PISTONS, CAVS, BULLS, SUNS, ROCKETS GO 2-0

 

 

So, it's one game down, at least three to go. There were some Game 1 upsets but overall, things went to plan for the big guns. Now it was the chance to really push their opponents against the wall. In some ways winning Game 2 is more important than winning game 1 because if the visiting side wins, homecourt advantage still switches to them for the rest of the series. If the home side lost game 1 but wins game two, their bacon has been saved.

So first stop in the East was Detroit where the Pistons looked to chase the Magic back to Florida. Well Orlando started by putting up some kind of fight this time out but that was subdued in the early stages of the first quarter. The Magic took a bite out of the Pistons lead in the second only to get blown away by the Pistons in the third, led by Richard Hamilton and the Magic were only able to do enough to avoid complete humiliation. PIstons won 98-90.

Next up, the Cavs faced the Wizards again in Cleveland. Well the Wizards led early in the first quarter but the Cavs rallied to end the quarter tied at 23 and though the visiting side then led for a good chunk of the second quarter(43-36 at one point) a late first half Cavs run made sure the homeside took the lead and they made sure they kept it in the second half, led by LeBron James, even with the Allstar nervous about a sprained ankle. Cavs win 109-102 to surge to Washington.

In Chicago, the Heat had a chance to take homecourt advantage from the Bulls. They got as far as opening the scoring 2-0. Then the Bulls had other ideas and a couple of surges gave the Bullsa ten point lead at the end of the first quarter. The Heat came into half time looking like they still might be capable of a comeback but Ben Gordon and Luol Deng combined to put paid to that, Deng picking up 26 points on this occassion and the Heat fled back to Miami with the Bulls having won 107-89.

Out West, the Suns looked to stop the Lakers getting any big ideas in Phoenix and switched on the overdrive to do just that. The Lakers opened the scoring 3-0 and the game was tied midway through the first quarter at 15 but over than that, this was a Phoenix Suns demo session and LA were out of it by half time, dead and buried at the end of the third. Leandro Barbosa can claim credit for chasing Kobe and crew back home, the 126-98 final score putting them in a strong position.

In Houston the Rockets looked to shut out the Jazz. Not that that plan worked in the first quarter, the Northwest division champions ran the show in the first quarter and though the Rpckets started a comeback in the second, it was still 41-39 Utah at half time. However the Rockets picked up in the third where they left off and wrestled with the Jazz for the lead and though the Jazz led 52-48 at one point, it was the home side that had prevailed by the end of the third with Tracey McGrady leading the way again, the Jazz running for the mountains after a 98-90 Rockets win.

Elsewhere, the other three ties were levelled. The Raptors beat the Nets 89-83 in Toronto with that series now headed for New Jersey. The Warriors may have picked up their first playoff win since 1992 in Game 1 but the Mavs gave them a reality check by beating them 112-99 in Dallas though that series is now headed for Oakland. And the Spurs also managed to put things right in San Antonio by beating the Nuggets 97-88 to level that series before it heads to Denver.

The switch of locations for Game 3 could be interesting.

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