NBA Playoffs Results

vs(From the Associated Press) - As the final seconds ticked down, Dwight Howard was back in his familiar spot on the bench and coach Stan Van Gundy was steamed at his superstar for fouling out again.

Then the buzzer sounded and the Orlando Magic became the first team to advance in the NBA playoffs.

Who needs Howard? Not these deep Magic—at least not in the first round.

Vince Carter scored 21 points, Jameer Nelson added 18 and the Magic showcased their depth and pressure shot-making in a 99-90 victory over the Charlotte Bobcats on Monday night to complete a sweep of their first-round series.

Howard was held to six points in his fourth straight game in foul trouble, but the Magic never flinched to accomplish their first four-game sweep in franchise history. Orlando will face the Atlanta-Milwaukee winner in the Eastern Conference semifinals.

“If you would have told me that he would have averaged well under 30 minutes for the series and we would sweep, I would have said you’re crazy,” Van Gundy said. “I think it’s a testament to our other guys.”

Howard did grab 13 rebounds, but was limited to 23 minutes before fouling out for the second straight game. The Magic, though, got key contributions and big shots from others.

Rashard Lewis scored 17 points, Matt Barnes added 14 and Orlando held Stephen Jackson to 2-of-11 shooting to overcome Howard’s 22 fouls in the series.

“He and I got into it a little bit,” Van Gundy said about their sideline exchange in the last minute. “It wasn’t a bad argument. My point was he was in the restricted area and he’s got to jump. He’s so frustrated now that what he was trying to say is it wouldn’t matter. But, well, let’s jump and find out. What he did was give them the call.”

Tyrus Thomas scored a career playoff-high 21 points for the Bobcats, whose focus will now immediately turn to nomadic coach Larry Brown’s future with the team.

Brown, who has had 13 pro and college coaching jobs, continues to be the focus of reports for openings around the NBA, including Philadelphia, where his wife and kids live.

But he repeated that he’ll only coach for Bobcats owner Michael Jordan.

“I’m not coaching anywhere but Charlotte,” Brown said. “Now am I going to go home and talk to my wife and kids? I’ll be 70 years old with two young kids. Am I going to talk to them and find out what I need to do and am I going to talk to Michael? Yeah, absolutely.”

Could that mean he’d retire or consider a front office job with another team?

“That’s hypothetical,” Brown said. “I love coaching more than anything, except my family maybe. … I’m really, personally, not ready to step down in terms of my desire to keep coaching.”

Brown was down after the 6-year-old Bobcats again wilted in a close game in their first playoff appearance.

After Charlotte cut Orlando’s lead to one on Tyson Chandler’s two free throws, Mickael Pietrus hit consecutive 3-pointers directly across the floor from Jordan’s seat to put the Magic ahead 83-76 with 5:47 left.

Nelson’s 3-pointer less than a minute later—after Gerald Wallace missed two free throws—put it away for the Magic, whose only previous playoff sweep was a 3-0 victory over Detroit in 1996.

“They’re better,” Brown said. “They know how to play playoff basketball. We haven’t figured it out yet.”

Charlotte’s offensive woes were magnified by Howard’s long absences.

The four-time All-Star’s endless foul trouble entering the game made him the focus of ribbing in the morning shootaround. Teammates told him instead of Superman, his nickname was now “Foul on You.” Howard played along in raising his arm and clenching his fist as if to call a foul.

The joking stopped when Howard was called for two fouls in 16 seconds in the first quarter, the second for tripping. He picked up his third for challenging D.J. Augustin after he had released a reverse layup that turned into a three-point play.

“It’s very tough out there,” Howard said. “There’s a lot of things I feel don’t go my way or our team’s way.”

With Howard on the bench, the Bobcats built a 38-31 lead on the strength of Thomas, who hit his first eight shots in his best performance since being acquired from Chicago in a trade-deadline deal.

Orlando cut the deficit to 45-43 at halftime and took the lead on a run that included Carter’s first made 3-pointer after an 0-for-15 start to the series.

Howard was called for his fourth foul on Raymond Felton’s drive with 6:58 left in the third quarter—and stayed on the bench for nearly 10 minutes.

The Magic hung on, and it could be a while before they play again. The Hawks-Bucks series is tied 2-2.

“We’re going to be well rested,” Howard said before laughing. “I’m going to be well rested.”

NBA Playoffs Results

vs(From the Associated Press) - In front of a boisterous, hostile crowd and facing a team in desperation mode, the Orlando Magic showcased their depth, grit and poise when it mattered most.

Imagine how good they could be if their superstar center played more than half the game.

No Dwight Howard(notes), no problem for the Magic, who got 32 points from sudden star Jameer Nelson(notes) to overcome another frustrating, foul-filled game by their big man in a 90-86 victory over the Charlotte Bobcats on Saturday.

Spoiling Charlotte’s return to the playoff stage after an eight-year absence, the Magic took a commanding 3-0 lead in their first-round series despite being without Howard for the final 3:32 after he fouled out.

“You’ve got to admire them with Dwight getting foul trouble and fouling out how they still didn’t fold,” Bobcats coach Larry Brown said. “They were disciplined and executed. They got a well-deserved win.”

For the third straight game and two days after Orlando was assessed $70,000 in fines for complaining about the officiating, Howard played about half the game, finishing with 13 points, eight rebounds and seven blocks.

After Howard was sidelined for good, Nelson had a key bucket and backup center Marcin Gortat(notes) hit two free throws with 12 seconds left to put it away.

The defending Eastern Conference champions can clinch a spot in the second round with a win in Game 4 on Monday.

“I think this is a big test for me, learning how to keep my composure in tough situations,” said Howard, who has played in only 83 of 144 minutes in the series because of chronic foul trouble. “Things may not go my way, but we’re playing for something bigger.”

Stephen Jackson(notes) scored 19 points, but was 6 of 18 from the field and missed a key 3-pointer in the final minute for the cold-shooting Bobcats, who face the prospect of a first-round sweep in their first playoff appearance.

Charlotte hadn’t hosted a playoff game since the Hornets’ last year here in 2002, and towel-waving, white T-shirt-clad fans arrived early for the team’s milestone moment.

But even with excited owner Michael Jordan squirming in his seat and relaying pointers to players from the end of Charlotte’s bench, the 6-year-old Bobcats wilted in a tight fourth quarter.

Gerald Wallace(notes) added 13 points on 4-of-12 shooting for Charlotte. Raymond Felton(notes) also scored 13, but shot 5 of 14 and again couldn’t contain Nelson.

“We’re not good enough to win with one or two guys playing at a high level,” Brown said.

Nelson’s floater in the lane with 1:32 left put Orlando ahead 85-82. After an empty possession for each team, Felton’s driving layup with 52 seconds left cut the lead to one.

Nelson then missed a contested layup, giving Charlotte the ball with 31 seconds left. But Jackson was badly short on a straightaway 3-point attempt.

It was a familiar sight: Charlotte was 5 of 23 from 3-point range.

“It was kind of hard to drive when you know Dwight’s there clogging the paint and nobody’s open,” Jackson said of all the 3-point attempts. “It’s hard not to take the shot.”

Vince Carter(notes) and Gortat combined to hit 5-of-6 free throws to put it away.

Nelson, who also scored 32 points in the series opener, hit 12-of-21 shots and 5-of-9 3-point attempts.

“In this series, when I get in the paint something good has happened for us,” Nelson said. “I just want to stay in attack mode.”

He had to after Howard fouled out after picking up his last two fouls in 11 seconds. The first came after he tangled with Tyson Chandler(notes) in the post on the offensive end, the second when he tried to contest Felton’s driving layup.

Felton’s ensuing free throw put Charlotte ahead 80-79.

The Bobcats immediately went small, putting in an extra guard, but Rashard Lewis(notes) responded with two strong drives to the hoop and four free throws to put Orlando ahead for good.

Lewis added 14 points for Orlando, which overcame 9-of-30 3-point shooting to outscore Charlotte 11-6 after Howard left.

The crowd was giddy when Howard had three fouls—and a technical to boot from referee Joe Crawford(notes)—with 10:40 left in the first half after getting called for an offensive foul tangling with Chandler in the post.

It didn’t matter early with Nelson dominating. As in Game 1, Nelson constantly beat Felton off the dribble for easy layups when he wasn’t hitting 3-pointers. His four-point play that included the sight of Felton flailing away in attempt to grab him, ended a 19-point, 7-for-7 first quarter.

With Howard on the bench, the Bobcats built a 41-33 second-quarter lead before Nelson got hot again in the third quarter in Orlando’s 11-0 spurt.

Then Howard was called for his fourth foul with 3:40 left in the third quarter.

“It’s tough not to get frustrated,” Howard said. “I don’t think you guys understand how it feels to get beat up every night. I just try to keep my composure.”

vs(From the Associated Press) - Brandon Roy(notes) was so antsy to return to the Trail Blazers that he campaigned via text message to coach Nate McMillan.

“Coach, I think I should play,” he texted on the eve of Saturday’s playoff game against the Phoenix Suns.

Luckily for the Blazers, McMillan agreed.

Roy was activated Saturday, then helped Portland to a 96-87 victory that evened the first-round series at two games apiece.

Eight days removed from arthroscopic surgery on his right knee, Roy made his surprising return to the court to the strains of the theme from “Rocky” blaring from the Rose Garden sound system, then went on hit a key 3-pointer late in the game that shifted the momentum squarely in the Trail Blazers’ favor.

“I just didn’t feel right sitting in the training room knowing that I could contribute—so I just had to keep begging coach,” Roy said afterward.

The first-round series now moves back to Phoenix on Monday night. It wasn’t supposed to include Roy, but things changed Friday.

McMillan said it was a “long, sleepless night” in deciding to play Roy, the team’s unquestioned leader. He even brought owner Paul Allen, the billionaire co-founder of Microsoft, in on the discussion.

“All kinds of things went through my head, thinking about the risk of him reinjuring himself,” McMillan said. “But our doctors didn’t feel like Brandon could hurt himself.”

LaMarcus Aldridge(notes), who had been double-teamed all series long without Roy, benefited the most from his return, with 31 points and 11 rebounds.

“As soon as he checked into the game, I got my first open shot with nobody guarding me, so I was thinking thank God he’s back,” Aldridge said.

Roy, who had the surgery to repair a torn meniscus, came into the game to a deafening ovation with 4:06 left in the first quarter and made a layup about a minute later to put Portland ahead 20-19.

Roy played a relatively quiet 26 minutes, but hit a 3-pointer with 4:55 left that gave Portland a 85-79 lead.

“I’d certainly say it gave them a lift,” Suns guard Steve Nash(notes) said. “More than anything it just gave everyone a boost in their spirit and attitude. That was good for the crowd and good for his teammates to have him out there.”

Amare Stoudemire led the Suns with 26 points.

After dropping the series opener 105-100 in Phoenix, the Suns cruised to a 119-90 home victory before beating the Blazers 108-89 in Portland to take the series lead going into Saturday’s game.

“We didn’t bring it, we just didn’t bring it,” Stoudemire said. “We realized how important the game was. We didn’t bring the effort, we didn’t bring the energy, we didn’t rebound, we didn’t attack. We had a chance to go up 3-1, which would have been great. Now we’ve got to go back to a must-win situation.”

The Suns in the previous two games had stymied Portland with an up-tempo pick-and-roll, kicking the ball out to Jason Richardson(notes), who had a career playoff-high 42 points in Game 3.

The Blazers caught on in Game 4, limiting Richardson to 15 points. Nash also had 15 points and eight assists.

“For us, the difference in the game was that we didn’t play with the energy that we needed to in order to beat this team,” Suns coach Alvin Gentry said. “And if you don’t, you struggle. I thought we had the pace of the game where we needed to have it at the start, but we ended up with 37 in the second half. You won’t be able to beat this team doing that.”

The Blazers were much more competitive at the start than they had been the past two games. Rudy Fernandez(notes) hit a 3-pointer that put Portland up 35-33 in the second quarter and the Blazers extended the lead to 51-45 with 2:09 left on Aldridge’s dunk.

The Suns kept it close, narrowing it to 52-50 on Grant Hill’s(notes) pull-up jumper before Marcus Camby’s(notes) tip-in put Portland up 54-50 at the half.

Richardson hit two consecutive 3-pointers to open the second half and gave Phoenix a 56-54 lead.

Portland responded, going up 70-64 on Jerryd Bayless’(notes) fast-break jumper, but the slight cushion was short-lived and Stoudemire’s hook tied it 74 early in the fourth quarter.

The Suns were unable to pull ahead, despite poor shooting by the Blazers from the field. Portland missed 12 straight shots but was able to stay in the game on the free throw line.

Then came Roy’s 3-pointer with 4:55 left to make it 85-79. He also made a pull-up jumper with 2:10 left that gave the Blazers a 91-83 lead, their biggest of the game.

Roy’s injury was the latest to strike the unlucky Blazers this season. Nicolas Batum(notes) missed 45 games to start the season after shoulder surgery, centers Greg Oden(notes) and Joel Przybilla(notes) both had season-ending knee surgery, Fernandez had back problems, and former Blazer Travis Outlaw(notes), later traded to the Clippers, was out for an extended period because of a foot injury.

Roy himself was out for 15 games because of a sore hamstring.

In all, 13 Blazers missed a combined 311 regular-season games, second only to Golden State this season. Only guard Andre Miller(notes) and forward Martell Webster(notes) played in all 82 games.

Roy, who for a long time had a note with the words “Stay Humble” in his locker, gave himself an average grade.

“For the first game in a couple of weeks I thought I did OK,” he said. “Once I get my rhythm back, I’m capable of making shots.”

NBA Playoffs Results

vs(From the Associated Press) - The Vince Carter(notes)-Dwight Howard duo again wasn’t so dynamic — just good enough to win.

For now, that’s all the Orlando Magic need.

Carter finished with 19 points, Howard scored 15 and the Magic took a 2-0 series lead with a 92-77 victory over the Charlotte Bobcats on Wednesday night.

“Fortunate thing for us,” Carter said, “is we have a lot of weapons.”

The Magic’s star combo was less than stellar, but took over when it counted most. They combined for 21 second-half points to help Orlando build a 20-point lead and hold on late.

Still, they know they’ll have to be better to compete for a title.

“I can’t allow it to frustrate me,” Howard said. “Really just trying to keep my head. It’s bigger than myself. We’re playing for something bigger.”

Charlotte is simply playing for a win.

Stephen Jackson(notes) showed no effects from his hyperextended left knee to score 27 points, and Gerald Wallace(notes) had 15 points for the Bobcats. But their 21 turnovers are a big reason why they’re heading home still searching for the franchise’s first playoff win.

Game 3 in the best-of-seven series is Saturday in Charlotte.

“They’re being more aggressive,” Jackson said. “They’re being the more physical team. They’re making the first hit. They’re just out there playing like they want to win more than we do. We’re waiting until they hit to respond, and then it’s too late.”

This one wasn’t the prettiest playoff basketball.

The Bobcats went more than eight minutes to start the game with only three points, and had just one field goal with six turnovers during the stretch. The goods news for them: The Magic were almost as bad early.

The first half was a turnoverfest for both teams, and nobody could consistently hit a shot. Things were so out of sorts that the normally sharpshooting J.J. Redick(notes) even badly missed the free throw from Charlotte coach Larry Brown’s technical foul in the second quarter.

The Magic were 24 for 35 on free throws, while the Bobcats were 13 for 18. That wasn’t enough for Brown.

“We had three players that played tonight that got to the foul line, and one of them took one shot, one free throw,” he said. “Can’t play that way. Maybe we’ve got to get more respect, I don’t know.”

The Magic put together the closest thing to a run, and they slowly went ahead 41-30 at the half on Ryan Anderson’s(notes) 3-pointer. With Charlotte’s 14 first-half turnovers, though, they could’ve been up more.

Eventually, they would. The Magic’s star pairing finally showed up.

Howard used a drop step, spun right and hammered home a rim-rocking dunk over Tyson Chandler(notes) that started a big Magic push. He had nine points in the first five-plus minutes of the third before picking up his fourth foul, again relegating him to the bench.

Then, Carter took the reins.

Orlando’s biggest offseason acquisition, Carter sliced his way through the lane for several layups late in the third quarter. He anchored a run that put the Magic ahead 75-55 after three quarters with their entire bench standing, waving towels, shouting and smiling as they pulled ahead big.

After Charlotte trimmed the lead to eight with 3:16, Carter followed with a jumper. Then Jackson missed a layup, and Jameer Nelson(notes) raced down court to convert a three-point play that sealed Orlando’s win.

Jackson stood with his head band knocked sideways, pleading with official Bennett Salvatore for a whistle. It wouldn’t come.

“I knew my headband didn’t get knocked off by itself,” Jackson said.

The Magic now find themselves in a position that was unfamiliar in last year’s NBA finals run: a little series cushion.

They were down 2-1 to Philadelphia, trailed Boston 3-2 and went down 2-0 to the Los Angeles Lakers in the finals. Beating Cleveland in the conference finals in six games was the only series Orlando didn’t trail in last season.

vs(From the Associated Press) - Tony Parker(notes) saw the crowd gathered around Richard Jefferson(notes) and couldn’t resist teasing him.

“Man, one big game,” Parker said, smiling. “Look at all this.”
Jefferson took it in stride. After all, he was probably glad Parker didn’t woof or bark.

Knowing he was among the guys Spurs coach Gregg Popovich thought “played like dogs” in the opener, Jefferson bounced back by scoring 17 of his 19 points in the first half to help San Antonio beat the Dallas Mavericks 102-88 in Game 2 on Wednesday night. The win ties their first-round series at a game apiece, with the next two games in the Alamo City.

“You could see it in his eyes that he was motivated,” Parker said. “Nobody likes to play bad and he knew he didn’t have a good first game. Knowing his mentality, we knew he was going to come back.”

Jefferson matched the measly four points he had in Game 1 points before some fans were even settled into their seats. He was 7 of 9 by halftime, and was at his best during a 12-1 run late in the second quarter that broke the game open for good. He got it started with a fadeaway jumper and a finger roll, then added a reverse layup after the Mavericks somehow lost track of him.

“My teammates were looking for me, coming off the pick-and-roll and throwing it back to me,” Jefferson said. “That’s pretty much my game. After I struggled the last game, I think there was a concerted effort to get me involved.”

Tim Duncan(notes) was San Antonio’s second-half star, scoring 17 of his 25 points then, often just in time to douse Dallas rallies. He also had 17 rebounds.

“We went to Tim just about every other time down the stretch,” Popovich said. “He came through by scoring and rebounding at the other end.”

Mavs star Dirk Nowitzki(notes) went from hardly missing in Game 1 to hardly making. The Spurs didn’t even smother him; merely knowing they were creeping his way threw Nowitzki out of whack. He missed six of his first seven shots, and even missed a free throw after having made 88 in a row.

“If they give me those same looks on Friday, I’ll take them,” said Nowitzki, who finished with 24 points, down from 36 in the opener.

The Mavericks played their best only after they seemed to have buried themselves—down 16-5 early, they got within one by the end of the quarter; down 80-60 late in the third quarter they scored 12 straight points; back down 13 early in the fourth, they clawed within five. However, they never led and have now given away home-court advantage.

Game 3 is in San Antonio on Friday night, and the folks down there are probably especially looking forward to seeing Mavs owner Mark Cuban, who fanned the flames of the rivalry in recent days by repeatedly saying, “I hate the Spurs.”

“We’ve lost at home to them many times, so we’ve just got to stay humble, keep working hard, knowing full well that it’s going to be a long series,” Manu Ginobili(notes) said.

San Antonio built its leads by playing smart.

The Spurs held onto the ball (only nine turnovers, down from 17 in Game 1), forced their way to the rim, then took advantage of the space that opened up for longer-range jumpers. In the game-breaking second quarter, their inside-out attack produced 34 points on 68 percent shooting.

“They were a hot-shooting team and we were unable to keep them from being a hot-shooting team,” Dallas coach Rick Carlisle said. “When the ball’s in the air, it’s anybody’s ball. They came up with all those plays. They got the loose balls and they were more opportunistic.”

Ginobili had 23 points, including a 3-pointer with 1:48 left that he punctuated with a celebratory punch as fans began rushing toward the exits.

Parker, still coming off the bench, had 16 points and eight assists.

None of the other “dogs” made a big dent in the stat sheet, but they didn’t have to. Jefferson filled the scoring void and everyone else filled their roles.

“We just played sharper than we did the other night, by that I mean not fouling and taking care of the ball,” Popovich said. “We were focused.”

Jason Terry(notes) was a non-factor most of Game 1 for Dallas, but he hit his first two shots and kept looking for his shot all night. He finished with 27 points. Caron Butler(notes) scored 17.

The Mavs got only five points from their center tandem of Erick Dampier(notes) and Brendan Haywood(notes), all from Haywood. Jason Kidd(notes) was 1 of 7 for five points and Shawn Marion(notes) had just six.

“When we’re cold on the offensive end we’ve got to dig in defensively a little bit better,” Haywood said. “We’ve got to lock up a little better and we didn’t do that tonight. They had way too many offensive rebound opportunities and they scored almost every time they got an offensive rebound.”

Sure enough, San Antonio scored 23 second-chance points, Dallas just nine. That 14-point difference matched the final margin.

NBA Playoffs Results

vs(From the Associated Press) - Andrew Bynum(notes) leaned over, his hands on his knees, his chest heaving from his first minutes of game action in nearly a month.

Other than being out of breath, Bynum displayed little rust in teaming with Pau Gasol(notes) to dominate the middle in the Los Angeles Lakers’ 87-79 victory against the Oklahoma City Thunder in their playoff series opener Sunday.

Bynum ignited the Staples Center crowd with a monster one-handed dunk over a defenseless Nenad Krstic(notes) in the second quarter that pushed the Lakers’ lead to 17.

“It kind of got me going,” Bynum said. “It hyped the team up. That’s the kind of player I can be—exciting.”

Gasol scored 19 points, Bynum added 13 and Kobe Bryant(notes) had 21 points on 6-of-19 shooting after missing four of the final five regular season games to rest his swollen right knee and broken right index finger.

“I just have less margin for error with the finger,” he said. “You just got to make adjustments, change your stroke up a little bit.”

Kevin Durant(notes) led the Thunder with 24 points on 7-of-24 shooting in his playoff debut—under the 30.1 average of the NBA’s youngest-ever scoring champion. Former UCLA star Russell Westbrook(notes) added 23.

“I was frustrated,” said Durant, who tossed up some airballs and went 9 of 11 from the line. “I was missing shots I normally make. They felt good leaving my hand. If I made 4-5 more shots, maybe it’s a different game.”

Bynum made a difference for the Lakers.

He returned from a 13-game absence because of a strained right Achilles’ tendon, teaming with fellow 7-footer Gasol to pull down a combined 25 rebounds and deny the Thunder key second-chance baskets. Bynum tied his career playoff high with four blocks.

“I had a couple little twinges, but nothing serious,” he said. “Conditioning in the first quarter was tough. The more I keep playing with this aggressive nature, I’ll get better.”

Game 2 in the best-of-7 series is Tuesday at Staples Center.

“We could’ve definitely played a lot better, but at this stage you just got to win games,” Bryant said. “It doesn’t really matter how.”

History is on the Lakers’ side against the NBA’s youngest team, with an average age of 25 years and 42 days. When coach Phil Jackson wins Game 1 of any series, his teams are 45-0.

“We eked the game out,” Jackson said. “In the second half, we played not up to what we want to play. The energy wasn’t what it could be.”

That wasn’t a problem in the beginning.

The Lakers came out blazing against the overwhelmed Thunder, pounding the ball inside to Bynum and Gasol while shooting 54 percent and taking a 27-13 lead in the first quarter.

“They really play off each other, take their time and shoot a high field-goal percentage,” Lamar Odom(notes) said. “They make the game easy for us as a team.”

In the playoffs for the first time since moving from Seattle two years ago, the Thunder shot 26 percent, leading to their fewest points in an opening period all season.

“Our effort was really good,” coach Scott Brooks said. “We just didn’t have anything going (offensively). We were holding the ball and standing around too much.”

Oklahoma City settled down the rest of the way, but never got closer than six points against the defending champions, who are seeking a third straight trip to the NBA finals.

“When you have Bynum, Gasol and Lamar Odom all in at the same time, I mean it’s a lot of reaching, a lot of hands and that’s a lot of length,” Westbrook said. “It’s tough for us, but I think we’re going to continue to play, continue to compete and we’ll have a chance.”

With Bryant, Gasol, Derek Fisher(notes) and Ron Artest(notes) on the bench to start the fourth, Jordan Farmar(notes) scored the Lakers’ first five points despite a strained left hamstring to stretch a six-point lead to 11.

Bryant and Odom hit consecutive 3-pointers, extending the lead the Lakers held the entire game to 77-66.

A pair of free throws by Durant got the Thunder to 79-73 with 3 1/2 minutes remaining. They never got any closer. Fisher hit a 3-pointer that pushed the Lakers’ lead to 84-74 before Bryant picked up his fifth foul.

“We could’ve came here and got a `W,”’ Durant said. “We just couldn’t get over the hump.”

Westbrook carried the Thunder early in the third, and Durant scored their final five points to leave them trailing 64-56 going into the final 12 minutes. Fisher, Artest and Odom were in foul trouble and Bryant scored a single point on a free throw as they played to a draw in the third.

The Thunder outscored the Lakers 26-20 in the second quarter, when Los Angeles got away from the inside game of Bynum and Gasol and settled for jump shots instead. Their 17-point lead dwindled to 47-39 at the break.

Westbrook scored the Thunder’s final eight points of the half and their first two of the third, drawing them within six.

vs(From the Associated Press) - Dwight Howard(notes) was slapped, scraped, pushed and punished. His frustration built, simmering so much that he was sidelined in foul trouble.

Superman was grounded.

Luckily for the Orlando Magic, they had Mighty Mouse back.

Jameer Nelson(notes) scored 24 of his 32 points in the first half, and the Magic nearly blew a 22-point lead with Howard out before beating the Charlotte Bobcats 98-89 in Game 1 of their first-round playoff series Sunday.

After missing the first three rounds of the playoffs last year recovering from right shoulder surgery, Nelson is healthy again and ready to redeem his NBA finals flop.

“In the finals, I wasn’t myself,” Nelson said. “Not making any excuses, I was out there, so I should have helped my team out a little better. But it feels great being able to help these guys, and not be out there in a suit cheering them on as much as I did last year.”

Nelson was sorely needed in this one.

Vince Carter(notes) was 4 for 19, finished with 12 points and fouled out late. Howard had nine blocks but was limited offensively. He said he was so overanxious and hyped up that he couldn’t sleep the night before, text messaging teammate Carter.

“He was like, ‘I’m trying to sleep.’ I was like ‘I’m sorry. I’m just hyped,”’ Howard said. “I get hyper. My teammates, they do a good job of calming me down. I just have to not get so frustrated.”

Gerald Wallace(notes) had 25 points, and Stephen Jackson(notes) played through a hyperextended left knee to finish with 18 points in the Bobcats’ first playoff game in franchise history.

And they looked like it early.

“We were a little nervous starting off the game, and they knew it,” Wallace said. “They took advantage of it. They came out and punched us in the mouth, they made shots and we didn’t. They built themselves a lead at home, and left us trying to find our way back.”

They almost did.

Charlotte swarmed and slapped Howard on every opportunity near the rim. The Hack-a-Howard approach left the All-Star with five points and seven rebounds, and he was 1 for 6 on free throws.

The Magic sputtered in his absence.

“Their big guys are going to hit him every chance they get. And if he gets one foul retaliating, they’ve done their job,” Magic coach Stan Van Gundy said. “He can’t get any of those. He’s just going to have to understand no matter how many times they hit him, he can’t hit back. We need him on the floor.”

Wallace’s free throws trimmed Orlando’s lead to 85-80 late in the fourth, and they had the Bobcats on the brink of a stunning upset.

Howard then returned with a put-back dunk, Mickael Pietrus(notes) had a 3-pointer and the Magic eventually went ahead 92-84 to put the game out of reach.

Even with a dreadful game offensively, Bobcats coach Larry Brown said Howard’s presence on the other end was too much to overcome.

“If I read the stats correctly, he got five points and he was the most valuable player,” Brown said.

Charlotte’s gritty comeback attempt at least provided them with some hope that this best-of-seven series might not be so lopsided when it resumes Wednesday in Orlando. That also gives Jackson, who will have an MRI on Monday, an extra day’s rest. But will he miss Game 2?

“No way,” he said.

Charlotte just needs to find a way to contain Nelson, too.

The speedy point guard left Raymond Felton(notes) and D.J. Augustin(notes) in the dust, much to the dismay of new Bobcats majority owner Michael Jordan sitting on the baseline. But Orlando imploded with Howard sidelined as Charlotte twice battled back from big deficits and overcame what could have been a catastrophic blow.

Wallace dived for a loose ball and collided with Jackson late in the second quarter, injuring his teammate’s knee. Jackson laid on the floor in pain, and Nelson pushed the ball down court to hit a 3-pointer at the first-half buzzer.

Jackson returned to score 10 points in the second half, but he sat out the final minutes of the fourth because of the injury, pleading with Brown to get back in the game.

“He’s mad at me,” Brown said. “I just didn’t feel comfortable putting him back on the floor.”

The Bobcats went down 65-43 on a 3-pointer by Lewis early in the third quarter. Howard would pick up his fourth foul, and the frustration began to set in for the Magic.

They just never slipped up enough to lose.

Nelson wouldn’t let them.

“I was just happy to have my little crib midget back,” Howard said, laughing. “He means a lot to our team. It just feels good seeing him out there.”