Lakers avoid Hornets' sting

Pau Gasol snapped out of his playoff funk and Kobe Bryant was his usual prolific self, a combination that proved too much for the upstart New Orleans Hornets to overcome.

Bryant scored 30 points, Gasol added 17 points and 10 rebounds, and the visiting Los Angeles Lakers took control of their first-round playoff series with a 100-86 victory Friday night.

The win gave the Lakers a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven series, with Game 4 in New Orleans on Sunday. Just as important, the performance re-established Gasol as one of the Lakers' primary scoring threats.

"It was just about playing my game and being assertive and being comfortable out there," Gasol said. "Don't try to overthink it. Don't try to think about the last play. Just try to make the right play. It was a much better game on my part."

After making only 4 of 19 shots during the first two games of the series, Gasol caught the Hornets off-guard by taking - and making - a 3-pointer from the corner early in the fourth quarter. The basket ignited a key 10-1 run during which Gasol scored seven points.

"The big aspect is Pau having that 2, 3 minutes of offensive display there in the fourth quarter. It helped establish the lead and give us some room," Lakers coach Phil Jackson said. "He is just too good a basketball player. He can shoot, he can handle the ball, he can do a lot of things. It's just a matter of him finding a comfort zone out there.

"I didn't expect him to find it out on the 3-point line," Jackson added, "but we are not surprised when he makes those shots."

Andrew Bynum added 14 points and 11 rebounds. He briefly went down holding his right knee, but remained in the game after trainers examined him and then got a rest for most of the fourth quarter. Lamar Odom scored 13 points for the two-time defending champs, who took the lead for good when Ron Artest made a layup as he was fouled to make it 13-10.

Chris Paul had 22 points and eight assist for the Hornets, who managed to stay within single digits for long stretches of the game but never truly threatened to take the lead.

"They just had a collective effort tonight," Paul said of the Lakers. "Everybody pitched in and that's what we really can't let them do. ... We fought. We played a great first half. It's just, in the second half it got away from us."

Bryant's intensity was evident from the opening minutes when he violently rejected Carl Landry's attempted close-range shot out of bounds and soon after he cut into the lane for a vicious one-handed jam.

Hornets fans' attempts at booing or heckling him only seemed to help him focus. Hitting on his typical array of demoralizing 3s and off balance jumpers off the glass, he had 15 points in the first half. He didn't need to take the game over in the second because of Gasol's emergence, which the Lakers thought was long overdue after he averaged only eight points, about 11 below his average, during the first two games of the series.

Although Gasol still didn't seem quite himself in the first half, when he had four points, he became a factor when it mattered, hitting his momentum-changing 3 from the corner that made it 78-70 early in the fourth quarter. Soon after, Gasol added a putback and a soft jumper from the baseline to give Los Angeles an 85-71 lead with 8:36 left, the Lakers' largest lead to that point.

Paul meanwhile, faded a bit in the second half, when he scored only four points.

While the Lakers made defensive adjustments to keep the ball away from Paul, the Hornets' All-Star guard said, "I blame myself because I don't care if they deny."

"I can't let them do that," Paul continued. "I've got to get my shots. I've got to be more aggressive and not allow them to take me out."

Hawks 88, Magic 84: Jamal Crawford banked in a 3-pointer with 5.7 seconds left, leading host Atlanta to a victory over Orlando and a 2-1 lead in their Eastern Conference playoff series.

Game 4 is Sunday at Atlanta.

Celtics 113, Knicks 96: Paul Pierce scored 38 points, Ray Allen added 32, and Rajon Rondo had a Celtics' playoff-record 20 assists as Boston won at New York to take a 3-0 in their first-round playoff series.

Rondo had 15 points and 11 rebounds for the Celtics, who dominated the first playoff game at Madison Square Garden in seven years. They will go for the sweep Sunday afternoon at New York.