April 29 (Bloomberg) -- The Los Angeles Lakers and Orlando Magic won home games yesterday to advance to the second round of the National Basketball Association playoffs.

Atlanta upset Boston for the second straight game to tie their opening-round series 2-2.

Kobe Bryant scored 31 points as the Lakers, the top seed in the Western Conference, beat the Denver Nuggets 107-101 to complete a 4-game sweep of their best-of-7 series. Dwight Howard had 21 points and 21 rebounds as the Magic beat the Toronto Raptors 102-92 to win their matchup in 5 games.

Los Angeles will next play Utah or Houston, while Orlando meets Detroit or Philadelphia in the Eastern Conference semifinals. The Jazz lead the Rockets 3-1 with Game 5 of their series scheduled for tonight in Houston. The Pistons and 76ers are tied at 2-2 heading into tonight's Game 5 in Detroit.

In today's other NBA playoff games, the San Antonio Spurs and New Orleans Hornets can advance to the second round with Game 5 home wins. The defending NBA champion Spurs host the Phoenix Suns and the Hornets welcome the Dallas Mavericks.

Lakers, Magic Advance

At the Pepsi Center in Denver, the Lakers and Nuggets were tied 90-90 with less than 5 minutes left when Bryant took control, scoring 12 points in a 17-11 run to end the game.

Pau Gasol added 21 points for the Lakers, who completed their first playoff sweep since 2002 and eliminated the Nuggets in the opening round for the fifth straight year.

J.R. Smith led Denver with 26 points off the bench, while Allen Iverson scored 22 and Carmelo Anthony added 21 points and 11 rebounds. The Nuggets, who went 50-32 in the regular season, are the first 50-win team in NBA history to get swept in the first round of the playoffs.

In Orlando, the Magic led Toronto 84-82 with 5:13 remaining and closed the game with an 18-10 run to win its first playoff series since 1996, when it reached the Eastern Conference finals before losing to Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls.

Jameer Nelson added 19 points for the Magic, the third seed in the Eastern Conference, while Rashard Lewis had 18 points and 13 rebounds.

Chris Bosh had 16 points and 9 rebounds to lead the Raptors, who have lost 9 straight playoff games on the road.

Hawks' Rally

In Atlanta, the Hawks overcame a 10-point fourth-quarter deficit to beat Boston 97-92 in Atlanta behind 35 points from Joe Johnson and 28 from Josh Smith. The two players combined for all of the Hawks' fourth-quarter points as Atlanta outscored the Celtics 32-17 in the final 12 minutes.

Atlanta had a 37-45 record during the NBA's regular season, while Boston went 66-16 and earned the top seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs. The Celtics won all 3 regular-season meetings between the teams by an average of 14.3 points and took the first 2 playoff games by a combined 42 points.

Johnson scored 10 straight points for the Hawks during one fourth-quarter stretch, while Smith went 8-for-8 from the free throw line in the final 12 minutes and hit 2 foul shots with 2 seconds left to clinch the victory.

Mike Bibby was the only other player to score in double figures for the Hawks, finishing with 18 points.

Ray Allen scored 21 points to lead Boston. Kevin Garnett added 20 points, 9 rebounds and 6 steals for the Celtics, and Paul Pierce had 18 points.

Game 5 will be played tomorrow at Boston's TD Banknorth Garden.

To contact the reporter on this story: Erik Matuszewski in New York at matuszewski@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: April 29, 2008 02:17 EDT