The Lakers are in control of another series. Utah couldn’t ask for a better place to play their do or die game. They were 37-4 at home this year in the regular season. The Jazz may get one game at EnergySolutions Arena, but they probably won’t get more than that. Utah has yet to find an answer for Kobe Bryant and the Lakers are starting to play some defense. Seventeen blocks and seventeen steals in two games is a strong statement. I like the Lakers to wrap this up in 4 games, but the Jazz do have the talent to steal one game away.

The Hornets are for real. Tuesday night’s game in New Orleans is a must win for the Hornets. They have Dallas right where they want them and should deliver the final blow insuring they don’t have to return to Dallas for a difficult game six. Tyson Chandler has come a long way from the skinny high school kid on the Bulls and has complimented Chris Paul well.

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.