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- The Grip - MON 4.16
The Grip - MON 4.16
Happy overreaction Monday!
4.16.18
S.E.: LeBron is done. Blow up Portland. Rajon Rondo is the greatest playoff point guard of all-time. Khris Middleton is Ray Allen. Fire Joe Prunty.
J.S.: That last one wasn’t even an overreaction.
S.E.: Very, very true.
Written while listening to GoldLink's At What Cost [Spotify] [Apple Music] [YouTube]
Oladipo did the damn thing
No. 4 Cleveland vs. No. 5 Indiana
Game 1:
Pacers 98,
Cavaliers 80 [
] [
]
"We did this all year. It’s shocking to some people...we’re planning on winning." -- Victor Oladipo
Admit it. Not a person among you thought the Indiana Pacers were actually going to win that thing. Not when Romance Lance head-butted the hoop padding after an and-one. Not after the Cavaliers fell behind by 21 in the first quarter. Probably not even when the lead stayed in the mid-teens early in the fourth quarter.
No one. And here we are. LeBron James lost his first first round playoff game since 2012 (not a typo), and Victor Oladipo showed up with 32 points in his first playoff game as The Man, all while playing on the home floor of the three-time reigning Eastern Conference champion.
That, folks, is impressive. But still.
Can we not completely overreact? Please? This brings back memories of LeBron’s battles with the Bulls in 2013, the Pacers in 2012 and the Pacers again in 2014. (Sorry to pick on the Pacers).
All won game one, but when it was over, the Bulls lost in five and the Pacers lost in six both times. Let’s be happy that the Pacers this season are borderline miracle workers, that Lance is back and Myles Turner is a potential All-Star and Oladipo is an All-Star and one of the Bogdanoviches is logging important minutes.
But LeBron is 33 and averaging a triple-double since the All-Star break. He is still peak and he’s not losing a first round series.
(We didn’t enjoy that either.) Now, let’s get to some more games.
Eastern Conference
No. 1 Toronto vs. No. 8 Washington
Game 1: Raptors 114, Wizards 106 [Box Score] [Highlights]
The Raptors won the first game of an NBA playoff series for the first time ever.
This game wasn’t all that and this series won’t be all that, so here’s a reminder instead that the Wizards -- then the Bullets -- won the 1978 NBA title with a record of 44-38. They beat Seattle in the finals in seven games and were on the tail end of a title window, having won 60 games and reaching the finals before losing to Golden State in a sweep in 1975.
Washington’s leading scorer was Hall of Famer Elvin Hayes with 23 a game, but the generator of that team was Wes Unseld, one of the first great passing centers. The record -- 44-38 -- is the worst in NBA history to win the title.
Does this mean Washington can go on a run and win the NBA title?
No. 2 Boston vs. No. 7 Milwaukee
Game 1: Celtics 113, Buck 107 [OT] [Box Score] [Highlights]
S.E.: DISCLAIMER: Fourth wall has been broken. I am far too bias to approach this game rationally. Here’s Jesse. We’ll do the same for the Knicks series. Ha.
For three-and-a-half quarters, we watched a rather sloppy, low scoring game, with both teams eventually finishing with a combined 35 turnovers.
But for the last five minutes, both teams woke up. The Bucks and Celtics traded baskets down to the last second, when Terry Rozier crossed up Eric Bledsoe and drilled a go-ahead three with .5 seconds left. Khris Middleton spoiled the party and hit a desperate heave to bring it to overtime.
In the final five, Rozier stayed hot, putting up eight of Boston’s 12 points in overtime and the Celtics took game one.
If yesterday’s game showed anything, it’s that the Celtics have what it takes to beat the Bucks but will need to find more scoring (and more everything) to carry them in later rounds.
We vote for Terry Rozier III.
No. 3 Philadelphia vs. No. 6 Miami
Game 1: 76ers 130, Heat 103 [Box Score] [Highlights]
The 76ers shot 64 percent from three-point range, the crowd was rocking, Joel Embiid predicted a title, and Sam Hinkie put in a court report for unjustified termination.
They’ve won 16 in a row now, with Ben Simmons again leading the way, and it no longer seems absurd to say this team could make the finals.
(yes, we partake in #overreactionMonday)
Western Conference
No. 1 Houston vs. No. 8 Minnesota
Game 1: Rockets 104, Timberwolves 101 [Box Score] [Highlights]
That was surprising, entertaining, star-filled, Jamal Crawford-influenced and also very, very fun.
Chris Paul threw away a pass with 8.7 seconds left, and, down three points, the Timberwolves had an improbable chance to tie it, but a screwed up play by Jimmy Butler ended in a missed attempt with a foot on the three-point line. This team begs for better coaching.
It was also pretty frustrating, because Karl-Anthony Towns scored eight points on nine shots.
How does that happen? How. Does. That. Happen?
Also, James Harden is great. That shouldn’t be taken as a casual compliment. He is great.
No. 2 Golden State vs. No. 7 San Antonio
Game 1: Warriors 113, Spurs 92 [Box Score] [Highlights]
Let’s play a new game called What’s Sadder? Here are the options.
The fact that existence is non-finite and from the moment we are born we board a linear train headed for death.
The fact that 40-year-old Manu is still playing his heart out while Kawhi Leonard was cleared two months ago but is “still rehabbing” with “his crew” and “doesn’t expect” to be back this season.
Why isn’t he at least with his teammates?
No. 3 Portland vs. No. 6 New Orleans
Game 1: Pelicans 97, Trail Blazers 95 [Box Score] [Highlights]
Evil side of shoulder: “It’s time to move on from 2012 Playoff Rondo, he is a noted asshole and hasn’t had an impactful season since the last time he was playing with four Hall of Famers.”
Good side of shoulder: “PLAYOFF RONDO IS BACK MUFUGGA”
He dished out 17 assists to go with six points in a classic Rodman Game, and Anthony Davis ascended to another mini-level with 35 dominant points.
This is supposed to be a Portland series win, but the record difference between these two is one game and the point differential suggests they are pretty similar teams.
No. 4 Oklahoma City vs. No. 5 Utah
Game 1: Thunder 116, Jazz 108 [Box Score] [Highlights]
As the two newest members of the stat nerd-loving Utah Jazz fan club, we were disappointed by the performance from Quin Snyder’s crew.
They seemed a little star-stricken, which is strange because they have everyone bought on the no-frills, elite defense M.O.
But to be fair, Paul George went off, as he’s been doing in the playoffs for the last six years, hitting eight three-point shots for 36 points.
Utah will still probably figure it out and make this a good series, but game one should remind everyone that this Thunder team has a lot of talent. And talent ain’t no punk in the playoffs.
What else happened?
Giannis fouled out of the game against the Celtics in overtime on a questionable over-the-back call, but finished with 35 points. Teammate Khris Middleton (most underrated player in the league?) scored 31. John Henson had six blocks.
Russell Westbrook put up 25, 13 rebounds and eight assists, finishing the game 10 of 25 from the floor and a minus-1 overall. Jerami Grant finished a team-high plus-12 in 14 minutes.
Donovan Mitchell scored 24 points in his playoff debut.
Al Horford’s 24-point performance came on eight shots. He hit 13 of 14 free-throws. Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum combined for 39 points in the game.
Although his time in Indiana hasn’t been consecutive, Lance Stephenson is playing against LeBron as a Pacer for the fifth time in seven years.
READ: Oladipo: Cavs owner Dan Gilbert post-trade remarks added fuel to the fire
Courtesy of Sports Illustrated