Czar’s Playoff Preview: Semifinals Game 2

We’ve seen some great NBA Playoff basketball so far in the Semifinals, and we’ve got a huge doubleheader coming up on TNT tonight featuring the No. 1 Chicago Bulls in the first matchup followed by the defending champion Los Angeles Lakers in the second. Both the Bulls and Lakers fell to lower-seeded teams in their respective Semifinal openers at home. Consecutive losses to start the series could send these favorites into an irreversible tailspin. Chicago must return to the level of play that earned them 62 regular season wins to stop the soaring Atlanta Hawks. And LA must tighten the screws on defense to contain Dirk and the Dallas Mavericks, who came back from 16 points down to win Game 1. It’s anyone’s guess who will come out on top, but the United Center will certainly be electric with fans eager to even the score and celebrate newly named league MVP Derrick Rose. I’ll join Dick Stockton in the TNT booth while David Aldridge mans the sidelines when the Atlanta Hawks meet the Chicago Bulls in Game 2 at 8PM ET.