NBA Playoff Impressions: That's A Response.

Suns 101, Spurs 81 - Boy, guess chewing out your team works; Nash and D'Antoni ought to do it more often. D'Antoni makes a necessary adjustment by placing Kurt Thomas on Tim Duncan for the game, and the Suns took over in the second period and didn't really look back after that. So, we leave Phoenix with a split, and the question is whether the Suns can take one near the Alamo come Saturday. Amare Stoudamire had 21 of his 27 in the second half.

Cavaliers 102, Nets 92 - Yes, LeBron popped in a big-time 36 points tonight (25 in the second half) and 12 assists, and Sasha Pavlovic scored 17 while playing some lock-down D. But here's the stat that probably makes the difference right now, and why an experienced Nets team is down 2-0 when they should be able to get a split on the road: they were outrebounded 49 to 32, with only 3 offensive rebounds the whole game. That won't just get you beat; that's likely to get you swept if it keeps up.

(Photo: Garrett Elwood/NBAE/Getty)