Pau Gasol set NBA playoff highs with 36 points and eight assists and added 16 rebounds as the Los Angeles Lakers took command early in the third quarter and beat the Denver Nuggets 128-114 yesterday.
Gasol, the Spaniard acquired from Memphis on Feb. 1 after spending 6 seasons with the Grizzlies, was winless in three previous postseason appearances.
Kobe Bryant scored 18 of his 32 points in the final 8 minutes to keep Los Angeles safely ahead. Lamar Odom had 17 points, 14 rebounds and six assists for the Lakers, the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference.
Carmelo Anthony had 30 points and 12 rebounds for the eighth-seeded Nuggets. Allen Iverson also had 30 points before picking up two technical fouls with 2:10 remaining, calling for immediate ejection. Linas Kleiza scored a career playoff high 23.
The Nuggets should have it known wasn't going to be their day when several players were stranded on the Santa Monica Freeway for about a half-hour when the team bus broke down on the way to the game.
Game 2 will be on Wednesday.
Magic 114, Raptors 100
At Orlando, Florida, Dwight Howard had 25 points and 22 rebounds and Jameer Nelson added 24 points to help Orlando beat Toronto in the opener of their first-round series.
Howard scored six straight points in a 10-0 fourth-quarter run that sealed Orlando's first playoff win since 2003. He also blocked five shots and made 9-of-11 free throws.
Anthony Parker had 24 points and 8 rebounds for Toronto, Chris Bosh scored 21 and Rasho Nesterovic had 16 points and 8 rebounds.
The Raptors, who trailed by 20 points after the first quarter, drew within five with 10:24 left in the fourth. But Toronto went scoreless for the next 3:16 as Orlando pulled away.
76ers 90, Pistons 86
At Auburn Hills, Michigan, Andre Miller scored 20 points and Willie Green had a career playoff-high 17, helping Philadelphia stun Detroit in Game 1 of their first-round series.
After the Sixers trailed 62-47, Green made two baskets to start a 10-0 run that sparked a comeback.
Miller gave Philadelphia a lead midway through the fourth quarter for the first time since late in the first.
The Pistons trailed by only one with 45 seconds left, then Philadelphia's Andre Iguodala made one of two free throws with 11 seconds left, and Rasheed Wallace missed a shot near the basket that would have tied it at 88.
Iguodala then made two free throws with 7 seconds left to seal the win.
Wallace had 24 points, nine rebounds and matched a franchise playoff record with seven blocks.
Detroit hosts Game 2 on Wednesday.
(Agencies April 21, 2008)