SCOREBOARD
Wednesday, April 25
Golden State at Dallas (9:30 p.m. EDT). The Warriors have won six straight games overall against the top-seeded Mavericks.
STAR
Monday
-Tracy McGrady, Rockets, had 31 points, 10 rebounds and five assists as Houston took a 2-0 lead in their Western Conference quarterfinal series with a 98-90 victory over Utah.
BALANCE
Richard Hamilton scored 22 points, one of four Pistons with at least 17, to lead Detroit to a 98-90 victory over the Magic on Monday night and a 2-0 lead in their first-round series.
STRONG IN DEFEAT
Utah’s Carlos Boozer matched a career high with 41 points, finishing 17-of-30 from the field with 12 rebounds and six assists, but the Jazz fell down 0-2 to Houston following a 98-90 loss Monday night.
SHOOTING
Houston was 34-for-38 from the line (90 percent) in a 98-90 victory over the Utah Jazz on Monday night to take a 2-0 lead in their first-round playoff series.
GOOD SIGN
Houston has won seven of eight playoff series when leading 2-0. The Rockets took a 2-0 lead on Utah in the Western Conference quarterfinals with a 98-90 victory Monday night. Game 3 is Thursday night in Salt Lake City. The Jazz have never come back from an 0-2 deficit to win a playoff series and have lost 16 of their last 17 road playoff games.
AWARDS
Leandro Barbosa won the NBA’s Sixth Man Award on Monday after a season in which he averaged 18.0 points and helped lead Phoenix to the second-best record in the league. The fourth-year guard from Brazil received 101 of 127 first-place votes and 578 points from a media panel. San Antonio guard Manu Ginobili was second with 269 points and Dallas guard Jerry Stackhouse third with 210.
FINED
Chicago guard Kirk Hinrich was fined $25,000 by the NBA on Monday for throwing his mouthpiece into the stands after picking up a foul during a playoff victory over Miami on Saturday.
SIDELINED
New Orleans point guard Chris Paul had a screw inserted in his left foot Monday and is unlikely to train with the U.S. basketball team this summer. Paul, last season’s rookie of the year, averaged 17.3 points, 8.9 assists and 1.84 steals this season for the Hornets.
SPEAKING
“We can’t let them get back into the series. We have to get that third win.” – Rasheed Wallace, who finished with 17 points, 11 rebounds and three blocks to help Detroit beat Orlando 98-90 Monday night and take a 2-0 lead in the Eastern Conference quarterfinals.