2025 NBA Playoffs

[One]

Cavaliers/Heat

The Cavs thrash the Heat 138-83, in Miami, to sweep the series 4-0, and await the winner of Pacers/Bucks in round 2.


Rockets/Warriors

Too much firepower on the Warriors. The Rockets played it close. They tried to agitate the Warriors, get under their skin, but the Rockets never really had the firepower to match the Warriors. Fred Van Vleet tried to match them from three, but for the most part, the Rockets were depending on Alperen Sengun to score for them, getting most of his points in the post area. And so it always felt like the Rockets were trying to match their twos with the Warriors' threes, which meant playing catch-up all game, with the constant threat of Steph possibly going off. It wasn't Steph for the Warriors tonight though. It was the supporting cast. Podziemski went 6 for 11 from three and had 26 points. Buddy Hield added three 3s. Jimmy Butler led all Warriors with 27 points. Steph added 17, with most of them coming inside the arc. The Rockets put the ball in Sengun's hands in the final moments to get them a lead. He couldn't get to his spot against Draymond, and missed a long floater. Jimmy Butler grabbed the rebound, got fouled, and made both free throws. With no timeouts left to advance the ball, the Rockets got the ball to Fred Van Vleet who sent up a three at the buzzer and missed it. Jalen Green had 8 points in 24 minutes. The only real scoring the Rockets could rely on were Sengun and Van Vleet. That's not enough against Steph Curry's Warriors. Lack of scoring options, and bad fouls in crucial moments made this an uphill climb for the Rockets. Golden State holds court at home and go up 3-1 on the series. They go back to Houston on Wednesday for game 5.

 

[One]

Pacers/Bucks

Strong start for the Bucks, but the Pacers get the finish in overtime. Tough breakdown at the end for the Bucks. First the Bucks blow a lead in regulation and the game goes into overtime. Then in overtime, the Bucks have complete control, up seven, with less than a minute to go. A couple unfortunate blunders later, and the Pacers win the game 119-118, closing out the series 4-1. They now move on to the second round, where they'll face the Cleveland Cavaliers.


Knicks/Pistons

The Pistons take it, and extend the series to 6 games going back to Detroit. There are times when watching this Knicks team play, where it looks like they've got at least three guys who don't know how they're supposed to get involved in the play, independent of how good or bad the defense is playing. Detroit didn't play as well as they're capable, but they played their game, and took advantage of the Knicks limitations, slumps, and what looked like, at times, a lack of urgency to close this series out. Credit to OG Anunoby, who came out the gate turned up, playing stellar defense to start the game, but then Brunson and KAT couldn't get going. Credit to Mitchell Robinson who came through on the boards, and looked to be getting his feet up under him, battling it out with Detroit's bigs, but then there were at least eight points left on the table with guys trying to force-feed him the ball in the post, and instead turning the ball over. Also some credit to Josh Hart, who's trying to be everywhere on the court, and competing with guys like Ausar Thompson for the Pistons, who's trying to do the same for them. Even with some of the offensive woes, the Knicks did still manage to keep it competitive until a bad break in the fourth quarter broke the game loose. It's a little over three minutes left in the fourth quarter, Cade Cunningham gets into the paint and scores to put the Pistons up by 2. Josh Hart falls awkwardly on his back and needs a moment to get out of the game, and almost simultaneously, Jalen Brunson tweaks his ankle and checks himself out. Deuce and Cam Payne check in for Brunson and Hart. The Knicks go ice cold on offense. Hart and Brunson can't get back into the game without the Knicks either burning a timeout or taking a foul. The Pistons take the opportunity and score six points to the Knicks two in 2 minutes of game time. With just 27 seconds left in the game, the Knicks end up sacrificing the timeout and get Brunson and Hart back in the game. Bridges hits on a three to get the Knicks back to within three. They foul Schroeder, and he hits on one of two free throws. OG hits on another three to bring the lead to within one, with seven seconds left. They foul Cade Cunningham, who makes both free throws. Pistons up three. Now that timeout that the Knicks had to burn to get Hart and Brunson back into the game ends up costing them because down three, they don't have any timeouts left to bring the ball up for a half court set, they have to bring it up full court with five seconds left in the game. OG gets the ball in to Deuce who runs it up court. The Pistons, up three, take the foul and send Deuce to the line. If he makes the first, he can miss the second, and they can go for a putback. Deuce misses the first free throw. If he misses the second, maybe they can tap it back for a quick three to tie the game. Deuce tries, but the Knicks are unable to do anything with the intentional miss. Pistons win 106-103. The Pistons did what they were supposed to do. They took advantage of the opportunity that was given to them. What the Knicks brought tonight wasn't enough. 9 for 30 from the field for KAT and Brunson combined. Nah. Game 6 on Thursday, back in Detroit.


Celtics/Magic

The Celtics defeat the Magic 120-89 to take the series 4-1, and move on to the second round, awaiting the winner of the Knicks/Pistons series.


Nuggets/Clippers

The Nuggets defeat the Clippers 131-115 to take a 3-2 lead in the series. Not much to say about this game. It looked like the Nuggets were still riding the high of the buzzer beater win in game 4. Russell Westbrook returned and was productive for the Nuggets.

 

[One]

Rockets/Warriors

Rockets control from start to finish to stave off elimination. Houston did a much better job sharing the ball in this game, not leaning on just Fred Van Vleet and Alperen Sengun to carry the scoring load. Amen Thompson specifically seemed to have taken the responsibility as the third option where Jalen Green struggled. That was on top of the defense that he played on Steph, getting three steals off of him, five steals overall for the game. The Rockets went into a kind of zone in this game that the Warriors couldn't seem to figure out. Steve Kerr waved the white flag and sat his starters before the third quarter was over. The Rockets defeat the Warriors 131-116 and extend the series to 6 games, heading back to Golden State.


Lakers/Timberwolves

The Wolves take care of business in LA. Once again, the Wolves went to the strategy of getting Randle going early. He hit his first shot, and things were looking good. The Wolves got out to an early lead. What became apparent in the first quarter though, and for the rest of the game for that matter, was that the Rudy Gobert that I had seen late in the regular season, being more aggressive offensively, finally introduced himself to the Lakers. That offensive production also meant that coach Finch felt more comfortable keeping him out there on the floor for extended minutes. As a result, Gobert also had his breakout rebounding game, going for 24 rebounds, completely dominating the Lakers on the boards and, combined with his 27 points, taking it to LA on both sides of the ball. The Lakers managed to keep it close into the fourth, but later in the quarter, a strong drive by Randle, an easy layup by Anthony Edwards, and then a corner three from Mike Conley with just over a minute left, put the Wolves up 6, 100-94, and the Lakers weren't able to find the scoring to recover. With that, the Timberwolves close out the Lakers 103-96 to advance to the second round of the playoffs.

 

[One]

Knicks/Pistons

The Knicks defeat the Pistons 116-113. Wild game. The Knicks took command of this one early, jumping out to a 23-10 lead midway into the first, and finishing the quarter up 14, 37-23. In the second quarter, the Pistons clawed their way back into the game, outscoring the Knicks by 16 in the quarter, and finishing the half up two. The Knicks have struggled in this series with scoring in the third quarter, but they came out once again taking control as they did in the first, ending the quarter with an 11 point lead going into the fourth. A little over three minutes into the final period, the Knicks were up comfortably 103-92, then the Pistons started building some momentum. A bizarre sequence of events from the Knicks saw the Pistons go on a 13-0 run, taking a 105-103 lead with five and a half minutes left in the period. The Knicks tie the game, 105-105, on a Josh Hart layup, but then go into another scoring drought, in which the Pistons score another seven unanswered points. With just over two minutes left, it looks like the Pistons are about to extend the series to seven, going back to New York. Brunson has the ball, guarded by Dennis Schroeder. Brunson drives, Schroeder encroaches on his path, foul on Schroeder. The Pistons challenge, they're unsuccessful. Brunson makes the free throw. The Knicks are within four. Next time down the court, Brunson has the ball baseline, slips, and has to contort his body to get a reverse layup from the other side of the hoop. The Knicks are within two. Pistons ball. Cade tries to inbound the ball to Jalen Duren, KAT gets a hand on it, chases after the ball, goes up for a shot, and gets fouled by Duren from behind. KAT makes one of two free throws, but gets to the rebound on the second. Pistons recover, but the ball goes out of bounds. Knicks ball. Brunson gets the ball, guarded by Ausar Thompson. Thompson pressures the ball well and causes Brunson to lose the ball, and for the shot clock to run out. KAT commits his sixth foul on the other end, and sends Jalen Duren to the line. There's less than a minute left in the game, the Knicks are still down by one point, 111-112, and Duren hasn't missed a free throw all night. Duren misses the first, and makes the second. Pistons up 113-111. The Knicks get the ball to Brunson. Brunson dribbles baseline but then picks up his dribble. He passes it out and gets it back. Brunson goes right for a fadeaway, misses, but Mikal Bridges is there to tap the ball back in. Tie game, 113-113. The Pistons have it, and they go to Cade who hasn't been having his best scoring performance. He goes for a contested layup and misses. Josh Hart gets the rebound, with a little over 20 seconds left of playing time. The shot clock is off. The Knicks get the ball to Jalen Brunson, who's being guarded by Ausar Thompson. Brunson goes left, stops suddenly, and changes direction. Thompson continues left. Brunson gets to his spot for a wide open three. He takes the shot... Money. The Knicks are up 116-113 with a little over four seconds left in the game. Pistons call time out to advance the ball and draw up a play. It looks like the Knicks plan to foul the ballhandler before they can get a shot up. That way, they get two shots, and the Knicks get the ball back with whatever time is left. It's a gamble (a player could miss a free throw intentionally, and it could become a three or even four point play), but it's become a popular strategy. It's Pistons ball. They get the ball to Cade. Knicks come over to help. Cade sees a wide open Malik Beasley above the three point line to his right. He makes the pass... and it slips right out of Beasley's grasp and goes out of bounds. And that's pretty much it. 0.4 seconds left. Knicks ball. The Knicks get the ball inbounds, the clock goes to 0.0, and the game is over. Knicks win in Detroit, and take the series 4-2. Although Towns didn't have a very good game, what I did like about the Knicks in this one was that they were better at getting scoring contributions from multiple sources. Mikal Bridges came through offensively. He was the second leading scorer for the Knicks. He also got that crucial putback late that helped get the comeback going. OG added 22 points, while also continuing to take the assignment of guarding Cade Cunningham on the other end. And then JB, the clutch player of the year, added 40, including the three point dagger at the end. And that's how this series ends. Good effort from the Pistons, and their trajectory should be an upward one going into next year. For now, the Knicks move on to the second round of the playoffs to face the defending champion Boston Celtics. Game 1 on Monday, in Boston.


Nuggets/Clippers

The Clippers win game 6 to send this back to Denver for a game 7. Back and forth game. The Nuggets were able to take a lead in the first, but for the rest of the game, the scoring imbalance favored the Clippers, who ultimately managed to hold off the Nuggets' push in the fourth quarter to secure the win.

 

[One]

Rockets/Warriors

The Rockets defeat the warriors 115-107. The story for the Rockets is that they've found their offense. Van Vleet is getting buckets reliably. Sengun can get his in the post. Jalen Green is still struggling. The dramatic change has been Amen Thompson realizing that he can get to the rim and score for this team. Jabari Smith Jr. got it going from three. And whatever Jalen Green can add on is a plus. On or off, the Warriors are still respecting him as a scoring threat. So offensively, the Rockets had their two main guys, Van Vleet and Sengun, and the emergence of others like Amen and Jabari meant that you can't just focus on the main two defensively, and ice the Rockets' scoring. You have to respect those other contributors, which then opens things up even moreso for Sengun and Van Vleet, and we saw Van Vleet take full advantage of that all game. And then on top of that, on the other end, the Rockets defense continued to bother the Warriors, and on the boards, Steven Adams was out there looking like a giant. Steph hit a couple threes in spots for the Warriors, but they weren't the ominous threes that really make teams nervous. We know Steph is injured, but the Rockets also did a good job of keeping him from turning into the gamebreaking force that he's capable of being, even with an injury. The Rockets held their poise and seemed confident in the control that they had over this game. Jimmy Butler scored, drew fouls, did his thing for the Warriors, but again, the Rockets were operating like a machine with a singular focus to win the game, unphased by the Warriors' offensive output. So now, the series heads back to Houston for game 7, where we'll see if the Warriors are able to find any new adjustments, or if the Rockets just have them figured out.

 

[One]

Nuggets/Clippers

The Nuggets defeat the Clippers 120-101 in game 7. Not sure what happened here with the Clippers. They came to play for about a quarter and a half and then fell off completely. There was some unfortunate officiating but that doesn't explain the other two and a half quarters. Was it the altitude? Were they still not fully recovered from the game 4 buzzer beater? Turnover after turnover, missed shots, discombobulated, broken play after broken play. James Harden was a no-show in yet another game 7. Whatever it was, the Nuggets move on, and advance to the second round of the playoffs, where they'll face the Oklahoma City Thunder

 

[One]

Round 2 Matchups

The first round, especially in this year's playoffs, made it easy to form narratives. At that point, you're taking some stock from a team's performance in the regular season and trying to see how that translates into the playoffs. A team had a hot run to start the season, to end the season, they added a major piece at the trade deadline, all of those things give way to a kind of excitement over the uncertainty of what could happen where records aren't perfectly reflecting a team's ability at the end of the season. In round two, that starts to change. We've had at least four victories worth of play to see what some of these teams are about, how much they want it, how prepared they are, and how they compare to the other teams that have survived their first round competition. So while there are still some interesting stories and backgrounds in these second round series' to be acknowledged, the focus starts to shift, such that it's not as much about those narratives as it is about the matchups themselves.


Cavs vs. Pacers

The offenses are what I'll be looking forward to in this series. I hope both teams are able to be fully available. There was a report that Darius Garland might be dealing with a nagging injury. Hopefully, he's healthy enough to play.

Matchup-wise, both of these teams are clearly talented on the offensive side of the ball. One of the angles that I'll be paying attention to is the matchup between Myles Turner and the two Cleveland bigs, Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen. I still find it hard to shake what I saw from those two in 2023 when the Knicks faced Cleveland in the first round, and Mitchell Robinson absolutely dominated those two on the glass. Myles Turner has the size, the skill, and the ability to turn up inside and outside, so I'll be paying attention there to see if and how Allen and Mobley deal with that.

Outside of that, I think the two teams matchup pretty evenly on paper. The Cavs have Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland. The Pacers have Tyrese Haliburton and Andrew Nembhard. The Cavs have Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen. The Pacers have Pascal Siakam and Myles Turner. The Cavs have Ty Jerome off the bench. The Pacers have T.J. McConnell. The Cavs have Max Strus, DeAndre Hunter. The Pacers have Bennedict Mathurin, Aaron Nesmith, Obi Toppin. You might be tempted to give a slight edge to the Cavs on names, and maybe a slight edge to the Pacers on depth.

These two teams faced each other four times in the regular season. Again, not that it should count for much, but just as an acknowledgement, the Pacers won three of the four matchups, and the one they lost, they were without Tyrese Haliburton. So I don't think this is a lopsided matchup by any means, even if some of these games turn out that way, just by virtue of the two teams' scoring abilities. Fun games ahead.


Celtics vs. Knicks

The matchup we should've got last year. If only we got to see that Knicks team fully healthy, with Randle, with DiVincenzo, Hartenstein, and a healthy Mitchell Robinson against these Celtics. Would've been a classic. Nevertheless, once again, as with the Pistons, the last time the Knicks faced this franchise in the playoffs, it was the Knicks who came out on top. It was the 2013 NBA Playoffs, and not only did the Knicks beat the Celtics, it also marked the end of the Big three era in Boston.

Now, clearly, things have changed a bit.

Coming into this series, matchup wise, I can't front, the Celtics have the matchup advantage. Talent wise, you want to believe, or I want to believe, that the Knicks have some kind of strategy, that they've just been keeping tucked away for this series specifically, but despite the heroics in round 1, it didn't exactly inspire confidence that this team had fully figured it out, or at least not at the level that it's going to take to compete with a motivated Celtics team, that I imagine is going to try to embarrass these Knicks.

Again, not to put too much stock into the regular season, but just to acknowledge the facts: the Celtics beat the Knicks by an average of over 16 points in four meetings this season, and that includes points scored when the Knicks had sat their starters, and guys were putting up shots in garbage time. The Celtics got up for those games, especially after hearing that the Knicks had made their offseason moves specifically to beat the Celtics. They took it personally.

As a Knicks fan, I want nothing more in this round than for the Knicks to wash Boston lol. But in trying to be an objective observer and evaluator, and going only off of what I've seen so far from the two teams, it's just a bad matchup. Lest we not forget that it was Joe Mazzulla who popularized the strategy of putting a center on Josh Hart, taking away his strength as a gamebreaking rebounder at the guard spot. Watching these two teams play each other this season was watching one team walk in with what looked like a clear identity and a well-understood gameplan, and watching another team that was trying to depend on its talent to "read and react" without the preparation to actually put it all together, and completely fall apart when they couldn't. Because of that, all I can really hope for in this series is that the Knicks actually fight. Against all odds. Forget whatever anyone else is saying their chances are, just fight. Adapt, experiment where appropriate, and fight. See where you really are as a team. Because although the Celtics have the matchup advantage, I don't think they're unbeatable. People can make all the predictions they want, but you never really know, and ultimately the teams have to play the game. So play the game.

As for strategy, most of the talk that I've seen revolves around how to stop Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown. I don't know if that's the optimal approach. Again, the Celtics are stacked with talent, offensively and defensively. I think if you're gearing your entire strategy toward stopping JT and Jaylen, you're basically looking at the Celtics as a two star system, where if you just stop their two primary iso scorers, and maybe make it tough on Porzingis, then you win. For one, that'd be a lot to ask, but number two it completely misses the engine of the team, which is Derrick White.

It's easy to get fixated on the Celtics' iso stars when you watch them play, but I get the impression that most are missing how much Derrick White is actually the one setting the table for the team. Derrick White bringing the ball up on offense. Derrick White deciding which side of the court, and which of Tatum, or Brown, or whoever else, to run the play through. Derrick White setting the screen for one of those guys to give them an opening to go to work. Derrick White popping out after the screen for a wide open three, or a transition into another play. He's the extension of Joe Mazzulla on the floor.

Don't get me wrong, Tatum and Brown are each capable of embarrassing a defender in isolation. But if you watch Derrick White, you'll see that he's trying to embarrass your entire defense.

You can try putting all of your best defenders on Tatum, Brown, and Porzingis if you want to. But if I'm looking for an alternate, if not more tenable approach, what I'd suggest is putting your best wing defender on either Tatum or Brown, and then your second best wing defender on making Derrick White absolutely miserable, and then putting your third best wing defender on whoever is remaining between Tatum and Brown. If Brown and Tatum can't get it going, but Derrick White is free, he can still open things up and set the table for the rest of the team: Porzingis, himself, Holiday, Horford, Hauser, Kornet, etc. But if Derrick White is frozen out, the Celtics have to play a different style of basketball. Ideally, in this setup I think the defensive matching should be: best wing defender on Tatum, second best on White, and third on Jaylen Brown. Force them to play their two man iso game, for the entire game, without their table setting floor-coach. At that point, maybe Mazzulla puts in Payton Pritchard as another table setter, but in doing so, he'd likely have to take out one of the sharks, i.e., Tatum, Brown, or Porzingis, and I'd take my chances with that.

Funny enough, the Knicks have the guys to play this out and see what happens. They'd have OG Anunoby on Tatum, Mikal Bridges hounding Derrick White, and Josh Hart on Jaylen Brown. My guess is that they're going to go and try to focus their defensive efforts on stopping the iso threats, but if the Knicks are able to recognize the Derrick White threat, I think that's when this series starts to get interesting. To be clear, I'm not saying that if you stop Derrick White, then you stop the Celtics. What I am saying is that it gives you a much more even playing field, and additionally if you don't stop Derrick White, then you are definitely not stopping the Celtics without extreme difficulty barring luck. Put the clamps on the generator, and then you give yourself a better chance to take out the three-headed hydra.

 

[One]

Thunder vs. Nuggets

It's interesting that going into these playoffs, I think I heard more people having the Nuggets over the Thunder should they meet in the playoffs, due mainly to the Nuggets' championship experience, and yet now that we're here, that entire conversation seems to have flipped.

It's been almost the opposite for me. I was much more confident in the Thunder and less confident in the Nuggets before these playoffs started, but two things: One, the Nuggets that I saw in the regular season don't beat the Clippers team that they just took out in seven games. Two, the Oklahoma City Thunder that just played the Memphis Grizzlies wasn't the same team in games three and four that I saw in the regular season or in games one and two.

The pundits made fun of Ja Morant for saying he felt like he'd figured out the Thunder, but the Grizzlies had improved in each game they'd played against OKC, and had a 27 point lead on them within two quarters before Ja took that fall. You give up that kind of lead, that kind of momentum, to these Nuggets? To Jamal Murray? To Nikola Jokic? Come on man lol. You saw what they did to the Clippers after game 4. OKC better bring the game 1 version of themselves, and leave whatever that was in games 3 and 4 at home.

That being said, I'm expecting the adjustments in this series to be top-notch. Both coaches, Daigneault and Adelman, are very well prepared when it comes to modern basketball strategy. Jokic is playing with some of that same fire that we saw at the Olympics when he almost willed the Serbians to a victory over the US team damn near by himself (and he would've, had it not been for Steph's heroics). The Thunder roster has the flexibility to adapt to almost any style of play, with a high floor on both sides of the ball, elite individual play (again, on both sides of the ball), and an elite team offense and team defense.

I'm just looking forward to some really good, high level basketball in this series, which both teams are capable of.

 

[One]

Round 2 Schedule

Sunday, May 4, 2025

Game	Home	Away	Final Score
1	Cleveland Cavaliers	Indiana Pacers	112-121

Monday, May 5, 2025

Game	Home	Away	Final Score
1	Boston Celtics	New York Knicks	105-108
1	Oklahoma City Thunder	Denver Nuggets	119-121

Tuesday, May 6, 2025

Game	Home	Away	Final Score
2	Cleveland Cavaliers	Indiana Pacers	119-120
1	Minnesota Timberwolves	Golden State Warriors	88-99

Wednesday, May 7, 2025

Game	Home	Away	Final Score
2	Boston Celtics	New York Knicks	90-91
2	Oklahoma City Thunder	Denver Nuggets	149-106

Thursday, May 8, 2025

Game	Home	Away	Final Score
2	Minnesota Timberwolves	Golden State Warriors	117-93

Friday, May 9, 2025

Game	Home	Away	Final Score
3	Indiana Pacers	Cleveland Cavaliers	104-126
3	Denver Nuggets	Oklahoma City Thunder	113-104

Saturday, May 10, 2025

Game	Home	Away	Final Score
3	New York Knicks	Boston Celtics	93-115
3	Golden State Warriors	Minnesota Timberwolves	97-102

Sunday, May 11, 2025

Game	Home	Away	Final Score
4	Denver Nuggets	Oklahoma City Thunder	87-92
4	Indiana Pacers	Cleveland Cavaliers	129-109

Monday, May 12, 2025

Game	Home	Away	Final Score
4	New York Knicks	Boston Celtics	121-113
4	Golden State Warriors	Minnesota Timberwolves	110-117

Tuesday, May 13, 2025

Game	Home	Away	Final Score
5	Cleveland Cavaliers	Indiana Pacers	105-114
5	Oklahoma City Thunder	Denver Nuggets	112-105

Wednesday, May 14, 2025

Game	Home	Away	Final Score
5	Boston Celtics	New York Knicks	127-102
5	Minnesota Timberwolves	Golden State Warriors	121-110

Thursday, May 15, 2025

Game	Home	Away	Final Score
6	Denver Nuggets	Oklahoma City Thunder	119-107

Friday, May 16, 2025

Game	Home	Away	Final Score
6	New York Knicks	Boston Celtics	119-81

Sunday, May 18, 2025

Game	Home	Away	Final Score
7	Oklahoma City Thunder	Denver Nuggets	125-93

 

[One]

Spoiler

Placeholder

 

[One]

Cavs/Pacers

The Pacers take game 1, 121-112. Darius Garland sat out, and could be out for the series. Just unfortunate news for him and for the Cavs.

Tyrese Haliburton led all players in assists, with 13. Myles Turner led everyone on the boards with 11. Donovan Mitchell led all scorers with 33.

The Pacers just pulled away. If you let them get going, it's very easy for this Pacers team to overwhelm you with shots from all over the floor. When Nesmith is giving you 4 out of 5 from three, while defending your best player, and Nembhard is adding 5 threes, Mathurin is going 3 for 5 from three, they're tough to beat as a unit.

 

[One]

Rockets/Warriors

The Warriors defeat the Rockets 103-89 in game 7. The Warriors came out with a different level of intensity in this game, and the Rockets couldn't keep up. Buddy Hield caught fire early. The Rockets struggled to find the offense to counter. Amen Thompson continued to do his part, Fred Van Vleet tried to rally the others to match the Warriors' energy, but ultimately to no avail. The Warriors built up a lead in the first quarter, and never let up, never trailed thereafter. They advance to round 2, where they'll face the Minnesota Timberwolves.

 

[One]

Round 2 Matchups Continued

Timberwolves vs. Warriors

Spoiler: Some hopefully unnecessary background

There's some background static in this series from multiple angles. One being that between Draymond Green and Rudy Gobert. At one point last year, there was a dust up in a game between the Wolves and the Warriors and with Gobert having a hold of Klay, Draymond took it upon himself to come over and grab Gobert by the neck and put him in a chokehold. There was already some back and forth between the two before then, but from that point on Draymond took every opportunity he could on any platform he could to take shots at Gobert. Because of that, whenver the Warriors and Timberwolves faced each other, there was always a little bit of added tension hovering over the game.

Then, earlier this year the Warriors added Jimmy Butler to their team. The conflict between Butler and the Timberwolves, or rather Butler and the state of Minnesota, stems back to his time with the Wolves, where he was a teammate of Karl Anthony Towns. There's a well known story of Butler where, nearing the end of his contract, he challenged the starters at practice to a game against him and the third stringers. His team won, and he basically took to calling the starters trash. Reports came out after he left the team that Butler had made a habit of talking down to Towns and Andrew Wiggins specifically, to the point where Towns' college coach John Callipari publicly accused Butler of bullying Towns. It was clear the two didn't get along after Jimmy got traded, and that continued. A trend started where Minnesota fans would note that whenever one of Jimmy Butler's teams were slated to face Towns and the Timberwolves, Butler would somehow end up on the injury report. It was an inside thing that took on a life of its own. Fast forward to this past year, Butler and the Warriors were slated to face the New York Knicks, and Towns had to take a leave for personal reasons. Draymond Green took to his podcast to say that the reason Towns wasn't available for the game was because he was afraid of Jimmy Butler. Things got heated when the two teams played again a week and a half later.

Anthony Edwards, for his part, was and is just concerned with having his teammates' back. He and KAT are close, and so Ant naturally took his side in whatever that conflict was. Same with the Gobert/Green situation.

With the way Draymond has been playing in these playoffs, trying to get under others players' skin, and with a Wolves team that's already shown this season that they're open for smoke, the ingredients are all there for a blowup at some point in this series. Between Draymond, Butler, and even Quinten Post for the Warriors, and Randle, DiVincenzo, Naz Reid, McDaniels, and to some extent Anthony Edwards for the Wolves, the individuals are also there for something to go left.

On that, all I'm hoping for is that nobody gets suspended in this series. Keep it on the court, and let's get a tough, hard fought battle. Let it be a consequential series for the right reasons.

As for the matchups, the Timberwolves can send out a somewhat similar setup to what the Warriors faced against the Rockets. Where the Rockets had Amen Thompson, the Wolves will have Jaden McDaniels. Where the Rockets had Jalen Green, the Wolves will have the suped up version in Anthony Edwards. Where the Rockets had Steven Adams, the Wolves will have 4x DPOY Rudy Gobert. Then you have the veteran analog for Fred Van Vleet in Mike Conley, with the biggest outlier in the comparison being Julius Randle who brings a much different game than either Dillon Brooks or Alperen Sengun, but can score at the same clip Sengun does, and brings an added edge to this Timberwolves team. On the other side, the Wolves will be facing yet another undersized team, but this time, one that built their legacy playing that way, led by the greatest shooter in NBA history. They go from facing the first-year tandem of Luka and LeBron to the first-year tandem of Steph Curry and Jimmy Butler.

The theme in this matchup for the Timberwolves will be discipline. What the Rockets had in terms of defense and discipline against the Warriors, they lacked in offensive firepower, and that was the difference throughout the series. These Timberwolves are a much better offensive team than what Houston had, from the starters to the bench, but if there's a crack in their game, where they've struggled at times during the regular season has been with staying disciplined. They haven't had that problem thus far in these playoffs, and if that holds the series should be theirs to win or lose.

For the Warriors it'll come down to their role players, and whether or not they can contribute to the offense, under pressure. And it'll come down to runs, and getting the Wolves to crack under the weight of the Warriors' rapid scoring output.

 

[One]

Celtics/Knicks

Knicks take game 1.

First bucket to the Knicks, off of what looked like an own-basket tip-in by Jaylen Brown off of a contested rebound. On the other end, the first five points scored for the Celtics came from Derrick White. I'm thinking here we go. But no, after those five, White was a non-factor in the first quarter offensively. It was all Tatum and Brown for most of the way forward, with contributions from Payton Pritchard and Luke Kornet, who specifically seems to get up to play the Knicks (like Porzingis, he himself is a former Knick). On the Knicks' side, Karl Anthony Towns looks like he might be able to get it going as a primary scoring option, but commits two fouls early, so he's limited. Late in the quarter, with Mitchell Robinson in the game for the Knicks, Luke Kornet commits two quick fouls on Robinson on successive plays, putting him at three fouls within the first quarter. It's the start of a Hack-a-Mitch strategy, which the Pistons tried in the first round, where on every possession, you foul the poor foul shooter (derived from the old Hack-a-Shaq strategy that teams used to use against the Lakers in the early 2000s). As the Celtics are employing this strategy, Reggie Miller on the broadcast says it's a good strategy because Kornet's fouls are expendable. If you've watched the Knicks/Celtics games the past several seasons, Luke Kornet has been a particular thorn in the side of these Knicks mostly due to the size that he gives the Celtics on the boards, and the skillset and energy that he brings which, again, is especially heightened when he faces his former team. He is Mazzulla's primary counter to Josh Hart who, if given clear space down low, will grab rebound after rebound for second chance opportunities. So no, those fouls are not expendable. As that's happening throughout the game, I'm thinking the upside of the Hack-a-Mitch strategy is free possessions, but the downside is that you're amassing fouls that might hurt you later in the game when you need some of those guys for matchups. The gamble is that you hope you're able to go up by such a big margin, that you can control the game the rest of the way regardless of who is or isn't available. But if things get tight, then the struggles are exacerbated by your inability to get the right matchups in the game. There's no free lunch here. But for now, nearing the end of the first quarter, it's working as intended. Mitchell Robinson is missing free throws, and the Celtics are getting free possessions. Boston finishes the quarter up by one, 26-25.

Second quarter, Towns gets two back to back buckets with Jaylen Brown as the defender, and puts the Knicks up one, but then a minute later commits his third foul and gets subbed out. With Derrick White having an off game, Payton Pritchard is in the game, scoring and table setting. Porzingis leaves the game with a lingering illness he's been dealing with. With KAT in foul trouble, the Knicks go small, and the Celtics start to find a groove offensively. Tatum is resting on the bench, Jaylen Brown is getting touches in isolation, and the others are getting rebounds and defensive stops. Midway into the quarter, with Mitchell Robinson checking back into the game, the Celtics go back to their Hack-a-Mitch strategy. Robinson misses 3 out of the 4 free throws, but the Celtics fail to convert on the free possessions. Payton Pritchard and Jrue Holiday are now at two fouls each (they each had one foul before fouling Robinson). The Knicks sit Mitchell Robinson, and put Precious Achiuwa in the game. With Luke Kornet out with foul trouble, and Porzingis out with an illness, Josh Hart now has some open space in the paint, and starts crashing the boards, getting the Knicks multiple extra possessions. On one possession, Brunson misses a three, Hart gets the rebound and passes it out ot OG at the three point line. OG drives for a layup, and misses, and Hart gets another rebound, and passes it out to Brunson on the wing, where Brunson hits the three and gets the Knicks back to within six. Mazzulla immediately puts Luke Kornet back in the game, and the Celtics go on a 13-3 run to close out the quarter, running the offense through Jaylen Brown and Payton Pritchard, with Kornet controlling the paint.

Third quarter, Mikal Bridges hits a three to start, but the Knicks are struggling to find their offense. They're trying to feed Towns for post-up opportunities, while the Celtics, going small, have Tatum on him as a defender. KAT misses under the rim on one post-up, and then fails to execute on the next possession before the clock runs out. Derrick White hits a three off of an offensive rebound by Al Horford, and KAT loses the ball on the other end trying to post up Horford with Jrue Holiday helping. OG scores on a drive. Towns recovers the ball on a bad pass under the rim by the Celtics, OG loses the ball on a drive on the other end. Later, Towns gets the ball in the paint, guarded by Jrue Holiday, and commits an offensive foul, his fourth. Derrick White hits another three, then gets a block on Towns, and Tatum finds Horford for an easy dunk. Celtics up 20, 72-52. Knicks call timeout and sub Mitchell Robinson back in. KAT sits. The Celtics bring in Pritchard and Kornet, and sit Holiday and Horford. The Knicks score on three straight possession. Hart hits a corner three. Derrick White responds with a three for the Celtics. OG connects for three. Hart gets possession off of a missed three by Jaylen Brown, White almost gets the steal off of Hart, but it pinballs into Mikal Bridges' hands. Mikal gets it to OG, and OG hits another three. On the next possession, OG drives and gets the ball inside to Mitchell Robinson, and Kornet commits his fourth foul. Robinson goes one for two form the line. The two teams go back and forth, with the Knicks bringing it to within 9 to end the quarter, 84-75 Celtics. They've built some momentum.

Quick note here, toward the end of the third quarter, Sam Hauser gets injured trying to contest a three from OG Anunoby. Hauser, off the bench, is the Celtics' best three point shooter. He's out for the game.

Fourth quarter. The Celtics miss two threes in the first possession. They turn the ball over on their next possession, on a miss by Brown, iso'd against Karl Anthon Towns. Miles McBride hits a corner three for the Knicks, and the lead is down to six. Holiday loses the ball. KAT gets a putback off of a missed rebound by Jaylen Brown. The Celtics continue to struggle. Pritchard can't hit for the Celtics. Tatum can't 'hit. OG hits another three. Knicks within one. Luke Kornet commits his fifth foul on a bad screen. Al Horford is subbed in, Kornet out. A couple possessions later, OG gets a deflection off of Jayson Tatum, and runs it up the court for a dunk. Tie game. Holiday hits a three, Celtics back up three. Brunson responds with a corner three on the other end in an otherwise botched play. Celtics miss two threes on a possession. Jaylen Brown gets it and drives on Hart for two. Celtics are struggling. Brunson then scores eight straight points. Knicks up six. Two foul calls get the Celtics back to within two. A Derick White three puts them up one. Brunson finds OG in the corner for another three. Jrue Holiday cuts on the other end for a layup over Towns. Tie game. Hart gets the ball to OG on the wing, Tatum flies over for the contest, OG swings the ball over and steps inside for a jumper. Miss. Derrick White gets the rebound with 28 seconds left. Celtics run an iso for Jayson Tatum, with Mitchell Robinson defending. Tatum dribbles, and puts up a three. Miss. Knicks get the rebound for the final possession. Quick foul by Horford. Celtics had one to give. Now, Brunson is the inbounder. He gets it in to Towns and shakes off Holiday. Towns gets it back to Brunson. Brunson puts up a floater with Al Horford closing in. The ball comes off the backboard, circles the rim, and pops out. Miss. 0.1 seconds left. The officials add 0.5 seconds. Celtics draw up a play, no substitutions. White gets the ball in to Tatum, defended by OG. Tatum tries to throw up a turnaround, no good. Overtime.

Overtime. Horford at center for the Celtics, playing without Porzingis. Knicks get first possession. A miss from three by Brunson, tap out by KAT, another miss from three by Brunson. Celtics ball. Derrick White gets the ball inside to Horford, defended by Brunson. KAT comes over to help, Horford kicks it out to Holiday. Holiday puts up a three, deflected by Mikal Bridges. Knicks ball. Holiday nearly gets the deflection off a pass by Brunson. Mikal gets it, and moves inside for a fadeaway over Horford. Miss. Tatum with the rebound. He passes to White, White to Jaylen Brown. Brown drives. Mikal reaches, forcing Brown to try passing the ball over to Horford in the corner. Bridges intercepts the pass and, falling out of bounds, keeps the ball in play, passing it to Hart. Hart gets it inside to a slashing OG, OG gets the dunk and the foul. OG converts the foul. Knicks up three. Holiday misses a three. Bridges misses out on the rebound and falls awkwardly, but gets back up. Tatum has the ball, Brunson defending. Tatum puts up an airball. Derrick White tries for the putback, no good. Knicks ball. Knicks run a play. Hart finds OG cutting. OG backs down Tatum. Jaylen Brown comes over to help. OG kicks it out to Mikal, now open in the corner. Mikal puts up the three, it's good. Knicks up six. Tatum gets a contested layup under the rim. Brunson misses another floater off the backboard, but KAT is there for the putback. Knicks back up six. On the other end, Tatum passes to Brown, Brown swings it over to Horford in the corner for a three. Miss. Holiday grabs the offensive rebound, and gets it back out to Brown. Brown puts up a three, it's good. Celtics back within three. Brunson tries to shake off Jrue Holiday, and puts up a long two, no good. Celtics ball. Brown gets by Josh Hart, and drives in for the layup, contested by Towns. No good, the ball pops back out. Knicks run down some clock time. Hart gathers a nearly missed pass from Brunson, and puts up a three with 20 seconds left, no good. White brings it up court, and passes to Tatum for the iso on Bridges. Tatum passes to Brown, almost deflected by KAT. KAT fouls Brown. Brown puts up a shot, but the foul was on the floor. The Knicks had a foul to give. Celtics get a new possession with 3 seconds left. Derrick White the inbounder. Mitchell Robinson on ball. White can't find anything. Timeout Celtics. Second time around, same setup. White to inbound, Mitch there with him. White throws the ball in, cross-court to Jaylen Brown. As soon as it hits his hands, Mikal Bridges gets a hand on the ball and takes it away from Brown. Game over.

The Knicks win game 1, in Boston, and steal home court advantage. Wild.

Some extra thoughts on this game. Derrick White had an off night, moreso self-inflicted than anything the Knicks did. But again, the Celtics are different when he's not playing well. They're more beatable. Payton Pritchard did come in and assume the role of table setter with White struggling, and kept things going for the Celtics along with Jaylen Brown. But he couldn't be out there for the entire game, because you give up size, and you give up some defense. And so you can't get that rotating back and forth between Derrick White and Payton Pritchard, piloting the flow of the offense. And when it got late, and the pressure was on, the Celtics, again with Derrick White not having his best night offensively, resorted to their Jayson Tatum or Jaylen Brown figure it out style of basketball. And if that's the case, I prefer those chances against these Celtics.

They also lost Porzingis in the second quarter, who wasn't feeling well. He's been dealing with something for a while now, but you can tell the Celtics want to make a statement whenever the Knicks are on the schedule, so no matter what ailments anyone had, they were all going to show up, at least for this game. Sam Hauser going down with that ankle injury in the third, was yet another unfortunate blow to the Celtics because when he's able to get going off the bench, along with Payton Pritchard, they're capable of breaking a game wide open, while also getting some rest for some of their starters.

The Luke Kornet thing, and the Hack-a-Mitch strategy starting in the first quarter, kind of came back to bite them. They could've used his energy and size late in the game. Boston was still able to get extra rebounds from White and Horford, but there were some rebounds that they had to think they would've been able to secure, offensively and defensively, had they been able to get Kornet back in the game. A Mikal Bridges putback late in the fourth. A KAT putback in overtime. But with five fouls, maybe you hesitate, or hold him out for the exact right moment, but then you hesitate again when that time comes because what are you giving up? Maybe the Knicks attack the rim, draw a foul for an easy two points, then he's out anyway. Better to keep rolling with the guys who are already out there. You're forced to make those kinds of calculations when you've got guys deep in foul trouble. It's not that you definitely have to put him back in the game, but you want that easy option, and it was made unnecessarily difficult by a Hack-a-Mitch strategy that didn't even yield much in terms of points.

With those breaks going their way, the Knicks had to take advantage. Turn up the pressure and see if this Celtics core really has gotten past all those old flaws.

Also, late in regulation, and in overtime, we got that matchup that I noted previously. OG Anunoby on Jayson Tatum, Mikal Bridges on Derrick White, and Josh Hart on Jaylen Brown. Even with the Celtics playing for switches, those matchups held them to 5 points total in overtime. And the Knicks pulled it out.

At least for this game, the grind that they had to go through in the Pistons series gave the right guys the right mindset when similar obstacles were put in front of them here. Trial by fire. Sink or swim. Game 2 on Wednesday.



Nuggets/Thunder

The Nuggets take game 1 in OKC. I can't emphasize this enough. If you love modern basketball, this series is gonna be one of them ones. Neither team could get it going early, but it wasn't due to poor offense. Both teams were able to get into their schemes, but also both teams were making defensive plays to disrupt the other. At one point the Nuggets had the ball on the break. Jokic had the ball in his hands, Aaron Gordon to his left, Christian Braun and Michael Porter Jr. to his right. Jokic floats it up for what looks like an easy alley oop to MPJ, and Chet Holmgren comes out of nowhere for a clean block at the rim.

The story for most of this game was the Thunder's energy and execution. Of course, you had SGA leading the way for OKC offensively. But also Lu Dort and Alex Caruso were everywhere in this game, hounding the Nuggets defensively, and hitting their threes otherwise. At one point Jokic is bringing the ball up on a break, and goes to throw a pass to Peyton Watson for a drive. Lu Dort telegraphs the pass perfectly, grabs it out of the air, and gets the ball to Chet Holmgren for a reverse layup. Chet was also solid on both ends for most of the night, especially making things difficult in the paint, finishing with four blocks.

But the Nuggets stuck in there. They never gave up a rout to OKC as teams are prone to do. Jokic wasn't going to let that happen. At one point, when things started getting a little out of hand, you could see a frustrated Jokic on the sidelines trying to get the team to get their act right. Taking matters into his own hands on the court as needed. The moment of the game belonged to Aaron Gordon, but of course we're not going to forget that Jokic finished with 42, 22, and 6, hitting clutch shots to keep the Nuggets close late. Russell Westbrook was also a solid contributor, giving the Nuggets much needed energy throughout the game, plus some offense. Aaron Gordon had several highlights. The first being a moment in the second quarter where he launched right through Chet Holmgren for a throw-in dunk. And of course he had the three on the final play that won the game for Denver.

The gamble at the end by OKC, to play the foul game, up three, for possessions. In the current popular theory, it's touted as the "smart" thing to do, but man, I know they wish they could have that back. Chet missing both free throws at the line, oof. Tough.

All in all, you had everything in this game. One on ones, two man game, lots of ball movement, breaks, post-play, inside scoring, outside scoring, going big, going small, team defense, individual defense, playing through fouls, energy, tension, tactics, strategy, clutch shotmaking, etc, etc. It was only right that it ended on a shot in the final moments of the game. The Nuggets outscored the Thunder 15-4 starting from the 2:45 mark in the fourth quarter, and ending with that final game-winning three.

 

[One]

Pacers/Cavaliers

The Pacers just walked the Cavs down to the end. Tyrese Haliburton gets fouled down three. Makes one free throw, misses the second. Gets the rebound, runs down some clock, and hits a three with one second left to take a one point lead, 120-119. The Cavs have no timeouts and can't advance the ball. Strus passes to Sam Merrill who tries to throw something up from half court. No good. The Pacers' first lead of the quarter, at the last second, was all they needed to win the game.


Wolves/Warriors

The Wolves were just flat in this game. Warriors started hitting shots, and the Wolves couldn't hit anything at all. Steph left with a hamstring injury early in the second quarter. Of all people, Draymond Green was connecting from the perimeter. Buddy Hield, Pat Spencer, and Jonathan Kuminga took up some of the minutes in Steph's absence. Draymond handled the playmaking for several of the Warriors' runs. The offense ran through Jimmy Butler with Steph out, with Buddy Hield as the second option. Wolves shooters didn't really start hitting their shots until the third quarter. Went on a couple runs but the Warriors were able to respond every time. Just a flat performance by the Timberwolves, maybe affected by the layoff. Expecting them to play better in game two, and hopefully Steph is able to get back healthy.

With the Golden State win, every single road team won game one in this second round.

 

[One]

Steph Curry will be out for game 2 against the Timberwolves on Thursday, with a grade 1 left hamstring strain, per Shams Charania

 

[One]

Knicks/Celtics

The Knicks take game 2 in Boston.

It felt like the first three quarters damn near was all Celtics. Jaylen Brown came out playing with more aggression, getting to the rim. The criticism for the Celtics the past few days has been that they took too many threes in the first game, missing 45 out of 60. So that seems to have resonated with the players, at least early on.

Once again, the Knicks found themselves down by 20 in the third quarter, this time with just four minutes left to go, compared to the five and a half minutes they had in game 1. And this time around, they finished the quarter up by 12, where they finished it up by 9 last game.

Fourth quarter comes around, and Mikal Bridges starts to take over. With Brunson on the bench (and then seemingly playing possum when he gets back in), the Knicks just started funneling the offense through Bridges, who proceeded to score 14 of their first 16 points of the quarter, which were also his first points of the game. That work gets the game to within 7 (8 on the box score due to error that was later corrected), with just 5 and a half minutes left to go. Brunson is back in the game, and misses a three on the next possession, but at this point, Josh Hart's energy is starting to turn up. He commits a foul on the other end on an attempted Derrick White rebound, but he's crashing the boards like a madman on offense. The next time down, Bridges misses a three, but Josh grabs the rebound, and gets it out to Jalen who hits a three of his own, and now he's starting to cook. White and Tatum miss a pair of threes for the Celtics, Josh gets a pass from Mikal and flies toward the rim for a floater. The score says the game is within five, but the officials had previously called one of Mikal's threes a two, so they correct that during the break, and now the Knicks are within four, Brunson inbounding. The Celtics foul Mitchell Robinson off-ball. They had a foul to give. Thibs goes to sub him out for OG Anunoby, but tells OG to come back and they run the inbound play again. The Celtics foul Robinson off-ball again, and now Thibs subs him out for OG Anunoby, with the Celtics now in the penalty. Hart goes up for a layup and misses, but KAT is right there to grab the board for the putback, and the foul. He makes the free throw, and all of a sudden the Knicks are within one with just under two minutes to go. On the next possession, Brunson has Jrue Holiday on him, gets to his spot, and connects on a fadeaway to give the Knicks their first lead of the game. Momentum Knicks. The Celtics on the other end, are missing shots at the rim, and no one's really had a hot hand from three. Brunson meanwhile drives on Al Horford and puts the Knicks up three, with under a minute left in the game. KAT fouls Tatum who makes his free throws. Brunson tries for a pull up three on the wing, but misses that. Celtics have the ball, and can drain some of the shot clock. Tatum takes the ball up court. A screen keeps Anunoby out of the way, and Robinson guesses incorrectly on the direction of Tatum's drive, and he quickly drives for an easy dunk to put the Celtics back up one with a little over 18 seconds left. The Knicks have final possession. Brunson gets the ball for the Knicks, guarded by Jrue Holiday. Holiday gets his arm tangled with Brunson, and the foul is called. Brunson makes both free throws, and the Knicks are back up by one, 91-90, with 13 seconds left. The Celtics have a timeout. They opt not to take it and bring the ball up full court. Tatum brings it up and is met by Anunoby to the left and Mitchell Robinson to the right. Tatum goes right, and comes back left, trying to get to open space. Robinson tracks and covers the area. As Tatum goes baseline, OG enters the play, and Mikal Bridges helps off of Jaylen Brown who slides over to the wing. Tatum goes up, almost going for a shot, but instead tries to pass to Jaylen on the perimeter. Bridges gets a hand on the ball, gathers it with just over 2 seconds left in the game, and throws it up court to run out the clock. Knicks win again, and go up 2-0 in Boston.

It came in waves for the Knicks in this game. In spots, early in the game, it looked like Towns could get whatever he wanted offensively, but the Celtics, with Jaylen Brown's initiating, were just able to build and build their lead as a collective offense. Deuce McBride had a three at the end of the third that kind of set a warning to the Celtics that the Knicks could hit them with another run in the fourth quarter like they did in the last game. Then the fourth quarter comes, and Bridges is virtually unstoppable, carrying the Knicks to within single digits. Then comes Brunson, bucket after bucket, to give the Knicks the lead. Josh Hart was highly energized in this game. Even moreso than he usually is. Playing possessed in the paint, battling it out for boards. Mitchell Robinson looked like he got his legs back. He's been easing himself back into form, coming off of injury, but I haven't seen him defend like that, with that kind of confidence in a long time. The Celtics thought they had an advantage with him out on the perimeter guarding Tatum, but this is a guy who at his best, has guarded guys like Joel Embiid and Kevin Durant and blocked both their shots at the apex. The Celtics also didn't go to the Hack-a-Mitch strategy as much this time around as they did in game 1, until the end where they committed those quick two, with the Knicks inbounding. OG is always doing his thing defensively, even if he wasn't able to get it going on offense in this game. Everybody had their moments in the clutch contributing to this win. Just another good, solid win against these Celtics. Keep the pressure on, and like I said after the last game, see if their core has really gotten past those old flaws.



Thunder/Nuggets

This was a rout by the Thunder. The machine that we saw in game 1 of the first round returned to form and completely outclassed the Nuggets in this game. Jokic fouled out before the third quarter was over. It just wasn't close all game. The Thunder were out there just flying on both sides of the ball. They dominate, 149-106, and become the first home team to get a win in the second round of these playoffs.

 

[One]

Wolves/Warriors

The Wolves dominate in this one. They broke out with a big lead to start. There was a moment where Ant goes to the rim and Trayce Jackson-Davis steps on his ankle in the way down, so he Ant has to go get medical attention for a little bit. The report at the half was that he'd be questionable to return in the second half, but once the half started, Ant decided to give it a go, and played.

The Warriors got it to within single digits in the second half, but the Wolves were able to extend the lead again, and hold on. Steve Kerr pulled his starters from the game with time left in the fourth quarter, and the Wolves followed suit soon after.

Wolves win, and proceed to game 3 on Saturday.

 

[One]

Cavaliers/Pacers

Cavs defeat the Pacers 126-104. Darius Garland, Evan Mobley, and DeAndre Hunter all played. Cavs started hitting their shots out the gate, with Max Strus connecting on a three for the first points of the game, paving the way for an 11-0 start. Myles Turner carried the scoring load for the Pacers to start, until Bennedict Mathurin and others started to get it going later on. With an 8-0 run of their own, the Pacers managed to tie the game 32-32 by the end of the quarter. Second quarter was all Cavs. Balanced scoring took them to the end of the half up by 21, and they rode that lead through to the end of the game. The Pacers tried to spark a few runs in the third, but it seemed like each time they did, the Cavs would draw a foul on the other end. There was a stretch early in the fourth quarter where it looked like maybe they could make a comeback, getting the lead down to 11, but no. The Cavs pulled away once again, and get their first win on the series.


Thunder/Nuggets

Nuggets defeat the Thunder 113-104 in overtime. Good back and forth to start the first. Chet Holmgren had it going inside and outside for OKC. Hitting a three on one play, driving baseline on Jokic for a reverse layup on another. Before the quarter was over, the Thunder had drawn two fouls on Jokic. The Nuggets start the second with several good plays from Russell Westbrook, getting the ball inside to Michael Porter Jr. for a short shot at the rim, getting a steal on the other end for an easy layup, finding Peyton Watson who's able to draw a foul, forcing another OKC turnover, then finding Aaron Gordon for three, getting the Nuggets to within one. The two teams start going shot for shot from there. Then the Thunder just start out-executing the Nuggets. Aaron Wiggins scoring with ease. At one point Alex Caruso has the ball in the left corner, Jokic is on the left block facing him, Aaron Wiggins cuts form the other side of the court toward the rim, and Caruso gets the pass right by Jokic, into Wiggins' hands for an easy layup. The Nuggets aren't folding on their part, it's just that the Thunder defense is stifling. Jokic goes to the rim and has to get through all five defenders for a layup. The half ends with the Thunder up five, 56-51. Half-time leading scorer graphic on the TNT broadcast was wrong for OKC. They had it as Chet Holmgren, Jalen Williams and SGA. It was Chet, Jalen, and Hartenstein. Leading scorers for the Nuggets were correctly Michael Porter Jr., Jamal Murray, and Jokic.

Back and forth again to start the third. Jamal Murray finds Jokic inside for a turn around hook shot to give the Nuggets' their first lead of the night, with a little over five minutes left in the third. The back and forth continues. In one sequence, Jamal gets through two defenders, and scores on a no-look reverse circus layup on Chet Holmgren inside, then Holmgren goes for an easy two hand dunk on the other side and gets blocked by Peyton Watson at the rim. For OKC, SGA goes right and hits a fadeaway, and the next time down Jay Will gets an open dunk. The quarter ends with the Thunder up three, 83-80.

Fourth quarter, the Nuggets tie it 83-83 on a corner three from Russell Westbrook. Jalen Williams responds with a three of his own. Back and forth they go again. The Thunder trying to hold onto a marginal lead throughout the quarter. Jamal Murray ties the game at the foul line, 97-97. He then breaks the tie with a long two fadeaway inside the line near the corner. Jalen Williams answers on the other end with a three off the assist from SGA to regain the lead. A foul and two free throws puts the Thunder up three. Jokic can't convert at the rim in traffic. SGA misses on a long two just inside the arc. Jamal Murray gets the rebound, Jokic goes to set a screen, Murray finds Aaron Gordon in the corner for three. It's good. Tie game 102-102 with under 30 seconds left. Jalen Williams has it at half court, dribbling down the clock. SGA gets open on the left wing, with Christian Braun coming over to defend. SGA gets inside, and puts up a shot inside the free throw line, through contact. No good. Jokic gets the ball. Denver calls timeout. On the inbound, Aaron Gordon gets ball in to Jokic running baseline. Jokic puts up a turnaround three over Isaiah Hartenstein at the buzzer. No good. Overtime.

Nuggets ball to start. Jokic gets inside for a layup. Jalen WIlliams drives, and kicks it out to Lou Dort. Dort gives it to Caruso, Caruso to SGA. SGA drives and passes to Hartenstein for that reliable floater, no good. Nuggets ball. Jamal Murray goes away from the screen, with Lou Dort guarding. He gets into the paint, SGA comes over to help. Murray passes it out to an open Michael Porter Jr. for three. It's good. Nuggets up five. Jalen Williams gets a switch and drives on Christian Braun for a shot at the rim, no good. Nuggets ball. Jamal Murray brings the ball up. Lou Dort comes up to challenge him at half court and commits a foul. Next play, Murray gets the screen by Jokic, and shoots the open three. No good. SGA drives but gets met by defenders and passes to Jalen Williams. Jalen drives and loses the ball. Jamal Murray takes it all the way to the rim for a layup. Nuggets up seven. Thunder take a timeout. Lou Dort brings it up court, and passes to SGA. SGA dribbles into the free throw line area, and finds Hartenstein. Hartenstein misses again on the floater. He gets the ball back going out of bounds, but Murray intercepts the pass to Holmgren. Murray passes it off to Jokic. Murray can't get open, so Jokic passes over to Braun in the corner. Braun takes a Jokic screen and then passes back to him. It's deflected but Jokic gets it and passes to MPJ. Jalen Williams leaps and forces MPJ to pass to Jamal Murray. Murray gets past Lou Dort, but trips. He recovers and gathers for the shot, but time runs out on the shot clock. Thunder ball. SGA kicks out to Chet on the wing, guarded by Murray. Chet shotfakes and muscles his way inside for a dunk at the rim. Jokic gives the ball to Murray on the perimeter. They play the two man game against Dort and Hartenstein. Murray finds Jokic on a pick and roll, and Jokic hits the floater inside. SGA drives on Christian Braun and kicks it back out to Chet Holmgren. Chet gets inside the free throw line on MPJ and puts up a soft jumper that rolls out. Jokic brings the ball up and calls Braun over for a screen. Braun comes over and Jokic rejects the screen. Jokic drives toward the rim and finds Aaron Gordon in the dunker spot for a jumper. Gordon connects over Holmgren. Denver up nine with just over a minute left. SGA passes the ball inside to Hartenstein. Hartenstein finds a cutting Jalen Williams, but Gordon deflects the pass. SGA recovers it, but falls trying to back down Braun. He gets the ball to Hartenstein. Hartenstein puts up the floater, no good. Braun gets the rebound and gives it to Jokic. Jokic passes to Murray who drives and gets fouled. Jokic has the ball and passes into the corner to Christian Braun for three. No good. Cason Wallace gets the ball inbound to Jalen Williams. Williams puts up a three. No good. Peyton Watson got a hand on it. Aaron Gordon recovers the ball. Nuggets dribble it out, and take game 3 to go up 2-1 on OKC.

 

[One]

Celtics/Knicks

The Celtics defeat the Knicks 115-93. This one wasn't much of a game. Boston came in on a mission. Forty of their 83 field goal attempts came from three. They connected on 20 of them, for a 50% completion rate behind the arc. Jayson Tatum scored 22. Payton Pritchard led all scoring for Boston with 23. Their role players gave them good minutes. Al Horford went 6 for 9 from the field, plus 9 rebounds. Jrue Holiday went 3 for 4, and continued on with the task of guarding Jalen Brunson. Derrick White and Jaylen Brown tied for the highest plus/minus in the game at 29. Porzingis gave them some defensive presence in the fourth.

The Knicks were never really in it. They never led in the game. And they're now 1-3 at home in the postseason this year.

Game 4 will be played on Monday


Wolves/Warriors

The Wolves defeat the Warriors 102-97, and take a 2-1 lead in the series, reclaiming home court advantage. The Wolves held their composure even as the Warriors led late. Anthony Edwards led all scorers with 36. Julius Randle continues to provide stability for the Wolves when others are struggling. He finished with a 24/10/12 triple double. Jimmy Butler and Jonathan Kuminga carried the scoring load for the Warriors with Steph out. Game 4 is set for Monday.


All second round teams are now on the board with at least one win in their respective series.