TURKEY BOUND – International stars shine bright in wins for Magic, Lakers
ORLANDO (2010 FIBA World Championship) - The star-laden rosters of the Los Angeles Lakers and Orlando Magic have some of international basketball's most exciting players. They all took center stage on Tuesday night when the two sides, which squared off in last year's NBA Finals, won play-off games. Team USA's Dwight Howard had 21 points and 12 ...
ORLANDO (2010 FIBA World Championship) - The star-laden rosters of the Los Angeles Lakers and Orlando Magic have some of international basketball's most exciting players.
They all took center stage on Tuesday night when the two sides, which squared off in last year's NBA Finals, won play-off games.
Team USA's Dwight Howard had 21 points and 12 rebounds and France's Mickael Pietrus came off the bench to score eight in 24 minutes as the Magic routed Atlanta, 114-71, in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference play-off semi-final.
Both players are in the reckoning for places in their countries' squads for the 2010 FIBA World Championship in Turkey.
Marcin Gortat, one of the most famous players ever to come out of Poland, had nine points and six rebounds for the Magic in 19 minutes off the bench.
The Los Angeles Lakers, meanwhile, got 11 points and 15 rebounds from Lamar Odom in a 111-103 victory over the Utah Jazz in the Western Conference Semi-Finals.
Odom, the versatile forward who could feature for Team USA this summer, was a force as the Lakers took a 2-0 lead in their best-of-seven-games series.
Fellow Team USA star Kobe Bryant had 30 points, eight assists and five boards while Spain's Pau Gasol poured in 22 points and hauled in 15 rebounds.
Utah, who had to overcome a lot of adversity to reach this stage of the post-season, have now lost eight straight play-off games in LA.
Their Team USA duo of Deron Williams and Carlos Boozer played big minutes.
Big man Boozer had 20 points, 12 rebounds and four assists while Williams shot just four of 16 from the field to finish with 15 points and nine assists.
Utah have been missing Russia international Andrei Kirilenko in the play-offs because of a calf strain while their Turkey center Mehmet Okur was lost for the post-season when he ruptured his Achilles tendon in the first-round series against Denver.
Kostos Koufos, who was in Greece's EuroBasket 2009 squad, played seven minutes and scored two points for Utah.
FIBA