Davis’ Shooting Leads Hornets Past Magic

Whether the Hornets play in Charlotte, N.C., or New Orleans next season, fans in either city will have someone special to watch.

Baron Davis had 28 points en route to his second consecutive triple-double, and Charlotte beat the Magic, 102-85, Tuesday in Orlando, Fla., to win the first-round playoff series in four games. He finished with 11 rebounds and 10 assists.

The Hornets, awaiting league approval to relocate to New Orleans next season, will play the winner of the New Jersey-Indiana series in the Eastern Conference semifinals.

In the series against the Magic, Davis averaged 27.5 points, 9.3 assists and nine rebounds.

Charlotte Coach Paul Silas said it was a testament to the players that the Hornets reached the playoffs and advanced in the face of an impending move.

“We have gone through a lot of turmoil this season, but they have kept focus,” Silas said. “When I needed them to step up, they all have. It was a total team effort.”

Davis’ performance was his way of answering Orlando guard Tracy McGrady, who had guaranteed a Game 4 victory.

“When people trash talk, it can motivate both teams,” Davis said of McGrady’s guarantee. “We took it as motivation to say, ‘Let’s come out here and end this thing before we go back to Charlotte.’”

And as for McGrady’s claim that he was the series’ best player, Davis wasn’t going to touch that.

“What I wanted to do was to lead my team and not get into who was the best player in the series,” Davis said. “We all know Tracy McGrady is one of the top five players in the league. I’m just an up-and-coming young guy trying to get a little pub.”

Perhaps Davis’ most devastating play came late in the third quarter, when the Magic was slowly rallying from a 12-point deficit.

With the shot clock winding down and facing a double-team, Davis coolly sank a straightaway three-point basket to put the Hornets ahead, 66-57, with 3:36 left in the quarter.

Two free throws by Jamaal Magloire and another by Davis followed in the next 1:11 to restore the 12-point lead, and the Magic never came closer than five points again.

McGrady led the Magic with 35 points and six assists.

Indiana 97, New Jersey 74--Instead of riding the bench, Austin Croshere has the Pacers headed to a Game 5.

Croshere and Ron Artest each scored 18 points at Indianapolis to lead the Pacers in Game 4 of the first-round best-of-five series. The decisive game is Thursday at New Jersey.

Croshere fell out of Coach Isiah Thomas’ favor early this season and never really worked his way back into the regular rotation.

He had spurts of success--four consecutive games of double-digit scoring in mid-March--but Thomas didn’t play him in half of the final eight games.

He played a combined 12 minutes in the first two playoff games and scored five points, but didn’t play in Game 3.

The fans never forgot Croshere, though, giving him perhaps the loudest ovation of any Pacer when he came off the bench in the first quarter.

They cheered each basket and erupted when Croshere made a 20-foot basket from the left wing late in the third quarter to give the Pacers a 15-point lead.

He pumped his fist as the sold-out crowd waved their souvenir towels and New Jersey called a timeout.

The Pacers shot 67% in the third quarter, committing only three turnovers in turning around a lackluster first half.

Jason Kidd and Kenyon Martin ran into foul trouble and never ran New Jersey’s offense with any consistency. Kidd scored 10 points and Martin had 13.

Both teams struggled to find their rhythm in a ragged first half where there were nearly as many turnovers (24) as field goals (26).