So far, the NBA playoffs have felt underwhelming. Maybe because seven of the eight first-round series weren’t settled until the very last day of the regular season. Or maybe there have been too many teams taking 2-0 leads in this first round. However, there are some intriguing plotlines developing:
Even the first-round sweeps could be interesting
Oddly enough, two of the most competitive series could end up being four-game sweeps. The Golden State Warriors and the Cleveland Cavaliers were the favorites to win their conferences, and were expected to breeze through the opening round.
They still are on pace to do that. The Warriors won their first two games against the New Orleans Pelicans while the Cavaliers put the Boston Celtics in a 2-0 hole last night. The games themselves, however, ended up being far more dramatic than anyone expected.
Russell Westbrook and the Oklahoma City Thunder, eliminated from playoff contention on the very last day of the season, could have provided the Warriors with a stronger first-round opponent. Then again, we wouldn’t have gotten our first look at Anthony Davis in the playoffs.
On Saturday, Davis scored 35 points while collecting seven rebounds and four blocks. It was an impressive performance in a game where the Pelicans were able to cut the Warriors’ lead tofour in the game’s closing seconds before Golden State iced the game. The Warriors won 106-99, but it felt closer than that.
On Monday, he didn’t put up quite as an impressive box score, but his 26 points and 10 rebounds were a huge reason why the Pelicans and Warriors entered the fourth quarter tied 71-71. The Warriors eventually won 97-87, but they had to be shaken, especially since they haven’t lost at home at Oracle since January.
Meanwhile, the Celtics have played the Cavaliers far closer than they should have, given that one team’s best player (LeBron James) is the greatest of his era and the other team’s best player (Isaiah Thomas) is a sixth man of the year runner-up. In game 1, the Celtics shocked a sleepwalking Cavaliers team by taking a first-quarter lead, and remained competitive for the first three quarters before Cleveland broke away in the fourth en route to a 113-100 victory.
Last night, the Cavaliers won the second game of the series 99-91, mostly because LeBron James and Kyrie Irving combined to score the Cavaliers’ final 28 points. Once again, though, the Celtics made them sweat, they trailed the Cavs only by a single point at half-time and never allowed them to rest.
Brad Stevens on D on LBJ/Kyrie: "We made those guys earn everything they got, and I think that's a step in the right direction from Game 1."
— Marc D'Amico (@Marc_DAmico) April 22, 2015
Neither the Pelicans nor the Celtics have any shot of reaching the second round, not with their opponents. Neither team may, in fact, win a single game this postseason, even though they have two home games yet to play. However, if they continue to play at this level, we could witness the two most entertaining first-round sweeps in NBA playoff history.
Paul Pierce is making friends in Toronto
There was little excitement surrounding the battle between the Washington Wizards and the Toronto Raptors, two teams that have been on a downward spiral since the all-star break.
Thankfully, Wizards forward Paul Pierce has made things entertaining, at the expense of a Raptors teamthat looks completely out of its depth. Before the playoffs began, the veteran forward made some enemies in Canada with a quote suggesting that the Raptors didn’t concern him:
We haven’t done particularly well against Toronto, but I don’t feel they have the ‘it’ that makes you worried.
While these words led to some anti-Pierce chants at Air Canada Centre, Pierce backed up his comments with his performance. After an 82-82 tie in regulation, Pierce put Washington ahead for good with a three-pointer in an overtime where he outscored the entire Raptors offense 5-4. The Wizards won 93-86 and the Raptors did not look like a team that had “it”.
Pierce wasn’t as prolific in game two, scoring just 10 points. He simply didn’t need to be, not with John Wall and Bradley Beal combining for 50+ points in the 117-106 win.
In the NBA playoffs, home teams playing in the United States are 11-0. Home teams playing Canada are 0-2.
— Eric Koreen (@ekoreen) April 22, 2015
Pierce did, however, up the ante on his trash talk. With the Raptors two losses away from elimination, and the series shifting to Washington for the next two games, reporters quoted him as saying: “I don’t want to go through customs no more.” That’s one way to motivate your team to complete a sweep.
Derrick Rose and Rajon Rondo return to the postseason
The 2015 NBA playoffs have featured two point guards, once the MVPs of their respective teams, making their return to postseason play. So far, the experience has gone rather differently for the Bulls’ Derrick Rose and the Mavericks’ Rajon Rondo.
Before Saturday, the last memory anyone had of Rose in the playoffs was from 2012, when he tore his ACL in the Bulls’ first game of the postseason. It was the first of several major injuries that at the time put his very career at risk, the most recent of which was a meniscus tear he returned from just earlier this month.
All of this made it even more remarkable that vintage Derrick Rose unexpectedly reappeared in Chicago’s first playoff game. Rose scored 23 points in 27 minutes of game time while dishing out seven assists in a 103-91 victory over the Bucks.
Nobody should expect that version of Rose to appear again in this series – not when he’s only a few weeks removed from his latest injury setback. It’s more likely that Rose will look more like the player he was in Monday’s game two.
While Milwaukee’s defense prevented Rose from scoring for the entire first half, he was able to adjust. Rose eventually scored 15 points, while also contributing nine assists and seven rebounds in what ended up being a 91-82 Chicago win. It was a more modest contribution from him, but it was a more successful performance than that of Rondo.
The Mavericks took the mercurial Rondo, then with the Boston Celtics, earlier in the season. Although he hasn’t proven to be a good fit in Dallas – he’s openly feuded with head coach Rick Carlisle – the hope was that the trade would pay off in the playoffs, where Rondo has shone in the past. In his last postseason appearance, against the Miami Heat in the 2012 Eastern Conference finals, he had his 10th career triple-double.
“Playoff Rondo” made a cameo in the Mavericks’ 118-108 game one loss to the Houston Rockets, scoring 15 points and making five assists. Instead of building on that, however, Rondo was a complete non-factor last night, scoring four points in 10 minutes before Carlisle permanently benched him 30 seconds into the third period. He apparently thought that the Mavericks would have a better chance of winning by playing Raymond Felton, which speaks volumes about what he thinks he can get from Rondo.
Rondo was supposed to be the guy who would make the difference. Instead, the mid-season acquisition that swung game two ended up being Josh Smith, who the Houston Rockets claimed for almost nothing after the Detroit Pistons flat-out cut him less than halfway through a hefty four-year contract. Smith not only scored 15 points he was responsible for seven assists in the fourth quarter, helping the Rockets secure a 111-99 win.
The series now shifts back to Dallas, but with Rondo now a huge question mark, and Chandler Parsons possibly out indefinitely with a right knee injury, the Mavericks might have to hope to find contributions from an unexpected source as well.
Amar’e Stoudemire, consider yourself on call.
Spurs, Trail Blazers and Nets aim to avoid the 2-0 trend
We love dominant teams, but we like long series even more. With that goal in mind, it’s time to root for some game one losers to win their games tonight.
OK, maybe it’stough to hope that the series between the top-ranked Atlanta Hawks and eighth-seeded Brooklyn Nets lasts any longer than it needs to. While the Hawks’ 99-92 win over the Nets featured the smallest margin of victory of Sunday’s four games. Unfortunately, that only proved the fact that “closest” isn’t necessarily the same as “most watchable”. The Pelicans and Boston have proven worthy to watch because they have young, intriguing players.
The Nets? The Nets have Joe Johnson. Maybe it would be for the best if the Hawks just get this one over with.
Luckily, the other two game one losers who have a chance to tie up their series not only are more entertaining, they might be the teams with the best chances of bouncing back. The Portland Trail Blazers lost 100-86 to the Memphis Grizzlies on Sunday. Now, the Trail Blazers played absolutely dreadful basketball during the game, and the Grizzlies are hard to beat at home, but there’s no way that Beno Udrih scores 20 points on them two games in a row, right?
Meanwhile, the San Antonio Spurs are looking to even their series against the Los Angeles Clippers after losing to them 107-92 in game one. Sunday’s game was an impressive win by a Clippers team that hasn’t received a lot of attention as a potential championship contender. Still, the number one rule when it comes to covering the NBA postseason is just assume the Spurs will win until they are mathematically eliminated. It would be downright shocking to see them down 0-2 before their first home game of the postseason.
Other things we’ve learned
• There was a modicum of good news for the Toronto Raptors over these last few days as guard Lou Williams won sixth man of the year. Unfortunately, this result means that we have to acknowledge that Drake correctly predicted this in song and thus is the greatest basketball prophet of our times.
• The awards keep leaking out. Mike Budenholzer was named coach of the year for his role in transforming the Atlanta Hawks from perennial eighth-seeders to the team with the best record in the Eastern Conference. Plus he deserved some extra kudos for being the one key figure in the organization who didn’t stupidly indulge in racially insensitive nonsense.
• The best part about the Warriors’ postseason so far? The fact that Draymond Green’s mother has been live-tweeting them. This is the biggest moment for NBA moms since Kevin Durant declared his the real MVP.
Come in fellows..no heroics ...Who is holding Gordon..hell somebody man is open!
— Mary Babers-Green (@babers_mary) April 21, 2015
Come on Dubs...go to HOLE AND DRAW SOME FOULS! I DONT WANT TO HEAR Barkley's MOUTH!
— Mary Babers-Green (@babers_mary) April 21, 2015
They BETTER COME ON....they are allowing AD to work out! I'm getting PISSED!
— Mary Babers-Green (@babers_mary) April 21, 2015
• Oh, and last night, LeBron James passed Jerry West in playoff points. He’s currently in seventh place and Karl Malone is probably next. It’s a testament to James’s postseason accomplishments that it feels surprising he hadn’t surpassed these guys yet.
