News from May 12. Danny Granter (Ind) was named as the Most Improved Player. Granger received 48 of 121 possible 1st place media votes. Total position votes Player Points 1st 2nd 3rd Danny Granger (Ind) ...... 364 48 37 13 Devin Harris (NJ) ........ 339 43 35 19 Kevin Durant (OKC) ....... 83 6 14 11 Paul Millsap (Uta) ....... 77 3 13 23 Nene (Den) ............... 58 7 5 8 Rajon Rondo (Bos) ........ 29 2 5 4 David Lee (NY) ........... 25 1 3 11 John Salmons (Chi) ....... 17 2 2 1 Thaddeus Young (Phi) ..... 16 1 2 5 Von Wafer (Hou) .......... 12 2 0 2 Brandon Roy (Por) ........ 8 1 1 0 Chris Andersen (Den) ..... 6 1 0 1 J.R. Smith (Den) ......... 6 1 0 1 Glen Davis (Bos) ......... 5 1 0 0 Jason Terry (Dal) ........ 5 1 0 0 Wilson Chandler (NY) ..... 5 1 0 0 Aaron Brooks (Hou) ....... 4 0 1 1 Jameer Nelson (Orl) ...... 4 0 1 1 Kelenna Azubuike (GS) .... 3 0 0 3 Dwyane Wade (Mia) ........ 3 0 1 0 LaMarcus Aldridge (Por) .. 3 0 1 0 Luis Scola (Hou) ......... 2 0 0 2 Ronnie Brewer (Uta) ...... 2 0 0 2 J.J. Barea (Dal) ......... 1 0 0 1 Rasual Butler (NO) ....... 1 0 0 1 Andrea Bargnani (Tor) .... 1 0 0 1 Mike Conley (Mem) ........ 1 0 0 1 Jeff Green (OKC) ......... 1 0 0 1 Emeka Okafor (Cha) ....... 1 0 0 1 Kendrick Perkins (Bos) ... 1 0 0 1 Tyrus Thomas (Chi) ....... 1 0 0 1 Gerald Wallace (Cha) ..... 1 0 0 1 Maurice Williams (Cle) ... 1 0 0 1 The LA Lakers activated DJ Mbenga and placed Adam Morrison on IL. LAL 118, Hou 78 at LAL Pau Gasol (LAL) had 16 points, 13 rebounds including 5 offensive, and 3 blocks. Kobe Bryant (LAL) had 26 points. Andrew Bynum (LAL) had 14 points including 5-6 FG and 6 rebounds. Trevor Ariza (LAL) had 13 points and 3 steals. Luis Scola (Hou) had 12 points and 13 rebounds including 5 offensive. Aaron Brooks (Hou) had 14 points including 4-11 FG. Von Wafer (Hou) had 13 points. LAL shot 51.2 (42-82) FG and Hou shot 32.6% (29-89) FG. LAL shot 28-36 FT and Hou shot 15-16 FT. Yao Ming (Hou, stress fracture left foot) did not play. LAL leads the series 3-2. Bos 92, Orl 88 at Bos Paul Pierce (Bos) had 19 points, 9 rebounds, and 8 assists. Glen Davis (Bos) had 22 points and 7 rebounds. Ray Allen (Bos) had 13 points including 3-11 FG. Stephon Marbury (Bos) had 12 points. Hedo Turkoglu (Orl) had 18 points and 7 assists. Rashard Lewis (Orl) had 19 points and 5 rebounds. Dwight Howard (Orl) had 12 points and 17 rebounds. Rafer Alston (Orl) had 16 points, 5 rebounds, 6 assists, and 3 steals. Bos shot 21-21 FT and Orl shot 10-12 FT. Bos leads the series 3-2. 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 Utah (1) |_ 1 LA Lakers (3) _ _ 5 Houston (2) | 4 Portland (2) _____| |_ __ 5 Houston (4) _ | | | 2 Denver (4) __ | | 7 New Orleans (1) |_ 2 Denver (3) ____| | _ 6 Dallas (1) | 3 San Antonio (1) __| | 6 Dallas (4) |_ _ | 1 Cleveland (4) ____ | 8 Detroit (0) |_ 1 Cleveland (4) _ | _ 4 Atlanta (0) | | 4 Atlanta (4) ______| | | 5 Miami (3) |_ 1 Cleveland (0) _| _ 2 Boston (4) _______ | 7 Chicago (3) |_ 2 Boston (3) ___| _ 3 Orlando (2) 3 Orlando (4) _| 6 Philadelphia (2) Second Round Schedule (Central times) *if necessary Wednesday, May 13 Game 5: Dallas at Denver 8:00 pm TNT Thursday, May 14 Game 6: Boston at Orlando 6:00 pm ESPN Game 6: LA Lakers at Houston 8:30 pm ESPN Friday, May 15 *Game 6: Denver at Dallas TBA ESPN Sunday, May 17 *Game 7: Dallas at Denver TBA *Game 7: Houston at LA Lakers TBA *Game 7: Orlando at Boston TBA ---- Patricia Bender pbender@eskimo.com For NBA stuff: http://www.eskimo.com/~pbender/index.html For Mavs stuff: http://www.eskimo.com/~pbender/mavs.html