MINNEAPOLIS – The Los Angeles Lakers acknowledged being a little bored during the regular season, and that probably contributed to their poor record on the road.

In the playoffs, though, the story remained the same for Kobe Bryant and the three-time defending champs – even without the home-court advantage the Minnesota Timberwolves coveted.

Bryant scored 39 points and Shaquille O’Neal had 32 points and 10 rebounds as the Lakers defeated Minnesota 117-98 to open their first-round series Sunday.

“You can tell by our intensity out there,” forward Robert Horry said, “the playoffs is a totally different game.”

Bryant scored 29 points in the first half, on 12-of-16 shooting. The Lakers led the entire game, shot 55 percent from the floor and went 10-for-19 from 3-point range.

Game 2 is Tuesday night in Minneapolis.

“They just shot the lights out of the ball,” said forward Kevin Garnett. “We’ll just have to do that on Tuesday.”

Garnett had 23 points, 14 rebounds and seven assists – not nearly enough to help the Timberwolves win with home-court advantage for the first time in their history; they were eliminated in the opening round each of the past six years.

“We’re pretty experienced at taking crowds out of games,” said Bryant. He later dismissed the idea that the Lakers were vulnerable without that extra home game in the first round.

“I don’t know what the big deal is about playing on the road,” he said. “I’ve never seen fans scream loud enough to block my jump shot.”

Magic 99, Pistons 94

AUBURN HILLS, Mich. – Tracy McGrady made the NBA’s best defense look bad.

McGrady set a team playoff record with 43 points to help the Orlando Magic hold off the top-seeded Detroit Pistons 99-94 Sunday in Game 1 of their first-round Eastern Conference series.

“This guy is arguably the best player on the planet,” Detroit coach Rick Carlisle said. “We know that, and we know he is going to score some points and do some spectacular things. But if he goes for 40-plus in every game, it’s going to be really hard for us.”

Six Pistons tried to guard the NBA’s leading scorer, who was 15-of-28 from the field and 10-of-12 from the line. It was a particularly impressive effort considering that Detroit allowed opponents just 87.7 points per game this season.

76ers 98, Hornets 90

PHILADELPHIA – Of all the prolific offensive performances in the opening games of this year’s NBA playoffs, Allen Iverson’s was the best.

Not only that, it was one of the greatest in NBA playoff history. Iverson scored 55 points Sunday night in a brilliant display of shooting, making 21 of 32 shots while eclipsing his previous playoff-high of 54 as the Philadelphia 76ers defeated the New Orleans Hornets 98-90.

Iverson scored 20 in the fourth quarter to help the 76ers hang onto the lead throughout the final 12 minutes of a closely contested, physical game.

Iverson joined Michael Jordan, Rick Barry, Charles Barkley, Wilt Chamberlain and Elgin Baylor as the only players to score 55 or more in a playoff game.

Jordan holds the NBA record of 63.