..ROUND 1..DAY 2..

last night was one of those nights, you know what I'm talking about..the (8) GRIZZLIES took on (1) SPURS in San An, (7) HORNETS were in HOLYWOOD taking on the (2) LAKERS, the beasts in the East went head to head in the Garden..(3) CELTICS / (6) KNICKS and the night ended with what I'm predicting to be the beginning of new rivals in the West, the (5) NUGGETS and the (4) THUNDER.

 Game 1 between the "ol' school" SPURS and the GRIZZLIES. Man if you asked me last week what I thought of this series I would've said "bring the broom in to sweep the AT&T Center" (also predicted in my playoff pool)..but boy do these GRIZZLIES look focused and ready to make some noise. ZACH "Z-BO" RANDOLPH led his team with 25pnts 14rebs, as did MARC GASOL 24pnts 9rebs and MIKE CONLEY with 15pnts and 10asts. A key note in this game was the absence of RUDY GAY of the GRIZZLIES out after having surgery to his right shoulder, as well as MANU GINOBILI, who was out with a right elbow sprain and is day-to-day. San An was lead by TONY PARKER (20pnts 5asts), followed by "the big fundamental" TIM DUNCAN (16pnts 13 rebs), GEORGE HILL (15pnts 7rebs) and RICHARD JEFFERSON (13pnts 6rebs). Still with most of their starting bench in double figures the SPURS let up and allowed the GRIZZLIES to take a commanding 1-0 lead in the series. The real turning point was the go ahead 3pt shot launched by GRIZZLIES new acquisition of SHANE BATTIER, 10pnts at the 23.9s mark of the 4th. The SPURS tried to tie however HILL's 3pt shot attempt at the 10.2s mark missed and TONY ALLEN rebounded the ball, with desperation the SPURS had to foul to extend the time to hope for a chance that ALLEN would miss his free-throws (which he hit 2-2). Final Score 101-98 (MEMPHIS leads 1-0).

 The second seed LAKERS are coming into these PLAYOFFS not only as one o the favorites to take make it to the finals but also to sweep the HORNETS in this first round. However the HORNETS have something the LAKERS can't match up against is the speed within the comparisons between thePG's. His name..y'all know it..CP3..CHRIS PAUL! PAUL is a proven leader and is without a doubt in the category of best 5 point guards in the game. CP3 had a stellar night against KOBE and the LAKE-SHOW. He had 33pnts along with his 14asts (10 of which came in the first half) as well as 7rebs, my dude was puttin in the work. He was all over the court, making the LAKERS D look like molasses. The HORNETS led through out most of the game and at a point had a double digit lead over L.A. but everyone knows it was a matter or time till the LAKERS made a run, which was mid way into third bringing that lead to 1 going into the 4th QTR. From the start of the 4th New Orleans 10-2 run keeping L.A. in check and still looking to catch up. The closest the LAKERS got from that point on was bringing the lead down to 3 around the 3 minute mark, and allowed New Orleans to take over and pull away with a much needed win away from home. Final score 109-100 (NOH leads 1-0).

BOSTON CELTICS..when you hear these words you think about dominance, legacies, and a huge part of basketball history. The third seed CELTICS are matched up against another team that is pretty much to say the place you would like to play the game of hoops..NEW YORK! The KNICKERBOCKERS a.k.a KNICKS are another franchise that was a huge part of the PLAYOFFS in the late 90's. Ever since the departure of coach JEFF VAN GUNDY and the team of retired vets such as ALLAN HOUSTON, LATRELL SPREWELL, MARCUS CAMBY (still currently playing), that team has lost its face and name within the league, until of recent. The KNICKS signed restricted free agent AMARE STOUDAMIRE in the off-season hoping to land another huge name (LeBRON JAMES), and swung a huge blockbuster deal after the ALL-STAR break to have a chance of making some noise in this years PLAYOFFS by trading for CARMELO ANTHONY and veteran guard CHAUNCY BILLUPS. Getting to the series..this is in my opinion one of the best series to watch in this years NBA PLAYOFFS. In order for the CELTICS to get through this series they need their veterans to step and put the hammer down on the uprising KNICKS, and thats exactly what they did. Lead by the silky smooth sharpshooter RAY ALLEN (24pnt, 6rebs) the CELTICS were put to the test early on in the game. Through most of the game they were down thanks to AMARE STOUDAMIRE (28pnts 11rebs) leading his KNICKS to route to a 10pnt lead over the CELTICS till mid 4th QTR, as the CELTICS went on a run to get the game to 84-85, still down 1. With 12 secs left and the CELTICS with possession RAY ALLEN hit the game winner with a 3ptr that pushed the CELTICS up to 87-85. With time running down NEW YORK opted for the game winning 3 that was taken by CARMELO ANTHONY, who was double teamed and contested during the shot. Final score 87-85 (BOSTON leads 1-0).

This is the other series in the west that is like the CELTICS and KNICKS in the east. The NUGGETS and THUNDER. From the get go you can tell that this is gonna be one of those grudge matches, in the season after the KENDRICK PERKINS trade to OKC, everytime the two teams met there was altercations between PERKINS and the Brazilian center, NENE HILARIO. Nothing failed to disappoint as we did get to witness another one of these head to head stare downs in game 1. The game looked like a boxing match between prized fighters, blow for blow, but keeping it close. The THUNDER's young talented duo of DURANT (41pnts 9rebs) and WESTBROOK (31pnts 6rebs 7asts) combined for 72 of the THUNDER's 107 and they took game 1 of the series with a final score of 107-103. The NUGGETS looked to slow down and looked very gassed out around the final minutes of the 4th QTR. Some NUGGET notables were NENE leading with 22pnts 8rebs, and GALLINARI playing a very efficient game going 6-11 from fg scoring 18pnts. This series is going to be a heated one and I see the NUGGETS coming out and competing harder in game 2.

Till next time NBA'ers!! It's the kid JUMPMAN20 signing off!! PEACE!!