• Oklahoma City Thunder 106, Denver Nuggets 89

The Thunder joined the Heat, Celtics, Mavericks and Bulls in the up two games to nil column with a convincing, well-balanced victory over Denver.

Denver adjusted onto Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook following their Game 1 explosion, but the Thunder countered with strong offensive performances from Serge Ibaka, James Harden and Nick Collison.

The 54-31 rebounding differential was also huge for Oklahoma City, as they scored 24 second-chance points compared to just 10 for Denver.

The Nuggets just can’t effectively go small and quick against the Thunder and is why this was probably the worst possible matchup for them in the first round.

• San Antonio Spurs 93, Memphis Grizzlies 87

We knew Marc Gasol would regress to the mean and that the Spurs would have a better solution for defending Zach Randolph, but Gregg Popovich still needed Manu Ginobili’s return to prevent the series falling apart into an 0-2 deficit. 

Ginobili was a modest 5-for-13 from the floor, but his ability to get to the line 13 times was a big factor for the Spurs. Ginobili, Tim Duncan, Richard Jefferson and George Hill all scored 16 or 17 points apiece.

• Los Angeles Lakers 87, New Orleans Hornets 78

Even though Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol combined for just 19 points, the Lakers made significant adjustments to their defense to slow down Chris Paul.

The Hornets committed 16 turnovers one game after limiting themselves to three and the Lakers converted those into 22 points.

The Lakers also dominated the points in the pain battle, outscoring New Orleans by a margin of 50-32.