News from April 25. Atlanta fired head coach Mike Budenholzer. Hou 122, Min 104 at Hou Clint Capela (Hou) had 26 points including 12-14 FG and 15 rebounds. James Harden (Hou) had 24 points including 4-11 3-pointers, 5 rebounds, and 12 assists. Chris Paul (Hou) had 12 points including 0-8 3-pointers, 5 rebounds, and 9 assists. Eric Gordon (Hou) had 19 points. Karl-Anthony Towns (Min) had 23 points including 9-14 FG and 14 rebounds. Jeff Teague (Min) had 17 points and 7 assists. Jamal Crawford (Min) had 20 points including 8-10 FG. Hou out-scored Min 30-15 in the 3rd quarter and 67-45 in the 2nd half. Houston takes the series 4-1 and advances to the 2nd round where they will face the winner of the OKC-Uta series. OKC 107, Uta 99 at OKC Paul George (OKC) had 34 points including 8-10 FT and 8 rebounds. Russell Westbrook (OKC) had 45 points including 17-39 FG and 5-9 3-pointers, 15 rebounds, 7 assists, and 5 turnovers. Donovan Mitchell (Uta) had 23 points including 1-7 3-pointers and 5 rebounds. Ricky Rubio (Uta) had 10 points including 4-14 FG, 12 rebounds, and 7 assists. Jae Crowder (Uta) had 27 points including 6-14 3-pointers and 8 rebounds. OKC out-scored Uta 37-22 in the 3rd quarter and 66-43 in the 2nd half. Uta leads the series 3-2. Cle 98, Ind 95 at Cle LeBron James (Cle) had 44 points on 14-24 FG, 15-15 FT, and the game winning 3-pointer at the buzzer, 10 rebounds, 8 assists, and 5 turnovers. Kevin Love (Cle) had 11 points including 2-11 FG and 10 rebounds. Kyle Korver (Cle) had 19 points including the 5-9 3-pointers and 6 rebounds. Thaddeus Young (Ind) had 16 points on 8-9 FG and 6 rebounds. Victor Oladipo (Ind) had 12 points including 2-15 FG and 1-7 3-pointers and 12 rebounds. Domantas Sabonis (Ind) had 22 points and 5 rebounds. Cle leads the series 3-2. Tor 108, Was 98 at Tor Jonas Valanciunas (Tor) had 14 points and 13 rebounds. DeMar DeRozan (Tor) had 32 points including 3-4 3-pointers and 5 assists. Kyle Lowry (Tor) had 17 points, 10 assists, and 3 steals. Delon Wright (Tor) had 18 points and 5 rebounds. Marcin Gortat (Was) had 10 points and 12 rebounds including 5 offensive. Bradley Beal (Was) had 20 points. John Wall (Was) had 26 points, 9 rebounds, 9 assists, 3 blocks, and 7 turnovers. Tor scored 12 straight points to take a 13 point lead with 40 seconds left. Jodie Meeks (Was, suspended) did not play. Tor 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 Houston (4) ______ 8 Minnesota (1) |_ 1 Houston (0) ______ _ _____________ | 4 Oklahoma City (2) _| |_ _____________ _ 5 Utah (3) _ _____________ | | | 2 Golden State (4) __ | | 7 San Antonio (1) |_ 2 Golden State (0) _| | _ 6 New Orleans (0) | 3 Portland (0) ___| | 6 New Orleans (4) |_ ___________ _ ___________ | 1 Toronto (3) ____ | 8 Washington (2) |_ _____________ _____ | _ _____________ | | 4 Cleveland (3) _____| | | 5 Indiana (2) |_ _____________ _| _ _____________ 2 Boston (3) _____ | 7 Milwaukee (2) |_ _____________ _| _ 3 Philadelphia (0) 3 Philadelphia (4) __| 6 Miami (1) First Round (all time Central) *if necessary Thursday, April 26 Game 6: Boston at Milwaukee 7:00 pm TNT Friday, April 27 Game 6: Cleveland at Indiana TBD Game 6: Toronto at Washington TBD Game 6: Oklahoma City at Utah TBD Saturday, April 28 *Game 7: Milwaukee at Boston 7:00 pm TNT Sunday, April 29 *Game 7: Indiana at Cleveland TBD *Game 7: Washington at Toronto TBD *Game 7: Utah at Oklahoma City TBD Second Round (all time Central) *if necessary Saturday, April 28 Game 1: New Orleans at Golden State 9:30 pm TNT ---- Patricia Bender pbender@eskimo.com For Trianglons puzzles: http://www.trianglons.com For NBA stuff: http://www.eskimo.com/~pbender/index.html For Mavs stuff: http://www.eskimo.com/~pbender/mavs.html