Four teams took to the court on Tuesday night with a chance to go up 2-0 in their best-of-seven series. Just one failed to do so and that was the Portland Trail Blazers, which shouldn't come as much of a surprise. The Blazers were 8 1/2-point underdogs to the Suns, who were basically in a "must-win" situation after losing Game 1 on their home court. Phoenix led 63-49 at the half and then broke the game open with a 31-19 third quarter. How about this from the box score. Hill and Richardson, who shot be combined 6-of-21 from the floor in Game 1 (18 points), made 21-of-27 shots last night, combining for 49 points (Richardson had 29).

The Hawks, Celtics and Lakers all won last night as well, extending their series leads to 2-0. The outmanned Bucks were no match for the Hawks, as all five Atlanta starters reached double figures. Johnson (27) led the way, with Smith just missing a triple-double (21-14-9) and Horford scoring 20 points and adding 10 rebounds. How about this note? The Hawks go up 2-0 in a best-of-seven series for the first time in franchise history since the 1970 team (playing as a member of the Western Conference) took a 2-0 lead over the Bulls on its way to a 4-1 series win.

The Celtics played last night without KG but after falling behind 29-25 in the early second quarter, used a 44-8 run to break the game open. Wade had 29 for Miami but got little help, while Ray Allen led the Celtics with 25 points and Glen Davis, filling in for KG, scored 23 with eight rebounds. The Lakers hardly had a 'cake walk' against the Thunder but they did prevail 95-92. Durant was better than in Game 1 (12-of-26 FGs for 32 points) but Kobe's 39 points (13-of-15 FTs) and Gasols' 25 points plus 12 rebounds were enough for the Lakers to make it 12 straight playoff home wins over the OKC/Sea franchise.

Home teams went 4-0 SU (3-1 ATS) and are now 12-2 SU and 9-5 ATS through 14 games. There were two overs and two unders last night, leaving over bettors with seven wins, five losses and two pushes. Those following the Zig-Zag theory went 2-2 last night, after going 2-0 on Monday (currently 4-2 ATS). TNT airs both games tonight, the Bobcats/Magic game starting at 7:05 ET (Magic are favored by 8 1/2 points with a total of 186) and the Spurs/Mavs game starting at 9:35 ET (Mavs are favored by 3 1/2 with a total of 194 1/2). All eight series shift venues after tonight's two games, as the lower-seed teams will play at home for the next two games.

Good luck...Larry