LOS ANGELES, May 4, (AFP): Kobe Bryant scored 30 points and the Los Angeles Lakers beat Utah 111-103 on Tuesday, giving the reigning NBA champions a 2-0 lead in their best-of-seven Western Conference second-round seies.
Bryant scored 13 points in the fourth quarter and found his shooting touch late in the fourth to deny a Jazz rally as the Lakers took command of the series, which continues Saturday and Monday in Salt Lake City.
Pau Gasol added 22 points and 15 rebounds for the Lakers, who also had 17 points and 14 rebounds from Andrew Bynum despite a sore knee in their 16th home victory in a row over the Jazz. The Lakers also blocked 13 Utah shots.
“We had some great plays from our big guys. All of them played really well,” Lakers coach Phil Jackson said. “We were aggressive attacking the ball.”
The Jazz, who had trailed by as much as 15, trimmed the deficit to eight before Bryant caught fire late, scoring 13 points in the quarter to give the Lakers an 87-77 edge entering the fourth quarter.
Utah pulled within 98-94 with 4:41 remaining before Bryant hit two free throws, his first points of the fourth quarter, and added another free throw when fouled on the next Laker possession to give Los Angeles a 101-94 edge.
Moments later, Bryant added a long-range two-pointer as the shot clock expired to give the Lakers a 105-96 edge. He added a fast break dunk seconds later and two free throws with 38 seconds remaining to silence the Jazz.
“It’s my responsibility when things get a little tight,” Bryant said. “I just have to make the right call.”
The Lakers took advantage of double-teaming defensively on Bryant by finding other players for open shots.
Paul Millsap led Utah with 26 points while C.J. Miles and Carlos Boozer each scored 20 points for the Jazz.
Injured English football star David Beckham was seated at courtside for the game and during a stoppage in play, Bryant came near him and bounced the ball off his head in a nod of respect to the Los Angeles Galaxy midfielder.
Jackson, whose contract expires after this season, said before the game there was a 90 percent chance that he would be coaching the Lakers if he remains in coaching and that he had no interest in the vacant coaching job at Chicago, which he coached to six NBA titles in the 1990s.
Russian forward Andrei Kirilenko, who had considered returning for Utah from a strained left calf injury that has kept him out for three weeks, did not play but expects to return for game three in four days.
In Orlando, Florida, showing no rust after an eight-day rest, the Orlando Magic routed Atlanta 114-71 in the opener of their NBA Eastern Conference second-round best-of-seven series.
Dwight Howard scored 21 points and grabbed 12 rebounds and Vince Carter had 20 points for the Magic, who benefited from an extended break while the Hawks had barely had two days’ rest since eliminating Milwaukee in round one.
“The challenge is not to get carried away with the score,” Magic coach Stan Van Gundy said. “It was one of those nights where everything just snowballed.”
It was the most lopsided playoff defeat in Atlanta Hawks history and the second-biggest playoff rout for the Magic, eclipsed only by a 47-point victory over Boston from the first round in 1995.
“It’s embarrassing,” Hawks guard Mike Bibby said. “They embarrassed us.” The Magic outscored Atlanta 60-21 in the middle two quarters.
“We kind of stopped playing and we can’t do that,” Atlanta’s Al Horford said. “It kind of got away from us.”
Howard proved nearly unstoppable and rested in the fourth quarter as reserves finished off the Hawks.
“I didn’t allow anything to throw me off my game,” Howard said. “That’s what I have to do the rest of the series, just not let things take me off my game, just stay free and clear.”
A 17-0 Orlando run powered by Magic reserves gave the hosts a 44-27 lead with 4:40 remaining in the second quarter on the way to a 53-33 Magic lead at half-time. Howard scored a game-best 14 points in the first half.
“We’re trying to accomplish something,” Carter said. “We wanted to come out sharp. We wanted to deliver the first blow at home. It was important for our intensity to be at a high level.”
The lopsided showing continued in the second half, the Hawks unable to stop Orlando from pulling away to lead by as much as 46 points in an easy victory.
“It was an ugly game for us,” Hawks coach Mike Woodson said. “I wish I knew what happened.”
Josh Smith scored 14 points and Zaza Pachulia had 12 to pace Atlanta, which avoided matching the fewest points ever scored in a agme against Orlando by a 3-pointer in the final seconds.
“They made a run and they never looked back,” Pachulia said.
The Magic will try to seize a 2-0 edge over the Hawks at home on Thursday.
“We’re hungry,” Carter said. “Every game is important to us. This is great but we have to get ready for their adjustments and get ready for game two.”
Van Gundy was ready to do some research to make sure the Magic do not enter game two lightly.
“I will have for them virtually every time in NBA playoff history that a team had a blowout win, came back and lost the next game,” Van Gundy said. “You’ve got to forget what happened.”