News from May 16.

Rasho Nesterovic (Tor) elected not to opt-out of his contract and, thus,
is signed through 08-09.

Cleveland activated Billy Thomas and placed Daniel Gibson on IL with a
separated left shoulder.


LAL 108, Uta 105  at Uta
Kobe Bryant (LAL) had 34 points including 15-17 FT, 8 rebounds, 6 assists,
and 5 turnovers.
Pau Gasol (LAL) had 17 points, 13 rebounds, and 4 blocks.
Lamar Odom (LAL) had 13 points and 9 rebounds.
Derek Fisher (LAL) had 16 points including 4-5 FG and 3 steals.
Carlos Boozer (Uta) had 12 points including 5-16 FG and 14 rebounds.
Mehmet Okur (Uta) had 16 points on 6-18 FG and 4-6 3-pointers and 10
rebounds.
Deron Williams (Uta) had 21 points and 14 assists.
LAL shot 50% (35-70) FG and Uta shot 38.1% (37-97) FG.
The LA Lakers take the series 4-2 and advances to the Western Conference
Finals where they will face the winner of the NO-SA series.

Cle 74, Bos 69  at Cle
LeBron James (Cle) had 32 points on 9-23 FG and 13-15 FT, 12 rebounds, 6
assists, and 8 turnovers.
Zydrunas Ilgauskas (Cle) had 7 points including 3-11 FG, 10 rebounds
including 5 offensive, and 3 blocks.
Delonte West (Cle) had 10 points.
Paul Pierce (Bos) had 16 points including 5-15 FG, 5 rebounds, and 6
turnovers.
Kevin Garnett (Bos) had 25 points and 8 rebounds.
Cle shot 21-25 FT and Bos shot 11-13 FT.
The series is tied 3-3.


Playoff Standings
  1st Round            2nd Round             3rd Round            Finals
  (Best of 7)          (Best of 7)           (Best of 7)          (Best of 7)
1 LA Lakers (4) _ __
8 Denver (0)        |_ 1 LA Lakers (4) ___
                     _ 4 Utah (2)         |
4 Utah (4)    ______|                     |_ 1 LA Lakers (0) _
5 Houston (2)                              _                  |
                                          |                   |
2 New Orleans (4) __                      |                   |
7 Dallas (1)        |_ 2 New Orleans (3) _|                   |
                     _ 3 San Antonio (3)                      |
3 San Antonio (4) __|                                         |
6 Phoenix (1)                                                 |_ 
                                                               _ 
                                                              |
1 Boston (4)  ______                                          |
8 Atlanta (3)       |_ 1 Boston (3)    ___                    |
                     _ 4 Cleveland (3)    |                   |
4 Cleveland (4)  ___|                     |                   |
5 Washington (2)                          |_                __|
                                           _  2 Detroit (0)
2 Detroit (4)      _                      |
7 Philadelphia (2)  |_ 2 Detroit (4) _____|
                     _ 3 Orlando (1) 
3 Orlando (4) ______|
6 Toronto (1)