An eventful night in the NBA as playoff hopes are dashed early for some

The post-season is finally upon us, with 16 teams all vying for that one thing, to be NBA Champions.

On Saturday night, the Playoffs began with the Chicago Bulls taking on the Philadelphia 76ers, Elton Brand led Philadelphia with 19 points. Jrue Holliday scored 16, and Thaddeus Young had 13 points. Chicago born Evan Turner scored 12, and was booed throughout the game after he had said he thought the Miami Heat would be a tougher first-round match up.

The Bulls simply overwhelmed the 76ers and looked like a team gearing up for another big run after losing to Miami in the conference finals last season. They earned home-court advantage during the regular season and sure looked like a championship contender in this game, right until the end. Rose crumbled to the ground after he drove the lane with about 1:20 left and with the Bulls leading by 12. He was going for a lay-up when he came to a jump-stop and seemed to change his mind (as the 76ers’ Spencer Hawes and Lavoy Allen rotated over), passing off to a team-mate before an awkward landing. It turned out that Derrick Rose has torn his ACL and will no longer play a part in the Bulls post season. The Bulls will now need to stay strong and work as a unit if they are to even reach the Eastern Conference Finals, let alone the NBA Finals.

This game was followed by the New York Knicks at Miami Heat, James scored 32 points after shooting 10 for 14 from the field, and the Heat rode the strength of what became a 32-2 run to easily beat the Knicks 100-67 on Saturday. Dwayne Wade added 19 points in his first game back after dislocating his left index finger. Mario Chalmers finished with 11 points and nine assists for Miami, which turned 27 New York turnovers into a franchise playoff-record 38 points. The Knicks were called for 21 fouls in the first half, Miami enjoying a 28-5 advantage in free throws attempted in the first 24 minutes alone.

Centre Tyson Chandler sent James flying with a flagrant foul as the Heat were blowing the game open. Then came the second player to suffer the horrific ACL injury in the same night, Iman Shumpert. Shumpert was coming up court, just past the half court line about to take it around Chalmers as he hopped up and fell to the floor in agonizing pain. Both Iman Shumpert and Derrick Rose will miss at least 6-8 months. The Miami Heat ended up blowing the Knicks out 100 to 67.

The third game of the night was the Orlando Magic vs. Indiana Pacers. The Magic entered Indiana’s building as huge underdogs and walked out with their heads held high

Jason Richardson and Jameer Nelson scored 17 points apiece to help sixth-seeded Orlando, playing without Dwight Howard, surprised the third-seeded Pacers 81-77 in Game 1. Orlando took a 68-67 lead on a dunk by Earl Clark with 9:41 remaining, but the Pacers held the Magic scoreless for nearly five minutes to take a 75-68 lead.

A 3-pointer by Richardson cut Indiana’s lead to 77-75. The Pacers missed 3-pointers on three consecutive possessions, and Danny Granger missed two free throws with 1:14 left. Richardson made another 3-pointer to give the Magic a 78-77 lead with 1:04 to play.

The last game was a close one, the Mavericks vs. the Thunder, Kevin Durant scored 25 points and hit the winning jumper from the foul line with 1.5 seconds left to give the Thunder a 99-98 victory over the Mavericks. The Thunder trailed by seven with 2:30 minutes left before rallying to take the first step toward avenging a 4-1 series loss a year ago. With the Thunder trailing by one late in the fourth quarter, he forced his way toward the lane and found himself with defenders closing in and the clock winding down. Durant manoeuvred to the free throw line and got off a high-arcing shot over Shawn Marion, that hit off the front of the rim and then off the backboard before falling through the net. The defending NBA champion Mavericks, who were out of timeouts, could not get a shot off before the buzzer.

Tonight’s games are San Antonio vs. Utah Jazz, Denver Nuggets vs. L.A Lakers, Boston Celtics vs. Atlanta Hawks and Memphis Grizzlies vs. L.A Clippers.

My predictions: San Antonio, L.A Lakers, Boston and Memphis.