Detroit 105 Philadelphia 88 That is the Detroit everyone expected to see. Philadelphia didn’t stand a chance tonight as the Pistons came out playing like a team that has been to five straight conference finals. Rip Hamilton lead the way with 20, while Sheed, Antonio McDyess, and Tayshaun Prince all chipped in 16 a piece. The Pistons took the 76er’s serious tonight, played with a sense of urgency, and looked like a team that could challenge the Celtics for the Eastern Conference crown.

Boston 96 Atlanta 77 The Boston/Atlanta scrimmage continues as the Hawks are putting up very resistance to the Celtics this series. Mike Bibby tried to add a little excitement to the series by saying that Boston fans are “bandwagon jumpers trying to get on this now. I played here last year, too, and I didn’t see three-fourths of them. They’re for the team now and they might get a little rowdy, but that’s about it.”  Whoops. While I don’t think that the players really care about that, the fans let Bibby have it with chants of “Where is Bibby?” and "Rondo's better." I mention this because the game itself was never in doubt with the Celtics winning every quarter and leading by 18 after three quarters.

LA Lakers 122 Denver 107 Kobe Bryant spent a lot of Game 1 setting his teammates up for easy buckets which lead to Pau Gasol having a career game. Well Kobe decided that it was time to take over in Game 2. 49 points, 1 off of his playoff career high, and 10 assists for Kobe, who will more than likely the MVP of the league. The Nuggets were down 10 at half time and pulled even at 71 with 4:56 to go in the 3rd quarter but the Lakers went on to out score the Nuggets 51-36 the last 16 minuets of the game. Allen Iverson did his best to keep the Nuggets in the game with 31 points but the Nuggets just couldn't keep up with Kobe. The Nuggets were 33-8 at home this season but they must find a way to slow down Kobe if they want this series to make it back to Los Angles.

Best Lines

• Kobe Bryant: 49 pts, 5-9 from 3, 10 asts., 4 rbs
• The Boston Three Party: 48 pts, 16 rbs, 9 asts, 5 stls
• Rip Hamilton: 20 pts, 7 rbs, 7 asts