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It’s been kind of hectic with stuff lately, and we didn’t have time to put this on for you yesterday, but for those who haven’t seen it, here’s Roger Federer with a sublime between-the-legs shot in his first round match of the US Open against Brian Dabul, which he won in straight sets.

Day 2 of the playoffs produced the Denver Nugget’s First playoff win in 8 straight playoff defeats in the past 2 seasons, Atlanta’s Surprisingly easy drubbing of the Heat, the LA Lakers predictable win over Utah and Philly beating the Magic in Orlando with 2 seconds on the clock.

The Stunner – Philadelphia 76ers (6) 100   Orlando Magic (3) 98

Philly were down by 14 when the fourth quarter began but Andre Iguodala led the Sixers to a 35-19 fourth and capped it off by scoring the winning jumper with 2.2 seconds left on the clock.

Philly hit 5 of 7 from 3-point range in the fourth in their first win over Orlando this season (They’ve lost 3 times during the regular season). Iguodala finished the game with 20 points, 8 rebounds and 8 assists on his way to vindicating himself after all the criticism he received after last year’s playoff performance vs the Pistons. He had Lou Williams coming off the bench to help him with 18 points.

The Magic couldn’t get their 3 point game going and couldn’t really get the bench involved. They shot only 5 for 18 from the three and got only 13 points from their bench. Howard played great with 31 points and 16 rebounds, but Hedo and Rashard Lewis combined for only 20 points, and that gave Philly enough breathing room to come back from their deficit and steal the home court advantage.

The Shockingly Easy win of The Night – Miami Heat (5) 64  Atlanta Hawks (4) 90

We talked about Josh Smith needing to deliver this post season, and he certainly delivered. 23 Points, 10 boards and 3 steals and one dunk after another. The Hawks led by 20 at half time and coasted the whole way through. It was Atlanta’s biggest playoff win since the Hawks moved to Atlanta. The Problem – Each time they won a game in playoff series by more than 20 points, they haven’t gone to the next round.

The Heat got a little from Wade who was busy fighting with the refs and little more from anyone else. Wade scored 19 in a weak performance for him and an abysmal performance from his teammates. If the Heat don’t want to get swept, they need at least one more player to step up alongside D-Wade. Atlanta can handle him if he’s alone.

The Most Predictable win of the Night – Utah Jazz (8) 100  LA Lakers (1) 113

The Lakers scored 62 points in the first half and then kinda put it on auto pilot for the second half. Phil Jackson maybe wasn’t too happy with it, but his players seemed to be enjoying themselves and the end result.

3 players scored more than twenty – Kobe Bryant with 24, Trevor Ariza with 21 and Pau Gasol with 20. Kobe passed Magic Johnson on the Lakers all time playoff scoring list and moved up to third, with Jerry West and Karim above him.

Despite the Jazz fighting back in the second half they didn’t get closer than 9 points. Boozer scored 27 with 9 rebounds while Deron Williams had 16 points with 17 dishes (playoff career high), but that was it. The Lakers just executed much better than them. The Lakers shot 55% from the field while the Jazz shot 39% from the field combined with only 3 for 13 from long range. You can’t win in on the road and in LA with these numbers.

THE Impressive Performance of the Night – New Orleans Hornets (7) 84   Denver Nuggets (2) 113

The Nuggets got their biggest playoff win since 1985 when they beat San Antonio 141-111 and are looking to make good use of their first home court advantage in a playoff series since 1988.

Chauncey Billups scored 36 points in his first playoff appearance with the Nuggets including 8 three pointers, one shy of the post season record. Billups hit two of those three pointers during a 21-0 run the Nuggets had in the second half which left the Hornets wandering what just blew by them.

Besides Chris Paul who had 21 points and 11 assists, the Hornets were bad. They lost the rebound battle (49-35), the percentage battle (50-37) and their bench got outscored 41-24. The Nuggets had ‘Melo on a weak night but J.R. Smith stepped up with 19 from the bench.

Now we have to wait and see if this was some kind of freak night in which everything goes well for Denver and bad for the Hornets or has Billups really turned Denver to a legitimate contender.

The NBA Playoffs finally took off on Saturday with 4 games, as the Chicago Bulls shocked the Celtics in Boston, the Mavs made a great comeback against the Spurs in San Antonio and we had the more one sided games : Cleveland handled the Pistons easily at home while Houston came to Portland and just easily brushed the home side.

Shocker of the Night – Houston Rockets(5) 108 Portland Trail Blazers(4) 81

I know a lot of people were more surprised by the Bulls winning an OT game in Boston, but the Bulls don’t get enough credit and the Celtics are overrated, especially without KG for the playoffs.

Portland boasted a 34-7 home record during the regular season and were outplayed and out hustled from the get go. Yao Ming had an amazing first half shooting 9 of 9 from the field and even without taking a shot during the second half and sitting out the entire fourth quarter he finished with 24 points and 9 rebounds.

Aaron Brooks was the surprising big contributor for the Rockets, scoring 27 points while dishing out 7 assists. The Rockets just controlled the boards and the paint, out rebounding Portland 44 to 30. Their defense just didn’t give any easy shots while Portland didn’t seem to show up on the defensive side.

Nate McMillan summed up the Blazers disastrous playoff premier for the first time in 6 years : “It’s a bad night, we lost.” Pure poetry.

Comeback of the Night – Dallas Mavericks(6) 105 San Antonio Spurs(3) 97

The Mavs won their first playoff game on the road for the first time in three years and it doesn’t get any sweeter than doing in in the home of their state rivals, the Spurs.

San Antonio had a 13 point lead but couldn’t hold on, with Dallas getting stronger and stronger throughout the game, finishing strong with a 31-23 fourth quarter. Josh Howard whose return in March helped the Mavs finish the season strong had 25 points to lead the Mavs who enjoyed a very good contribution from their bench, outscoring the Spurs’ bench 39-14. It’s tough for the Spurs without Manu.

Tim Duncan scored 27 points and added 9 boards summed up the overall feeling in San Antonio: “We’ve been here before, but it’s a big loss at home for us.” He maybe was consoled a bit by moving to 11th on the All Time playoff scoring list.

The Amazing Lebron Win, Stat Line and Amazing Shot of the Night – Detroit Pistons(8) 84 Cleveland Cavaliers(1) 102

This doesn’t look like the playoff series of 2007 and not of 2006. Detroit are a different team, the Cavs are a different team. Lebron is a different player. Detroit just aren’t good enough to play with the Cavs. The Cavs held a 12 point lead at half time and it was never really in doubt they would come out with the win.

Lebron’s numbers? 38 points, 8 rebounds and 7 assists. Oh, and the half court buzzer beating shot in the first half. The Pistons didn’t know what to do with him, so he scored and dished and did whatever he wanted. Like Detroit’s Antonio McDyess said: “It’s tough when he’s going like that. No matter what you do; trap, he’s going to make that play; contest shots, he’s making shots. He’s going to the bucket and being fouled. It’s just tough.”

The Cavs didn’t need anyone else to step up offensively, with Joe Smith scoring 13 and 3 others adding 12 points each. The Defense did it’s bit and Lebron did the rest on the offense. This was the Cavs fifth straight playoff win over Detroit in a series that has all the great makings of a sweep.

And Finally, The Coming out/Breakout coming of age win : Boston Celtics(2) 103 Chicago Bulls(7) 105 (after overtime)

Chicago ran away with it a bit in the second quarter but Boston came back in the third. Paul Pierce tied things at 97 and missed a free throw that would have won the game for Boston but instead sent the game into overtime. And then came Tyrus Thomas and banked in the winning shot. Ray Allen had a chance to tie it in the final seconds but that shot looked like most of his night (4 points, 1 of 12 from the field).

The Bulls who missed the playoffs last year relied on Tyrus Thomas and Derrick Rose. Salmons and Ben Gordon were off, shooting a combined 12 of 33 from the field, leaving it to Rose and Thomas. Derrick Rose scored 36 points with 11 assists, tying Karim Abdul Jabbar’s record from 1970 for most points by a rookie in his playoff debut. More than that, he became the second rookie ever to begin his playoff career with 35 points and 10 assists. Who was the first – Chris Paul, last year. Rose beat him with a point and assist.

Tyrus Thomas added 16 points with 6 rebounds but it was the timing of his shots that made the difference. No Garnett means a lot of troubles for the Celtics, with Ray Allen playing one of his worst games of his career. Rondo was the only one to really show up, scoring 29, grabbing 9 boards and dishing out 7. But he was pretty much alone. Doc Rivers needs to get his 2 remaining players of the “Big 3″ to step up before they’ll be in too deep a hole.

The Bulls will come to the second came riding high on getting their first ever playoff win against the Celtics. Even Michael doesn’t have that skull on his belt.