NBA – Rose, Deng shine as Bulls advance while Magic, Lakers romp [video]

CHICAGO (NBA) - Chicago Bulls playmaker Derrick Rose and Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant overcame ankle injuries to lead their teams to big wins in the NBA play-offs on Tuesday night.

Team USA point guard Rose poured in 25 points and Great Britain's Luol Deng scored 24 as the Bulls hammered Indiana 116-89 to advance to the Eastern Conference Semi-Finals where they will square off against Atlanta or Orlando.

Rose, hurt in Game 4, drilled eight of his 17 shots as the Bulls overcame a Pacers team that had pushed them extremely hard in the first four games despite being the eighth seed.

Indiana ran out of steam in the third quarter, though, and Chicago's players were relieved to seal their place in the next round.

"I really can't believe it," Rose said.

"It's a great accomplishment. I'm happy for my teammates, happy for my coaching staff.

"They did a really great job."

Orlando won 101-76 at home over Atlanta to cut the Hawks' lead in the series to 3-2.

Despite Dwight Howard getting in foul trouble and finishing with just eight points and eight rebounds, the Magic prevailed.

Jason Richardson had 17 points and JJ Redick 14 for Orlando.

Orlando drilled 11 of 26 shots from the arc.

In Los Angeles, Bryant seemed to be at his high-flying best in the Lakers' 106-90 victory over New Orleans.

The Team USA gold-medal winner at the 2008 Olympics had a couple of powerful dunks and finished with 19 points.

One of Bryant’s slams came against Emeka Okafor in the first half and helped set the tone for the rest of the game.

Bryant said: "It looked like he was going to challenge me at the rim, and I decided to accept the challenge.

"It's a message for us that this was important. It's time to raise up and do what we've got to do. They're not saved dunks. I don't have much of those left."

Okafor wasn't surprised that Bryant looked to be at his best on Tuesday.

"You know Kobe is going to play no matter what, even if he has to be out there on one leg," he said.

On Wednesday night in the Eastern Conference play-offs, Miami carry a 3-1 lead into their home game against Philadelphia.

In the West, surprise package Memphis have a 3-1 lead as they travel to San Antonio to meet the Spurs and Oklahoma City are also on top 3-1 as they square off against visiting Denver.

Check out Tuesday night's top plays

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