Magic Move to Second Round

The 22-year-old All-Star, usually the team's biggest jokester, suddenly got serious. So did his already-impressive numbers.

Howard had 21 points, 21 rebounds and three blocks -- his third 20-20 game in the series -- and the Magic advanced to second round for the first time in 12 years by beating the Toronto Raptors 102-92 in Game 5 on Monday night.

Howard's game said it all. And with Orlando's usually steady 3-point shooting on the fritz, his inside power was enough to pull them through.

Nelson scored 19 points for Orlando and Rashard Lewis had 18 points and 13 rebounds. Hedo Turkoglu just missed a triple-double with 12 points, eight rebounds and nine assists, while Maurice Evans scored 12 points and Bogans added 11.

Bosh, who posted career playoff highs of 39 points and 15 rebounds at Toronto on Saturday, had 16 points and nine rebounds Monday. Howard frustrated him down low into 7-of-19 shooting, and Bosh picked up a third-quarter technical foul after the Magic star muscled past him for a layup.

T.J. Ford and Carlos Delfino both scored 14 points for the Raptors, while Jason Kapono had 13 and Jose Calderon 12. Delfino added seven rebounds and Ford had five assists.

The Magic will play the winner of the Detroit-Philadelphia series, which is tied 2-2, in the Eastern Conference semifinals.

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Lakers Sweep Nuggets!

No surrender on this night. No frustration fouls filling up the fourth quarter of another blowout.

No matter. The Lakers dispatched the tempestuous Nuggets anyway.

Kobe Bryant scored 14 of his 31 points over the final 5 1/2 minutes Monday night, leading the Lakers to a 107-101 victory and a sweep of their first-round series.

Pau Gasol added 21 points in the Lakers' first sweep of a playoff series since whitewashing New Jersey in the 2002 NBA finals, the last time they won it all.

The Nuggets won 50 games this season for the first time in two decades, and they did it in the power-packed Western Conference. But they were no match for the top-seeded Lakers, who are 25-5 with Gasol in the lineup.

Gasol led the way early, scoring 18 first-half points, and Bryant took over in the waning minutes, scoring nine straight points in every way -- a turnaround jumper, a 3-pointer, a driving layup and a 15-foot floater -- to give the Lakers a 97-96 lead.

Anthony accused his team of quitting in Game 3 and he insisted he wasn't going to let that happen Monday night. He was right. The Nuggets didn't lay down, even when they fell behind by 13 points in the first half. They stormed back to make it a seesaw game in the second half.

But again, Los Angeles had the answers and sent the Nuggets to their first-ever sweep in a seven-game series.

[source: NBA dot com]

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