News from April 28. Cleveland fired assistant Bob Donewald. LAL 97, Hou 78 at LAL Karl Malone (LAL) had 18 points including 4-10 FT, 9 rebounds, and 5 assists. Shaquille O'Neal (LAL) had 12 points, 9 rebounds, 5 assists, and 4 blocks. Kobe Bryant (LAL) had 31 points including 12-21 FG, 6 rebounds, 10 assists, and 3 steals. Stanislav Medvedenko (LAL) had 12 points including 4-5 FG and 3 steals. Jim Jackson (Hou) had 17 points and 5 rebounds. Cuttino Mobley (Hou) had 16 points. Steve Francis (Hou) had 16 points including 5-15 FG, 9 rebounds, and 5 assists. LAL out-scored Hou 25-9 in the 3rd quarter. The Lakers take the series 4-1 and advance to the 2nd round where they will face San Antonio. [note: Even though the Lakers have the higher seed, San Antonio has homecourt advantage in the series due to having the better record.] Playoff Standings 1st Round 2nd Round 3rd Round Finals (Best of 7) (Best of 7) (Best of 7) (Best of 7) 1 Minnesota (3) ____ 8 Denver (1) |_ __ _ | 4 Sacramento (3) ___| |_ __ 5 Dallas (1) _ | | | 2 LA Lakers (4) ____ | | 7 Houston (1) |_ 2 LA Lakers (0) _| | _ 3 San Antonio (0) | 3 San Antonio (4) __| | 6 Memphis (0) |_ _ | 1 Indiana (4) ______ | 8 Boston (0) |_ 1 Indiana (0) ____ | _ | | 4 Miami (2) ________| | | 5 New Orleans (2) |_ __| _ 2 New Jersey (4) ___ | 7 New York (0) |_ 2 New Jersey (0) _| _ 3 Detroit (3) ______| 6 Milwaukee (1)