995, won 99-89 on Sunday night in a disjointed Game 3 that included personal fouls, technicals and a flagrant on Magic reserve guard Anthony Johnson for his elbow to Williams' face in the second quarter.

The blow opened cuts above and below Williams' eye, and Cleveland's point guard said he was still feeling a little woozy from an unexpected shot he felt was intentional.

"My head's still ringing," said Williams, who refused to take off his shades to show the wounds. "The game of basketball is not played with throwing punches, throwing elbows."

Johnson refused to get drawn into a verbal war with Williams, who was called for a block on the play that bloodied him.

"I was trying to get to the rim and make a play and I drew a foul," Johnson said. "Elbows are a part of the game -- good and bad. Sometimes it turns out in a bad manner as last night. Elbows are a part of the game, as it is in hockey, as it is in other sports."

Never one to miss a chance to state his case, Orlando coach Stan Van Gundy defended Johnson and challenged the Cavaliers' contention that it was a cheap shot.

"They can say whatever they want," he said. "It's one of the few times you'll see a guy with the ball in his hands driving to shoot getting a flagrant foul. I'm not saying he deserved it or didn't deserve it, it's just a rare play. It's usually the guy on defense making it. There's a lot of things go on we can complain about and they can complain about.

"I was upset at the number of times that they flopped last night. I mean, Ben Wallace and Mo Williams fell down more times than a baby learning to walk."

James was asked if the Cavaliers would retaliate.

"For what?" he said. "We're just trying to get wins."

James has been doing his part. His teammates have not.

The league's MVP is averaging 41.7 points in the series. But there have been extended periods when it's LeBron and only LeBron vs. the Magic. The Cavs, so together on and off the court all season, have become a one-man show at the worst time possible.

Williams (32.1 percent), Zydrunas Ilgauskas (38.2) and Delonte West (41.9) are not shooting up to their standards, and James had his first "off" night in Game 3 (11 of 28), but he scored 41 and had the Cavaliers within five points in the final minute.

James understands he can't win a championship by himself.

"It's going to be tough," he said. "I know they can play a lot better. They know they can play a lot better. I don't want to put pressure on those guys. They've just got to come out and do it. We just got to knock shots down."

The Magic feel as though they haven't gotten their proper due all season. While a potential James-Kobe Bryant showdown in the NBA finals has been fueled by popular TV commercials featuring puppets of the superstars, Orlando's players have been wondering: Hey, what about us?

"It's disrespectful when everybody's counting us and Denver out trying to win a championship," said Howard, who made the Cavs pay for fouling him by making 14 of 19 free throws in Game 3. "It's like, forget the Magic, forget Denver. They want to see LeBron and Kobe go at it. So that is disrespectful. The only way you get respect is by going out there and taking it.

"My mind-set is making people respect us."

James is locked in on ending Cleveland's 45-year title drought. A loss in Game 4 would place the greatest season in Cavaliers' history on the brink of collapse.

"I think we're fine. I'm fine," he said. "I'm excited about Game 4, and as long as I stay upbeat we have a chance -- of course. I'm confident and I'll make sure the rest of the guys are confident."

---

Associated Press writer Antonio Gonzalez contributed to this report.

Monaco race analysis - Ferrari rising to Brawn challenge

Brawn may still have had a decisive edge in Sunday’s Monaco Grand Prix, but it was encouraging to see Ferrari take another step forward. Their improved form from Spain continued, this time with complete reliability. It gave them their best result - and first podium - of 2009. There was some scratching of heads at Red Bull, who dropped to third in the pecking order, despite the arrival of a double diffuser. And there was total frustration at Toyota and BMW Sauber, both former frontrunners left trailing. We take a team-by-team look at the Monte Carlo race…

Brawn
Jenson Button, P1
Rubens Barrichello, P2
This was yet another brilliant one-two for Brawn, their third of the season and, incidentally, the third win for the same Mercedes-Benz engine in Button’s car. They sprung a surprise on their rivals when they started the race on Bridgestone’s super-soft option tyre, a route pursued only by Vettel, Hamilton and Sutil. Where others struggled on them, the Brawns loved them. When Button’s began to go off very slightly, creating oversteer, he was called in early for his first pit stop on lap 17. Barrichello had overworked his rubber sliding about as he ran too close to Button, and that decided the gap between them. An early stop for him kept him ahead of Raikkonen. It was hardly a race-threatening development. By the flag Barrichello had cut a 12s gap to 7.5s as Button backed off, and had shaken off the Ferrari challenge. Brawn now have 86 points in the constructors’ championship compared to Red Bull’s 42.5, and Button is 16 points ahead of Barrichello and looking increasingly strong in the drivers’ table.

Ferrari
Kimi Raikkonen, P3
Felipe Massa, P4
This was Ferrari’s most convincing showing since Brazil last year. Raikkonen gave them their first front-row start of the season, and their first podium, and at one stage in the middle of the race the pair of them were flying on Bridgestone’s soft rubber. Crucially, they couldn’t use the super softs at the start, which Brawn could. That was what cost them their chance. That, and Raikkonen starting on the dirty side of the grid and not really being able to capitalise on his KERS, and Massa outfoxing himself in the chicane early on when fighting for fourth with Vettel, then having Rosberg muscle past for a while as he handed the place back to the Red Bull driver. 11 points were very welcome here.

Red Bull
Mark Webber, P5
Sebastian Vettel, Retired lap 15, accident
Vettel started on the super-soft option tyres, with his lightest of all fuel load - and soon became a mobile road block. He soon switched to softs, but dumped it at Ste devote on the 15th lap after braking too late. Webber did a great job in qualifying, made a strong start, and Red Bull’s strategy kept him in play, ahead of Rosberg, to the flag. In the closing stages he was right with Massa.

Williams
Nico Rosberg, P6
Kazuki Nakajima, Retired lap 77, accident
Rosberg looked strong and opportunistic all weekend and deserved better than his sixth place. But a late fuel stop dropped him back to seventh until Renault did the same with Alonso and restored the status quo. Nakajima kept his nose clean all weekend, until dumping his FW31 head-first into the tyre wall at Mirabeau with a lap to run. He said he was pushing too hard on the option tyre.

Renault
Fernando Alonso, P7
Nelson Piquet, Retired lap 11, accident with Buemi
Alonso said his R29 kept improving throughout the race, and that after starting ninth scoring two points for seventh was satisfying. Piquet was really disappointed to be bundled off at Ste Devote, especially as he was on a long first stint and felt confident of scoring some points.

Toro Rosso
Sebastien Bourdais, P8
Sebastien Buemi, Retired lap 10, accident with Piquet
Bourdais was chuffed with a point in what he considers his home race. He nursed his STR4 on both the prime and option tyres, until he was in a position to have a clear run home. Buemi ran ahead of him until his incident with Piquet, to whom he had lost a position at the start. He said was he was so close to Piquet, planning an attack, that he couldn’t duck round him when the Brazilian braked for the first corner. He apologised to Piquet later.

Force India
Giancarlo Fisichella, P9
Adrian Sutil, P14
Fisichella was very pleased with his ninth place, especially as he was close to Bourdais at the finish and in contention for the final point. Sutil started on a one-stop strategy, which made it all the more curious why Force India ran him on the super-soft Bridgestones. These rapidly grained, dropping him down as he had to stop early, and ruining his chances of emulating his team mate.

McLaren
Lewis Hamilton, P12
Heikki Kovalainen, Retired lap 52, accident
What a contrast this race was to the last two years’ for McLaren! Hamilton’s qualifying problem was exacerbated when he was given a five-place grid penalty as the impact with the wall at Mirabeau damaged the gearbox, so he had to start at the back. He made some progress early on, but had to pit after a brush when Heidfeld squeezed him at Ste Devote on lap 10. That damaged his front wing and generated understeer, and even a change of nose at his next stop did not effect a real cure. He drove hard, but had to be content with 12th. Kovalainen ran strongly early on, faded to seventh, then spun out and took his nose off in the Swimming Pool after 51 laps.

Toyota
Timo Glock, P10
Jarno Trulli, P13
Tenth and 13th were probably better results than Toyota expected. Glock started with so much fuel he was able to run to lap 57 on the soft Bridgestones. Trulli did a two-stopper, going soft, soft, super soft, and was unable to keep Hamilton at bay in the closing stages. Assuredly, this was a disaster for Toyota in which they threw all manner of set-ups at the TF109 during the weekend yet never seemed to make the slightest progress.

BMW Sauber
Nick Heidfeld, P11
Robert Kubica, Retired lap 29, brakes
For Toyota, read BMW Sauber. They were in the same boat as their Japanese-German rival, which amounted to all at sea. Heidfeld ran soft and super soft to claim 11th place, and said his car was simply too slow. Kubica made a poor start, then suffered a right rear puncture. He was lapping well with a fuel-heavy car, but was forced to retire with brake problems. Like Toyota, BMW Sauber need to have a major rethink before Turkey.

Federer, Nadal, Safina win first-rounders at French

PARIS (AP)—The King of Clay eclipsed another mark Monday, this time breaking the French Open men’s record for consecutive wins.

Top-seeded Rafael Nadal looked his usual dominant self in the first round, beating Marcos Daniel of Brazil 7-5, 6-4, 6-3 for his 29th straight win on the red clay at Roland Garros.

“At the beginning, I didn’t quite get the best feelings, but I won in three sets. That’s very positive,” Nadal said. “I should have won more easily … but it was a difficult match.”

Roger Federer, the man Nadal beat in the last three French Open finals, had an easier time in his opening match, defeating Alberto Martin of Spain 6-4, 6-3, 6-2.

Dinara Safina, the top-seeded player in the women’s draw, advanced with No. 3 Venus Williams and unseeded Maria Sharapova.

Nadal’s win bettered the French Open record held by Bjorn Borg, who won 28 straight from 1978-81. Nadal also equaled the overall tournament record, matching the 29 straight that Chris Evert won between 1974-75 and 1979-81. Evert did not play at the French Open from 1976-78.

Nadal was broken three times by Daniel, but the top-seeded Spaniard remained perfect on the French Open’s red clay as he tries to become the first player to win five straight titles at Roland Garros.

“His backhand is better than his forehand, but I think I made it a bit easy for him,” Nadal said. “That’s my opinion.”

Federer has won 13 major titles, but he still needs to win the French Open to complete a career Grand Slam.

Against Martin, who missed the last two French Open tournaments because of injury and then by failing to qualify, Federer appeared to play effortlessly.

“Once I got the upper hand, things were pretty much in control,” Federer said. “I served well when I had to, and mixed it up. That’s how I want to play. I’m happy to be through without a fright.”

Also advancing on the men’s side were sixth-seeded Andy Roddick of the United States, No. 10 Nikolay Davydenko of Russia, No. 12 Fernando Gonzalez of Chile, No. 17 Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland, No. 23 Robin Soderling of Sweden, No. 24 Jurgen Melzer of Austria, No. 28 Feliciano Lopez of Spain, No. 30 Victor Hanescu of Romania and No. 32 Paul-Henri Mathieu of France. No. 19 Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic lost to Simone Bolelli of Italy 6-4, 6-4, 5-7, 4-6, 6-3.

Roddick beat French wild-card entry Romain Jouan 6-2, 6-4, 6-2 to win a match at the French Open for the first time since 2005.

Safina routed Anne Keothavong of Britain 6-0, 6-0, spraying shots to all parts of the court.

“I was just playing point by point, game by game, and it ended up like this,” said Safina, who with Marat Safin forms the only brother-sister combination to have held the No. 1 ranking.

Keothavong had a couple of chances against Safina, but she wasted two break points in the third game of the first set, and led 40-0 in the fourth game of the second but couldn’t hold on.

“When that’s happening to you all you want to do is get on the scoreboard, but I wasn’t able to do that,” said Keothavong, who saved four match points before Safina hit a forehand winner down the line. “It just kept getting harder and harder.”

Victoria Azarenka and Ana Ivanovic won 6-0, 6-0 at the French Open last year, and Serena Williams did it in 2003.

Williams, a seven-time Grand Slam champion, survived a sudden second-set slump to beat Bethanie Mattek-Sands 6-1, 4-6, 6-2. She won the match’s first five games, while Mattek-Sands asked for a medical timeout during the first set so a trainer could look at her right wrist.

“I’m definitely a third-set player,” Williams said. “Once I get to the third set … I feel a new level coming.”

Williams has never won the French Open, but she did reach the final in 2002 when she lost to little sister Serena. Overall, Williams holds a 36-12 record at Roland Garros, giving her the most wins of any player in the women’s draw at the tournament.

Sharapova played with a bandage on her right shoulder, and she struggled in the first set before beating Anastasiya Yakimova of Belarus 3-6, 6-1, 6-2.

The unseeded Russian was broken three times in the first set, but she opened the second with four straight wins before being broken once again. Before the start of the next game, Yakimova called for a trainer to work on her lower back.

“I started pretty lousy,” said Sharapova, playing a Grand Slam match for the first time since last year’s Wimbledon. “I was just a little sloppy. But I totally changed it around, and I started playing a lot better and more aggressive.”

No. 12 Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland, No. 13 Marion Bartoli of France, No. 15 Zheng Jie of China, No. 20 Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia, No. 22 Carla Suarez Navarro of Spain and No. 29 Agnes Szavay of Hungary also advanced to the second round.

In upsets, No. 23 Alisa Kleybanova of Russia lost to Polona Hercog of Slovenia 6-2, 4-6, 6-1; No. 14 Flavia Pennetta of Italy was eliminated by Alexa Glatch of the United States 6-1, 6-1; No. 26 Anna Chakvetadze of Russia lost to Mariana Duque Marino of Colombia 3-6, 6-4, 6-4; and No. 17 Patty Schnyder of Switzerland fell to Kateryna Bondarenko of Ukraine 6-4, 6-3.

Denver routes LA to even series at 2-2

DENVER -- The Denver Nuggets are so much more than just Carmelo Anthony.

A dominating effort on the boards and a great performance by the bench helped the Nuggets overcome a below-par effort from an ailing Melo on Monday night, when they raced past the Los Angeles Lakers 120-101, evening the Western Conference finals at two games apiece.They did it with their star hobbled by a sprained ankle and slowed by a stomach virus that had him hugging the commode before tip-off and getting IVs at halftime.

"Even before I twisted my ankle, with my stomach, I didn't have my legs early in the game," Anthony said. "I felt like I didn't have any energy. Those IVs were a must. They helped a little bit. I'll be OK for Wednesday."

Anthony finished with 15 hard-earned points on 3-of-16 shooting, but it hardly mattered because, unlike in Game 3 when his shot also wasn't falling, his teammates came to the rescue.

Six of them scored in double digits, led by Chauncey Billups and J.R. Smith with 24 apiece.

"It was important for everyone to step up," Anthony said. "We had a bunch of guys step up today. I know the past two, three games our bench hasn't been as productive as they have been in the playoffs, but tonight those guys stepped up. J.R. stepped up big, Linas Kleiza came in and hit some big shots, he was just phenomenal out there."

2009 NBA Playoffs

Want an in-depth look at the Nuggets-Lakers series? Check out all the stats, analysis and opinion here:
• Nuggets-Lakers page

Kenyon Martin and Nene each had a double-double as the Nuggets posted their eighth blowout of the postseason but first against Los Angeles following three games that came down to the final seconds.

"They whooped us, period," said Kobe Bryant, who scored 34 points. "They whooped us on the glass. They whooped us to loose balls."

They whooped them in every which way as Denver dominated the glass, the paint and the stripe, outrebounding, outmuscling and outhustling the tired Lakers, whose fatigue after their grueling seven-game series with Houston and the quick turnaround to Denver is really starting to show.

"But that's not a very good excuse," Lakers coach Phil Jackson said.

The Nuggets beat the Lakers on the glass by 18, outscored them in the paint by 18, beat them on the fast break by 10 and outscored their bench 42-24.

"It just shows we have heart and can play with a man down," Smith said. "We did a lot this year and kept it up."

So, the Nuggets didn't need to worry about a botched inbounds pass in the closing seconds like the ones that cost them wins in Games 1 and 3.

"I had forgotten about that," Nuggets coach George Karl cracked.

The series shifts to Los Angeles for Game 5 Wednesday night, and the only thing that put a smile on Jackson's face on this night was the memory of the Lakers' win 48 hours earlier.

"What we've done is we've won a road game and brought the home-court advantage back to L.A.," Jackson said.

Martin had 13 points and 15 boards, Nene pitched in 14 points and 13 rebounds, and Chris "Birdman" Andersen added 14 rebounds for the Nuggets, who outrebounded the Lakers 58-40.

"We got hammered from every direction tonight," Lakers forward Luke Walton said.

In Jackson's view, the hammering went overboard.

Jackson complained about Dahntay Jones' trip of Bryant in the third quarter, calling it unsportsmanlike.

"I just fell on my face for no reason," Bryant deadpanned. "I'm a klutz."

Was Jones playing him dirty?

"Good defense," Bryant said.

Jackson also griped about Denver's lopsided 49-35 advantage in free throws, a reversal of Game 3's 45-31 Lakers advantage.

"Basketball is a game where the aggressor gets the advantage. And tonight we didn't know what a foul was and what wasn't a foul," Jackson complained. "Start of the game, we got guys knocked around going to the basket, they said, 'We're going to get those things go.' By the end of the ballgame little fouls were being called all over the place."

The game featured four technical fouls and 84 free throws overall.

The Lakers' only lead was 1-0 on Bryant's free throw 14 seconds in as Denver led for the final 46:46.

The Nuggets, who haven't lost back-to-back home games all season, were coming off their first loss in the Mile High City since March 9. They knew they blew a golden opportunity 48 hours earlier by trying for the dagger and misfiring on 22 of 27 3-pointers.

This time, they shot 7-for-24 from 3-point range. One of them was Billups' pull-up 3 after a steal by Smith that gave Denver an 83-70 lead with 10 minutes to go.

The Lakers and Nuggets had the Pepsi Center to themselves Monday night after World Wrestling Entertainment moved their Monday Night Raw card to the Staples Center in Los Angeles because of the double booking in Denver that WWE chairman Vince McMahon milked for all it was worth.

The fans saw plenty of gripping and grabbing in this rough-and-tumble series. This game featured 55 fouls, and plenty of plays that weren't whistled but could have been.

Billups said he likes Denver's chances in Los Angeles, where the Nuggets won Game 2.

"I'm sure the world wants to see Cleveland and the Lakers" in the NBA Finals, he said. "You've got the best two players in the world, a chance to see them play in a seven-game series. I don't want to see it. Man, I don't want to see it. And I'm trying my best not to make that happen."

Ferrari powerless to halt Button and Brawn in Monaco

Jenson Button had no peer in Monte Carlo on Sunday afternoon. The world championship points leader snatched another full score as he grabbed the lead at the start, eased quickly away from Brawn team mate Rubens Barrichello, and romped home to a comfortable and totally convincing victory.

"Great job! Fantastic job!" his engineers cried over the radio at the end, as the 29 year-old Englishman whooped and hollered with delight.

There was not a single moment when he ever looked like losing this one, as he stretched his points score to 51, and his lead to 16 over Barrichello. His only error came following the chequered flag when, in his jubilation, he parked his car in the wrong parc ferme area and had to jog all the way to the podium like the triathlon runner he is. It was a pluperfect performance.

Barrichello kept his end up and reduced Buttons 12s lead to 7.6s in the closing stages, and he in turn was well clear of the Ferrari of Kimi Raikkonen which he had beaten off the start line and stayed ahead of apart from during the pit stops. Felipe Massa made it a good day for the Scuderia by keeping his F60 ahead of hard-charging Mark Webber in the sole surviving Red Bull as they battled for fourth place a couple of seconds behind the Finn.

Nico Rosberg had a feisty run to sixth for Williams, ahead of Renault's Fernando Alonso. Sebastien Bourdais took the final point for eighth place for Toro Rosso, just ahead of Giancarlo Fisichella's Force India after a race-long fight.

In Button's wake it was not a classic race. Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel held fourth place early on until getting outfoxed by Massa and Rosberg, and after an early pit stop the German crashed at Ste Devote on Lap 15.

Toro Rosso's Sebastien Buemi blotted his copybook by running into the rear of Nelson Piquet's Renault there on Lap 11, both retiring. Heikki Kovalainen also crashed, dropping his McLaren in the Swimming Pool, in a very similar fashion to Massa in qualifying - only harder. It lost him seventh place on Lap 52. Late in the race Kazuki Nakajima lost tenth after nosing into the tyres at Mirabeau.

Timo Glock was thus tenth for Toyota, after a very long first stint which took him through to Lap 57 before he refuelled. He was followed by BMW Sauber's Nick Heidfeld, who was hounded to the flag by an unhappy Lewis Hamilton, who had earlier damaged his McLaren in a brush with the German at Ste Devote on the tenth lap. Nothing could have been a greater contrast for Hamilton with the 2008 race, and likewise for Button.

Behind the McLaren came Toyota's Jarno Trulli, whom Hamilton passed on Lap 75, and Adrian Sutil's Force India. BMW Sauber's Robert Kubica made a poor start, and was the first pit stopper before later retiring with mechanical gremlins.

Magic hand Cavaliers first loss of postseason

CLEVELAND (AP) -- LeBron James chewed on his fingernails as he talked quietly with Mo Williams in the corner of Cleveland's muted locker room.

As they reviewed the game's final seconds, the two stars stared blankly at a boxscore floating in an ice tub above James' feet.They looked stunned. And for good reason.

No longer untested, no longer unbeaten. The Cavaliers finally met their match in the playoffs.

Dwight Howard scored 30 points, Rashard Lewis added 22 and the Orlando Magic rallied from a 15-point halftime deficit to hand James and the Cavaliers their first loss of the postseason, 107-106 on Wednesday night in the Eastern Conference finals opener.

James finished with 49 points, eight assists and six rebounds, but the league MVP limped off the floor after Cleveland's loss -- just its third in 46 home games.

"Nobody said it was going to be easy," said Cavs guard Delonte West, who missed an open 3-pointer with five seconds remaining. "This one hurts."

Lewis made a 3-pointer with 14.7 seconds left and the Magic, who dethroned the champion Boston Celtics in seven games in the previous round, survived two shots by Cleveland in the closing seconds. Williams missed a catch-and-shoot jumper off a jump ball as the horn sounded, dropping the Cavs to 8-1 in the postseason."It's a big victory," said Howard, who broke one of the shot clocks with a dunk in the opening minutes. "We kept fighting the whole game. We kept believing we could win."

Hedo Turkoglu scored 15 points with 14 assists for Orlando.

Game 2 is Friday night at Quicken Loans Arena, which fell eerily silent after the Magic's win.

As fans headed to the exits, they turned to observe James still on the floor and bent over in obvious pain. He was bothered by cramps throughout the fourth quarter and was tended to by Cleveland's training staff before slowly making his way to the locker room.

"I'm not hurt," said James, who felt the long layoff -- the Cavs hadn't played since May 11 -- may have contributed to the cramping.

Cleveland gave this one away. The Cavaliers lost their grip on the game with a stagnant third quarter that carried into the fourth. Also, the Magic shot 55 percent from the floor -- 59 percent in the second half -- against the league's top defensive team.

"That's unacceptable," James said. "We should have lost."

Orlando, which went 2-1 vs. Cleveland in the regular season, took its first lead at 85-84 with 10:06 left when Anthony Johnson buried a 3-pointer from the left corner. The bucket seemed to suck the air out of the raucous building and Cavs coach Mike Brown quickly called a timeout to stop the Magic's run and get James back in.The Magic, though, kept making big shots with Lewis hitting a jumper with 31.6 seconds left to give Orlando a 104-103 lead.

James then drove and scored on a runner while drawing a sixth foul on Howard, who added 13 rebounds. James completed the three-point play for a 106-104 lead but Lewis came down and nailed his 3-pointer over a closing Anderson Varejao.

"You got to play 48 minutes," Lewis said. "The most important thing is to play 48 minutes. We played only one half but it was the second half."

On Cleveland's last possession, West missed his open 3 but James was able to tie up Turkoglu for a jump ball. James tipped it behind him to Williams, but his last-second prayer hit the back of the rim and the Cavs walked off knowing they had given up home-court advantage for this round.

"This is good for us," Brown said. "We didn't expect to go undefeated."

Williams ended the first half by swishing a 67-footer to give the Cavaliers a 63-48 lead.

Taking the inbounds pass with 1.7 seconds left, Williams dribbled once and sent a high-arching shot like the ones he and the Cavs' shooters work on at practice toward the basket. When it splashed through, James raised his arms and then wrapped Williams in a bear hug.

It was the third consecutive Game 1 in these playoffs that the Cavs have closed the first half with a buzzer-beating bucket. James did it against Detroit and Atlanta.

In the Orlando locker room, Magic coach Stan Van Gundy ripped into his players for not stopping James, who had 26 in the opening half.

"He told us, 'We're all witnesses,'" Howard recalled, using the slogan James has popularized with his commercials. "That got us fired up."

Leading by 15, the Cavs got complacent and lost their offensive rhythm in the third quarter. They stood around either waiting for James to do something or settled for jump shots that didn't fall.

Orlando seized the chance to get back in it and with Courtney Lee and Mickael Pietrus hitting 3-pointers, the Magic outscored the Cavaliers 30-19 in the period to pull within 82-78 entering the fourth.

Ariza helps sealed the win for the Lakers

LOS ANGELES -- The catalogue of famous postseason steals has historically been tinted green. It includes John Havlicek in Game 7 of the 1965 division finals, Gerald Henderson in Game 2 of the 1984 Finals, and, of course, Larry Bird in Game 5 of the 1987 Eastern Conference semifinals.

Should we add Trevor Ariza's swipe of Anthony Carter's inbound pass of Game 1 of the 2009 Western Conference semifinals to the list?

With 29 seconds left in the fourth quarter and the Lakers clinging to a two-point lead, Carter was set to inbound the ball in the Denver frontcourt, with Ariza assigned to defend Chauncey Billups, the intended recipient.

"Chauncey ran up, and I was a few steps behind," said Ariza. "[Anthony Carter] gave the ball just enough air, and that's all it took."

Had Lakers coach Phil Jackson not switched up the defensive assignments, the play might have never come to pass. At the five-minute mark, Jackson put Kobe Bryant on Carmelo Anthony, leaving Ariza to cover Billups. To defend the inbounds pass, Jackson stuck the lanky Lamar Odom on the shorter Carter.

"The reason [Ariza] got the interception was probably because Carter had to make the pass over Lamar," Jackson said. "The lob pass gave Ariza an opportunity to speed into that ball. That was a huge play for us."

It didn't start out as a banner night for Ariza. His matchup at small forward, Anthony, shredded him early. When defended by Ariza, Anthony shot 7-for-10 from the floor. Ariza's problems weren't limited to the defensive end of the floor. Although he entered the game shooting 50 percent from beyond the arc, Ariza couldn't get his stroke going. He finished with six points on 2-for-8 shooting from the field -- his worst shooting night of the playoffs.

Ariza brushed off any suggestion that the steal was a redemptive moment for him, but teammate Odom was impressed.

"It was a great play," Odom said. "Carmelo was having a great day scoring the ball. For Trevor to stay in the game ... it shows character. We were able to get some pressure on the inbounds and they were close to a five-second call, and Trevor did a great job at anticipating the pass and making the steal."

Asked about the play at his postgame press conference, Nuggets head coach George Karl sighed, then mournfully described what he saw from the Nuggets' bench.

"A.C. probably didn't see him and threw the ball with a little loft to it," Karl said. "[Carter] was surprised at how quick Ariza was. He has a great ability to make plays like that and I just wish [Carter] had called a timeout."

Ariza's quickness and, in Karl's words, ability to make plays stem in large part from his gambling style. Amid his troubles with Anthony and the forgettable shooting night, Ariza dazzled with a spectacular steal at a crucial juncture in the third quarter, when he shot the gap, knocked away a Billups pass and drove the length of the floor before scooping an underhanded pass to a trailing Derek Fisher for an easy layup.

The third-quarter steal won on style points, but Ariza's memorable play in the final minute Tuesday night likely will go down as one of the great acts of thievery in recent memory.

Nuggets waste golden opportunity in LA

LOS ANGELES -- J.R. Smith says the knee that he tweaked in Tuesday night's frantic Game 1 finish is merely bruised and won't stop him from playing in Thursday night's Game 2.
That's the silver lining for the team that just squandered a golden opportunity.

Apart from Smith's insistence that he's fine -- and maybe the fact that Kobe Bryant is now just two technical fouls away from a one-game suspension -- there is lots for the Denver Nuggets to lament after they started the Western Conference finals with a 105-103 defeat to the Los Angeles Lakers at Staples Center.

"The next 48 hours," Nuggets coach George Karl conceded, "are going to be difficult."

That's because the visitors wasted Carmelo Anthony's 39 points and clanked 12 free throws, which pretty much nullified the fact that the Nuggets were sent to the line 11 more times than the hosts. The game was physical and close -- pretty much everything Denver could have wished for after nearly a week off since dismissing Dallas in Round 2 -- but the ending couldn't have been much more painful.

This one will sting even if Smith has indeed survived the hard crash he took in the scramble after he intentionally missed a free throw in the game's final sequence, since Denver came close to breaking through against the mighty Lakers after losing the teams' past 10 playoff meetings.

The Nuggets aren't the first team to let Bryant rumble for 18 points in the fourth quarter, but they also had to live with the sight of Trevor Ariza picking off Anthony Carter's looping inbounds pass to Chauncey Billups in the final minute and L.A. running the clock down to 10 seconds before Bryant was fouled with the Lakers only up two.

So ...

In spite of Anthony busting out against a team that held him in check in four regular-season meetings, Denver is behind in a series for the first time this postseason. Bryant scored 12 of his 40 points in the final 5:57 to erase the Nuggets' 93-87 lead and leave them tantalizingly close to clinching the Hollywood split of their dreams on the first try.

"We missed out on a great opportunity to steal this game," Billups said. "We played probably good enough.

"... I watched this team play against the Lakers last year [when Denver got swept in the first round]. I don't think they had one game this competitive. We pretty much controlled the game, most of the game, [but] that's why it's disappointing that we sit here and we lose this game."

Kobe is still the best closer in the game

By J. Adande
LOS ANGELES -- Sure, we've seen this before from Kobe Bryant -- the 40-point night, the clutch shooting, the takeover mentality, closing like Circuit City. Only this came in a different context. This one, which salvaged a 105-103 victory for the Lakers in Game 1 of the Western Conference finals, followed 94 games that followed a summer of Olympic competition that followed a 103-game season.

His 18-point fourth quarter followed his finger popping out and having to be forced back into place, another in a long accumulation of injuries. It came amid the slight signs of fatigue, such as the ball hitting the front of the rim even on some shots that went in. And it all came on the day his sensei passed on "favored son" status to Kobe's younger rival."I do think LeBron [James] has surpassed Kobe as a player."
Those were the 10 words from Jerry West that resonated around the league Tuesday. Not that West is the first to say it, but he's easily the most important to say it, given his relevance to Bryant. This isn't just "the critics" or "the media." West was the one who traded for Bryant back before teenagers -- especially teenage guards -- were considered safe picks. He was the one whose counsel Bryant sought when he was first learning his way around the league or squabbling with Shaquille O'Neal.

Bryant claimed that he wasn't offended that someone who meant so much could cast his vote elsewhere, and said, "The debate of who is the best player ... that's going to go on for whatever. That's not something I concern myself with."

Just keep in mind, Kobe doesn't do coincidences ... unless you think it was merely coincidental that he scored 55 points the last time he played Michael Jordan.

Not that this game was about satisfying his personal agenda. The Lakers needed a great game from Kobe because too many other players seemed frozen by the moment and the Denver Nuggets' toughness. Kobe's most honest assessment came when he said, "I felt like the first half, their frontcourt really dominated us."

Not to mention Carmelo Anthony was busy putting his name into the league's best-player conversation by scoring 20 points in his first 20 minutes of play. The Nuggets struck first, taking a 13-point lead in the first quarter.

The Lakers took advantage of the little cracks the Nuggets gave them (missed free throws and poor backcourt shooting) and grabbed the lead at halftime. But the Nuggets are relentless -- the one constant in all three of their playoff losses is they fought to keep the outcome in doubt until the waning seconds -- and sure enough, they had a seven-point lead with seven minutes remaining.

A nervous, impatient murmur/rumble/cheer went through the Staples Center crowd. Kobe sensed the moment, as well, recognized that the game -- and home-court advantage for the series -- was slipping away from the Lakers, and he did something about it. He drove for a layup that cut it to five. He made two free throws on the next possession, then hit a fadeaway jumper the next time down. He scored 15 points in the final seven minutes, and passed to Derek Fisher in the right corner for a critical 3-pointer, as well.

"Tonight we had very little else going on for us, and he muscled his way through that game," Lakers coach Phil Jackson said.

"A night like tonight, it's something we needed," Bryant said.

Bryant calmly sank free throws after Chauncey Billups made impossible 3-pointers. He kept his balance and cool after Kenyon Martin gave him a message-sending whack on a late drive. He did it all after taking turns guarding Billups and even Anthony for a stretch, among his defensive assignments.

The Lakers felt like they escaped; the Nuggets felt aggravated that they let a great opportunity get away.

It took a disconsolate George Karl a half-minute to even respond to the first postgame question.

"They're great in the game, they have the best closer in the sport, and we didn't do enough," he said. "We didn't do enough to win the game."

Kobe gave as complete a performance as you could ask for from a player, the type of performance we demand of someone who wears the label of superstar. He made 13 of 28 shots, 2 of 3 3-pointers and 12 of 13 free throws, in addition to grabbing six rebounds and dishing out four assists on a night the rest of the team made only 24 shots. He played 43 minutes, including the entire fourth quarter, which he normally starts on the bench.

Nights like this remind you that we should wait for James to actually win a championship or two before we can establish his place among the game's greats. We all love what LeBron is doing. We shouldn't forget what Kobe has done and is still capable of. We didn't unanimously move Michael Jordan past Magic Johnson until he got his ring collection going in the 1990s. We shouldn't call Tiger Woods golf's greatest until he gets past Jack Nicklaus' 18 majors.

The question is whether Bryant can still do this on a nightly basis. It took him four games to put his stamp on the Utah series, and he couldn't deliver the fatal blow to the Houston Rockets in Games 4 and 6 of the last series. The reason LeBron has surpassed him in so many eyes is because LeBron's team has nearly maxed out so far in these playoffs, while Bryant and the Lakers have been advancing on numbers, not style points.

"It hasn't been, 'Can you stay on top as the best individual basketball player,'" Bryant said. "That's not something that has driven me. It's about winning another championship."

Both goals might need to be fused if the Nuggets are going to be this tough and the rest of the Lakers aren't going to respond.

Only two other Lakers scored in double figures -- Pau Gasol and Fisher each had 13, and it took Fisher 13 shots to get there. Jordan Farmar played only nine minutes, his first-half action cut short after attempting a blind, behind-the-back outlet pass. Sasha Vujacic (1-for-5) is still in a shooting slump. Lamar Odom has scored in double figures only once in the past four games. Andrew Bynum has more fouls than field goals in the playoffs.

So it's on Kobe. Does he have to come up with a performance like this three more times to win the series?

"Hopefully not," Bryant said. "But if that's something that's needed, then that's something I'm prepared to do."

He's still clutch ... even if he's no longer Mr. Clutch's choice.

Kobe, Lakers shut down Denver Nuggets in Game 1 of West Finals

LOS ANGELES -- Kobe Bryant proved a steadying presence for his wildly inconsistent teammates, taking over in the fourth quarter and delivering a come-from-behind victory.Bryant scored 40 points, including six free throws in the final 30 seconds, to lift Los Angeles to a 105-103 win over the Denver Nuggets in the Western Conference finals opener on Tuesday night after the Lakers trailed most of the game.
"Once I sensed we didn't have the energy, I had to take it upon myself to lead by example," he said. "It's just part of my responsibilities to this team."He did it even with an injury.
Bryant had the right ring finger on his shooting hand taped after the game. He dislocated it against Cleveland in January and had to have it popped back in place Tuesday.
"He was the scoring opportunity for us," Lakers coach Phil Jackson said. "We had very little else going on. He muscled his way through."
Pau Gasol added 13 points and 14 rebounds for the Lakers, who faced a seven-point deficit in the fourth quarter. Gasol's two free throws tied the game for the last time at 99 before Bryant started his closing streak at the line, offsetting a 3-pointer by Chauncey Billups and a free throw by J.R. Smith.
Carmelo Anthony scored 39 points and Billups added 18 for the Nuggets, who hadn't played since taking care of Dallas in five games last Wednesday.
"There's no moral victories in playoff basketball," Denver coach George Karl said. "The next 48 hours are going to be difficult."
Game 2 is Thursday at Staples Center. The Nuggets have lost 11 consecutive playoff games to the Lakers, including a first-round sweep last season.
Bryant, who was 9 for 9 from the line in the fourth quarter, made two for a 101-99 lead with 30 seconds left. Trevor Ariza stole the inbounds pass near midcourt and the Lakers were able to run the clock down to 10 seconds when Bryant made two more free throws.
"He threw the ball and gave me just enough air to go get it," Ariza said of the steal of Anthony Carter. "That's all it took."
Billups hit a 3-pointer to get the Nuggets to 103-102 with 5 seconds left, but then Anthony fouled Bryant, who made his final two foul shots."They have the best closer in the sport and we didn't do enough," Karl said.
Smith made one free throw with 3.2 seconds left and missed the second intentionally. Bryant grabbed the game's last rebound.
"Any great player would love that moment, get the ball in their hands every time down the court and make something happen," Anthony said.
The Lakers were back in action 48 hours after closing out Houston in seven games in the conference semifinals.
"We won that game on energy and gutting it out," Jackson said. "They outmuscled us and put pressure on the passers. We talked about getting the game close enough to win it at the end. We got a couple stops that helped us."
Denver led most of the game in its return to the conference finals for the first time in 24 years. But the Nuggets couldn't stop Bryant over the final 6:48, when he scored 15 points, including seven straight to help the Lakers improve to 7-1 at home in the playoffs. They are 8-0 this postseason when scoring 100 points.
"You get used to greatness," Lamar Odom said. "He was amazing. He wanted the ball. Kobe is always going to help you or bail you out more than he hurts you."
Bryant got the better of Anthony, his U.S. Olympic teammate.
"It was a lot of fun, he's a bull down there," Bryant said. "I am a little out of my weight class, but I'll give it my best shot."
The Lakers used a 9-0 run, including seven straight by Derek Fisher, to go up 70-66. From there, though, the Nuggets ended the third quarter on a 10-4 run to lead 76-74. Billups had five consecutive points, including a free throw after a technical foul on Bryant, in the spurt.
Bryant has five technicals in the playoffs. "I won't get another one," he vowed.
The Nuggets took a 13-point lead in the opening quarter, but hurt themselves by going 12 of 21 from the line in the half. Billups, who missed three free throws in the first two playoff series combined, missed his first three of the game.
"We missed out on a great opportunity to steal this game," he said. "We lose this game on our poor free throw shooting."

FAST FACTS:
The Lakers continued their postseason dominance over the Nuggets. They have won 11 straight playoff games against Denver. That's the second longest streak vs. an opponent in NBA history and one win shy of the mark set by the 1980's Lakers that won 12 straight postseason games against the SuperSonics.

• The Lakers improved to 7-1 at home this postseason. It was the only home win decided by single digits this postseason. The Lakers improved to 8-0 this postseason when scoring 100 points or more (1-4 when scoring below 100 points).

• Kobe Bryant scored 40 points -- his eighth career 40-point game in the playoffs (second this postseason). That's the third most 40-point games among active players.

• The Nuggets fell to 2-15 (.118) in Game 1 road games since entering the NBA in 1976-77. With the loss, Denver now owns the lowest winning percentage among franchises that have played at least 15 Game 1 road games. Portland held the mark at 3-21 (Denver's only two Game 1 victories on the road came in San Antonio in 2005 and 2007).

• Carmelo Anthony scored 16 of his 39 points in the first quarter. It was his second-highest scoring performance in a postseason game (had 41 points in his last road game at Dallas). Four of his top five scoring games have come on the road. Anthony tied the Nuggets' record of four 30-point games in a row, set by Alex English in 1985.

-- ESPN Stats & Information

Safina wins in Madrid Open women's finals

MADRID (AP)—Top-ranked Dinara Safina won the Madrid Open on Sunday, beating Danish teenager Caroline Wozniacki 6-2, 6-4 to earn her second straight title on clay heading into the French Open.

Safina overpowered the 18-year-old Dane with 24 winners and three break points at the “Magic Box” tennis center. The Russian’s 11th career title follows her victory in Rome last week. She is 14-1 on clay this season.

“Since I became No. 1 I’m playing better and better,” the 23-year-old said.

Wozniacki faced a top-ranked player for the first time and will become the first Dane to crack the top-10 in next week’s rankings after reaching her third final of the season.

Safina will go into Roland Garros buoyed by her recent success on clay after finishing runner-up at the Australian Open and Stuttgart earlier this year.

She got off to a quick start against Wozniacki, whom she was playing for the first time, scoring a break in the third game after both held serve to start. Another break proved enough for her to take the first set.

“I was feeling very comfortable from the start of the match and I was trying to be as aggressive as I could,” said Safina, who was bothered by a slight knee problem. “But even in the key moments I was very strong.”

Wozniacki, who hadn’t dropped a set in reaching the final, hit a forehand long to be broken again at the start of the second and then could only watch as Safina slammed a two-handed backhand down the line to lead 2-0.

Wozniacki looked set to clinch her first break point in the fourth game, but couldn’t return a lob after coming to the net and Safina went up 3-1.

In the eighth game, Wozniacki set up three of her five break chances with some delicate drop shots, but her good work was undone by several of her 22 unforced errors.

Federer ends Nadal's clay winning streak in Madrid

MADRID (AP)—Roger Federer got a badly needed confidence boost ahead of the French Open, beating top-ranked Rafael Nadal 6-4, 6-4 on Sunday to win his first title of the season at the Madrid Open.The second-ranked Federer broke a sluggish Nadal once in both sets before firing his sixth ace to win his 15th Masters Series title on the second match point. Federer also won here in 2006 when the event was played indoors on a hard court.

“There are no positives, there is little to analyze,” said Nadal, the 2005 champion. “He broke and broke and I went home.”

It was only the second victory Federer has on clay against his top rival, with the other coming at the Hamburg final two years ago. The win also ended Federer’s five-match losing streak to Nadal, a stretch that included losses in the finals at Roland Garros, Wimbledon and Australia.

Federer called his first win over Nadal since the 2007 Masters Cup “very satisfying.” Especially after being left in tears in February following his defeat to Nadal at Melbourne.

“I thought I took all the right decisions today. In the end it was a perfect game for me,” the Swiss player said after drawing even with Nadal in Masters titles. “(You) stay positive and I did. I got the win I needed badly.”

Federer also ended Nadal’s 33-match clay winning streak. The Spaniard will be going for a fifth straight title at the French Open beginning on May 25.

“I don’t think he’s going to take any damage away from this,” Federer said. “I’m sure he’s going to be rock solid in Paris again.”

Nadal sounded so after only a fifth loss in his last 155 matches on clay.

“To me, this tournament has nothing to do with Paris. This tournament is practically another surface compared to Paris,” said Nadal, who was troubled with the odd bounces and faster pace brought on by higher altitude. “The conditions favored him more than me.”

Only Ivan Lendl and John McEnroe have met in more finals—20—as the pair played for a 16th time with Nadal having earned 11 titles. He leads the overall series 13-7.

Federer and Nadal joked after receiving their trophies in a scene that contrasted with the one in February when Federer was in tears after losing to Nadal in the Australian Open final.

“Sorry to spoil the party,” Federer told the crowd from the Manolo Santana center court, where the rivals played in front of Nadal’s biggest supporters for the first time.

Federer, who is also the only top-10 player to have ever beaten Nadal on clay, saved two Nadal break chances before converting his first try in the ninth game.

Federer slapped a forehand winner down the near line to set up the point and converted when Nadal weakly backhanded into net. Federer served out to love to take the opening set.

“He was simply better than me,” Nadal said.

Nadal’s grueling semifinal win against Novak Djokovic took its toll as he failed to reach many balls he would normally get.

“It doesn’t help to play four hours yesterday,” Nadal said.

Federer applied a soft drop to set up a break chance in the fifth game of the second set and took a 3-2 lead after Nadal hit long.

Nadal rallied the 12,500 spectators at the “Magic Box” after setting up a break chance in the final game, but the Spaniard slapped his cross-court backhand wide.

Federer netted his first match point but replied with his 25th winner to close it out. Nadal, who has won five titles this season, had only 12 winners.

“Things are falling into place and of course it’s the right time to get the victory,” said Federer, who will try for his first French Open title after a first Masters title since Cincinnati in 2007.

Turkoglu, Magic put end to Celtics' season

BOSTON -- Dwight Howard remembers the reaction when he first talked about bringing an NBA championship to Orlando.

"Everybody laughed," the Magic center said after helping Orlando beat the defending NBA champion Boston Celtics 101-82 on Sunday night and advance to the Eastern Conference finals."I believe we can win a championship. We're not going to stop going after one until we get it. We have the right team. We have the talent. We have the coaches. It's just on us to go out there and play hard. I have a long way to go, but I'm still hungry."

Howard scored 12 points with 16 rebounds and five blocked shots, and Hedo Turkoglu had 25 points with 12 assists for Orlando, which trailed for just 36 seconds after the opening basket and held on to earn the right to play LeBron James and the Cavaliers for a spot in the NBA finals.

Game 1 is Wednesday in Cleveland.

Orlando won the season series 2-1, but the Cavaliers swept both of their postseason series and have been waiting for their next opponent since last Monday.

"Cleveland is playing at a much higher level than anybody else in the playoffs. We're going to have to take it up another notch," Magic coach Stan Van Gundy said. "But that's for us to worry about tomorrow. I am going to enjoy this one until I get on the plane tonight and start watching film."Ray Allen scored 23 points for Boston, and Paul Pierce had 16 before they were taken out of the game for a courtesy cheer with 2:30 left and the Magic up 99-78. The other member of the new Big Three, Kevin Garnett, awaited them on the bench, where he watched the whole series in street clothes with a right knee strain.Garnett's absence derailed the Celtics' title defense before it started, forcing them to fight through a seven-overtime, seven-game series against Chicago in the first round and leaving them perpetually playing from behind in the second.

"We still felt like this was a team that could have gone to the championship and won it, regardless of the injuries," Pierce said. "It felt like we ran out of gas."

Celtics coach Doc Rivers said Garnett had been holding off on having surgery on the chance he could come back if the team prolonged its season.

"There's no way he was going to play the next series," Rivers said. "We were hoping. But I didn't think it will happen."

The Magic nearly blew a 28-point lead in Game 1, then did waste a 14-point lead in Game 5 to give the Celtics a 3-2 advantage in the best-of-seven series. Boston, which won its unprecedented 17th NBA title last year, had never lost a series after being ahead 3-2.

But Orlando came back from a 10-point deficit on Thursday night to force Game 7.

And there was no panic on Sunday.Just a lot of Magic.

"I would like to say we played the game exactly the way we wanted. We actually played it better," Van Gundy said. "When you look at a team that's 32-0 when leading a series 3-2 and then you win by 19 points, that's a big win. I can't say that I've ever had one that I've ever been happier with."

Make that 32-1, as Van Gundy wrote on the visiting locker room white board.

"We learned a lot, coming in here and beating the world champs on their own floor," Howard said. "Everybody was talking about experience. The biggest thing was effort and energy. The team that played the hardest was going to win."

Orlando led by 14 in the second quarter before Boston cut it to 45-42 in the third period. Rajon Rondo's long 2-pointer at the buzzer to end the quarter made it a 66-61 game, but Orlando scored the first eight points of the fourth to open a double-digit lead.

Orlando led 81-64 with 8:04 left when Howard picked up his fifth foul and went to the bench, then Boston cut the deficit to 90-78 on Allen's 3-pointer with 4:12 to play. But Turkoglu sank a 3-pointer, Kendrick Perkins was called for a charge and Turkoglu made a fadeaway jumper to extend the lead to 17 points.

Turkoglu was 9 for 12 from the field, scoring 10 points in the fourth quarter alone.

Gasol leads Lakers domination against Houston in game 7

LOS ANGELES -- All is well again in La-La Land. The real Los Angeles Lakers showed up, and in a Game 7, no less.

With Pau Gasol dominating on both ends of the court, the Lakers emphatically silenced the doubters and the Houston Rockets, winning the decisive final game of the Western Conference semifinals 89-70 on Sunday.Playing with emotion, Gasol scored 21 points and grabbed 18 rebounds. The Lakers looked like the conference's top-seeded team, not the maddeningly inconsistent one that was pushed to the limit by the undermanned, smaller Rockets.

Trying to reach the NBA finals for the second straight year, the Lakers host the opener of the conference finals against the Denver Nuggets on Tuesday night.

The Lakers have been so up and down in this series that coach Phil Jackson said before Game 5 that they had a little bit of Jekyll and Hyde in them. That was the night the Lakers raced to a 40-point win at home, only to follow it up two nights later with a 15-point loss, the second straight game they were blind-sided in Houston.

There are any number of theories as to why the Lakers have had a split personality.Asked what the Lakers learned from this series, Kobe Bryant cracked: "That we're bipolar."

Added Lamar Odom: "To make it interesting. It's Hollywood, you know."

It turns out that home-court advantage and a smothering defense were all it took to jump-start the Lakers, who made sure they didn't choke this one away against the No. 5 seed.

The Lakers dominated the paint on both ends, forcing the Rockets into turnovers and bad shots. They owned the backboards, taking a 55-33 advantage, and blocked 10 shots. They had an 8-0 lead a few minutes in and widened it to 25 points on Gasol's jump hook shortly before halftime.

After the game, Bryant patted Gasol on the shoulder and offered words of congratulations.

"I was just proud of the way he played," Bryant said. "He answered the challenge and he played like one of the best players in the world. I was just excited for him."

Gasol kept Rockets point guard Aaron Brooks from penetrating, as he did often in this series. The Spaniard had 12 defensive rebounds and swatted away three shots.

"We all know what he can do offensively. I just felt like defensively, he had a superb game," Bryant said.Gasol made 10 of 19 shots. He left to a nice ovation with 3:34 remaining in the game.

Trevor Ariza scored 15 points while Bryant and Andrew Bynum had 14 apiece. Bryant added five assists and seven rebounds.

Brooks was held to 13 points and Luis Scola to 11 for Houston. Ron Artest (seven points) and Shane Battier (three) were non-factors.

"I think we learned that if we play hard every night and we're ready to compete, starting on the defensive end, we're going to give ourselves a chance," Gasol said. "Hopefully we're going to carry that into the next round and to a championship. That's something we need to do consistently, no matter what, no matter where we play."

This one was practically over before the fans settled into their seats.

With Houston missing its first 12 shots, Los Angeles used two Houston turnovers and a blocked shot in racing to an 8-0 lead. Gasol blocked a shot by Scola and fed Bryant for a layup. Scola's turnover led to Ariza's tip-in of Gasol's miss. A turnover by Brooks set up Ariza's 3-pointer, forcing Houston to call timeout with 9:32 to go in the quarter.

Houston missed seven shots during the next 2 1/2 minutes, and didn't get on the scoreboard until Brooks made two free throws just more than five minutes in.

"Coming in here for Game 7, we knew they were going to give us their best shot, especially in the first quarter," Battier said. "To be honest with you, we just didn't have energy to match it. Unfortunately, after we got past the first quarter we played them pretty straight up, but the damage had been done at that point."

During one sequence, Odom blocked a shot by Brooks, Bryant ended up with the ball and whipped a crosscourt pass to Ariza for a 3-pointer and a 13-2 lead.

It wasn't until then that the Rockets made their first basket, a layup by Chuck Hayes.

Houston made only 5 of 20 shots in the first quarter, while the Lakers had 17 rebounds, including 12 on defense.

The Lakers were up 22-12 at the end of the first quarter and steadily pulled away.

Leading by 19, the Lakers scored six straight late in the quarter. Bryant stole a pass and fed Ariza for a slam dunk, bringing Jack Nicholson out of his courtside seat.

It was 51-31 at halftime.

"Obviously, the Lakers are more experienced than us, but I thought we were the better team," Artest said. "I thought it was a good learning experience for these guys. They've been through a Game 7. Most young teams get swept. That will really help the Rockets in the future."

RP team seeks semis vs. Qatar

JAKARTA—FROM a team with little expectations, the Philippines has started to raise the bar with an eye on the ultimate prize in the 20th FIBA-Asia Champions Cup.The Smart Gilas Pilipinas national team solidified its growing stature as a title contender with a 98-93 win over Qadsia of Kuwait Saturday night after trailing by 18 points in the first half.

“We’re a very young team and I’m not expecting for us to go into the semifinals,” said RP coach Rajko Toroman after the Filipinos closed out their elimination-round campaign second behind Iran’s Mahram Tehran in Group A.

“But of course, everyday I’m setting my goal a little bit higher. Why not do something special for the Philippines? And that special thing is going to the finals,” added the Serbian mentor, who last year guided Iran to a breakthrough stint in the Beijing Olympics.

But first the Filipinos have to hurdle Al Arabi of Qatar in one of the four knockout quarterfinal matches set late Sunday night.

In the other quarterfinal pairings, Iran takes on India’s Young Cagers (Group B No. 4), Al Riyadi of Lebanon (A-No. 3) meets Satria Muda of Indonesia (B-No. 2) and Zain of Jordan (B-No. 1) tackles Sangmu of Korea (A-No. 4).

If the Filipinos hurdle Qatar, which has been consistently using only six players in its rotation, they will face the winner of the Jordan-Korea duel in the semifinals.

Today is a rest day with the semifinals set on Tuesday and the title game on Wednesday.

“We have to win, we have to show our character because we are already in the quarterfinals,” said Toroman as he looked forward to meeting Qatar with a full lineup. “We’re treating every game now just like the final game in the Olympics. We want to learn and we want to get the experience.”

Already assured of a quarterfinal slot before the match with winless Kuwait, the Filipinos rested their injured import CJ Giles and skipper Chris Tiu.

Giles, who strained his left quadriceps against Lebanon, was given a clean bill of health but team physicians Albert Rolle and Jimbo Saret decided to rest the 6-foot-11 import. A recurring leg injury also sidelined Tiu.

Kuwait surprised the Filipinos with a sizzling 19-4 start behind American imports Michael Harris and Joel Box.

Their offense stymied by the leech-like defense thrown at Mark Barocca, the Filipinos trailed 27-9 before moving to within three at halftime, 46-49.

The scores:

SMART GILAS-RP 98—Casio 21, Baracael 19, Ababou 16, Jazul 9, Barocca 9, Ramos 7, Guevarra 6, Slaughter 6, Ballesteros 5, Cawaling 0.

QADSIA-KUWAIT 93—Harris 32, Box 21, Albrahim 12, Al Hamidi 9, Saeed 9, Ruad 6, Mohammad 2, Abdullah 2, Hassan 0, Alajmi 0, Al Zafiri 0, Al Rashidih 0.

Quarters: 16-31, 46-49, 69-76, 98-93

Do or die for Lakers in Game 7

By Mike Bresnahan
May 17, 2009
Nobody talked about Saturday's practice possibly being the last of the Lakers' season, though it hung in the air, an uncomfortable guest during video sessions, a quick round of shooting and as the players went their separate ways after leaving the team's training facility.Few people would have predicted a Game 7 in the Western Conference semifinals, particularly after Houston center Yao Ming went down after Game 3, but here the Lakers are, forced to extend themselves to the max a month before many forecast they would be beating Cleveland for their 15th NBA championship.Players are typically reluctant to admit there's pressure on their team, but there will be plenty on the Lakers today if they want to get to the next round against Denver, much less the NBA Finals.

"A lot," Kobe Bryant said. "We're supposed to be there. As players, you have to respond. If you're to be the NBA champion, you've got to be able to respond to situations like this."

That the Lakers are in this situation in the first place can be traced to a host of realities.They haven't been able to control second-year point guard Aaron Brooks, who has averaged 18.8 points and 2.5 assists this series only three months after being handed the starting job. (How unexpected is his success? He's not one of the seven players pictured on the cover of the Rockets' 2008-09 media guide.)

Derek Fisher has averaged only 5.2 points while shooting 29.4% in this series and has had trouble defensively with Brooks. The Lakers' big men haven't been as effective as expected down low against the Rockets' undersized front court.

Steps have been taken to remedy the above. At least, that's the Lakers' hope.

After Saturday's practice, Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol put in extra work on pick-and-roll defense with Lakers assistant coach Kurt Rambis, part of a concentrated attempt to "control Brooks," Gasol said.

"He has been feeling comfortable, especially at home, finding a lot of good looks and penetrating," Gasol said. "If we contain, then we have a lot of ground gained."

Fisher's minutes have been cut to only 19.7 a game the last three games while Jordan Farmar has averaged 21.3 minutes and Shannon Brown 16.7 minutes over the same span.

"[Fisher] says he's ready to play and he's got his shot back," Lakers Coach Phil Jackson said. "We count on him. We believe in him."

Bynum has been scoreless in three of the games in this series, but there seemed to be some support to get him more touches in the post.

"The guys just have to look for him," Jackson said. "He's a great target, he's got a big body. If he asks for the ball and guys rotate off him, we've got to get him the basketball. He's open in certain situations."

Said Farmar: "We have to go inside to Pau and Andrew and let them play, no matter if they miss three or four. We have to get [Houston] in foul trouble."

Meanwhile, the Rockets have persevered without Yao, Tracy McGrady and Dikembe Mutombo, most recently answering their 40-point loss in Game 5 with a 95-80 victory Thursday in Game 6.

Spoilers? It's obviously possible.

The Rockets haven't been to the West finals since 1997.

"L.A. is the top team in the West and the top team in the East is Cleveland. That would be a great matchup," Brooks said. "But we're in a good position to try and spoil that."

It's been a busy 20 years for the Lakers, what with seven Finals appearances and three championship parades, but they haven't done a lot of Game 7s.

Federer against Nadal again, in Madrid Finals

MADRID (AP)—Roger Federer will face Rafael Nadal for a championship.On clay. In Spain.

The two rivals set up their first clash since the Australian Open when Nadal saved three match points to beat Novak Djokovic 3-6, 7-6 (5), 7-6 (9) on Saturday.

Playing their fourth match this year, they needed a Masters Series record 4 hours, 3 minutes to decide matters at the Magic Box tennis center. Federer beat Juan Martin del Potro 6-3, 6-4 in their semifinal.

Top-ranked Nadal’s 33rd straight win on clay lifted him into his seventh final this season, but he will be nursing a right knee injury into Sunday’s match.

Federer has lost his last five matches against Nadal, including the finals at the French Open, Wimbledon and Australian Open in February, when the Swiss player was in tears after the defeat.

“What’s important for me is to get past that semifinal hurdle that I haven’t been able to get past in the last couple of months,” Federer said ahead of their 16th meeting in a final. “I feel like playing him anywhere is a challenge. The extra flair here is that it’s in Spain.”

Nadal, who won in the Spanish capital in 2005 when the event was played on indoor hard court, is 9-1 on clay against Federer, who didn’t doubt Nadal would be in top shape for the pair's first match in Spain.

“They asked me the same question in Australia,” said Federer, who faced Nadal after he had won a grueling five-set match against Fernando Verdasco. “I think with the adrenaline and the crowd he’s going to be the Rafa we know tomorrow.”

It’s the mental aspect that Federer will have to prepare for as he comes face-to-face with Nadal for the first time since the Spaniard denied him a chance to equal Pete Sampras’ record of 14 Grand Slam wins.

Djokovic was also left red-eyed after feeling in control for most of Saturday’s match.

“It’s frustrating when you play so well and you can’t win,” No. 4-ranked Djokovic said.

Nadal complained of discomfort in his right knee before the match, which hampered his ability to move as he made uncharacteristic errors that allowed for an early break in the first set.

Nadal had his leg wrapped in the second set before leveling.

In the deciding tiebreaker, Djokovic watched Nadal hit forehand winners down the near line to save his first two match points. The Serb then beat Nadal with a passing shot to save a match point of his own.

But leading 9-8, Djokovic sent the ball out and then netted on Nadal’s next match point to end the longest three-set match in the history of Masters tournaments, the ATP level below the Grand Slams.

“I love these matches, it’s very special to play these matches,” said Nadal, who improved to 27-1 in clay semifinals. “If I don’t fight here, when am I going to fight?”

Despite 50 unforced errors against Djokovic, Nadal’s perseverance paid off as he rallied the 12,500 spectators with crucial winners to reach his 26th clay-court final. He has won 25 of those.

Djokovic, who missed a chance to take the No. 3 ranking from Andy Murray, added his latest loss to Nadal to those recently in the Olympics, the Davis Cup, and finals at Monte Carlo and Rome.

“I played one of my best on this surface, so … I don’t think you need my comments, you saw everything,” Djokovic said. “A couple of points decided the winner.”

Federer improved to 5-0 against del Potro, who has yet to take a set off the former No. 1. He will be going for his 15th Masters title—and first in nearly two years—which would allow him to equal the 22-year-old Nadal’s tally. Only Andre Agassi has won more with 17.

Filipino citizenship for Roach?

MANILA, Philippines -- It’s time for the man behind Manny Pacquiao’s legendary triumphs in the ring to take center stage.Just as everybody appeared to be in awe of the Filipino boxing champion’s feat, a lawmaker has proposed to give due recognition to Pacquiao’s long-time coach, American Freddie Roach.

In filing House Resolution 1142, Congressman Edgar San Luis of Laguna called on the House of Representatives to confer honorary Philippine citizenship on Roach.

”Behind Manny Pacquiao’s legendary boxing triumphs is his 49-year-old American coach Freddie Roach, who over the years has masterfully sharpened the skills of the Filipino boxing icon to become one of the greatest fighters in the history of the sport,” the congressman said in his resolution.

Roach, who has been Pacquiao’s trainer-coach for years, “has equally shown his deep understanding of our people . . . that he has easily become a part of the local community without as much raising any negative issue,” San Luis said.

"F1 politics" worries Hamilton

LONDON - Reigning world champion Lewis Hamilton has admitted the predominance of politics in Formula One has left him feeling disillusioned with the sport.Hamilton, 24, claimed his maiden world crown for McLaren in spectacular style last season, however the Englishman's blossoming career has already been blighted by controversy.

McLaren were fined a record 100 million dollars by the sport's world ruling body the FIA after they were found guilty of stealing secrets from Ferrari - an affair which came to be known as 'spy-gate'.

In another, more recent, affair which came to be known as 'liar-gate', Hamilton was found guilty of misleading stewards after the Australian Grand Prix in March - which led to the Briton making a dramatic public apology.

Hamilton says what happened in Australia "was wrong", but a few months down the line he admits those battles with officialdom have left him disillusioned with the sport he joined as a promising rookie driver in 2007.

"It's got to be a similar feeling to anyone who goes to jail but feels they shouldn't be behind bars," Hamilton told The Times on Friday.

"That is the feeling I have had, although I know what happened in Australia was wrong.
"I just feel knocked about by it all. I want to be a driver - I am not in the sport to be a politician.

"It hasn't affected my driving. I won't allow anything to affect my driving. But it affects your life, it affects the way you are. I used to enjoy Formula One and part of that has been taken away from me."

Hamilton currently sits seventh in the drivers standings on only nine points, 32 shy of championship-leading compatriot Jenson Button.

In the meantime some of the sport's biggest teams, including Ferrari and Renault, are battling the FIA's plans to introduce controversial budget caps of 40 million pounds (60.7 million dollars) for each of the teams as of the 2010 season.

The FIA laid down the new restrictions as a response to the global financial downturn which has ensured that F1 must rein in its expenditure.
Hamilton added: "I never imagined there would be so much politics when I came into Formula One. It definitely was a shock. There has been too much time taken up with it.

"Unfortunately, it is the way the Formula One world works for some reason. It's much nicer in the lower categories, where all the people are there just to race and the teams are there just to race."

Federer, Nadal win again in Madrid Open

MADRID (AP)—Roger Federer’s dominance of Andy Roddick continued on clay after the world No. 2 beat the American 7-5, 6-7 (5), 6-1, while Rafael Nadal stayed perfect against Fernando Verdasco with a 6-4, 7-5 victory to also reach the Madrid Open semifinals on Friday.

Federer improved to 18-2 against Roddick after their first career meeting on dirt.

“His game translates well to most anything,” said the sixth-seeded Roddick.

Nadal’s 32nd straight clay win improved him to 9-0 against Verdasco, with three of those victories coming this year.

Nadal will play Novak Djokovic, another regular foe, after the third-seeded Serb dispatched wild card Ivan Ljubicic 6-4, 6-4.

“The more matches that I play against him, the more chances I have to prove something more to myself and to everybody else,” said Djokovic, who has lost to Nadal three times this year. “I know that just a couple of points here or there will decide the winner.”

Top-ranked Dinara Safina advanced to the women’s semifinals with a 6-4, 6-3 win over Ukrainian Alona Bondarenko, and will play Switzerland’s Patty Schnyder, who beat fourth-seeded Jelena Jankovic 7-6 (6), 6-3.

Amelie Mauresmo will face Denmark’s Caroline Wozniacki in the other semi.

Federer, who won here in 2006 when the tournament was played indoors on a hard court, broke Roddick for the second time in the 11th game before serving out the first set.

Roddick saved three break points in the ninth game of the second set to hold on for a tiebreaker, where the American rallied from 3-0 down to even the match.

Federer stopped Roddick’s momentum with an early break in the third set and used his serve to hold on for the win.

“It was a close match. I bounced back well in the third (set),” said Federer, who had 15 aces. “I feel I have decent control over the ball this week.”

Fourth-seeded Andy Murray was playing No. 5 Juan Martin del Potro later to decide Federer’s next opponent.

After taking the first set, Nadal fell behind 4-0 before rallying to 4-4 with the help of Verdasco’s seven double-faults.

Nadal smacked a cross-court winner to hold his serve after a back-and-forth 11th game and, after breaking Verdasco for the fourth time, improved to 149-4 on clay since 2005.

Safina overcame a letdown after a blazing start against 46th-ranked Bondarenko and took the opening set with a break in the 10th game.

“I had a bad call from the umpire and I lost a little bit of concentration,” Safina said of blowing a 3-0 lead. “But I found my game and I’m playing every match better and better.”

Schnyder’s high balls troubled Jankovic. The fourth-ranked Serb committed 35 unforced errors while Schnyder hit 29 winners.

Mauresmo rallied for a 5-7, 6-1, 6-1 win over Agnes Szavay of Hungary, while the ninth-seeded Wozniacki beat Russian qualifier Vera Dushevina 6-0, 6-4.

RP team beats Lebanon

JAKARTA – It will definitely be a different atmosphere out there without CJ Giles.
With the 6-foot-11 Giles limping on the floor, the Smart Gilas Pilipinas National Team put up a gallant stand and survived Al Riyadi Beirut of Lebanon, 91-86, Friday to gain respect in the Fiba-Asia Champions Cup at the Britama Arena here.

Giles collided with Nate Johnson in mid-air and crashed, hurting his left knee and straining the entire leg that rendered the American import immobile for several minutes and prompted RP coach Rajko Toroman to alter his battle plans.

Good thing Mark Barocca, Dylan Ababou and Chris Tiu responded to the challenge while Aldrech Ramos and Jason Ballesteros combined their efforts on trying to push 6-foot-11 Chris Charles and Johnson out of the paint.

``Today, you saw that we're having a hard time without CJ,'' said Toroman. ``But I'm very proud of my players. They showed a lot of character out there.''

Giles was carried out of the court with the Philippines ahead, 56-46, five minutes and 38 seconds remaining in the third and had his swollen knee treated by team therapists.

Against Kuwait Saturday, Toroman said Giles would not suit up, hoping that the high-flying Smart Gilas import would be back in shape in time for the quarterfinals on Sunday.

``We don't know the extent of his injury but definitely he will not play against Kuwait,'' said Toroman after Giles was brought to the Sieta Mitra Hospital to diagnose the hurting leg. ``I hope it's nothing serious.''

``If he (Giles) couldn't play, the other big guys will definitely get a lot of minutes. The result? We'll see,'' said Toroman of his team also backed by Accel, Molten, Burlington, Cebu Pacific and Collezione by Rhett Eala.

Barocca exploded for 28 points, 17 of them in the first half when Smart Gilas opened up a 49-34 lead. After Giles went down, Lebanon snared the opportunity and erased the double-digit deficit with Johnson and Charles on the firing end.

``We played with heart and passion. We surprised Lebanon and it's a big win for us,'' said Toroman, who was also surprised with the unexpected performance of his local crew after Smart Gilas notched its second win in three games.
On Lebanon's part, the team missed its best homegrown player, Fadi El-Khatib, who sustained back spasms following a bad fall against Korea the other day.

Without El-Khatib, Johnson, a former San Miguel Beer import in the PBA, and Charles imposed themselves in the shaded area and even put Lebanon ahead, 63-62, on Johnson's long three, a minute left in the third.

With the game tied at 65, Ramos drained two crucial mid-range jumpers and added a putback off a Barocca miss for Smart Gilas to seize control, 73-67. It was then that Toroman decided to put Giles back on the battlefield with half of his leg covered with plaster.

The crowd erupted in glee as Giles gamely challenged Charles and fueled the entertainment when the wounded import caught a lob from Barocca and jammed the leather over two Lebanese defenders.

Giles drilled another jumper despite carrying his other leg for an 84-72 Smart Gilas lead that coerced Al Riyadi to push the panic button. Johnson's back-to-back threes hardly helped Lebanon's cause as there was not enough time to mount another uprising.

Barocca's floater with 37.6 seconds left and free throws by JVee Casio and Giles sealed Lebanon's second defeat in four games.

Scores:
SMART GILAS 91—Barocca 28, Giles 20, Ababou 17, Ramos 8, Tiu 8, Casio 6, Baracael 2, Cawaling 2, Jazul 0, Guevarra 0, Ballesteros 0, Slaughter 0.

AL RIYADI 86—Johnson 43, Charles 21, Fahed 8, Mahmoud 6, Ibrahim 5, Feghali 3, Balaa 0, Yehia 0, Turk 0, Fakhreddine 0, Hijazih 0.
Quarters: 26-15, 49-34, 65-all, 91-86

Lakers-Rockets game 6 draws highest viewers

Game 6 of the Western Conference semifinal series between the Los Angeles Lakers and Houston Rockets was the most watched basketball game ever on ESPN.The Rockets' 95-80 victory on Thursday drew 7.35 million viewers, topping the 6.6 million that watched Miami beat Detroit in Game 6 of the 2006 Eastern Conference finals.

The game earned a 5.4 national rating and a 16.0 rating in Houston, ESPN's highest local rating for an NBA telecast. ESPN's audience for its six conference semifinal games is up 16 percent from last year.

The rating is the percentage of all homes with televisions tuned into a program, while the share is the percentage of all TVs in use at the time.

Nowitzki to stay in Dallas

DALLAS -- Dirk Nowitzki is the backbone of the Dallas Mavericks, the first MVP in franchise history and the career leader in pretty much every scoring category. All that's missing is a championship, and he's not interested in going anywhere else to get one."After I played here for 11 years -- played hurt, played sick, whatever they needed me to do, basically playing my heart [out] for the last 11 years -- I don't think it would feel the same way somewhere else," Nowitzki said. "It's always been my dream here to finish my career and win a championship. I think my window has not closed yet and I'll still see what we can do."

Nowitzki inadvertently raised the question of how long he was willing to stick with the organization while describing his disappointment over falling short again this season.After the Mavs were eliminated by Denver on Wednesday night, then again during a wrapup interview Thursday, Nowitzki mentioned several times that this was his 11th season and that he'll be turning 31 in a few weeks. He talked about the window of opportunity starting to close, calling every title-less season a waste. He also said he understands that 36-year-old Jason Kidd might sign with another team he considers closer to winning a championship.

So, does all that mean Nowitzki thinks the Mavs are far from winning a title? That time is running out for him? Or maybe that he's running out of patience?

No, no, no.

"I always said I'd love to finish my career here and bring this franchise a championship," he said. "I still feel like I have a good three, four years left of solid basketball. I don't want to feel overanxious and put my pressure on myself. I'm going to be ready to play and I'm going to work hard again this summer and do more of the same again next year."

Nowitzki noted that he could opt out of his contract in 2010 "if I wanted to," but he didn't say it in a threatening way.

In fact, he tempered the thought by adding, "I never really thought about it this way."

Nowitzki is coming off perhaps his best year other than his MVP season of 2006-07.

He averaged 25.9 points and 8.4 rebounds and was first-team All-NBA -- or, as coach Rick Carlisle put it, he was voted "the best power forward on the planet."

His numbers were down in the first round of the playoffs because San Antonio based its defense around slowing him. Then, facing single coverage from the Nuggets, he averaged 34.4 points, scoring 44 in Dallas' lone victory. He did it while dealing with his girlfriend getting arrested at his home, bringing unwanted attention on his very private non-basketball life.

"It takes a strong individual to go through what he did and then carry us on his back through this whole playoffs," teammate Jason Terry said.

Part of Nowitzki's devotion to Dallas stems from his confidence in owner Mark Cuban and front-office boss Donnie Nelson.

"It's pretty obvious [Cuban] wants to win -- getting in fights with people in the stands, being fired up about every loss," Nowitzki said, laughing. "I think he wants to win as much as I do. He made all the right statements that we're trying to improve the team this summer."

If it was up to Nowitzki, the Mavericks' offseason plan would start with keeping Kidd.

"His leadership on and off the floor has been great," Nowitzki said. "He's showed that even though he's a little older that he's a warrior. He played 40-some minutes the last couple of months when we needed to win games."

Next, Nowitzki would make sure to "keep some of the core guys and just add pieces." He'd like better defenders, more 3-point shooters and some young, fast, leapers so Kidd "can actually throw some lobs on the break."

"It really showed in the second round that we need some athleticism," he said. "Denver was just stronger and faster, it felt like, at every position."

As for Nowitzki's offseason, he's expecting the German national team to ask him to play in the European championships. He's not sure he wants to after reaching the pinnacle of playing in the Olympics last summer.

"That was one of the greatest times of my life," he said. "It's hard for me to imagine ... starting all over again. I'll just have to wait and see. The good thing is that it's not until September. By that time, knowing me, I'll probably be in the gym for a couple months anyway." (AP)

Rockets tied series 3-3, force game 7

HOUSTON -- The Houston Rockets came up with one more stunning victory to set up a final showdown with the Los Angeles Lakers.Aaron Brooks scored 26 points, Luis Scola added 24 points and 12 rebounds, and the scrappy, undermanned Rockets pushed the top-seeded Lakers to the brink in their Western Conference semifinal series with a 95-80 win in Game 6 on Thursday night.Reserve Carl Landry scored 15 as the Rockets built another huge lead in the first half, then fought off a Lakers rally to force Game 7 on Sunday at the Staples Center.

Kobe Bryant scored 32 and Pau Gasol added 14 for Los Angeles, which lost for only the third time in the last 18 games when it has a chance to close out a series.

The Lakers have one more opportunity to finish off Houston, but they probably didn't expect to need it, three games after Yao Ming exited the series with a broken left foot.

"We still have no chance," Brooks said with a huge smile. "We'll keep playing, though."

The winner will play the Denver Nuggets, who finished off Dallas on Wednesday night and now have a few extra days to rest.

Ron Artest pumped his fist and Scola embraced Brooks near midcourt as the final buzzer sounded and the Lakers walked off the court with their heads down.

Los Angeles won Game 5 by 40 points, matching Houston's worst playoff loss.

The Rockets came out dominant instead of demoralized on Thursday night. They put together a near carbon copy of the first half of Game 4, when they seemed to hit every open shot, smothered the Lakers on defense and built an 18-point halftime lead.

Bryant missed a halfcourt shot at the halftime buzzer in this one and angrily shook his head as he stormed off the court. The Rockets led 52-36 at the break -- one basket shy of the halftime score in Game 4.

On Sunday, Houston stretched its lead to 29 and cruised to a 99-87 win. This time, the Lakers made a game of it, opening the second half with a 16-2 spurt.

But Landry converted a three-point play to break the Lakers' momentum and Brooks sank a 3-pointer to help Houston rebuild its lead.

The Rockets hit their last eight shots in the third quarter and took a 75-65 lead to the fourth. Landry drove down the lane for a one-handed dunk with 6:56 left to put Houston up 81-71 and Bryant checked in after a long rest.

But Bryant missed four of his next six shots and Brooks scored eight points over the next five minutes to secure another surprise over the Western Conference's top seed.

"We got active again against Kobe. He's going to make some shots. We toughed it out in the fourth quarter," Brooks said.

The Lakers outrebounded Houston 45-39, but the Rockets scored 40 points in the paint and held Los Angeles to 36 percent shooting (30-for-84). The Lakers went only 5-for-23 from 3-point range.

Houston opened the game with a 17-1 burst, electrifying another red-clad capacity crowd at the Toyota Center.

Bryant made the Lakers' first field goal near the 6-minute mark, but Scola put in another short jumper to make it 19-3 -- one point better than Houston's opening run in Game 4.

Artest got a nice pass from Chuck Hayes and muscled inside for a layup to make it 21-3. The Lakers missed 14 of 20 shots in the quarter and trailed 27-15.

Shane Battier and Artest sank 3-pointers early in the second quarter, another good sign for Houston. The Rockets made 10 3-pointers in their Game 4 victory, but only five in Game 5.

Von Wafer, averaging only 6.6 points in the series, sank a 3 with 5:51 left in the half to put Houston ahead 42-25 and force Lakers coach Phil Jackson to use a timeout.

But Houston stayed in control and Bryant's frustration boiled over near the 2-minute mark.

With Artest blanketing him near midcourt, Bryant appeared to shove Artest and earned a technical foul. The temperamental Artest, ejected from Games 2 and 3, ran away to avoid a confrontation and Brooks sank the free throw for a 47-31 Houston lead.

Dwight led Orlando to force game 7 in Boston

ORLANDO, Fla. -- Dwight Howard demanded the ball, and delivered when the Orlando Magic gave it to him.Now he needs to back it up, one more time.

Howard had 23 points and 22 rebounds after challenging Stan Van Gundy's coaching strategy, and the Magic beat the Boston Celtics 83-75 on Thursday night to force a decisive Game 7.

"I just tried to be me," Howard said. "I just have to go out there and play and not worry about nothing."

And what did he learn from his comments?

"Biggest lesson?" Howard said. "Keep my mouth shut."

Rashard Lewis had 20 points, and Hedo Turkoglu made a 3-pointer to highlight an 11-2 run to close the game for the Magic, who haven't made it to the conference finals since 1996. But it was Howard who the Magic leaned on after he called out Van Gundy for not getting the ball enough in Game 5."I guess Dwight Howard was right," Celtics coach Doc Rivers said. "My gosh. He was unbelievable."

Rajon Rondo finished with 19 points, 16 rebounds and six assists, and Paul Pierce scored 17 for the Celtics, who led by 10 points in the second half before falling apart. Game 7 is Sunday in Boston.

The Celtics also failed to close out the Chicago Bulls in Game 6 of their first-round series, a triple-overtime epic. Boston will now go the distance in its first two series for the second straight year.

The two days off before Game 7 should give an older, worn out Boston team a chance to rest its tired legs. It's still not enough for Rivers.

"I would take a week off and do it like the Super Bowl," Rivers joked. "That would be terrific. But that's not going to happen."

Boston had chances.

The Celtics held the Magic scoreless for more than five minutes to start the third quarter, building a 10-point lead on a jumper by Glen "Big Baby" Davis. But Howard led the Magic back, with a backspin alley-oop from Turkoglu that highlighted a spurt to end the third quarter. Orlando took its first lead with 8:38 remaining in the fourth.

Pierce hit three straight jumpers to give Boston a 73-72 lead with about four minutes to play, but the Celtics were done in by their 3-for-18 shooting from 3-point range and 19 turnovers. Ray Allen missed all seven attempts from behind the arc.

"The offense definitely struggled," Pierce said. "But we still played enough defense to win the game. We turned the ball over too much."

Howard blamed Van Gundy for not getting the ball more after the Magic's Game 5 collapse, when they blew a 14-point lead in the fourth quarter.

"You've got a dominant player, let him be dominant," Howard said.

He came out trying to back up his strong words.

Howard scored the first eight points of the game for the Magic, including a pair of dunks that pumped some life into the home crowd. He finished 9-for-16 shooting.

Van Gundy said he didn't change his strategy at all, and compared Howard's comments to an argument between himself and his wife.

"When she gets on me for something, my first reaction is to blame someone else," Van Gundy said. "To make an excuse. To do something else, because I don't like being criticized. And I think when Dwight gets into a game, his first thing is, 'I don't want the blame.' This is just my guess.

"But when you step back and look at it, I usually realize the person who's been on me has a point. And then it's time to step up and do the job."

The Celtics were again the scrappier team for most of the night, diving for loose balls and outmuscling the Magic for rebounds. Pierce's layup capped a 13-2 run that pushed Boston's lead to 31-22 early in the second quarter.

It wouldn't last.

Finding their shots from outside, the Magic scored seven straight points, getting 3-pointers from reserves A.J. Johnson and Mickael Pietrus. Orlando eventually tied the game just before the half on a short jumper by Rashard Lewis, but Pierce's free throws helped put Boston ahead 46-45 at the break.