The playoffs are finally here. After 2,160 regular season games and 6 play-in games, we made it. Now that all the Game 1’s are complete, let us dig into the twists and turns of each game from Heat-Bucks to Grizzlies-Jazz. There were some excellent games over the weekend and now as we move into the meat of each first round series, let us go back and review every game one.
Heat at Bucks was a classic game. Back and forth throughout, even with both stars struggling. Jimmy Butler was 4/22 for the game and 2/9 from 3 point range, however he did have a buzzer beater to force overtime. Miami was just as effective guarding Giannis Antetokoumpo as they were in the bubble last year. The Greek Freak was frustrated and ineffective throughout the game, even if his stat line was good, 26 points 18 rebounds, and 5 assists, but he was bad shooting from the field taking 27 shots, he was horrific at the foul line, going 6/13 on free throws and even committing a ten second violation, when he took more than ten seconds to shoot his free throw. The game went to overtime where the teams went back and forth again, then down three, Goran Dragic got an open look and drained a 3 pointer to tie it. Then when Milwaukee chose not to call timeout, Khris Middleton took the ball 94 feet and hit a game winning jump shot. Bucks win 109-107, with game 2, Monday at 7:30PM/EST on TNT.
The Mavericks went into Los Angeles and stole game one from the Clippers. Luka Doncic was awesome throughout the game putting up a triple-double, with 31 points, 11 assists, and 10 rebounds. Meanwhile Dallas also had other guys step-up as well, Dorian Finney-Smith added 18 points, Tim Hardaway Jr. scored 21 points, and Jalen Brunson added 15 points of his own. Kawhi Leonard and Paul George both played good games, even with George’s early struggles, with Leonard having 26 points, 10 rebounds, and 5 assists, while George added 23 points, 6 rebounds, and 5 assists. Marcus Morris Sr. and Reggie Jackson struggled shooting a combined 3/14 scoring a combined 6 points. LA needs to get more production out of the guys behind Leonard and George if they are going to get to where they want to go. Mavericks win 113-103, with game 2, Tuesday at 10:30PM/EST on NBATV.
The Nets took care of business and beat the Celtics. Boston battled throughout the game, even leading at half time, but they didn’t have enough. After scoring 50 points in the play-in game Jayson Tatum struggled scoring 22 points on 6/20 shooting, Kemba Walker also struggled scoring 17 points on 5/16 shooting, and Evan Fournier playoff struggles continued with 10 points on 3/10 shooting. If the Celtics are going to have any chance, those 3 players will have to improve. Boston did have very good performances from Marcus Smart, Jabari Parker, and Robert Williams, who had a playoff-franchise record 9 blocks (blocks were not recorded when Bill Russell played). Brooklyn's big 3 struggled to start the game, but dominated the game in the second half. Kevin Durant had 32 points and 12 rebounds, Kyrie Irving had 29 points and 6 rebounds, and James Harden had 21 points, 9 rebounds, and 8 assists. Blake Griffin was not so good so they will need to figure out the center spot to get to where they want to go, but Brooklyn should win this series rather swiftly. Nets win 104-93, with game 2, Tuesday at 7:30PM/EST on TNT.
The Portland Trail Blazers are going to allow presumptive league MVP, Nikola Jokic, to shoot the ball and not allow him to be the ‘point center.’ The Nuggets center scored 34 points, grabbed 16 rebounds, but only dished out 1 assist, just one. To put that in perspective, he averaged 8.3 assists on the season so that is a noticeable dip. The Nuggets fans booed Carmelo Anthony, why you ask, well because he demanded a trade out of Denver...10 years ago. Melo answered by scoring 18 points on 6/12 shooting, maybe they shouldn’t boo in game 2. For Denver Michael Porter Jr. poured in 25 points and Aaron Gordon added 16 of his own, the only other Nugget on the night in double figures was Monte Morris with 10 points. Damian Lillard had 34 points and 13 assists, C.J. McCollum added 21 points, and Jusuf Nurkic gave Portland 16 points and 12 rebounds. Blazers win 123-109, with game 2, Monday at 10:00PM/EST on TNT.
The Philadelphia 76ers may have a massive problem, non-Joel Embiid minutes. Yesterday, Philly finished -13 in minutes Embiid was on the bench. They are playing the Washington Wizards, that is simply unacceptable. Tobais Harris was awesome as he finished with 37 points, a playoff career high. Seth Curry and Danny Green combined for 6 three pointers. However, Ben Simmons struggled, yes he finished with 15 rebounds and 15 assists but he only had 6 points and finished 0-6 at the free throw line, which may lead to him becoming unplayable late in games. For the Wizards, Bradley Beal had 33 points, 10 rebounds, and 6 assists, shooting 13/23 for the game. Russell Westbrook had 16 points and 14 assists but only 5 rebounds and he was 7/17 from the field for the game. Washington also had good production from Daniel Gafford, Alex Len, Davis Bertans, and Rui Hachimura, as all 4 players finished in double figures. However, Beal and Westbrook committed 6 turnovers each. 76ers win, 125-118, with game 2, Wednesday at 7:00PM/EST on NBATV.
Deandre Ayton dominated game 1 against the Lakers. He finished with 21 points and 16 rebounds and had a plus-minus of +16, while also holding Anthony Davis 13 points and 7 rebounds. Davis was terrible throughout the game, to go along with his 13 points and 7 rebounds, he shot 5/16 and was -18. Chris Paul got hurt in the first half and was not the same player he normally is, so to go along with Ayton’s career day, Devin Booker delivered in his playoff debut, delivering 34 points, 8 assists, and 7 rebounds on 13/26 shooting and 3/7 from 3 point range. LeBron James played an okay game for his standards scoring 18 points, to go along with 10 assists and 7 rebounds. He did not dominate the game the way he normally does and was more passive throughout the game. The Lakers centers (Andre Drummond and Montrezl Harrell) also struggled. Drummond had good stats but they do not tell the story, he was slow and did not look ready to play, leading to him heading to the bench late in the game. Also, Cameron Payne played a very good game before he was ejected (which was bogus in my opinion). Suns win 99-90, with game 2, Tuesday at 10:00PM/EST on TNT.
Trae Young showed out in his first postseason game and shushed Madison Square Garden after they were yelling “F--- Trae Young!” Young scored a game winning floater with 0.9 seconds left in the game after he hit 2 clutch free throws to take the lead with 28.6 seconds left. Young scored 32 points, had 10 assists, and 7 rebounds, becoming the first player since Derrick Rose in 2009 to have 25 points and 10 assists in a playoff debut. For the Knicks, Rose himself had a very good game off of the bench, scoring 17 points on 50% shooting while adding 5 assists and 5 rebounds to his stat line, including the game tying shot with 9.8 seconds left. However, the Knicks big star of the game was Alec Bruks, Burks scored 27 points on 9/13 shooting and made clutch shots throughout the game. The Knicks all-star Julius Randle struggled, however. Randle had just 15 points on 6/23 shooting and 2/6 shooting including missing big shots at the end of the game. Bogdan Bogdanovic also hit 3 clutch three pointers in the fourth quarter. In the end, the Garden was rocking and Trae Young silenced them. Hawks win 107-105, with game 2, Wednesday 7:30PM/EST on TNT.
The Final game of the weekend was Grizzlies at Jazz. Dillion Brooks was awesome scoring 31 points and grabbing 7 rebounds. He was also a stud defensively frustrating Utah scorers all night. Ja Morant was also awesome, scoring 26 points. The Morant-Jonas Valanciunas pick and roll is lethal and the Jazz need to do a better job defending it because Ja is going to eat from the midrange if Rudy Gobert keeps dropping to stop the lob threat. Bojan Bodganovic was awesome in the 2nd half scoring all of his 29 points in the final 2 quarters of the game. However, he missed a potential game-tying buzzer beater at the end of the game. Former Grizzlie, Mike Conley played a great game as well with 22 points, 11 assists, and 6 rebounds. The problem for Utah was their 2 best players were not on the court at the end of the game, with Donovan Mitchell still out with ankle issues, and Rudy Gobert fouling out. If Utah wants to win the championship Mitchell is going to need to be healthy, and I am not sure he will be. Grizzlies win 112-109, game 2 is Wednesday at 10:00PM/EST on TNT.
What a weekend of hoops, even including Friday’s play-in game with Memphis and Golden State. All of the games were good to great and we did not seem to have any dud blowouts. It was a very good weekend for the 2018 draft class, sorry Kings fans, as top pick Deandre Ayton, 3rd pick Luka Doncic, and 5th pick Trae Young all had great games and teams all got wins. We saw the entire Brooklyn Nets big 3 and had playoff basketball in Madison Square Garden again. Overall, it was an awesome weekend to be an NBA fan, even if your team lost.
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