WATCH NBA PLayoffs 2009: Lakers vs Rockets/ Magic vs Celtics GAME 7 REPLAY and Recap

With Pau Gasol dominating on both ends of the court, the Lakers emphatically silenced the doubters and the Houston Rockets, winning the decisive final game of the Western Conference semifinals 89-70 on Sunday.

Gasol scored 21 points and grabbed 18 rebounds. Trying to reach the NBA finals for the second straight year, the Lakers host the opener of the conference finals against the Denver Nuggets on Tuesday night.

The Lakers advanced to the Western Conference finals for the second straight season and the sixth time overall under Phil Jackson.

And at Boston, Dwight Howard and Hedo Turkoglu helped dethrone the defending champion Boston Celtics and give Orlando a chance to bring a crown to the Magic Kingdom.



Howard had 12 points, 16 rebounds and five blocked shots, and Turkoglu had 25 points with 12 assists in Game 7 on Sunday night, leading Orlando into the Eastern Conference finals 101-82.

Orlando trailed for just 36 seconds and built a lead it couldn't squander to earn the right to play LeBron James and the Cavaliers for a spot in the NBA finals. Game 1 is Wednesday in Cleveland; Orlando won the season series 2-1.

"We believe. We believe we can go all the way," Howard said. "It's going to get harder."

Doc Rivers Fined $25,000 by NBA

Boston Celtics Head Coach Doc Rivers was fined $25,000 by the NBA for criticizing a referee earlier this week.

Rivers was penalized Thursday. He was irate following the Celtics' 127-121 loss at Chicago on Tuesday night, after he got whistled for his second technical foul in the final minute. That led to an automatic ejection and a rant against referee Bill Kennedy.

This was happened after John Salmons scored a basket to gave the Bulls the lead. Then Rivers was ejected from the game.

Spurs wins against Pistons 83-79

Tim Duncan was heavily defended by the Piston's Baller from Detroit. Tim Duncan produced 18 points and 18 boards in Spurs' victory over the Piston 83-79.

"It says a lot about Tim Duncan that we can say he didn't have a great game when he had 18 and 18," Curry said. "People aren't going to fully appreciate what a great player they're watching until he retires. He just goes out there and does that game after game."

Duncan had seven points and eight rebounds in the fourth quarter, helping the Spurs break a three-game road losing streak.

"Tim is the base to everything we do," San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich said. "He rebounded and he got some buckets, and that's what we needed." Tony Parker added 19 points and 11 assists for the Spurs, who are 4-3 on an eight-game road trip.

The Pistons dropped to 2-10 at home in the past six weeks, and face a road trip that includes games at Boston, Cleveland, New Orleans and Orlando. "We lost again," point guard Rodney Stuckey said. "I don't know. I really can't explain anything anymore. We just keep losing, and now we've got some great teams to play."

Allen Iverson led all scorers with 31 points, and Antonio McDyess added 13 points and 13 rebounds.

Bruce Bowen grabbed the rebound, and was fouled while frantically trying to call a timeout. Despite coming into the game shooting 47 percent from the line, he hit both shots to make it 82-79 with 9.7 seconds left.“Bruce is a real pro,” Popovich said. “He doesn’t start for us, but he does whatever we ask. He guarded Rip (Hamilton) for a while, he guarded Allen for a while, and he did a great job.”

Still Gregg Popovich told the reporters that Manu Ginobili will be missing another 2-3 weeks due to a right ankle injury.