News from May 23. LAL 103, Den 97 at Den Trevor Ariza (LAL) had 16 points. Pau Gasol (LAL) had 20 points and 11 rebounds. Kobe Bryant (LAL) had 41 points including 15-17 FT, 6 rebounds, and 5 assists. Carmelo Anthony (Den) had 21 points on 4-13 FG, 1-7 3-pointers, and 12-14 FT, 5 rebounds, and 3 steals. Chauncey Billups (Den) had 18 points including 5-15 FG, 6 rebounds, and 7 assists. Chris Andersen (Den) had 15 points and 7 rebounds. LAL leads the series 2-1. 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 (4) _ _ 5 Houston (3) | 4 Portland (2) _____| |_ 1 LA Lakers (2) _ 5 Houston (4) _ 2 Denver (1) | | | 2 Denver (4) __ | | 7 New Orleans (1) |_ 2 Denver (4) ____| | _ 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 (1) _| _ 3 Orlando (1) 2 Boston (4) _______ | 7 Chicago (3) |_ 2 Boston (3) ___| _ 3 Orlando (4) 3 Orlando (4) _| 6 Philadelphia (2) Conference Finals Schedule (Central times) *if necessary Sunday, May 24 Game 3: Cleveland at Orlando 7:30 pm TNT Monday, May 25 Game 4: LA Lakers at Denver 8:00 pm ESPN Tuesday, May 26 Game 4: Cleveland at Orlando 7:30 pm TNT Wednesday, May 27 Game 5: Denver at LA Lakers 8:00 pm ESPN Thursday, May 28 Game 5: Orlando at Cleveland 7:30 pm TNT Friday, May 29 *Game 6: LA Lakers at Denver 8:00 pm ESPN Saturday, May 30 *Game 6: Cleveland at Orlando 7:30 pm TNT Sunday, May 31 *Game 7: Denver at LA Lakers 7:30 pm ABC Monday, June 1 *Game 7: Orlando at Cleveland 7:30 pm TNT ---- 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