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Bryant finished with 50 points on 18-of-25 shooting Sunday night to carry the Lakers to a 109-98 victory over Seattle that clinched a playoff spot for Los Angeles. He scored 50 or more for the 10th time this season, the third-highest total in NBA history behind Wilt Chamberlain's 45 times with 50 or more in 1961-62, and the center's 30 times the following season.
Bryant has reached the 50-point plateau 21 times in his career.
"We feel much better. We needed this type of win," Bryant said after the Lakers won for just the third time in 11 games.
The Lakers, who have one regular-season game remaining, at Sacramento on Wednesday, will finish seventh or eighth in the Western Conference and face either Dallas or Phoenix in the first round.
Mavericks 91, Spurs 86 Losing a tense, physical, emotional game to their top rival and being forced to settle for the third seed in the Western Conference was bad enough for Tim Duncan and the visiting Spurs.
Even worse: Duncan is convinced that official Joey Crawford is out to get him.
Crawford hit Duncan with two technical fouls just 1:16 apart late in the third quarter of San Antonio's loss to Dallas. The second came while Duncan was laughing on the bench and meant an automatic ejection, just the second of his nine-year career.
"He looked at me and said, 'Do you want to fight? Do you want to fight?' " Duncan said. "If he wants to fight, we can fight. I don't have any problem with him, but we can do it if he wants to. I have no reason why in the middle of a game he would yell at me, 'Do you want to fight?" '
The Spurs missed their top player, failing to score over the last 6:32 while allowing a 9-0 run to end the game.
Warriors 121, Timberwolves 108 Jason Richardson had 32 points and 12 rebounds, and surging Golden State won at home to take sole possession of eighth place in the Western Conference standings with a victory.
The Warriors (40-40) did it with one eye on the out-of-town scoreboard, where they watched the Clippers (39-41) fall out of their eighth-place tie with Golden State in a 105-100 loss to Sacramento.
Kings 105, Clippers 100 The reserve swingman Francisco Garcia scored 16 points, including a pair of 3-pointers down the stretch, and Ron Artest had a career-high 10 assists to lead visiting Sacramento.
Mike Bibby, one of six Sacramento players in double digits, scored 13 of his 15 points in the first half as the Kings dealt a severe blow to the Clippers' playoff hopes. Artest had 15 points, including a jump shot with 36 seconds remaining after the Clippers had closed to 96-92 with a pair of 3-pointers by Tim Thomas 26 seconds apart.
Magic 88, Celtics 86 Hedo Turkoglu blocked Delonte West's driving layup at the buzzer to help host Orlando clinch its first playoff berth in four years.
Orlando's victory and Indiana's 111-107 loss against New Jersey combined to clinch the final spot in the Eastern Conference playoffs for Orlando.
News Source: International Herald Tribune
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| Posted: 16 April 2007 at 9:04am | IP Logged
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 NBA: Lakers squeeze into the playoffs
Kobe Bryant carried the Los Angeles Lakers into the playoffs and left the Clippers and Golden State Warriors to fight it out for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference.
Bryant finished with 50 points on 18-of-25 shooting Sunday night to carry the Lakers to a 109-98 victory over Seattle that clinched a playoff spot for Los Angeles. He scored 50 or more for the 10th time this season, the third-highest total in NBA history behind Wilt Chamberlain's 45 times with 50 or more in 1961-62, and the center's 30 times the following season.
Bryant has reached the 50-point plateau 21 times in his career.
"We feel much better. We needed this type of win," Bryant said after the Lakers won for just the third time in 11 games.
The Lakers, who have one regular-season game remaining, at Sacramento on Wednesday, will finish seventh or eighth in the Western Conference and face either Dallas or Phoenix in the first round.
Mavericks 91, Spurs 86 Losing a tense, physical, emotional game to their top rival and being forced to settle for the third seed in the Western Conference was bad enough for Tim Duncan and the visiting Spurs.
Even worse: Duncan is convinced that official Joey Crawford is out to get him.
Crawford hit Duncan with two technical fouls just 1:16 apart late in the third quarter of San Antonio's loss to Dallas. The second came while Duncan was laughing on the bench and meant an automatic ejection, just the second of his nine-year career.
"He looked at me and said, 'Do you want to fight? Do you want to fight?' " Duncan said. "If he wants to fight, we can fight. I don't have any problem with him, but we can do it if he wants to. I have no reason why in the middle of a game he would yell at me, 'Do you want to fight?" '
The Spurs missed their top player, failing to score over the last 6:32 while allowing a 9-0 run to end the game.
Warriors 121, Timberwolves 108 Jason Richardson had 32 points and 12 rebounds, and surging Golden State won at home to take sole possession of eighth place in the Western Conference standings with a victory.
The Warriors (40-40) did it with one eye on the out-of-town scoreboard, where they watched the Clippers (39-41) fall out of their eighth-place tie with Golden State in a 105-100 loss to Sacramento.
Kings 105, Clippers 100 The reserve swingman Francisco Garcia scored 16 points, including a pair of 3-pointers down the stretch, and Ron Artest had a career-high 10 assists to lead visiting Sacramento.
Mike Bibby, one of six Sacramento players in double digits, scored 13 of his 15 points in the first half as the Kings dealt a severe blow to the Clippers' playoff hopes. Artest had 15 points, including a jump shot with 36 seconds remaining after the Clippers had closed to 96-92 with a pair of 3-pointers by Tim Thomas 26 seconds apart.
Magic 88, Celtics 86 Hedo Turkoglu blocked Delonte West's driving layup at the buzzer to help host Orlando clinch its first playoff berth in four years.
Orlando's victory and Indiana's 111-107 loss against New Jersey combined to clinch the final spot in the Eastern Conference playoffs for Orlando.
News Source: International Herald Tribune
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