The first round of the NBA playoffs is in the books and there were two amazing series, two big surprises, and a lot of snooze-fests.
Milwaukee Bucks (4) vs Indiana Pacers (0)
Milwaukee won every game by 20+, including a 162-115 closeout win.
Philadelphia 76ers (4) vs Orlando Magic (0)
Embiid scored 31, 48, 25, and 33 points in the 4 games, absolutely eviscerating Vucevic.
Los Angeles Clippers (4) vs Phoenix Suns (0)
Monty Williams may be done in Phoenix. Kawhi had 46 in game 2, and Devin Booker didn’t get enough help to win any games.
Toronto Raptors (4) vs Brooklyn Nets (1)
Brooklyn has no real excuses, they just got whooped. None of the five games were closer than 15 points as the Raptors shocked Brooklyn.
Golden State Warriors (4) vs Houston Rockets (1)
The Warriors showed their quality and depth as Steph Curry, Eric Paschall, Klay Thompson, and DeAndre Ayton took turns leading Golden State to victory. They handled the Rockets easily without seeing Jimmy Butler score more than 17 points.
Boston Celtics (4) vs Atlanta Hawks (2)
The Hawks put up a good fight, but lost Trae Young in game 5 to a sprained knee and fell 4-2 after tying the series up.
Dallas Mavericks (4) vs Los Angeles Lakers (3)
This series was an Instant Classic. After going up 1-0, the Mavs fell behind 2-1 after a two-point and one-point loss despite
Kristaps Porzingis scoring 49 and 65 points in those two games.
Porzingis then scored 45 in game 4 to tie the series up 2-2 and then came back down to Earth as the two teams traded wins until the Mavs won game 7 by 27 points.
Denver Nuggets (4) vs Memphis Grizzlies (3)
Mike Malone saved his job. The Grizzlies, despite missing Valanciunas, found themselves up 3-2 after a game 5 that saw Ja Morant score 38 and Bradley Beal score 41. However the Grizzlies offense dried up as their youth exposed itself and they fell in 7 games.
Round 2 Preview
The Celtics played well in round 1, but Milwaukee is in a class above almost every team in the league. Unless Boston can start playing a level of defense we haven’t seen yet, this is another foregone conclusion.
Prediction: Bucks in 5.
The Raptors turned heads with their round 1 drubbing of the Nets, but the 76ers are extremely hot as well. The 76ers own the season series 2-1 and have the best 2 players in the series.
Prediction: 76ers in 6.
Los Angeles owns the season series 4-0, though only 2 of those games were after the mega-trade, and those were decided by a total of 3 points. It would seem that the Clippers defense and stars should win this series, but the Warriors are a very good and deep team.
Prediction: Warriors in 7.
The Nuggets exceeded expectations in round 1, but the Mavs won the season series 3-1 and nobody is playing better basketball than Kristaps Porzingis right now.
Prediction: Mavericks in 5.