NBA | Balanced Pistons top Magic, 98-90
AUBURN HILLS, Mich. - Detroit's balance was too much for Orlando's two-player attack. Richard Hamilton scored 22 points, one of four Pistons with at least 17, to lead Detroit to a 98-90 victory over the Magic last night and a two-games-to-none lead in their first-round series.
AUBURN HILLS, Mich. - Detroit's balance was too much for Orlando's two-player attack.
Richard Hamilton scored 22 points, one of four Pistons with at least 17, to lead Detroit to a 98-90 victory over the Magic last night and a two-games-to-none lead in their first-round series.
Hedo Turkoglu scored 22 points and Grant Hill had 21 for Orlando to prevent it from being a rout, but their teammates - particularly Dwight Howard - didn't do enough to give the Magic any shot at evening the best-of-seven series.
Howard was held to eight points and didn't score in the second half until the final minute, when the game was essentially over.
Game 3 is Thursday night in Orlando.
Rockets 98, Jazz 90
HOUSTON - Tracy McGrady scored 31 and Yao Ming added 27 to help Houston overcome a 41-point performance by Utah's Carlos Boozer and give the Rockets a victory in the first-round Western Conference series.
Houston leads two games to none.
Sixth Man Award. Leandro Barbosa, among the fastest players in the NBA, ran away with the league's Sixth Man Award.
The "Brazilian Blur" received 101 of a possible 127 first-place votes from a media panel.
The honor came one day after Barbosa matched his career playoff high with 26 points in the Phoenix Suns' 95-87 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday in Game 1 of their opening series.
"Give him a soccer ball," the Lakers' Kobe Bryant said when asked what could be done to stop Barbosa. "Tell him Brazilians should be playing soccer, not basketball."
In his fourth NBA season, the 24-year-old Barbosa averaged a career-high 18.1 points.
San Antonio guard Manu Ginobili finished second, and Dallas guard Jerry Stackhouse was third. The Sixers' Kyle Korver finished fifth.
Bulls' Hinrich fined $25,000. Chicago guard Kirk Hinrich was fined $25,000 by the NBA for throwing his mouthpiece into the stands during a playoff victory over Miami on Saturday.
Hinrich fired his mouthpiece into the stands after picking up his fourth foul early in the third quarter, and got a technical.
Butler's cast removed. Washington forward Caron Butler had the cast removed from his broken right hand and was told to avoid contact for a week to 10 days.