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Spurs, Lakers lose playoff openers

Published:Monday | April 18, 2011 | 12:00 AM
New Orleans Hornets guard Chris Paul (left) and guard Jarrett Jack celebrate a basket as Los Angeles Lakers forward Pau Gasol of Spain looks on during the second half of an NBA playoff basketball game at the Staples Centre in Los Angeles yesterday. - AP

LOS ANGELES (AP):

Chris Paul had 33 points, 14 assists and seven rebounds, and the New Orleans Hornets pulled away down the stretch, stunning the two-time defending NBA champion Los Angeles Lakers with a 109-100 victory in their play-off opener yesterday.

Carl Landry scored 17 points and Jarrett Jack added 15 for the seventh-seeded Hornets, who overcame Los Angeles' major size advantage with a phenomenal game from Paul. The star playmaker scored 15 points in the fourth quarter, leading a late 8-0 run.

Kobe Bryant scored 34 points for the Lakers, who opened the postseason with the same half-hearted effort that comprised much of their regular season after three straight exhausting trips to the NBA finals.

Game two is Wednesday also at the Staples Centre.

A few hours after eighth-seeded Memphis produced a series-opening surprise in San Antonio, Paul and the Hornets put another intriguing wrinkle in the NBA postseason.

Los Angeles' 7-foot starters, Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum, were widely expected to be an awful match-up for smallish New Orleans, but Paul led an impressive offensive game plan that minimised the big men's impact while emphasising tough-to-defend pick-and-roll plays. Los Angeles struggled to get the ball down low on offence, too often settling for jumpers.

fourth championship

Ron Artest had 16 points and 11 rebounds for the Lakers, who swept the four-game regular-season series with New Orleans. They had won their last six play-off series openers since Houston beat them in the Western Conference semi-finals in 2009 on Los Angeles' way to Bryant's fourth championship.

Los Angeles never grabbed a second-half lead despite another dynamite game from Bryant. Gasol struggled to eight points - just two more than his season low - on 2-for-9 shooting with just six rebounds.

Artest's free throws pulled Los Angeles within four with 3 minutes left, but Paul led the Hornets to eight consecutive points, setting off a celebration confined entirely to the Hornets' bench. The Staples Centre crowd pointedly heckled Gasol in the final minutes, while other fans booed as they streamed out of the building.