NBA Playoff Takeaways: First Round

Photo from ESPN

Usually, the first round of the NBA Playoffs is kind of a snoozer due to a large gap in talent between the top of the conferences and the bottom.

But this year, the first round was absolutely fantastic.

What did we learn? Boy, a whole lot.

Pistons defeat Magic 4-3

The Pistons were in serious, serious trouble.

Jalen Duren essentially disappeared, and they faced a 3-1 hole, as well as a massive gap in game 6 to a Magic team who backed into the playoffs.

And what followed from the 2nd half of game 6 into game 7 for Orlando was some of the worst basketball I have ever seen in my life.

They scored 17 points the second half of game 6, and stood absolutely no chance in a game 7 in Detroit.

A breath of fresh air for the Pistons, and the capper on a miserably disappointing season for Orlando.

76ers defeat Celtics 4-3

When Jayson Tatum tore his achilles in last years postseason, many expected the Celtics to struggle this season.

They didn’t, thanks to Jaylen Brown playing at a MVP level for most of the season.

Brown held down the fort while Tatum worked to return.

And then, in the postseason, Brown’s play took a complete nosedive.

The Celtics were -66 with him on the floor in this series, and +26 without him over the last three games of the series, all Sixers wins.

Philly was always a dangerous 7 seed with everyone back healthy, but this series falls on Brown’s poor play.

Knicks defeat Hawks 4-2

This series was a bit misleading.

Credit to the Hawks, who were a tough out and had a great back half of the season, but the Knicks were the better team all series long. They just ran into a hot hand in CJ McCollum in games 2 and 3.

But the Knicks took care of what they needed to do, and now have a great chance to get to the finals.

But, it’s the Knicks.

So.

Cavaliers defeat Raptors 4-3

Cleveland had lots of high hopes for this season, and at multiple times this series, it looked like they were going to fall well short of their goals.

But they powered through in game 7 thanks to Jarrett Allen, and now they face a Pistons team that also played with fire.

But they need Donovan Mitchell to be a lot better in that series if they want to advance.

He was not anywhere what he usually is come playoff time, and it showed in how much the Cavs struggled in this series.

Thunder defeat Suns 4-0

This wasn’t much of a series, but the pivotal moment for me was in game 3.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was in the midst of an incredible game, and after a big shot, turned to the crowd and said “I don’t need it!”, referring to the accusations of foul baiting and flopping that SGA does.

And the thing is, he’s right!

He doesn’t need it!

Which is why it’s so incredibly frustrating to watch him do it in games 1, 2, and 4.

It ruins the discussion of a player who is incredibly good, and like he says, he doesn’t need it.

Hopefully we see less of it going forward.

Spurs defeat Trailblazers 4-1

This was also not much of a series, but credit to the Blazers for having the year they had considering their coach was arrested by the FBI on the opening day of the season.

This year could have gone sideways real fast, but it didn’t, and they deserve a lot of credit for that.

Timberwolves defeat Nuggets 4-2

This was a miserable series for the Nuggets.

It’s not only losing to a Timberwolves team as a favorite.

It’s not only losing to a Timberwolves team that was incredible injured.

It’s losing to a Timberwolves team that called you out for being terrible defenders and not taking you seriously as a team, and proving them right night after night.

I don’t know where the Nuggets go from here, but something has to change.

This series was a drastic wake up call.

Lakers defeat Rockets 4-2

I’d like to give credit to LeBron for, at the age of 41, dragging a team that was a heavy underdog to the 2nd round.

But I can’t.

I have to put this series on the Rockets who played terribly, were coached poorly, and were put together poorly, considering they did absolutely nothing to fix their horrendous point guard situation all year.

This was supposed to be a step forward year for the Rockets.

It was a terrible step back.