All the home teams won today, as the Celtics routed the Bulls, the Mavs beat the Spurs, and the Jazz won over the Lakers in a tight game.

Eastern Conference:

Chicago Bulls 86 - Boston Celtics 107

Boston leads series 2-1

• Rajon Rondo played another complete game with 20 points, 11 rebounds, and 6 assists, while Paul Pierce led the Celtics to this blowout victory over the Bulls, with 24 points, coming alive after two quiet performances. Rondo also had 5 steals, Glen Davis had 14 points, 9 rebounds, 6 assists and 6 steals, and Ray Allen had 18 points (5 treys).
• On a night Derrick Rose was crowned Rookie of the year, the Bulls seemingly did not show up for this game. They won the rebounding battle, but were out-assisted, had 22 turnovers, shot only .375, and gave up a ton of steals and blocks to the Celtics.
• The Celtics showed an aggressiveness becoming of the defending champs, and it’s up to the Bulls to come back and defend their home court.

*****

Western Conference:

San Antonio Spurs 67 - Dallas Mavericks 88

Dallas leads series 2-1

• Dallas star Dirk Nowitzki broke out of his shooting slump to lead the Mavs to a blowout win over the Spurs. Josh Howard reverted back to his excellent game 1 form in scoring 17 points and adding 8 rebounds.
• The Spurs starters didn’t even play a second of the fourth quarter. Spurs coach Gregg Popovich was that resigned to his team’s fate in this game. Tony Parker had only 12 points on 5-14 shooting, and none of the other starters scored in double figures.
• Instead of making good on threats to hurt the Spurs with hard fouls, Erick Dampier and the Mavs shut down the Spurs with their defense. Dampier drew the league’s attention when he declared that he would make sure Parker fell to the floor on his first drive, but “backed off a bit when he met with reporters Wednesday, saying he ‘probably shouldn’t have said it like that.’”
• Look to the Spurs to bounce back in the next game. It is now on Dallas to not remain complacent despite their blowout win. From the first three games, it seems that aside from Dirk Nowitzki, the other key players for the Mavs seem to be Josh Howard. They lost badly when Howard had a bad game, and he might still be feeling some after effects from his injury. They’ll need everything from those two and Sixth Man of the Year Jason Terry and Jason Kidd if they want to pull this upset.

Los Angeles Lakers 86 - Utah Jazz 88

Los Angeles leads series 2-1

• What a game. Deron Williams hit a tough fadeaway with 2.2 seconds left, and Carlos Boozer had 23 points and a franchise playoff record 22 rebounds to lead the Jazz to a win over the Los Angeles Lakers.


Carlos Boozer #5 of the Utah Jazz celebrates after his dunk to put the Jazz up two in the fourth quarter of their game against the LA Lakers. Copyright 2009 NBAE (Photo by Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE via Getty Images)

• Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom had stellar games for the Lakers, but Kobe was in a funk, shooting only 5-24 from the field. Bryant also missed a potential game-winning three at the buzzer. The Lakers’ other 7-footer, Andrew Bynum, was limited by foul trouble, and played only 7 minutes.
• It seems that the Jazz have finally taken up coach Jerry Sloan’s advice to “get nasty,” limiting the Lakers to .368 shooting after allowing them to shoot above .500 in the first two games. They also outrebounded the Lakers, 55-40.
• Both teams shot poorly from the line (both ~.600 shooting), but the Jazz, led by Boozer and Williams, took the game to the Lakers. Utah’s star duo executed a perfect pick-and-roll to tie the game late, then Boozer had a monster left-handed dunk on a post-up on Gasol to put them up 86-84. The Jazz suffered on a defensive lapse on the next possesion, when they doubled Kobe Bryant but forgot about Gasol, allowing him a dunk to tie the game. On the final play for the Jazz, Williams and Boozer faked a pick and roll, as Williams crossed Derek Fisher over, and made his tough shot over the outstretched arms of Lamar Odom.
• Each stellar play in the waning minutes brought louder and louder cheers from the Utah crowd, and they’re looking good for the next game, if they can repeat their “nasty” performance.