News from April 27. Miami activated Dorell Wright and placed Jamario Moon (sports hernia) on IL. An MRI revealed that Moon will need to undergo surgery on the injury and he is out for the playoffs. The LA Lakers activated DJ Mbenga and placed Luke Walton on IL. Walton is expected to be out at least a week with a partial ligament tear in his left ankle. Jarvis Varnado (forward, Mississippi State, junior) declared himself eligible for the NBA draft. The deadline for underclassmen to declare themselves eligible for the draft has past. The NBA will soon release the official list of underclassmen who declared. Those who declared have until June 15 to remove their name from the draft. The NBA draft is June 25. LAL 107, Uta 96 at LAL Lamar Odom (LAL) had 26 points including 10-15 FG, 15 rebounds including 5 offensive, and 3 blocks. Pau Gasol (LAL) had 17 points and 11 rebounds. Kobe Bryant (LAL) had 31 points including 3-4 3-pointers, 4 steals, and 5 turnovers. Deron Williams (Uta) had 14 points including 4-12 FG and 6 assists. Paul Millsap (Uta) had 16 points and 6 rebounds. The LA Lakers take the series 4-1 and advance to the 2nd round where they will face the winner of the Por-Hou series. Den 121, NO 63 at NO Carmelo Anthony (Den) had 26 points, 6 rebounds, and 7 assists. Chauncey Billups (Den) had 17 points and 8 assists. Chris Andersen (Den) had 11 points including 3-3 FG and 8 rebounds. David West (NO) had 14 points. James Posey (NO) had 12 points, 7 rebounds, and 3 steals. Den shot 56.6% (43-76) FG and NO shot 31.5% (17-54) FG. Den out-scored NO 60-24 in the 2nd half. The 58 point win margin tied the largest playoff win margin in NBA history. Den leads the series 3-1. Atl 81, Mia 71 at Mia Josh Smith (Atl) had 13 points including 4-14 FG, 7 rebounds, and 4 blocks. Joe Johnson (Atl) had 14 points and 5 assists. Mike Bibby (Atl) had 15 points including 3-3 3-pointers. Zaza Pachulia (Atl) had 12 points and 18 rebounds including 6 offensive. James Jones (Mia) had 19 points including 4-5 FG and 3-4 3-pointers. Jermaine O'Neal (Mia) had 20 points on 7-11 FG and 6-10 FT and 6 rebounds. Dwyane Wade (Mia) had 22 points including 9-26 FG and 1-8 3-pointers, 6 rebounds, and 7 assists. The series is tied 2-2. 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 (0) _ _ | 4 Portland (1) _____| |_ __ 5 Houston (3) _ | | | 2 Denver (3) __ | | 7 New Orleans (1) |_ ____| | _ | 3 San Antonio (1) __| | 6 Dallas (3) |_ _ | 1 Cleveland (4) ____ | 8 Detroit (0) |_ 1 Cleveland (0) _ | _ | | 4 Atlanta (2) ______| | | 5 Miami (2) |_ __| _ 2 Boston (2) _______ | 7 Chicago (2) |_ ____| _ 3 Orlando (2) _| 6 Philadelphia (2) First Round Schedule (Central times) *if necessary Tuesday, April 28 Game 5: Chicago at Boston 6:00 pm TNT Game 5: Philadelphia at Orlando 6:30 pm NBATV Game 5: Dallas at San Antonio 8:30 pm TNT Game 5: Houston at Portland 9:00 pm NBATV Wednesday, April 29 Game 5: Miami at Atlanta 7:00 pm TNT Game 5: New Orleans at Denver 9:30 pm TNT Thursday, April 30 *Game 6: Portland at Houston TBA Game 6: Boston at Chicago TBA Game 6: Orlando at Philadelphia TBA Friday, May 1 *Game 6: San Antonio at Dallas TBA *Game 6: Denver at New Orleans TBA Game 6: Atlanta at Miami TBA Saturday, May 2 *Game 7: Houston at Portland TBA *Game 7: Chicago at Boston TBA *Game 7: Philadelphia at Orlando TBA Sunday, May 3 *Game 7: Dallas at San Antonio TBA *Game 7: New Orleans at Denver TBA *Game 7: Miami at Atlanta 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