News from May 29. Nene (Den) suffered a broken left arm during Friday's Den-LAL game and will have his arm in a splint for 3 to 4 weeks. LAL 119, Den 92 at Den Trevor Ariza (LAL) had 17 points on 7-9 FG and 3-4 3-pointers. Pau Gasol (LAL) had 20 points, 12 rebounds, 6 assists, and 3 steals. Kobe Bryant (LAL) had 35 points including 12-20 FG, 6 rebounds, and 10 assists. Lamar Odom (LAL) had 20 points and 8 rebounds. Carmelo Anthony (Den) had 25 points on 6-17 FG and 12-15 FT. Kenyon Martin (Den) had 13 points and 5 rebounds. J.R. Smith (Den) had 24 points on 10-17 FG and 4-9 3-pointers. LAL shot 57.3% (43-75) FG and Den shot 43.8% (32-73) FG. The LA Lakers take the series 4-2 and advance to the NBA Finals where they will face the winner of the Cle-Orl series. 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 (4) _ 5 Houston (4) _ 2 Denver (2) | | | 2 Denver (4) __ | | 7 New Orleans (1) |_ 2 Denver (4) ____| | _ 6 Dallas (1) | 3 San Antonio (1) __| | 6 Dallas (4) |_ 1 LA Lakers (0) _ | 1 Cleveland (4) ____ | 8 Detroit (0) |_ 1 Cleveland (4) _ | _ 4 Atlanta (0) | | 4 Atlanta (4) ______| | | 5 Miami (3) |_ 1 Cleveland (2) _| _ 3 Orlando (3) 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 Saturday, May 30 Game 6: Cleveland at Orlando 7:30 pm TNT Monday, June 1 *Game 7: Orlando at Cleveland 7:30 pm TNT NBA Finals Schedule (Central times) *if necessary [Note: If Cle wins the Cle-Orl series then Cle has home court advantage (games 1, 2, 6, 7), if Orl wins then LAL has home court advantage] Thursday, June 4 Game 1: LA Lakers vs Cle/Orl 8:00 pm ABC Sunday, June 7 Game 2: LA Lakers vs Cle/Orl 7:00 pm ABC Tuesday, June 9 Game 3: LA Lakers vs Cle/Orl 8:00 pm ABC Thursday, June 11 Game 4: LA Lakers vs Cle/Orl 8:00 pm ABC Sunday, June 14 *Game 5: LA Lakers vs Cle/Orl 7:00 pm ABC Tuesday, June 16 *Game 6: LA Lakers vs Cle/Orl 8:00 pm ABC Thursday, June 18 *Game 7: LA Lakers vs Cle/Orl 8:00 pm ABC ---- 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