Orlando Magic and Dallas Mavericks win - NBA Playoffs Round up 19 April, 2011 – Part 2
Orlando Magic 88 – Atlanta Hawks 82
The Magic were sluggish to begin, but they quickly notched the lead and extended it to 10-6 as Jameer Nelson tallied six straight points. The Hawks retaliated with a brisk 16-6 blitz and secured the first quarter by 22-16. Josh
Smith made seven points for the Hawks during the period.
Atlanta tipped off with the same momentum in the second quarter and stretched the lead to as many as 10 (32-22). Then, Howard set the court on fire with his ferocious assault, as he didn’t just slash the deficit, but also tied
the scores (34-34) almost single-handedly with his 10 points. The Hawks stretched the lead, but the Magic remained within the striking distance and were finally able to secure the frame by the leading the Hawks 48-42 at the halftime.
The Magic carried on with the same thrust in the second half as well. They went on building the lead and led the Hawks throughout the third quarter. Although the Hawks made a cosmetic surge that reduced the shortfall to just two,
the Magic again scorched them with a 10-1 run and led them by 65-54 at the end of the third.
With the Hawks trailing by 11 points at the start of the fourth quarter, Howard dished a floater and the Magic were on their way. Orlando extended the lead to 12 points (76-64) with 7:33 minutes still to go, but the Hawks didn’t
give up and made a late charge that cut the deficit to 78-76. The Magic However tackled the late gush by the Hawks with 10-6 run and took the game away from Atlanta.
Besides Howard, Hedo Turkoglu scored 10 and Nelson made 13 points for the Magic. Their bench failed to contribute much.
Smith led the Hawks attack with his 17 points, six rebounds, three assists, one steal and one block. Jamal Crawford made 25 points off the bench.
Dallas Mavericks 101 – Portland Trail Blazers 89
Dirk Nowitzki powered the Dallas Mavericks to a 101-89 win over the Portland Trail Blazers on Tuesday night at the American Airlines Centre, Dallas. Nowitzki tallied 33 points along with seven rebounds, four assists and one block.
Peja Stojakovic and Jason Kidd also made useful contribution in the Mavericks victory. Stojakovic matched his playoff-high with five three-pointers and made 21 points, while Kidd chipped in with a surprising 18 points.
The Trail Blazers tipped off aggressively and grasped the lead immediately with an early 14-7 surge. Trailing the Mavs behind and went on building the lead. At the end of the first quarter the Trail Blazers led the Mavs by 22-24.
Gerald Wallace thumped 11 points during the period.
As the second quarter began the Trail Blazers quickly raced to 24-28, but failed to increase the lead in order to keep the Mavericks under stress. With six points down Nowitzki and company made the aggression and tied the scores
at 38 in the midway, but failed to seize the lead. The Trail Blazers went on securing another quarter in their favour, finishing 50-52 advantage after two.
After the break, Kidd gave a smashing start to the Mavs with his whooshing three-pointer he gave Dallas their first lead of the game 53-52. The Mavs didn’t let the momentum slip away and carried on stretching the lead to 64-57.
Kidd counted 10 points in this rally, but Atlanta’s Andre Miller made seven points including a three-pointer in 9-5 surge that trimmed the deficit to just three (71-68) and the Hawks ended up one point behind the Mavs (73-72), when the third quarter finished.
The skirmish continued in the final frame and the ball swung widely until the tenth minute. Subsequent to which the Mavs made the possession and extended the lead to 85-78 and led Portland quite handsomely in most fraction of the
fourth period. The Trail Blazers quashed their hopes of comeback by its own mistakes. The Mavs made them trailed by as many as 11, before they completely took the game away from them.
LaMarcus Aldridge guided the Trail Blazers attack with 24 points and 10 rebounds. His teammates Wallace and Miller added 18 points each. Portland didn’t get much support from their bench, who scored 11 points and none in the second
half.
Tags: