Basketball has gotten soft... NBA Playoffs after 2 games
- PC
- Apr 20, 2023
- 10 min read
Dude…
Here is the latest update on the NBA Playoffs. It’s been a little hectic all over. We have seen teams dominate the other and some games have been very back and forth. All teams have played 2 games and it’s been mostly entertaining for Dudes and Sports guy. There is still a lot of time left for some of these series, but a few series seem to be out of reach. We haven’t been to the away courts yet where things can take a massive turn for the better or worse depending on which team you want to win.
In the mountains of Colorado, the Timberwolves took on the Nuggets in round one. The T-Wolves had to win a must-win game to make the playoffs against the OKC Thunder to even make it to this point. The Nuggets are the number one seed, and they proved they were in game one. Jamal Murray lead all scorers with 24 points and every starter for the Nugs had double digits in scoring. The Nuggets were lethal on the defensive end, limiting the T-Wolves to 37% shooting from the floor. The T-Wolves showed why they were the 8 seed because of their abysmal shooting performance. Anthony Edwards had 18 points but went 6-15 shooting. Their star forward, Karl-Anthony Towns played like crap and only scored 11 points. The Joker was locked down on the two twin towers on Minnesota as the Nuggets breezed past the T-Wolves to a 109-80. The T-Wolves stepped it up in the shooting category and made game 2 much more interesting. Anthony Edwards proved to be an all-star when he went off for 41 points. Rudy Gobert helped out with 19 points, but again, KAT came up with a dumpster fire of a performance with a measly 10 points. The Nuggets also had a star perform out of their minds. Jamal Murray went off for 40 points and could not miss. Jokic helped out with 27 and Micheal Porter Jr. had 16 with a pair of threes. The T-Wolves actually got the lead with about 8 minutes left in the game but Jamal Murray said not today to the T-Wolves and carried the Nuggets to a 122-113 victory. Now, the T-Wolves need KAT to step up, or this is going to be a short series for both teams.
The King and the LA Lakers took on Ja Morant and the Memphis Grizzlies in this first-round matchup. In game one, the Grizzlies came out with their own swagger as they tried to take a one-game lead over the bubble champions. Memphis’s own DPOY candidate in Jaren Jackson Jr. or better known by my friends as Tri lead the way with 31 leading all scorers. Desmond Bane shot the ball well with 22 points, but shot 3-10 from the three-point line. Ja Morant had a good game with 18 but left in the fourth with an apparent hand injury. The game was back and forth until Ja left and the Lakers took over late in the fourth. Thanks to the 3-point shooting of Rui Hachimura who had 29 points and went 5-6 from 3. Austin Reeves announced himself to the playoffs by having 23, and the Lakers got decent games from their stars as Anthony David had 22 and Lebron had 21. Losing Ja ended up being a factor in game one as the Lakers win an away game 128-112. In game two, there was one big question. Will Ja play? With an hour til game time, the announcement was made that Ja would not play. The Grizzlies desperately needed to tie the series and it looked pretty bleak having their star out. Their backup point guard, Tyrus Jones, hopped into the starting lineup hoping to make an impact. The Grizzlies bounced back in a big way. Xavier Tillman lead the team with 22, which was a shock. All five starters had over 10 points and their three-point shooter off the bench, Luke Kennard, had 13 points. The Lakers fell flat with Lebron leading the way with 28 points and had 12 rebounds. AD had a horrific night only scoring 13 points. The Lakers need more from some key players including Deangelo Russell who hasn’t been playing well at all. The Grizzlies were in control of this game pretty much the entire game, only giving up a scare toward the beginning of the 4th quarter when the Lakers cut the lead to 6, but Dillon Brooks made a three to seal the game and have the Lakers put their backups in. The Grizzlies won 103-93. Dillon Brooks called Lebron James old in a post game interview which probably is going to fuel the fire of The King going back to LA. As Michael Jordan would say “I took that personally” which I believe the Lakers will flip the switch and make this series go down to the wire.
I wish this series would’ve been going on later down the road in the playoffs. This series has not disappointed through the first two games. In the first game, the Kings had their first playoff game in a long time, and the arena was bustling with energy. I was watching from my chair and I still could tell how excited and thrilled the fans at the game were. In game one, we had an absolute slugfest. It was raining threes back and forth all day. I didn’t realize there was this much rain from downtown in the forecast of sunny Sacramento. The Warriors were led by Steph Curry who shot 11-20 from the field, 6-14 from three, and scored 30 points. They got a contribution from Klay Thompson who had 20, Andrew Wiggins who had 17 and Jordan Poole had 17. De’Aaron Fox was not about to have home-court advantage swiped away from him. He scored 38 points and Malik Monk came off the bench and had 32 points. The Kings won 126-123 and we got our first lighting of the beam of this series. The second game was back and forth the entire way and each team's players did not disappoint. Steph Curry went off for 28 points, Andrew Wiggins with 22, and Klay Thompson with 21. Gary Payton II also had a major contribution off the bench. However, the Kings just played better. Domantas Sobonis and De’aaron Fox both had 24 points and the biggest factor came from their bench player Malik Monk who had 18 and drained three 3’s in the process. The big story was Draymond Green “stomping” on Sabonis causing Draymond to be ejected from the game. I’m not a Draymond Green fan, just like everyone else. I don’t think you should hit a guy in the nuts and not be called a prick. However, Sabonis wrapped his hands around Draymond’s ankle which A. caused him to not run in transition which is stupid anyway B. Draymond could have rolled an ankle and caused injury which could’ve caused him to miss playing time. I get it. He shouldn’t have done it. DON’T THROW HIM OUT OF A GAME THAT’S THIS CLOSE!! It matters a lot because he brings an edge to that team. Not only that, THEY SUSPENDED HIM FOR GAME 3! In a KEY game 3 where going down 1-2 instead of 0-3 is crucial. I hate this league sometimes. MJ got a punch to the mouth, Bill Russell would body-slam people. For someone to get ejected and a suspension for that is so dumb. The Kings went on to win 114-106. We shall see how Draymond getting suspended will affect the Warriors. Will we get the series we all hope and dream for? Or will the league screw the Warriors and allow the Kings to move on.
The Stars were shining bright in Pheonix for the first two games of the series. In game one, Kevin Durant started the day off with 0 points in the first quarter. He quickly caught fire and ended up with 27 points. He had major contributions from Devin Booker who had 26, and DeAndre Ayton had 18. Torey Craig who is showing up HUGE for the Suns, scoring 22 points on 9 three-pointers. This game was back and forth and it was another menacing game for The Claw, Kawhi Leonard, who showed that he was 100% back and isn’t playing around. He had 38 points and lead the way for the Clippers. He took over and had a nice shooting performance from Eric Gordan who had 18. Russell Westbrook shot terribly from the floor going 3 for 19. However, in the final moments of game one, the Suns found themselves down 3. They got the ball to Devin Booker who drove to the hoop. Russell Westbrook rejected the shot and bounced the ball off of Devin Booker to seal game one for the Clippers 115-110. Devin Booker was caught complaining about the call and gave Westbrook the opportunity to bounce the ball off of him. DEVIN BUDDDDDYYYYYY. PLAY THE GOD DAMN GAME!! All the complaining is so annoying to watch. It’s basketball. Just Play. Devin must have realized he didn’t step up enough in game one and in game two, played out of his mind. Booker had 38 and went 4 for 7 from the three-point line. KD matched with another impressive night and had 32. TOREY CRAIG has literally lights out as he went 5-8 from the three-point line and had 17. The Clippers had about the same game as game one, Kawhi had 3, and Russell Westbrook ended up with 28 but everyone else around them were flat. Chris Paul beats his 0-13 streak as he beat Scott Foster as the Suns roll to a 123-109 win. So the series is 1-1 and it's going to LA. I still think the Suns have this as the Clippers don’t have Paul George at all.
This series was supposed to be a blowout. I thought Giannis and company would dismantle the boys from South Beach and cruise to a second round matchup against the winner of the Cavs/Knicks series. In game one, the Bucks started off like how they were supposed to but Giannis took a heavy fall and ended up leaving the game. When Giannis left the game, the Heat took control of the game. Jimmy Buckets lead the way with 35 points, Bam Adebayo had 22, and they got nice contributions from their bench and unlikely player in Kevin Love who had 18 and went 4-7 from three, and Caleb Martin who had 15. Kris Middleton tried to carry the Bucks with his 33 points, and Bobby Portis had 21. Without Giannis’s production, the Bucks just didn’t have enough and lost 130-117. In game two, the Bucks pulled their heads out of their asses and even without Giannis, found their groove. Brook Lopez scored 25 and Jrue Holiday scored 24. Pat Connaughton went 6-10 behind the three-point line and had 22 points to contribute. Jimmy Butler still had an impressive night scoring 25 and Bam was solid with 18, but they didn’t get the bench contribution that helped them so much in game one. The Bucks stampede over the Heat and win 138-122 in a no-contest type of game. This series is going to come down to a few things. One, is Giannis going to be ok and will he return? Two, can the Bucks hold it together if Giannis is out for an extended period of time? Finally, can the Heat get that same type of bench contribution as they did in game one the rest of the series? We can find out in South Beach here soon.
Ths series really hasn’t been a contest. The Boston Celtics have continued to show why they are such a high seed. The Hawks continue to show why they weren’t. In the first game in The Garden, the Celtics were electric The Celtics were lead by their double duo of superstars in Jaylen Brown and Jason Tatum. Jaylen Brown had 29 to lead all scorers. Jason Tatum had 25 and Derrick White is proving to be an amazing starter with 24. DeJounte Murray had 24 as well, and it was an unimpressive night for Trae Young with 16 points as the Celtics continue to be one of the hottest teams in the sport as they beat the Hawks 112-99. The Hawks were looking to bounce back in a big way but continued to shuffle their feet in game 2. Dejounte Murray must be feeling like Dora putting the backpack on for the Hawks and had 29, but Trae Young had 24. It didn’t matter though as Jason Tatum had 29, Derrick White had 26, and Jaylen Brown had 18. The Hawks needs someone else to step up BIG TIME. The Celtics won in another easy fashion as they won 119-106. This article is so short, but there isn’t a lot to report. The Celtics have dominated just like everyone thought it was going to be. The Hawks need Murray and Young to go off for more than 30, or someone is going to have to step up. Or they might get swept.
This is another no contest. You can’t blame the Nets. They shipped out their core of players in cancer in the locker room which is better known as Kyrie Irving along with KD as he can’t carry a team on his own. However, the Nets did get Mikal Bridges who continue to proves that he is worthy of being a starter on an NBA Squad, and a good player for the Nets. The Nets, however, go steamrolled in Game One. Mikal had 30 points to lead all scorers, but Embiid had 26, Harden had 23, and Tobias Harris had 21. The Nets need more from Spencer Dinwiddie and company as they lose 121-101. Game two was the same shit on a different day, except no one could score. Game 2 was a snooze fest as Tyrese Maxey did have 33 and Embiid and Harris both had 20. The Nets got 28 out of Cam Johnson, another player from the Suns trade. Bridges had 20 but it still wasn’t enough as they lost 96-84. This is another series I think is in deep trouble for going 4-0. The Nets just don’t have enough and Embiid really hasn’t gotten into stride yet. Watch this series be another blowout and an exciting matchup in the next round.
Probably the most competitive matchup in the East has been one that you need to get your popcorn and watch. The Cavs got homecourt advantage for the first two games and looked to make this 2-0 going into NY. Donovon Mitchell did not disappoint in his playoff debut for the Cavs. He went off for 38 and made 6 threes. Darius Garland had a slower night with 18 and the rest of the team took a shit on the court and didn’t really contribute. The Knicks had their own superstar in Jalen Brunson had 27, and Julius Randle had 19. The Knicks got a nice boost off the bench from Josh Hart who had 17 to boost the Knicks and steal game one in Cleveland 101-97. The Cavs were not going to let this series slip to 2-0 in game two. This time it was Darius Garland who lead the way with 27 and Mitchell had 17. However, they had bench help in Caris Levert who had 24 with 4 threes. Randle had 22 and Brunson had 20 but the Cavs take the game and even the series at 1-1 with a confident win of 107-90. This series should go right down to the wire and it's anyone’s series going into NY.
Comments