SCOREBOARD
Thursday, May 3
Dallas at Golden State (10:30 p.m. EDT). The Mavericks, the NBA’s leading regular-season team with 67 victories, are still one loss away from a first-round exit.
STARS
Wednesday
-Michael Finley, Spurs, set a team playoff record and career high with eight 3-pointers, scoring 26 points to help San Antonio advance to the Western Conference semifinals with a 93-78 victory over Denver.
-Amare Stoudemire, Suns, had 27 points and 16 rebounds to lead Phoenix to a 119-110 victory and a five-game series win over the Lakers.
DEJA VU
In a repeat of the 2005 postseason, San Antonio lost Game 1 at home before winning the next four to eliminate Denver, advancing to the Western Conference semifinals with a 93-78 victory Wednesday night. … Phoenix knocked out the Lakers in the first round for the second straight season after a 119-110 win.
DROUGHT
Denver has not won a playoff series since 1994, when it beat Seattle in a best-of-five to become the first No. 8 seed to knock out a No. 1. The Nuggets were eliminated in five games, losing to San Antonio 93-78 Wednesday night.
STRONG IN DEFEAT
Lamar Odom, playing with a hyperextended elbow and torn shoulder cartilage, had a career playoff-high 33 points and 10 rebounds for the Lakers, who were eliminated in five games by Phoenix, 119-110 Wednesday night.
SCORING
Denver, which finished the regular season 2-23 when not scoring 100 points or more, failed to reach the century mark in any of the five games of the opening-round series with San Antonio. The Spurs advanced with a 93-78 victory Wednesday night.
ROY THE R.O.Y.
Portland guard Brandon Roy was chosen as NBA Rookie of the Year on Wednesday after leading all rookies with averages of 16.8 points, 4.0 assists and 35.4 minutes in 57 games. Roy received 127 out of a possible 128 first-place votes (638 points). Toronto’s Andrea Bargnani finished second with 264 points and Memphis’ Rudy Gay was third with 93 points.
SPEAKING
“I felt like this was the worst playoff series that I’ve played in my career. It was kind of frustrating – coming into a new situation, wanting to be the one that gets this team over the hump, get them out of the first round. And to play like I’m not capable of playing is just frustrating.” – Allen Iverson after Denver was eliminated by San Antonio 4-1 following Wednesday night’s 93-78 loss.