Wednesday Playoff Rundown0
Posted In Blog
The Los Angeles Lakers and Western Conference top seed San Antonio bounced back from disappointing playoff openers with game-two victories.
The Lakers, who are seeking a third straight NBA title on Wednesday, survived without much contribution from superstar Kobe Bryant to beat New Orleans 87-78, evening their best-of-seven first-round series at one game apiece.
Andrew Bynum had 17 points and 11 rebounds and Lamar Odom scored 16 points for the Lakers.
Ron Artest added 15 points and Los Angeles did a better job of defending Hornets star Chris Paul who still managed to score 20 points with nine assists.
Bryant scored only just 11 points and teammate Pau Gasol had another disappointing night, contributing only eight points.
The series shifts to New Orleans for game three on Friday.
San Antonio’s Manu Ginobili, who missed game one with a sprained elbow, finished with 17 points as the Spurs beat Memphis 93-87 to level their series at 1-1.
Tim Duncan and Richard Jefferson scored 16 points apiece for San Antonio. Duncan also added 10 rebounds and France’s Tony Parker finished with seven assists and 12 rebounds.
Sam Young had a team-high 17 points for the Grizzlies, who posted their first franchise playoff win in game one.
Marc Gasol had his second consecutive strong game for the Grizzlies, scoring 12 points and a grabbing a playoff team-record 17 rebounds.
Game three is on Saturday in Memphis.
In another Western Conference game, Kevin Durant scored 23 points, Russell Westbrook added 21 and the Oklahoma City Thunder defeated the Denver Nuggets 106-89 to take a 2-0 series lead.
The series now shifts to Denver for game three.
DP- @DCHRISTON
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