Stories related to: 2008 NBA playoffs

The San Antonio Spurs' Big Three came through, but they'll still have to win one on the road to keep their title defense alive. Manu Ginobili scored 25 points, Tim Duncan had 20 points and 15 rebounds, and Tony Parker added 15 points in the Spurs' 99-80 victory over the New Orleans Hornets in Game 6 last night. More »

David West and the New Orleans Hornets sure looked happy to be at home. West had career playoff highs of 38 points, 14 rebounds and five blocked shots, lifting New Orleans to a 101-79 victory over the San Antonio Spurs on Tuesday night and a 3-2 series lead. New Orleans looked impressive in winning the first two games at home but stumbled in San Antonio. More »

Back to even, and back to Boston—with authority. LeBron James scored 21 points, jamming in a powerhouse dunk over a defenseless Kevin Garnett in the final two minutes, as the Cleveland Cavaliers beat the homesick Celtics 88-77 in Game 4 on Monday night to tie the best-of-seven series at 2-2. More »

Andrei Kirilenko blocked Kobe Bryant twice in overtime and converted a three-point play with 35 seconds remaining as the Utah Jazz beat the Los Angeles Lakers 123-115 on Sunday, tying the Western Conference semifinals at 2-2. The Jazz went 8-for-8 from the foul line in overtime and outscored the Lakers 15-7 in the extra five minutes. More »

It was the Boston Celtics, not Ben Wallace, feeling dizzy after this one. Wallace started Game 3 despite occasional dizziness from an inner ear infection and had one of his best performances since joining Cleveland in a midseason trade. His defensive presence inside was a major factor in the Cavaliers' 108-84 win tonight, which pulled them within 2-1 in their Eastern Conference semifinal series. More »

Richard Hamilton scored 32 points and Hedo Turkoglu missed a layup with time running out as the Detroit Pistons beat the Orlando Magic 90-89 tonight to take a 3-1 lead in their Eastern Conference series. Tayshaun Prince scored 17 for Detroit, including an 11-foot runner for the go-ahead basket with 8.9 seconds left. Rasheed Wallace had 16 points and eight rebounds. Antonio McDyess had eight points and 14 boards. More »

Carlos Boozer broke out of his slump with 27 points and tied his career playoff-high with 20 rebounds, leading the Utah Jazz to a 104-99 victory over Los Angeles last night, cutting the Lakers' lead in the series to 2-1. It was the Lakers' first loss this postseason. Game 4 of the Western Conference semifinal is Sunday at Utah. More »

Paul Pierce and Ray Allen found their shooting touch. LeBron James can only hope he left his in Cleveland. Pierce scored 19 points, Kevin Garnett added 13 with 12 rebounds, and Allen broke out of a seven-quarter scoring drought with 16 points to help the Boston Celtics beat the Cavaliers 89-73. More »

LeBron James couldn't make a basket down the stretch—or at virtually any other time—and the Boston Celtics eked out a 76-72 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Tuesday night in the opener of the Eastern Conference semifinals. Kevin Garnett scored 28 points to make up for an off night for the rest of Boston's Big Three. More »

Chris Paul had 30 points and 12 assists, leading the New Orleans Hornets to a 102-84 victory over the San Antonio Spurs last night and a 2-0 lead in their second-round series. Peja Stojakovic hit five 3-pointers and scored 25 points for the Hornets, who've won both games by wide margins in becoming the first team to put San Antonio in an 0-2 playoff hole since 2001. More »

Kobe Bryant, celebrating what is expected to be his first NBA MVP award, did just enough to lead the Los Angeles Lakers to another postseason victory. Bryant had 38 points, six rebounds and seven assists yesterday, as the Lakers made it five straight playoff wins by beating the Utah Jazz 109-98 to begin the second round. Game 2 is Wednesday night in L.A. More »

Kevin Garnett had 18 points and 11 rebounds, Paul Pierce scored 22 points, and the Celtics turned back the pesky Atlanta Hawks with a 99-65 victory Sunday in Game 7 of their playoff series, earning a second-round matchup with LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers. Round 2 begins Tuesday night, and the Boston fans are ready. More »

Hedo Turkoglu's uncontested dunk early in the second half gave the Orlando Magic their first lead. Less than a minute later, the Detroit Pistons took over. Chauncey Billups had 19 points, seven assists and played a key role in the decisive run of the game, leading Detroit to a 91-72 win over Orlando last night in Game 1 of the second-round series. More »

Deron Williams scored 13 of his 25 points in the decisive third quarter, and the Utah Jazz beat Houston 113-91 on Friday to win the series 4-2 and knock the Rockets out of the playoffs in the opening round for the second straight year. Tracy McGrady scored 40 for the Rockets, but fell to 0-7 in playoff series in his career. More »

Atlanta just won't let go of its first trip to the postseason in nine years. The playoff team with the worst record did it again to the team with the best mark, forcing an improbable Game 7 with the Boston Celtics, as Joe Johnson hit a crucial 3-pointer with 1:07 remaining and the Hawks held on for a 103-100 victory Friday. More »

LeBron James compiled 27 points, 13 rebounds and 13 assists for his third career playoff triple-double, all the while helping slow Caron Butler at the defensive end, and the Cavaliers beat the Wizards 105-88 on Friday night to end their contentious series in six games. It was the third consecutive season that the Cavaliers eliminated the Wizards. More »

Richard Hamilton hit his first five shots during Detroit's overpowering start, and the Pistons rolled into the second round of the playoffs by crushing the Philadelphia 76ers 100-77 on Thursday to win the series 4-2. The Pistons convincingly won the last two games of a series that wasn't expected to last this long. More »

Caron Butler saved Washington's season. Butler made a layup with 3.9 seconds left and the Wizards held their breath as LeBron James missed a potential series-ending layup at the horn, giving Washington an 88-87 victory Wednesday night and adding at least one more game to this overheated NBA playoff series. More »

From the start, Avery Johnson was a perfect fit as coach of the Dallas Mavericks. At the end, it was pretty obvious he wasn't. Johnson lost his job Wednesday, a move the team referred to as "relieving him of his duties." More »

Dwight Howard had 21 points and 21 rebounds and the Orlando Magic advanced to second round of the playoffs for the first time in 12 years, beating the Toronto Raptors 102-92 on Monday night to close out their series in five games. It was Howard's third game with at least 20 points and 20 rebounds in the series. More »