Hornets 109, Lakers 100

Chris Paul had 33 points, 14 assists and seven rebounds, and New Orleans pulled away down the stretch, stunning the two-time defending NBA champion Los Angeles Lakers with a victory in their playoff opener Sunday.

Carl Landry scored 17 points and Jarrett Jack added 15 for the seventh-seeded Hornets, who overcame Los Angeles' major size advantage with a phenomenal game from Paul. The star playmaker scored 17 points in the fourth quarter, leading a late 8-0 run.

Kobe Bryant scored 34 points for the Lakers, who opened the postseason with the same halfhearted effort that comprised much of their regular season after three straight exhausting trips to the NBA finals.

Game 2 is Wednesday at Staples Center.

A few hours after eighth-seeded Memphis produced a series-opening surprise in San Antonio, Paul and the Hornets put another intriguing wrinkle in the NBA postseason.

Los Angeles' 7-foot starters, Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum, were widely expected to be an awful matchup for smallish New Orleans, but Paul led an impressive offensive game plan that minimized the big men's impact while emphasizing tough-to-defend pick-and-roll plays. Los Angeles struggled to get the ball down low on offense, too often settling for jumpers.

Ron Artest had 16 points and 11 rebounds for the Lakers, who swept the four-game regular-season series with New Orleans. They had won their last six playoff series openers since Houston beat them in the Western Conference semifinals in 2009 on Los Angeles' way to Bryant's fourth championship.

Los Angeles never grabbed a second-half lead despite another dynamite game from Bryant. Gasol struggled to eight points - just two more than his season low - on 2-for-9 shooting with just six rebounds.

Artest's free throws pulled Los Angeles within four with 3 minutes left, but Paul led the Hornets to points on four consecutive possessions, setting off a celebration confined entirely to the Hornets' bench. The Staples Center crowd pointedly heckled Gasol in the final minutes, while other fans booed as they streamed out of the building.

Lamar Odom had 10 points and one rebound in 31 minutes of play, while Bynum contributed 13 points and nine rebounds but wasn't his usual defensive force in his first game back from a hyperextended right knee.

Grizzlies 101, Spurs 98

Zach Randolph had 25 points and 14 rebounds, and Shane Battier hit the go-ahead 3-pointer with 23.9 seconds left, and eighth-seeded Memphis won the first playoff game in franchise history, beating San Antonio.

Randolph, who scored nine in the fourth quarter and punished San Antonio under the basket, might have saved his hardest contact for a chest bump with Mike Conley after the final buzzer. The rest of the Grizzlies bench spilled onto the court, waving towels and leaping back into the locker room.

Memphis began the playoffs with the motto "Let's Make History," and it needed just one game to do it. Sixteen years after the franchise debuted in Vancouver, the Grizzlies finally savored their first playoff win in 13 tries.

Tony Parker led the Spurs with 20 points, but they sorely missed All-Star Manu Ginobili, who continued to rest his sprained right elbow. Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said Ginobili begged to play, and it's safe bet the All-Star won't have to convince Popovich for Game 2 on Wednesday.

The Grizzlies spent the week insisting they didn't tank their final two games to assure they'd get the Spurs. But the way Randolph and Marc Gasol bullied San Antonio in the frontcourt, Memphis showed that San Antonio isn't such a bad matchup.

LATE SATURDAY

Mavericks 89, Trail Blazers 81

Dirk Nowitzki scored 18 of his game-high 28 points in the fourth quarter and Dallas defeated Portland in Game 1 of their Western Conference first round series.

Even though Nowitzki struggled from the field most of the night, he came through when the Mavericks needed him most.

Nowitzki scored 12 consecutive points in the game-turning spurt in the closing minutes when Dallas tied the game and eventually went ahead to stay.

Jason Kidd added 24 points, including a playoff career-best six 3-pointers.