NBA Playoffs Results

vs(From the Associated Press) - Jamal Crawford saw the end to his series-long shooting slump coming, making a promise after the pregame shootaround: It’ll be back tonight.

Crawford then went out and finally played like the NBA’s sixth man of the year in the playoffs, scoring 24 points to help the Atlanta Hawks beat the Milwaukee Bucks 83-69 on Friday night to force a seventh game in the first-round series.

“I felt like I was letting everybody down the first few games, especially the last game,” Crawford said. “I haven’t slept much the last couple of days. Usually in that situation the next game can’t come fast enough.”

Crawford was coming off a miserable 4-for-18 shooting performance in Game 5, and wasn’t much better in the first four games.

Now he’s looking more like the instant-offense threat he was in the regular season, and the Hawks are back from the brink of an improbable first-round exit at the hands of a team that wasn’t expected to do much in the playoffs.

Hawks coach Mike Woodson told Crawford to just keep shooting.

“There’s going to be nights where he just doesn’t put it in the hole,” Woodson said. “But tonight, he was there when we needed him.”

Game 7 is Sunday in Atlanta.

Carlos Delfino scored 20 for the Bucks, who came into the game hoping to finish off their heavily favored opponent but instead went completely flat coming out of halftime and couldn’t pull off a late rally attempt.

Bucks coach Scott Skiles said his team looked “panicky” at times, especially on offense.

“It’s the first time we’ve been in this type of game and we didn’t react nearly as well as we would’ve liked to have reacted, that’s for sure,” Skiles said. “Now we’ve got to find a way to go down there and get another one.”

It was an ugly night for two of the Bucks’ top offensive threats, John Salmons and Brandon Jennings.

Jennings scored 12 points on 4-for-15 shooting, including 1 of 9 from 3-point range. The rookie missed his first six shots and made questionable decisions with the ball after playing well through most of the first five games of the series.

“It’s Game 7 now,” Jennings said. “We worked so hard for this. We’ve got to go in there and know that we can win. We didn’t prepare all year just to get to the playoffs and then just say forget it.”

Salmons finished with eight points on 2-for-13 shooting.

Joe Johnson scored 22 points, and Al Horford had 15 points and 15 rebounds for Atlanta.

The Hawks outscored the Bucks 29-11 in the third quarter to take a 15-point lead, as Milwaukee made only 3 of 17 shots in the quarter.

The Bucks then tried to make a comeback in the last six minutes.

Milwaukee’s Jerry Stackhouse—who brought down the house by singing a soulful rendition of the national anthem before the game—made a 3-pointer, and the Bucks turned it into a four-point play when Kurt Thomas was fouled and hit a free throw.

Two more free throws by Stackhouse cut the lead to seven with 5:14 left, but Johnson hit a jumper and Crawford drove for a layup to put the Hawks back up by 11. Jennings answered with a layup, and Johnson missed a layup.

Jennings then missed a 3-pointer and Salmons got the rebound, but Josh Smith forcefully blocked Salmons’ shot and the Bucks couldn’t rally from there.

“The bottom line today is we brought our hard hats and not our fishing caps,” Smith said. “We established ourselves early. They gave us a fight, but we were just hungry tonight. I haven’t seen us play like this the whole series.”

Milwaukee led by three at the half, and Delfino hit a driving layup to begin the third quarter.

But the Bucks went silent for nearly 8 minutes from there, allowing the Hawks to go on a 19-0 run that included a steal and fast-break slam dunk by Smith, who fired up the crowd by posing and holding his hand to his ear. Smith has been booed relentlessly by Bucks fans after joking early in the series that there wasn’t anything to do in Milwaukee.

Milwaukee wasn’t expected to do much in this series, having lost center Andrew Bogut to a gruesome arm injury near the end of the regular season.

Atlanta took a 2-0 series lead. But then the series shifted back to Milwaukee, the Bucks asserted themselves on defense and won both games—then stole Game 5 in Atlanta with a late run.

“We just realize that we had a bad third quarter,” Thomas said. “We’re still confident as a team. We’ll regroup and we’ll play better on Sunday.”

vs(From the Associated Press) - The Los Angeles Lakers are moving on—battered and bruised, but not beaten.



Pau Gasol tipped in a missed jumper by Kobe Bryant with a half-second left and the defending champion Lakers survived a late comeback effort by Oklahoma City and eliminated the Thunder 95-94 in Game 6 of the first-round playoff series on Friday night.

“This is the playoffs. This is what it’s about,” Los Angeles coach Phil Jackson said. “When you have teams that have won 50 games in the course of a season like this Thunder team did, they have a sense of pride about them. They can play a game that’s obviously not far off of what our mark is or was this season.

“We said it was going to be tough, and it was a tough series.”

The Lakers were nearly pushed to the limit by eighth-seeded Oklahoma City, which won only 23 games last season before a 27-win improvement that was the best in the NBA. The Thunder climbed out of a seven-point hole with a 10-0 run in the fourth quarter but were held without a point over the final 2 1/2 minutes.

Gasol crashed to the rim at the right block and tipped in Bryant’s shot, then pumped both fists in celebration.

Russell Westbrook missed a desperation 3-pointer at the final buzzer for Oklahoma City.

The top-seeded Lakers face a quick turnaround before facing fifth-seeded Utah in Game 1 of the second round on Sunday in Los Angeles.

“It’s just sweet to win a ball game no matter what and to be able to close these guys out that were playing really, really well against us,” Gasol said.

Kevin Durant led the Thunder with 26 points on a dreadful 5 for 23 shooting night. Westbrook had 21 points and nine assists. The two combined to score every point in the rally that put Oklahoma City up 94-91 but then couldn’t close out the game.

“I’m a competitor. I want to win every game I play,” Durant said. “I want to be a champion, and stuff like this hurts. I work so hard, we work so hard as a group, that I think that every time we step on the floor we should win.”

It nearly happened.

After missing 17 of his first 20 shots, Durant broke through with a 3-pointer from the right wing that ignited the Thunder. Westbrook followed with a jumper, and his three-point play off a putback of his own miss put Oklahoma City ahead 92-91 with 3:04 to play.

Durant added a driving layup, and Bryant answered with an 18-foot jumper from the left side to make it 94-93 with 2:12 left. It then took Los Angeles five chances to deliver the knockout punch.

“It was tough to get a bucket because both defenses were just playing super hard and giving it all out there,” said Gasol, who was scoreless in the second half before the tip-in. “The last shot, I kept battling, kept hustling. I didn’t have a good second half, I didn’t have my best shooting night but I continued to work and continued to be effective rebounding and just keeping balls alive.

“Luckily, I pursued that ball and put it in and we won the ballgame.”

Bryant scored 32 points, Gasol had nine points and 18 rebounds and the Lakers’ reserves outscored Oklahoma City’s 30-16.

“Everyone expected us to be this greatest team since sliced bread, but we aren’t playing like that,” said Ron Artest, who was assigned to defend Durant throughout the series. “It’s great for us to get through it and understand that we’re not the best thing since sliced bread. We actually have to work.”

The extended series took its toll on a Los Angeles squad that already was nursing more than its fair share of injuries. Andrew Bynum played the second half with a brace on his right knee after he hyperextended it earlier in the game. Lamar Odom had a brace on his right knee, too. Artest sported a modified T-shirt with padding on his left shoulder that’s gotten a workout against Durant, the youngest player to win the NBA scoring title.

Bryant has a sore knee, ankle and index finger. Bynum just got back from a strained Achilles’ tendon that cost him the final 13 games of the regular season.

But less than 40 hours after finishing off the Thunder, the Lakers were due to start the second round back at home.

“We’ll be ready,” Bryant said.

vs(From the Associated Press) - The Utah Jazz avoided a dreaded return to Denver and clinched a trip to Los Angeles instead.

The Jazz outlasted the Nuggets 112-104 in a Game 6 full of fouls between the division rivals, clinching the first-round series
Carlos Boozer had 22 points and 20 rebounds, and rookie Wesley Matthews scored 13 of his 23 points from the foul line, where Utah shot 51 free throws— 39 on personal fouls and four more on technicals by the frustrated Nuggets.

“We had a difficult time trying to stop some of their people and we still found a way to win the ball game,” Utah coach Jerry Sloan said. “There isn’t a better feeling in the world from a coaching standpoint than watching these guys give all they had to win the game.”

Deron Williams added 14 points and 10 assists for the Jazz, who went on an 11-0 run after Carmelo Anthony had tied the game at 95-all midway through the final period.

Matthews went 13 for 15 from the free throw line as Utah persevered in the foul-filled game, making 34 of 51 free throws. He also had a key block on a shot by Anthony during Utah’s run that clinched it.

“Everybody played great. That’s the mark of our team this year. Guys step up when we need them to,” said Boozer, who made 10 of 14 shots. “We played tough. We made stops and we made Melo work for his shots.”

Chauncey Billups led Denver with 30 points and Anthony finished with 20 points on 6 for 22 shooting. Anthony also had 12 rebounds to lead Denver, which was outrebounded 44-39.

The Nuggets, playing without injured center Nene, avoided elimination with a win at Denver on Wednesday, but went 0-3 at Utah in the series.

“You have to give the Jazz credit. They stole home court and that proved to be the difference,” Billups said. “Sometimes when we play against very, very disciplined teams, we tend to break down. We should have been able to run on them but being in foul trouble so much it stops the running.”

Joey Graham scored 18 of his 21 points in the second quarter to get the Nuggets back in the game after they fell behind by 15.

Paul Millsap had 21 points, 11 rebounds and blocked three shots, Ronnie Price added 12 points and Kyle Korver scored 10 for Utah, which will face the Los Angeles Lakers in the second round. Jazz fans were already chanting “Beat L-A!” in the final minute.

The Lakers, who knocked the Jazz out of the playoffs the last two years, will host Game 1 on Sunday.

Williams finished the game with five fouls and was limited through much of the second half. He fell hard on his left arm, and the Jazz said he has a bruised left elbow. Williams was wincing as he made his way to the locker room while the rest of the Jazz celebrated.

Anthony chased Williams down and congratulated him with a quick hug outside the tunnel.

Denver was trying to force a Game 7 back at home Sunday. The Nuggets came pretty close despite falling behind by 15 early. They played with more cohesion than they had while losing Games 3 and 4 in Utah.

“It got a little frustrating at times. When things don’t go your way on the road, it’s frustrating,” Anthony said. “I’m proud of my guys for fighting out there. The energy, the effort—it was out there. Everything we asked for was given on the court.”

The Nuggets opened the third quarter with a 10-0 run and led by eight before Utah answered. Denver had a one-point lead early in the fourth quarter, then the Nuggets’ emotions started to cost them.

Millsap broke a 95-all tie with his second three-point play of the fourth, putting the Jazz up 98-95 with 6:22 remaining and starting an 11-0 run as the Nuggets began to unravel. Martin drew a foul and a technical for shoving Williams over the baseline on a drive with six minutes left and Utah leading 98-95. It was the third technical on Denver. Although Miles missed the technical free throw, Williams hit both from the line for a 100-95 lead for the Jazz.

Matthews came up with a huge defensive play when he blocked a shot by Anthony under the basket, then drew Anthony’s fifth foul when Billups was short on a 3-pointer with 4:55 left. Billups was called for a technical after the play and Matthews made the free throw, then two more to put Utah up 104-95.

“I wanted that opportunity. You live for moments like that,” Matthews said. “Growing up as a kid, you always want to go up against the best. You want to get the stops at the right time.”

Matthews added two more from the line with 4:23 left, and Utah’s lead was 106-95

Acting coach Adrian Dantley, Graham, Kenyon Martin and Billups all received technicals for Denver.

Dantley received Denver’s first after Anthony collided with Matthews and was called for an offensive foul with 4:13 left in the second. The Nuggets responded with a 13-0 run, including 11 straight by Graham whose putback got Denver within 53-52 with 58 seconds left in the second quarter.

“They’re a good team. We knew that they would make a run,” Korver said. “In the second half we just kind of slugged it out with them and made enough plays to win.”