It’s official, NBA Playoffs basketball in the bubble is incredible. Not only did we get games all day starting at 1:30 PM ET, but we got some fantastic, and historic, action. If you weren’t able to watch 10 straight hours of playoff hoops, first of all, what’s wrong with you? Second, it’s all good, I got you. Let me catch you up on what went down on the first day of the 2020 NBA playoffs.
Nuggets survive Donovan Mitchell’s historic NBA Playoffs performance, take 1-0 lead
With no Bogdan Bogdanovic and no Mike Conley, the Utah Jazz needed Donovan Mitchell to play the best basketball of his career to beat the Nuggets. And he did that in Game 1… but the Jazz still lost… by double digits.
Let’s give Mitchell all the credit in the world. The third-year All-Star guard had the best game of his career with 57 points, 7 assists, and 9 rebounds. He was legitimately unstoppable. He became the youngest player to score 50 in a playoff game since a guy named Michael Jordan and his 57 is third-most points ever in a playoff game. Mitchell dismantled Denver’s pick & roll defense, getting to the rim when defenders got over screens, knocking down threes when they got caught and got to the foul line at will. It was an exceptional performance to watch.
But it wasn’t enough. And that’s got to be extremely concerning for Utah.
Denver opened the game absolutely on fire, nailing a franchise playoff-high 11 threes in the first half. While that shooting came crashing back down to earth in the second half, skinny Nikola Jokic continued his dominance over the Jazz. He averaged 29 ppg in the regular season vs. Utah and finished with… 29 points in Game 1. And down the stretch, the Nuggets bread and butter 2-man game between Jokic and Jamal Murray was unstoppable. Murray did his best Donovan Mitchell impression at moments in this one and finished with 36 of his own, and for the second time in the bubble, Denver pulls one out over Utah in overtime.
I picked Denver to win this series 4-0. Donovan Mitchell just played the best game of his career, and Utah couldn’t get it done. I’ll stick with that pick.
The Raptors are very good; The Nets are not
But that’s not too surprising, right?
As good as the first game of the day was, this game was mostly the opposite.
The Raptors have been playing like defending NBA Champions, trying to prove how they won an NBA Championship last season.
The Bubble Nets are not very good at the moment, but they play hard, and they showed that in Game 1. It looked in the first half like this was going to be an absolute blowout the whole way, but Caris Levert’s 15 points and 15 assists and Joe Harris’ 19 points kept the Nets within relative striking distance at points in the second half.
I actually thought the Raptors -9.5 was too big of a number in this one, and at one point in the second half the Nets cut the Raptors’ lead to eight. But alas, the Raptors were too much and ended up winning 134-110.
This game and this series were always going to come down to the Raptors incredible depth and the Nets’ complete lack thereof. How many 26 point performances are you going to get from Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot? However, expect the Raptors to have plenty of games with five or more players in double-figure scoring. And you have to love playoff Fred VanVleet, what a stud.
If there’s anything to take away from games like this for the Nets, it’s that they have a couple of really nice pieces in Joe Harris and Caris Levert to play with KD, Kyrie, and company next season and if you’re Jacque Vaughn, maybe management sees how hard these guys play for you and you have a shot at shedding that interim tag. I doubt it, though.
Sticking with Raptors in four, and they’ll get some rest for Boston or Philly in the second round.
Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown combine for 61 points in Celtics Game 1 win
The question entering the NBA Playoffs for the Philadelphia 76ers was can Joel Embiid put a team on his back and win a playoff series without Ben Simmons.
In the first quarter of Game 1, Embiid looked like a guy who could do just that. He finished the first period with 11- points on 5-5 shooting and looked aggressive and motivated to prove that he could do this thing on his own.
Then in the second quarter, Embiid took just two shots and scored only two points. You could point to the Sixers’ inability to get him the ball or his inability to get himself open. You could also point to the Celtics perimeter pressure, or Boston’s double teams when Embiid touched the ball in the second quarter. While he finished with 26 points and 16 rebounds, whatever the reason, or combination of reasons for his inconsistency, this isn’t going to cut it from Embiid if the Sixers stand a chance.
Speaking of the Celtics defense, it’s no secret they’ve been superb all season, but they were particularly strong in this game. Since Feb. 24th when Ben Simmons’ injury woes first started, the Sixers have the best offensive rating in the NBA and the third-best offensive rating in the bubble. Philly also tied for 6th in turnovers in the bubble, only turning it over 14-times per game. Boston held the Sixers to 101 points and forced 18 turnovers.
Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown combined for 61 points and completely outplayed the Sixers’ wings. Tatum became the youngest player in Celtics history with a 30-point, 10-rebound playoff game. Boston has four guys who can go off any night of the week. Hopefully, Gordon Hayward’s rolled ankle isn’t bad because this team has a real shot to come out of the east.
Mavericks can’t overcome Porzingis ejection, Clippers take 1-0 lead
I love watching Luka Doncic and Kristaps Porzingis. So the Mavericks having to play the Clippers in the first round made me sad because I didn’t think I’d get to the see Dallas play very long if they had Los Angeles in the first round.
That might still be true, but they are going to make it a fight.
In the first quarter, it looked like I was right. Luka looked jittery in his first-ever playoff game, and the Clippers switching, and ball pressure gave him fits to the tune of an early 15-2 Los Angeles lead and five Doncic turnovers. Things began to click for Luka, though, and he turned it on to finish the half with 19 points, 6 assists, and 5 rebounds. The Mavs led 69-66 at the half.
Dallas continued playing well until one of the more egregious ejections in recent memory happened when Kristaps Porzingis picked up his second technical foul of the night after sticking up for Doncic in a tussle with Marcus Morris.
The Clippers took a quick lead, and it seemed downhill for Dallas, but Luka did everything he could to keep the Mavs in it finishing with 42 points, 9 assists, 7 rebounds. It wasn’t enough though, and the Clippers pulled it out 118-110.
The Clippers’ depth worries me. Montrezl Harrell only played 15 minutes. Kawhi Leonard and Paul George are going to do what they do, but after Lou Williams, the bench looked weak.
I picked the Clippers to sweep, and if they had beat the Mavs last night with Porzingis, I’d say I still believed that. But the way Dallas played in the first two and a half quarters proved to me they aren’t going down easy. So the Clips probably win 4-1.
For even more breakdown of the NBA Playoffs, listen to the NBA Morning Deuce, Belly Up Sports’ newest Daily NBA Podcast. The deuce covers everything you need to know from the night and day before in the association by 6 am Monday through Friday.
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