The Lakers and Clippers finally closed out their first-round series with wins over the Nuggets and Grizzlies, respectively.
The Laker win sets up a highly intriguing "revenge" subplot for the conference semifinals against Oklahoma City. The last time the Lakers played the Thunder, Metta World Peace elbowed James Harden in the head, leaving the sixth man of the year with a concussion and earning a six-game suspension. The enforcer with the ironic name returned to the court for the Lakers' game seven win over Denver, and will be available for the next round.
Of course, the whole Kobe Bryant/Kevin Durant thing is pretty compelling too.
The Clippers mounted a late charge to finish off the Memphis Grizzlies, but got very little from Blake Griffin, who is clearly still bothered by a knee injury. They'll face San Antonio in the second round. San Antonio is well-rested and healthy; the Clippers are a M*A*S*H unit, with Griffin (knee), Chris Paul (hip), Mo Williams (hand) and Caron Butler (hand) all nursing injuries.
Miami opened their Eastern Conference Semifinal series with a win over the Pacers, but lost Chris Bosh to an abdominal strain in the first half. It's not clear if Bosh will be available for game two on Tuesday - or the rest of the series.
Bosh is probably the member of the "Big Three" that Miami can least-afford to lose, as the Heat are very thin in the frontcourt. Look for Erik Spoelstra to use smaller lineups featuring Shane Battier or Mike Miller in Bosh's place whenever possible... but that'll create a major size advantage for Indiana's David West and Roy Hibbert.
The Celtics got a triple-double from Rajon Rondo and a season-high in scoring from Kevin Garnett, taking a 1-0 series lead over the Sixers.
Today's games:
The 76ers will try to even their series with the Celtics in Boston at 7:00 ET. The Lakers tip-off their series in Oklahoma City at 9:30 ET.
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