We’re through with the breakneck pace of the opening weekend of the NBA Playoffs, and the eight Game 1s that came with it. Now it’s time for three of those series to write their second chapters.
NBA Playoff Schedule 2012: Heat, Thunder Look To Keep Momentum
The NBA Playoffs continue with three Game 2s, including Mavs and Knicks teams looking for revenge.
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Knicks at Heat, Game 2
7 p.m. ET on TNT
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Heat lead, 1-0
Miami looked like the Flying Death Machine we all know they can be in their first game against New York. It’s enough that they have monumentally hyper-talented offensive talents in Lebron James and Dwyane Wade, but the Heat showed how great they can be defensively by holding the Knicks to 67 points and coasting to a 33-point victory. The dominant defense was no surprise to Knicks fans, who saw Miami torture Jeremy Lin at the height of Linsanity. It won’t get any easier for the Knicks as defensive phenom Iman Shumpert tore his ACL and will be out for not just the series, but six to eight months after it.
Magic at Pacers, Game 2
7:30 p.m. ET on NBATV
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Magic lead, 1-0
The first game of this series showed why Game 2 got relegated to NBATV: an Orlando team without Dwight Howardscraped and scrapped a four-point win against a Pacers squad that couldn’t get clicking. Indiana has some offensive firepower, but execution late in the game allowed a team that looked dead to rights in the season’s final weeks. The Pacers were a few buckets short of being up 1-0 - will their futility continue?
Mavericks at Thunder, Game 2
9:30 p.m. ET on TNT
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Thunder lead, 1-0
Kevin Durant’s Game 1 winner dinged around the rim and dropped, squandering awesome offensive output fromJason Terry and Dirk Nowitzki. Durant had the final say, but he wasn’t the story for OKC: although the scoring champ put up 25, what kept the Thunder in striking range was a season-high 22 by Serge Ibaka. That said, that likely won’t be the defining factor in this series: there’s no reason not to expect Durant to have a more effective game following off his game-winner. That said, there’s always the danger of Dirk Dirk-ing. With firepower like Durant, Nowitzki, andRussell Westbrook, this series should be one of the most fun to watch.
Stay tuned to SBNation.com/NBA for full coverage during Monday’s action.
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