As of Thursday all four series in the first round of the 2010 NBA Western Conference playoffs have two games under their belt heading into tonight’s action. Only the #1 seed LA Lakers have been able to take advantage of the home court advantage as the other three best-of-seven series are knotted up at one game apiece. Here is a review of each series along with each team’s updated odds to win the Conference.
#1 Los Angeles Lakers (2-3) vs. #8 Oklahoma City Thunder (35-1)
You have to give credit to Oklahoma City for keeping both of the first two games close, but this is the Lakers time of the year. They do not always win pretty, but they still have the ability to find a way to come out on top. In game one, Kobe Bryant (21 points) and Pau Gasol (19 points) led the way on offense, but Ron Artest’s ability to hold the highest scoring player in the league, Kevin Durant in check was the real key to their 87-79 win. Durant got his points in game two, scoring 32 but Bryant got the best of it by scoring 39 in the Lakers 95-92 win. The Thunder may be able to steal a win at home tonight or on Saturday, but LA has this series well in hand.
#2 Dallas Mavericks (9-2) vs. #7 San Antonio Spurs (14-1)
The battle of Texas rages on after San Antonio shocked Dallas in game two 102-88 after losing game one 94-100. In that first game, the Spurs had no answer for Dirk Nowitzki who led all scorers with 36. Nowitzki was near perfect going 12-14 from the field and 12-12 from the line. San Antonio’s wily old vets, Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili took matters into their own hands in the next game to rout the Mavericks on their own home court. The series shifts to San Antonio for games three on Friday night at 9:30 P.M. and game four on Sunday night at 7:00 P.M.
#3 Phoenix Suns (7-1) vs. Portland Trail Blazers (22-1)
Behind Andre Miller’s 31 points, Portland stunned Phoenix in game one 105-100. LaMarcus Aldridge added 22 points and Jerryd Bayless scored 18 off the bench to help secure the win. The Suns were able to slow Miller down in game two, holding him to just 12 points on their way to a one-sided 119-90 win. They built a 14 point lead at the half and never looked back to even up the series at one game apiece. The Trail Blazers will need to copy their blueprint from game one as the series shifts to Portland for game three on Thursday at 10:00 P.M and game four on Saturday at 4:30 P.M.
#4 Denver Nuggets (15-2) vs. Utah Jazz (11-1)
Denver was able to blow a tight game wide open by outscoring Utah 38-27 in the fourth quarter to win game one 126-113. Carmelo Anthony scored a playoff career high 42 points to lead the Nuggets. The loss proved costly for the Jazz as they lost their starting C Mehmet Okur with an Achilles injury. Despite losing Okur as well as having Andrei Kirilenko out of the lineup and Carlos Boozer struggling with an abdominal strain, they found a way to pull together and even the series with a 114-111 win on Monday night. Deron Williams was the difference as he led all scorers with 33 points. Anthony managed 32 but it was not enough. This series now shifts to Utah for game three on Friday at 10:30 P.M (ET) and Sunday at 9:30 P.M. (ET).
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