Day Two: NBA Playoff Capsule Recaps

Don’t listen to that guy on Monday who says he accurately predicted what would happen in each of these Sunday games because dude is lying.  While he might have guessed Durant would get forty, and that Ray Allen would be Ray Allen, there wasn’t anyone outside of NO or Memphis that thought Chris Paul and Zach Randolph would lead their respective squads to the game one upset wins that they did yesterday.  Who’s the best PG in the league again?  Anyways, here’s everything that happened on day two of the opening round if you missed any of it. 

Game one: (8) Memphis Grizzlies vs. (1) San Antonio Spurs, AT&T Center
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  • Final score: Memphis 101, Spurs 98.
  • After Memphis missed (4) straight FT’s down stretch, Shane Battier hit a three with 23 seconds left to regain lead.
  • Grizzlies’ Zach Randolph: 25 points, 14 rebounds, 3 assists.
  • Spurs’ Tim Duncan: 16 points, 13 rebounds, 2 assists.
  • Key stats: Memphis totaled 22 assists as a team, led by 10 from Mike Conley, as compared to only 13 on the San Antonio side.
  • Spurs coach Gregg Popovich was not thrilled about the Battier three.  “What would you like to know about it?” said Popovich after the game. “It counted for three. He caught it, he shot it, (and) he made it.”
  • “It was awesome. I’m really happy for the city,” Battier said. “Beale Street will be a fun place tonight. Most of these guys don’t know the history or the heartache that the city has gone through. I’m happy for the city.”
  • Memphis leads series 1-0. Next game Wednesday April 20 at 7:30PM EST in San Antonio.

Game one: (2) Los Angeles Lakers vs. (7) New Orleans Hornets, Staples Center
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  • Final score: Hornets 109, Lakers 100
  • Los Angeles never led at any point during the second half.  
  • Hornets’ Chris Paul: 33 points, 7 rebounds, 14 assists.
  • Lakers’ Kobe Bryant: 34 points, 4 rebounds, 5 assists.
  • Key stats: The Hornets bench outscored the Lakers reserves 39-21. LA also totaled 13 TO’s as a team, NO only had 3 TO’s.
  • “I’ve struggled all season long, trying to figure out where to pick my spots,” said Paul, who inscribed his sneakers with the No. 30 of injured teammate David West, New Orleans’ leading scorer. “It’s the playoffs. It’s a whole other energy.”
  • “It’s always good for us, when I think about the personality of our team, to be humbled a little bit,” Lamar Odom said. “Sometimes that’s the best thing for us, to be humbled.”
  • New Orleans leads series 1-0.  Next game Wednesday April 20 at 10:30PM EST in Los Angeles.

Game one: (3) Boston Celtics vs. (6) New York Knicks, TD Garden
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  • Final score: Celtics 87, Knicks 85.
  • Ray Allen hit a monster three with 12 seconds left. Carmelo responded by missing a three of his own as time expired.
  • Celtics’ Ray Allen: 24 points, 6 rebounds, on 3 of 5 from three-point land.
  • Knicks’s Amar’e Stoudemire: 28 points, 11 rebounds, 2 assists.
  • Key stats: Anthony and Billups combined to go 8 of 29 from field for 25 points for NY. Jermaine O’Neal scored 12 for C’s.
  • “They’re still the same Celtics, man,” Stoudemire said. “They’re very, very smart offensively. They do a great job defensively out there of really, really loading up on guys.”
  • “It’s funny because we have not been executing great of late,” Doc Rivers said. “And all we stressed this week was that it may come down to one play and execution, and our guys did it. So that was terrific.” 
  • Celtics lead series 1-0. Next game Tuesday April 19 at 7:00PM EST in Boston.

Game one: (4) Oklahoma City Thunder vs. (5) Denver Nuggets, United Center
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  • Final score: Thunder 107, Nuggets 103
  • DEN put an 11-2 run on OKC to take a 101-100 lead w/ 1:05 left before Kendrick Perkins put-back a Russell Westbrook miss, giving the Thunder the lead for good.
  • Thunder’s Kevin Durant: 41 points, 9 rebounds, 2 assists.
  • Nuggets’ Nene: 22 points, 8 rebounds, 1 assist.
  • Key stats: Durant (41), Westbrook (31), and Eric Maynor (12) combined for 84 of the 107 OKC points.
  • “We have to limit one of them,” Denver’s Kenyon Martin said. “They can’t go for 30 or 40. I think our concepts of paying attention to everyone else was great.  “Everything we needed to do, we did – except for limit Durant and Westbrook.”
  • ”That’s why they [Durant and Westbrook] get paid the big bucks,” Perkins said. ”They stepped up big tonight.”
  • Thunder lead series 1-0. Next game Wednesday April 20 at 8:00PM EST in Oklahoma City.

About Brendan Bowers

I am the founding editor of StepienRules.com. I am also a content strategist and social media manager with Electronic Merchant Systems in Cleveland. My work has been published in SLAM Magazine, KICKS Magazine, The Locker Room Magazine, Cleveland.com, BleacherReport.com, InsideFacebook.com and elsewhere. I've also written a lot of articles that have been published here.

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