Derek Fisher, Lakers
120-110 win vs Jazz
22 pts, 7-10 FG, 4-5 3-pt FG

Rashard Lewis, Magic
111-86 win vs Pistons
33 pts, 11-15 FG, 5-6 3-pt FG

Kobe Bryant, Lakers
120-110 win vs Jazz
34 pts, 11-18 FG, 11-12 FT

Dwight Howard – by the standard he's forced us to set for him – had an average night on Wednesday. That is to say, he played well, but fell short of the famed 20-20 he makes look so easy. However, while he scored 20 points and grabbed only 12 rebounds, what he lacked on the glass he made up for elsewhere. Unlike the other D12, this one had no love for Detroit: he blocked six of their shots and came up with three steals in the win.

Carlos Boozer, Jazz
120-110 loss at Lakers
10 pts, 3-10 FG

Rasheed Wallace, Pistons
111-86 loss at Magic
11 pts, 4-15 FG, 1-4 3-pt FG

Matt Harpring, Jazz
120-110 loss at Lakers
4 pts, 2-9 FG

The Magic won on Wednesday, 111-86, to avoid going down 3-0 and there were – for the sake of brevity – two main reasons the game unfolded the way it did:

1. Rashard Lewis combusted for a playoff career-high 33 points, shooting 11-of-15 from the floor and 5-of-6 from three.

2. Chauncey Billups got hurt. The former Finals MVP caused non-gymnastic viewers to wince early in the first when he lost his footing on the baseline, forcing him to do an involuntarily split. (Take a look.) It's being called a strained right hamstring. And as one might expect, the Pistons struggled without their first choice at the point. Billups was injured just minutes into the first quarter, and once that happened, as quickly as a hummingbird blinks, the Magic were out to a 20-3 lead. Detroit spent the next three quarters recovering, even coming back to within three, but eventually let go when Orlando found its 3-point touch and put the game away.

In his first game since being named the MVP on Tuesday afternoon, Kobe Bryant was not uncommonly spectacular. (Then again, he didn't need to be.) One might have expected – or, perhaps, one might have wished – that Kobe would put on a theatrical display for the occasion – something to further validate the voters' decision, or something to punctuate his already-brilliant campaign. Instead, he scored, rebounded and assisted at his (superb) averages as his Lakers more or less coasted to a win over the Jazz on Wednesday.

Much like Game 1 of the series, the Lakers never really trailed, and even as the Jazz reduced a double-digit lead to a one- or two-possession game in the fourth – just as they did on Sunday – they never truly seemed capable of taking the lead. Kobe was important as always, but his support came in the likely forms of Lamar Odom, Pau Gasol and Derek Fisher. Odom had 19 and 16 rebounds; Gasol scored 20; and Fisher shot 4-of-5 from three, finishing with 22 in the win.

In the first half of Game 2 on Wednesday night, Utah's two best frontcourt players couldn't keep their hands to themselves. Just 19 seconds into the second quarter, Carlos Boozer picked up his third personal foul, and later in the quarter, Mehmet Okur picked up his second personal. Though it was a problem at the time, the Jazz stayed alive when the burden fell squarely upon reserve forward Paul Millsap – he fluorished while shouldering the load. Millsap scored a playoff career-high 17 points and finished with 10 rebounds in the loss.

When Chauncey Billups went down, the Pistons needed a steady hand at the point. So they called upon Billups' protege and body double, Rodney Stuckey, to be a grown-up. The rookie did a decent job, too, scoring 19 – the most of his short playoff career – in his 34 minutes. Naturally, without its leader and primary ball-handler, on offense Detroit was noticeably out of sync, but one thing Billups can always be relied upon to excel at is free-throw shooting, and in that area, the Pistons didn't miss a beat: Stuckey was 9-for-9 from the stripe.

For the second straight game, the Lakers' frontcourt, and Lamar Odom and Pau Gasol in particular, reduced Carlos Boozer to a non-factor on the offensive end. Boozer, who led Utah in scoring during the regular season (21.1), had just 15 in Game 1 and shot 6-of-14 from the floor. In Game 2 on Wednesday, Boozer was held to just 10 points this time, and struggled mightily from the field once again, shooting 3-of-10. He was kept away from the glass, too, collecting only five rebounds.