LeBron James and the Miami Heat also went up 2-0 in their best-of-seven series against the underdog Philadelphia 76ers with a 94-73 win on Monday. James finished with a game-high 29 points while Chris Bosh added 21 and Dwyane Wade kicked in 14 points and six rebounds.

The 76ers struggled throughout the game shooting just 34 percent from the floor while the Heat shot 47 percent for the game. The 76ers starters struggled offensively with the team’s leading scorer, forward Thaddeus Young, coming off the bench to score a team-high 18 points.

The Boston Celtics surrendered 42 points to Carmelo Anthony but still managed to take took a 2-0 lead over the New York Knicks with a 96-93 win in Beantown. The game went down to the wire when Kevin Garnett hit the go-ahead hook shot with 12 ticks on the clock.

Celtics All-Star guard Rajon Rondo led Boston with a career-high 30 points (postseason) and Paul Pierce added 20 points. Owning the floor for much of the game though was Melo who had a game-high 17 rebounds to go along with his 42 points and tried to overcome the loss of Amar’e Stoudemire who left the game in the second half with back spasms.

Celtics coach Doc Rivers postgame comment:

“The [Knicks] had no Stoudemire; no Billups; they played hard. We were lucky to win.”

In another Eastern Conference match-up, the Chicago Bulls kept momentum in the playoffs after their impressive 62-victory regular season by jumping to a 2-0 lead in their series against the Indiana Pacers. The 96-90 win in Chicago was led by MVP candidate Derrick Rose who had a solid night finishing with 36 points.

In the final Eastern Conference series, the Orlando Magic held on to take Game Two 88-82 against the Atlanta Hawks to even that series 1-1. The Hawks treated new head coach Larry Drew to his first career playoff win in Game One a few nights earlier with a double-digit 103-93 win in Orlando. Although Dwight Howard had a career night in that opener, the Hawks managed to gain revenge on the Magic after getting embarrassed in a four-game sweep last season.

Used with permission of the author.

Jay Donetelli is a Tampa-based freelance sportswriter and contributor to Sports Climax. With an opinion sharper than an Ovechkin skate blade with the sting of an Ali jab, Donetelli has a loyal cult of readers who have found a way to love him.

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