MAGIC, LAKERS, SUNS, HALFWAY THERE

 

The 2010 NBA playoffs had picked up the pace with the beginning of the Conference semi final stage. Game 1 was a must win for the home sides involved and all four managed to do the business. However, like in the first round, the Game 1 winners were not out of the woods. They could still get mugged in Game 2 and they would still lose homecourt advantage, and none of the teams that lost the openers are useless. So, it was time to rumble again.

In the East the Magic faced the Hawks in Orlando. The Magic ran the show early on in a display that would have had the feeling of deja vu. The Hawks closed in late on in the quarter but the Magic led 32-27 at the first buzzer. The Hawks didn't hang about and turned the game round early in the 2nd and the Magic seemed unable to respond. After that the road team was able to to keep things running smoothly till half time. They led 57-49 with Al Horford grabbing 16 points.

The Magic weren't going to lie down though and surged to retake the lead early in the third but had to duel with the Hawks first. The Hawks came back to lead 80-77 with 1:21 left in that quarter but the Magic came back to lead with a quarter to go. The Magic used the early stages of the 4th quarter to pull away to a double digit lead. By this point the Hawks had clearly run out of fuel and with Dwight Howard finishing the game on 29 points, the final score was 112-98.

Out West, the Lakers faced the Jazz in LA. Well the Jazz opened the scoring and went on to build up a 13-7 lead with 7:16 left in the 1st quarter. The Lakers came back to lead the match by the end of the opener though. The Lakers went on to extend their lead to double digits in the early stages of the 2nd quarter. The Jazz never looked like coming back from that deficit before half time. Paul Gasol led the way with 13 points with the Lakers leading 58-46.

Well the Jazz made an effort in the early stages of the 3rd quarter and was able to cut the deficit to single figures on multiple occasions but they needed to do better than that. Overall, it still looked like the Lakers game. The Jazz went on to cut the deficit further early on in the 4th quarter but had to make another jump. The Jazz got it down to four again with just over five minutes to go but eventually the Lakers pulled away to win 111-103 with Kobe Bryant grabbing 30 points.

The Suns faced the Spurs in Phoenix. Well the Spurs opened the scoring and looked to have the Suns against the wall early on. The Suns weren't able to do anything about that before the end of the 1st quarter, by which point the Spurs led 30-21. The early minutes of the 2nd quarter were low scoring though the Suns were able to cut the deficit significantly. They weren't able to turn the game around completely before half time but the game was tied at 51 at the half with the Suns led by Jason Richardson on 10 points, the Spurs led by Tim Duncan on 15 points.

Of course the two sides duelled throughout the early stages of the third quarter with the Spurs initially having a 64-58 edge with 8:05 left in the period. Eventually the Suns turned the game back around though and led going into the final quarter. The Spurs retook the lead early in the 4th but the Suns led the way going into the final minutes. After that the game was pretty much up for the Spurs. Amare Stoudamire led the Suns on 23 points to a 110-102 win.

Back East, the Cavs faced the Celtics in Cleveland. Well the Cavs opened the scoring 2-0 with 11:45 in the 1st but the Celtics turned it round before the end of he opener. The Cavs came close to turning the game around in the 2nd quarter but couldn't pull it off. Having blown that opportunity, they then appeared to be buried by the Celtics in the 3rd. The Cavs made a run in the 4th quarter but it proved to be too little too late and with Ray Allen grabbing 22 points, the Celtics won 104-86 to level the series 1-1 and take homecourt advantage from the Cavs.

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