Nba, Nba Playoffs | featured news

With Josh Smith delivering one rim-shaking dunk after another and plenty of teammates chipping in, the Hawks made Miami look like a one-man team, running Dwyane Wade and the Heat ragged for a 90-64 blowout in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference playoff series Sunday night.

Pardon Phil Jackson's lack of enthusiasm for how the Los Angeles Lakers played in the second half. They piled up 62 points on Utah in the first half, then got outscored over the final 24 minutes.

Andre Iguodala waited for the clock to tick down, took a few dribbles to his right and let go a high-arching jumper. Swish! The Magic were stunned, their fans silenced. For the Philadelphia 76ers, it was the sweet sound of stealing home-court advantage.

Getting a postseason road victory for the first time since their NBA finals run in 2006, the Mavericks rode Josh Howard's 25 points and a clutch fourth quarter to start the playoffs with a 105-97 win over the San Antonio Spurs.

Orlando Magic starting forwards Rashard Lewis and Hedo Turkoglu say their injuries won't sideline them for the NBA playoffs. Both participated in full-contact drills on Friday. Lewis missed the last three games with right knee tendinitis. The All-Star forward says he's feeling fine and will play normal minutes in the first-round playoff series Sunday against Philadelphia.

Kevin Garnett isn't ready to start the playoffs, and Boston Celtics coach Doc Rivers said Thursday that there's a strong possibility that he will miss the entire postseason.

There are plenty of far-reaching playoff scenarios facing NBA teams heading into tonight's season finales, which find six of the eight Western Conference seeds still up for grabs.