Associated Press
The NBA roundup…
DALLAS — Dirk Nowitzki scored 32 points, Jason Terry had 23 and Peja Stojakovic scored 11 of his 15 in the fourth quarter, rallying the Dallas Mavericks to a 98-92 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers on Friday night that puts the two-time defending champions on the brink of elimination.
Dallas trailed by seven points with 5:05 left and was getting shredded inside by a new-look Lakers lineup featuring three big men. The Mavs hadn’t led since late in the second quarter and a record crowd was turning silent. Then Nowitzki hit a 3-pointer and Stojakovic followed with another, bringing the team and the crowd to life. An 18-6 rally followed, turning around the game and possibly sealing the series.
The Mavericks lead 3-0, and no team in NBA history has ever lost after taking such a lead. Dallas will go for the sweep at home on Sunday.
It’s hard to count out a group that includes Kobe Bryant and is coached by Phil Jackson, the winner of a record 11 titles, especially with Los Angeles having won the last two championships and with the added incentive of Jackson headed to retirement.
Yet the Lakers have only themselves to blame. They blew a 16-point lead in the opener, got routed at home the next game and now have this flop at the finish.
The meltdown included a play where Bryant threw a pass to Pau Gasol, but Gasol expected him to shoot and was looking at the rim. The ball hit him in the back, creating a turnover plucked by Dallas. On the Lakers’ next possession, Bryant came up short on a long jumper to beat the shot clock, leading to a pair of free throws by Nowitzki that put the Mavericks ahead for the first time since the final minutes of the first half.
Playing without the suspended Ron Artest, the Lakers started 6-foot-10 Lamar Odom at small forward. He and Andrew Bynum dominated inside, but Los Angeles was never able to pull away.
Bynum had 21 points and 10 rebounds. Odom scored 18 and Bryant scored 17. He had only four points in the final quarter.
Bulls 99, Hawks 82
ATLANTA — Derrick Rose shook off the sore ankle and that shocking loss at home. With his team scuffling through the playoffs, he decided it was time to take matters in his own hands.
The Atlanta Hawks never had a chance.
Looking every bit like the MVP, Rose sliced up Atlanta for a career-high 44 points as the Bulls seized control of the Eastern Conference semifinals with their best performance of the postseason, romping to a 99-82 victory over the Hawks in Game 3 Friday night.
“Derrick was in attack mode, obviously,” coach Tom Thibodeau said. “He was attacking from the start. We needed it to set the tone. When he’s not dancing with the ball and he’s attacking, he’s impossible to stop.”
You’ll get no argument from the Hawks.
“He’s tough to cover anyway,” said Jeff Teague, who had the futile task of trying to guard Rose much of the night. “But when his jump shot is falling, he’s the MVP.”
The Bulls lead the series 2-1, putting Atlanta in must-win position heading into Game 4 Sunday night.
Rose was dominant from the opening tip, slashing into the lane for a basket that prompted Atlanta to call a timeout before game was a minute old. He finished off the Hawks midway through the fourth with back-to-back 3-pointers, hopping down the court, serenaded by chants of “MVP! MVP!” from a hefty contingent of Bulls fans.
“Just attacking the whole game,” Rose said. “That was my whole thought process.”
Teague was about the only highlight for Atlanta, scoring 21 points. That wasn’t nearly enough against the D-Rose onslaught. He made 16 of 27 shots from the field, including four 3s. He dished out seven assists, grabbed five rebounds, came up with a steal — heck, he even blocked a shot.
He was moving so fast, the Hawks seemed to be standing still at times.
MVP, indeed.
“Of course, I love the award,” Rose said. “But I’m glad to get that over with and just focus on basketball.”
After struggling to put away Indiana in the opening round and losing at home in the opener of this series, the Bulls finally resembled the team that won 62 games during the regular season. While everyone will point to Rose’s performance, the Chicago bench played a key role in a decisive second-quarter spurt. And everyone chipped in on the boards, leading the Bulls to a 47-34 edge that included 18 offensive rebounds.
“Hustle plays,” Rose called ‘em. “That’s who we are as a team.”
The Hawks hadn’t played a home playoff game of this magnitude since 1997, when this same scenario presented itself after Atlanta split the first two games in Chicago against the Michael Jordan-led Bulls in the East semifinals.
That one didn’t work out too well for the Hawks, who promptly lost both games at the old Omni and were finished off in Game 5 back in ChiTown. Judging by the way things went Friday night, this series could be headed toward a similar result.
“They beat us up,” coach Larry Drew said. “They completely beat us up. My big guys did not show up tonight.”
Most noticeably, Al Horford had another miserable game. With Joe Johnson and Jamal Crawford getting doubled every time they touch the ball, the Hawks need more from their All-Star center. He had just 10 points and is shooting less than 40 percent in the series.
“For us to win,” Johnson said, “we’ve got to get Al back on track.”
Thibodeau had called on Rose to be more aggressive. The dynamic guard sure took that message to heart right from the opening tip, throwing a damper on a raucous sellout crowd.
“Yeah, I just wanted to get my groove back,” he said. “That’s all I was trying to do.”
Rose was virtually a one-man team in the first quarter, scoring 17 points to push the Bulls to a 29-23 lead.
Teague, who wouldn’t have been playing much if not for an injury to Kirk Hinrich, kept up his strong play from the first two games. He scored 11 of Atlanta’s first 17 points but couldn’t keep the Hawks in it all by himself.
And, boy, he sure could’ve used some help at the defensive end trying to guard Rose. Teague, who did a respectable job on the Bulls star in Chicago, was left standing in his tracks over and over, unable to keep Rose from doing pretty much whatever he wanted.
He burst into the lane when the Hawks left the slightest of openings. When Teague stepped back, Rose launched 3-pointers that hit nothing but net.
Chicago turned to its bench at the start of the second quarter, and those guys really delivered. Ronnie Brewer stole the ball from Jamal Crawford on the opening possession. C.J. Watson scored on a layup, then connected on a jumper to quickly push the lead into double figures for the first time while the starters rested. Taj Gibson chipped in with a block, stuffing Marvin Williams on a drive to the hoop.
After the Hawks seemed to weather the storm, Kyle Korver responded like he does so often: A 3-pointer that sparked a 19-6 run to stun the home crowd and force Drew to call two more timeouts in a futile bid to slow the Bulls. Even though some of the starters returned, it was the backups who kept delivering, scoring 12 points during that span.
“Our bench was really good,” Thibodeau said.
While Chicago’s fans screamed “MVP!” every time Rose touched the ball, the Hawks contingent got plenty of chances to boo, and much of their wrath was directed at Josh Smith.
The enigmatic hometown player did some good work on the inside, scoring 17 points and grabbing 13 rebounds. But he kept insisting on putting up outside jumpers that clanked off the rim time after time. Each time they did, the crowd screamed in disgust.
He was hardly the biggest problem, though. Johnson was held to 10 points on 4-of-12 shooting. Crawford managed only seven.
It was those two who dominated Game 1. They’d better get it going again, or Atlanta’s season will be done.
“It seemed like I was buried in the corner all night,” Johnson said. “We didn’t do anything to get the ball to our scorers.”
NOTES: Former Alabama star Julio Jones, picked in the first round of the NFL draft by the Atlanta Falcons after a blockbuster trade, received a big cheer when he was introduced. That was about the only highlight for the home fans. … Rose’s previous career high, in either the regular season or playoffs, was 42 points.