Hornets 127, Mavericks 103
NEW ORLEANS — Chris Paul had 32 points and a franchise playoff-record 17 assists, leading New Orleans to a 2-0 series lead over Dallas.
The previous record was 15 assists, set by Muggsy Bogues in 1993.
David West scored 27 points and Peja Stojakovic 22 for New Orleans, which took a double-digit lead in the second quarter and led by as many as 25 in the third.
Tyson Chandler had his second double- double of the series with 10 points and 11 rebounds, despite playing with foul trouble.
Dirk Nowitzki led Dallas with 27 points, but spent most of the night looking frustrated, yelling at no one in particular after he threw one pass out of bounds. The Mavs hoped Jason Kidd would be a bigger factor in this game, but he finished with only seven points and eight assists.
“We’ll take a look at some things, but we’ve got to have a better effort,” Dallas coach Avery Johnson said. “We’ve got to go home and get some home cooking.”
Magic 104, Raptors 103
ORLANDO, Fla. — Dwight Howard had 29 points and 20 rebounds, his second straight 20-20 game, and Orlando took a 2-0 series lead.
Chris Bosh had 29 points and 10 rebounds for Toronto, but missed a 19-footer with 1.9 seconds left that could have won the game.
Toronto, which trailed most of the game, took a 101-100 lead with 1:04 left on three consecutive 3-pointers, one from Carlos Delfino and two by Jose Calderon, plus a free throw by Delfino. But Hedu Turkoglu drove the lane for an acrobatic layup to put Orlando back on top, 102-101, then sank two free throws.
Delfino made another layup to make it 104-103 with 9.6 seconds left, and the Raptors immediately got the ball back after Orlando’s Keyon Dooling was called for an offensive foul on the inbounds pass. Toronto isolated Bosh for the last shot, but it was no good.
“I knew I was going to have space,” Bosh said of the last shot. “The time before I drove the basket and I didn’t get a call. I didn’t want to put it in the referee’s hands.”
