East#4-Cleveland 93     East#5-Washington 86
(Cavs Lead Series 1-0)

In the first game of the day the host Cavs pulled out a victory behind the clutch play of LeBron James. James was strong in the second half scoring 20 of his 32 points in the final two quarters. The Wizards were lead by Gilbert Arenas and his 24 points. Areas played just 27 minutes and doesn’t appear to be 100% yet after coming back from his knee surgery that kept him out for 66 games. This may be one of the more interesting series to watch because of the bad blood between these two teams, but in the end these teams are playing for the chance to lose to the Celtics.

West#3-San Antonio 117     West#6-Phoenix 115 (2OT)
(Spurs Lead Series 1-0)

Game one is an instant classic? Indeed. This will be a much better series than I originally thought.  The return of Manu Ginobili makes the Spurs a very legitimate contender. The spotlight was on Duncan today for his performance but I believe it’s Ginobili’s presence that fueled the Spurs. He finished with 24 points, the final three of which won the game. It’s put up or shut up time for Shaquille O’Neal. He was brought in to get this team to the promised land and more 11 point performances like today’s aren’t going to get them anywhere. I liked the Suns before the series started, but I think it’s going to be the Spurs moving on.

West#2-New Orleans 104     West#7-Dallas 92
(Hornets Lead Series 1-0)

The Hornets are for real. They play with urgency and youthful energy.  In a league without Kobe Bryant, Chris Paul is the hands-down MVP. Paul lead the Hornets in his first playoff game with 35 points, 10 assists and four steals. The Mavericks aren’t going to go down without a fight. Dirk Nowitzki finished with 31 points, but only tallied four during Dallas’ fourth-quarter let-down. The Mavericks are a veteran team and will make the young Hornets earn this series. This is going to be a good series with youth battling experience.

West#4-Utah 93     West#5-Houston 82
(Jazz Lead Series 1-0)

The final game of the NBA Saturday Playoff Marathon was a good one. I have been wrong about the Jazz. This is a good team. I admit that their lack of high-profile player (Carlos Boozer is good, but he’s not Tim Duncan) kept them off my Laker flooded radar. Boozer finished with a strong 20 points and 16 rebounds without a Yao Ming to contest him underneath.  Deron Williams chipped in with 20 points and 10 assists as Utah held Tracy McGrady to 20 points for Houston. Playing without 2 starters and no one to seriously challenge Boozer inside the Rockets are going to have to play perfect basketball in every game to win this series. In the first game of the series, they didn’t and now they are down 0-1. We’ll see what happens Monday night.

Day two brings us the Lakers, Celtics and the rest of the (yawn) Eastern Conference.