April 18, 2011; A day of upsets

It has been a while (27 years) since a number one and two seeded team lost their first game of the series. Today was its reckoning, as the number one seeded team in the West, the San Antonio Spurs, and the number two seeded team, the Los Angeles Lakers, lost both their playoff home opener.

The 8th seeded Memphis Grizzlies stunned the Spurs with a 101-98 debacle at the AT&T Center. It marked their first post-season victory in their sixteenth year in the league. The Grizzlies started in Vancouver as an expansion franchise in 1995. In their six years of stay in the said city, never did they enter the postseason. The franchise transferred to Memphis in an effort to revamp their lapses. They waited for 2 more seasons until they reached their first postseason appearance. They advanced to the playoffs for the next three seasons but to no avail, with all of them ending in a sweep in the first round.

Shane Battier, a member of their 2006 squad, made the biggest shot of the game, a three-pointer to win the day for the Grizzlies.

The Grizzlies were led by Zach Randolph with 25 points, along with 14 rebounds and 3 assists. Spanish big man Marc Gasol added 24 markers and 9 boards. Note that the Grizzlies are without their star forward Rudy Gay who is out with an injury.

The Spurs on the other hand had six players scoring in double figures, led by Tony Parker with 20 points, Tim Duncan with 16, George Hill with 15, Richard Jefferson with 13, Matt Bonner with 12 and Gary Neal with 10.

Game 2 of the series will be on Thursday, April 21 at 8:30 AM Manila time.

Let's now head to Hollywood as the Los Angeles Lakers found themselves on the opposite end of where they should've been, as they lost to the seventh seeded New Orleans Hornets to the tune of 109-100.

Kobe Bryant's 34 point performance wasn't enough as the Hornets were the more poised team down the stretch, thanks to the brilliant leadership skills of Chris Paul, who had 33 points of his own, along with 14 assists and seven rebounds. Carl Landry added 17 while Jarrett Jack had 15 markers for the Hornets, who are without the services of their leading scorer David West who had a season-ending injury.

Ron Artest was the Lakers' second leading contributor with 16 points. Big man Andrew Bynum had 13 points while Lamar Odom added 10 off the bench. The big question about this game was Pau Gasol, who just had eight points and six boards in 38 minutes of play. After the game, Bryant challenged Gasol not to be "soft" and show up in Game 2 on Thursday at 10:30 AM Manila time, for them not to be in a 0-2 bubble.

Now let's head on to the East as the third-seeded Boston Celtics escaped with a 89-87 victory against division rival sixth-seeded New York Knicks, via a three-pointer by the ever-so-cool Ray Allen with 11.7 seconds left in regulation.

The Knicks are appearing in the postseason for the first time in seven seasons, their last postseason win was on April 29, 2001.

And their chances of staying alive in the series suffered a major blow as newly acquired guard Chauncey Billups, left the game with 51 seconds remaining, who strained his left knee or thigh muscle. He is on a day-to-day status right now, and if he can't make it to Game 2 on Wednesday, Toney Douglas will start on his behalf.

The reigning Eastern Conference champs were led by Allen who had 24 points along with 6 rebounds on 9/15 shooting. The rest of the starters scored in double digits, led by Paul Pierce with 18 points, Kevin Garnett with 15, Jermaine O'Neal with 12 and Rajon Rondo with 10. The C's fielded just 9 players as they only used 4 players off the bench (Glen Davis, Delonte West, Jeff Green and Nenad Krstic).

The Knicks on the other hand, were led by All-Star center Amar'e Stoudemire with 28 points and 11 rebounds. Carmelo Anthony added 15 while Billups pulls in 10.

And now to the last game of the day, where the fourth-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder went on to win a close one against battle tested fifth-seeded Denver Nuggets, 107-103. The tandem of scoring champ Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook combined for 72 points (41 for Durant, 31 for Westbrook), as they survived a overall team effort from the Nuggets.

A putback by Kendrick Perkins on the other hand, was questionable since he tipped it in with the ball still carreening on the cylinder. Nevertheless, a win's a win for the Thunder.

The Nuggets were led by Nene with 22 points and 8 rebounds, while Italian forward Danilo Gallinari chipped in 18 for the losing team.

Game 2 of the series will be played on Thursday, April 21 at 8:00 AM Manila time.

So there you have it! You have just been fed!

God bless you guys! Stay safe! Peace out! The Wizard was here...:)

Comments, questions and suggestions are highly appreciated ;)