Great start for the Avs.  Decent start for the Nuggets.  That sums up the opening weekend of the playoffs for both teams.

The Avalanche punched the Stars in the mouth in game one on Saturday.  Dallas got caught up in their seeding and forgot the fact that the Avs still have guys named Sakic, Blake, Tanguay, and Hejduk.  End result - a 5-2 butt kicking that's put Dallas on their heels.

Expect game two to be dramatically different.  The Stars know they need a split before coming to Colorado.  The Avs are going to get the Stars best shot.  They better be ready or it could get ugly.

But maybe, just maybe the Avs will get greedy and steal game two.  If that happens, put a nail in the Stars coffin because this series is over. 

Meanwhile, the Nuggets spit out the usual clichés after their game one loss.  But if you were able to sort through the 'it's a do or die situation' or the 'we have to give 100 percent in game two' standard issue soundbites then you got a sense that the Nuggets actually feel pretty good heading into game two.

They came back from 16 down to tie the game only to let it slip away.  If ‘Melo can improve on his 0-for-8 shooting in the 4th quarter, the Nuggets feel like they’ll be heading back to Denver with the series tied at one.

And despite what head coach George Karl says, home court in the NBA Playoffs is huge.  In fact, it's bigger in basketball than any other sport.  Just look at the playoffs so far.  Home teams are 7-1.  Compare that to the Stanley Cup playoffs.  So far the homes teams are winning at a .500 clip.  That's righ through 12 games the home teams are 6-6.