NEW ORLEANS — On the day Byron Scott was named NBA coach of the year for the first time, he gave fans in New Orleans another first: an NBA playoff series victory.
Chris Paul had 24 points, 15 assists and 11 rebounds, and the Hornets held on for a 99-94 victory over the Dallas Mavericks to win the first- round series in five games.
“That coach of the year award . . . it wasn’t a fluke,” Paul said. “It’s the frame of mind he puts us in. He gives us that ultimate confidence and he lets us play.”
David West scored 25 points for New Orleans and Jannero Pargo had 17, while Tyson Chandler had 10 points and 14 rebounds.
Dirk Nowitzki led Dallas with 22 points and 13 rebounds. Devean George added 11 points in the fourth quarter as Dallas nearly pulled off an improbable comeback. The Mavs cut a 17-point deficit to three in the final seven minutes before Peja Stojakovic hit two free throws to seal it with 5.7 seconds left.
Rockets 95, Jazz 69
HOUSTON — Tracy McGrady scored 29 points, Luis Scola added 18 points and 12 rebounds, and Houston staved off elimination.
Dikembe Mutombo grabbed 10 rebounds as the Rockets cut their series deficit to 3-2 and forced Game 6 in Utah on Friday night.
Now, the Jazz can end the series at home, where it went 37-4 during the regular season. But it’s no guarantee — Houston was the first team to beat Utah in Salt Lake City during the regular season and won Game 3 there last Thursday.
The Rockets did everything they hadn’t done for most of the series. They shot well, hit their free throws and got valuable production off the bench.
Houston came into the game with the lowest scoring average of any playoff team (85.5) and was shooting only 39.9 percent from the field and 65.7 percent from the free-throw line in the series. In Game 5, the Rockets shot 47 percent (37-of-79), went 15-of-19 from the line and outscored Utah’s bench 26-9.
Pistons 98, 76ers 81
AUBURN HILLS, Mich. — Chauncey Billups scored 21 points, Richard Hamilton had 20 and Rasheed Wallace added 19 as Detroit took a 3-2 lead in the series.
“We knew Game 6 was going to be an elimination game either way it went,” Billups said. “We wanted to be on the upper hand of that.”
Andre Iguodala scored a career playoff-high 21 points, while no other Philadelphia starter reached double figures until Andre Miller in the third quarter, but that was after the guard missed nine shots in a row in the first half when the game was relatively close.
Miller finished with 13 points and reserve Louis Williams scored 16.
