Washington/Cleveland, Indiana/New Jersey and Sacramento/San Antonio play tonight.
Miami 115, Chicago 108 (Miami leads the series, 2-0)
Take a look at this line from Dwayne Wade: 21 points, seven assists, five rebounds, four steals and two blocks. With the Heat’s lead cut to four with just over a minute remaining, Wade put the game out of reach with a spinning jumper in the lane. Shaquille O’Neal and Jason Williams each added 22 points, while Antoine Walker added 17/10 filling in for the suspended Udonis Haslem. The problem with the Bulls is that they just don’t have anyone that can score inside. Andres Nocioni went for 30 on a phenomenal 13-15 shooting, while Kirk Hinrich tallied 29 points, seven assists and four rebounds. With the Heat missing Haslem and Alonzo Mourning, the Bulls really needed this game, and their playoff chances are now looking pretty grim.
LA Clippers 98, Denver 87 (Clippers, 2-0)
The Heat and Bulls score 223 while the Clippers and Nuggets only go for 185 – what’s going on here? Isn’t the East supposed to be the conference where teams walk the ball up and grind out possessions, while the West is supposed to be the free-wheeling, high-flying conference? Then again, the Clippers have a great team, so this is an unusual year. Once again, LA put the clamps on Denver, limiting Carmelo Anthony to 16 points on 5-15 shooting. So far, Anthony is shooting just 34% in the series. Elton Brand has his usual double-double (19/11), while Cuttino Mobley led six Clippers in double-digit scoring with 21. Sam Cassell didn’t shoot the ball particularly well (4-15) but he dished out 11 assists in the victory. Game 3 will be very telling for the Nuggets, who just look outmatched right now.
