Cavaliers, Nuggets take 2-0 leads in NBAplayoff series
Güncelleme Tarihi:
The Associated Press
Oluşturulma Tarihi: Mayıs 07, 2009 00:00
CLEVELAND - Newly crowned NBA Most Valuable Player LeBron James scored 34 points and the Cleveland Cavaliers, who waited nine days between playoff games after a first-round sweep, pulled away in the second half for a 99-72 win over the Atlanta Hawks in their Eastern Conference semifinal opener on Tuesday.
Showing why he was voted the league's best player in a landslide, James added 10 rebounds, three assists and four steals as the top-seeded Cavs won their fifth straight lopsided game in a postseason that has so far mirrored the best regular season in franchise history.
"It was unbelievable how sharp we were,'' James was quoted as saying in the NBA’s official Web site. "We just picked up where we left off.''
Mo Williams added 21 points for Cleveland, which has won each of its five games by double figures.
Josh Smith scored 22 and Mike Bibby 19 for the Hawks, who needed seven games to get past Miami and are playing in the second round for the first time in 10 years.
Meanwhile, Denver, Carmelo Anthony led another fourth-quarter blitz by the Denver Nuggets, which overcame Dirk Nowitzki's 35 to beat the Dallas Mavericks 117-105 to take the lead 2-0 in the best-of-seven series.
Anthony scored 15 of his 25 points in the fourth quarter, Nene scored 25, J.R. Smith had 21 and Chauncey Billups 18 for the Nuggets, who won for the 15th straight time at the Pepsi Center, where they haven't lost since March 11.
The series shifts to Dallas for Game 3 Saturday night, and the Mavericks can only hope they're going to be as good on their home court as the Nuggets were on theirs.
The Nuggets, whose six postseason wins have come by an average of 24.8 points, broke open a back-and-forth game by starting the fourth quarter on a 16-2 run, sparked by Anthony's 10 points, to take a 102-85 lead.
"I thought we were right there again like we were the other night and just things with this team can get out of hand quickly,'' Nowitzki said. "They're so explosive. I think we kept the turnovers down but right there in that phase where they made their run, we had two or three costly ones and took two bad shots. The next thing you know, from a four-point lead it's 14. That's how explosive that team is. We've got to look at some stuff. It's a tough loss. We've got a while to sit on this one.''
"It was unbelievable how sharp we were,'' James was quoted as saying in the NBA’s official Web site. "We just picked up where we left off.''
Mo Williams added 21 points for Cleveland, which has won each of its five games by double figures.
Josh Smith scored 22 and Mike Bibby 19 for the Hawks, who needed seven games to get past Miami and are playing in the second round for the first time in 10 years.
Meanwhile, Denver, Carmelo Anthony led another fourth-quarter blitz by the Denver Nuggets, which overcame Dirk Nowitzki's 35 to beat the Dallas Mavericks 117-105 to take the lead 2-0 in the best-of-seven series.
Anthony scored 15 of his 25 points in the fourth quarter, Nene scored 25, J.R. Smith had 21 and Chauncey Billups 18 for the Nuggets, who won for the 15th straight time at the Pepsi Center, where they haven't lost since March 11.
The series shifts to Dallas for Game 3 Saturday night, and the Mavericks can only hope they're going to be as good on their home court as the Nuggets were on theirs.
The Nuggets, whose six postseason wins have come by an average of 24.8 points, broke open a back-and-forth game by starting the fourth quarter on a 16-2 run, sparked by Anthony's 10 points, to take a 102-85 lead.
"I thought we were right there again like we were the other night and just things with this team can get out of hand quickly,'' Nowitzki said. "They're so explosive. I think we kept the turnovers down but right there in that phase where they made their run, we had two or three costly ones and took two bad shots. The next thing you know, from a four-point lead it's 14. That's how explosive that team is. We've got to look at some stuff. It's a tough loss. We've got a while to sit on this one.''