The Grip - WED 5.2

Curry and LeBron are winning and we’re back to the same old playoff scene

5.2.18

J.E.: Drake vs. Kendrick Perkins, who wins?S.E.: A newborn woodland mouse vs. an incensed tiger, who wins?

Written while listening to The Roots' Illadelph Halflife [

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No. 1 Toronto vs. No. 4 Cleveland

Game 1: Cavaliers 113, Raptors 112 [Box Score] [Highlights]Game 2: Cavaliers @ Raptors, Thursday, 6 EST ESPN

  A statement win for Cleveland, the usual for the Raptors 

LeBron James is like a paranormal demon embedded deep inside the psyche of every team in the Eastern Conference -- no team outside of Indiana, and, perhaps Boston, is more haunted by him. The Raptors had a chance last night to win their second game one in franchise history and put their foot on his and Cleveland’s throat. Instead, they let it slip.  

The Cavaliers never led in regulation but stuck around, trailing by five going into the fourth.  Then, on cue, the Raptors forgot how to play basketball. They missed their last 11 field goal attempts of regulation. The Cavaliers, meanwhile, led a well-balanced comeback, with names like J.R. Smith and Tristan Thompson resurfacing to relevance.

Tied at 105 with less than a second left, Lebron's game winning attempt… fell short? Before that, Fred Van Vleet (why?) took an errant three-pointer that the Raptors had several chances to tip back in for the win.  

In overtime, it again came down to the wire, and again Fred Van Vleet bricked a three that DeMar DeRozan kicked out instead of shooting in the paint.

Just like that, the Raptors are in here-we-go-again mode.

Eastern Conference

No. 2 Boston vs. No. 3 Philadelphia

Game 1: Celtics 117, 76ers 101 [Box Score] [Highlights]Game 2: 76ers @ Celtics, Thursday, 8:30 EST TNT

We watched Terry Rozier hit seven threes, drop 29 points, and become a microcosm for the greatness of Brad Stevens. We watched him and the Celtics carve up the darlings of the NBA. We watched Al Horford drop 26 points on 10-of-12 shooting.

We waited for the overreaction piece. We expected the overreaction piece.

This article, from the man who brought you this in November: Let’s be clear: Celtics are the NBA Finals front-runners in the East

For Celtics lovers, Monday’s win over the sexy and favored and shit-talking 76ers was exactly why we -- that’s right, fourth wall broken -- care so much about this team. The Celtics, throughout their history, have been announced dead for the next big thing. It’s a trend: The country’s basketball brigade falls in love with someone else, then, that team comes into the Garden and leaves with an ass kicking.

It happened over and over again with Bill Russell in the ‘60s with Wilt Chamberlain and Co. always coming for the throne. It happened with John Havlicek and Dave Cowens in the ‘70s.

Larry Bird and the Big Three weren’t supposed to beat Showtime in ‘84. Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen and Rajon Rondo spent years prying open that title window. They were forcing LeBron out of Cleveland before it was cool.

Before the Milwaukee series, experts like Charles Barkley and Tim Bontemps swore by the Bucks. The 76ers were consensus favorites entering Monday -- and they still might win -- but nothing gets Boston -- and its fans -- riled up like the ‘nobody believes in us’ narrative.

Western Conference

No. 2 Golden State vs. No. 6 New Orleans

Game 1: Warriors 123, Pelicans 101Game 2: Warriors 121, Pelicans 116 [Box Score] [Highlights]

Seeing #PlayoffRondo in peak form last series gave us all false hope that the greatness would continue.

But then there was a play in the first half of game two where Steph Curry emerged from the pack in a breakaway. He stopped on a dime, shot faked, then handed to a wide-open Kevin Durant, who swished a three.

And we remembered: Oh yeah, this shit is completely unfair and ridiculous.

And Draymond Green: Kind of a dick, right?

This one was close -- *closer.* The Pelicans were within one point with seven minutes left and made a feverish if ill-fated comeback late, but the Warriors are a cheat code and Kevin Durant completely ruined everything by bailing on his team and joining a team that definitely didn’t really need him is one of the best players ever. He dropped 29 points and 15 in the fourth.

Steph Curry returned, hit a 30-footer (he finished with 28 and was a plus-26), and the world kept on spinning.

Some positivity: #PlayoffRondo fell down 0-2 to the Heat in 2012, and almost dragged the Big Three to a series win. He dropped 21 points, 11 assists and seven rebounds in those seven games.

No. 1 Houston vs. No. 5 Utah

Game 1: Rockets 110, Jazz 96Game 2: Jazz @ Rockets, Tonight 8 EST, TNT

The Rockets in second gear are just as deadly as we imagined they’d be.

If you missed game one on Sunday, read ESPN’s accurate rundown about how casually they kicked Utah’s ass.

Since then, rookie Donovan Mitchell has studied Kobe’s Detail tape review from his game one performance, doing all he can to prepare for game two. Shhh, please no one break the kid’s heart.

But there is something else we need to cover. The Rocket’s Toyota Center will be offering a happy hour before tonight’s game with $5 beers and $2 hot dogs. For us East Coasters, that is unheard of.

If you find yourself in the greater Houston area tonight, we suggest you get there early, cash in on this deal, and go see a Western Conference playoff game for a respectable $68 a ticket -- the equivalent of a regular season Knicks game. Sigh.

What else happened?

  • It seems like Paul George is out the door in Oklahoma. Who can blame him? A sad reality faces Russell Westbrook, and possibly Carmelo Anthony, who will not be open to coming off the bench.

  • Woj: In a text message to ESPN, Kendrick Perkins says: “What happened was I was talking to my old teammate Serge (Ibaka) walking into halftime telling him ‘We about to win this game,’  and Drake butted in talking shit to me.”

  • “NBA legend Don Nelson says Willie Nelson got him into smoking pot”

  • ICYM Terry Rozier’s immaculate response to why he rocked a Drew Bledsoe jersey, click here.

  • He Got Game came out 20 years ago yesterday. It remains a strange but entirely unique basketball movie. Never forget this scene immortalizing the great Earl Monroe -- Jesus of the playground.

  • #PlayoffRondo vs. Draymond Green is prime T.V. Here’s Rondo going for the high-five after a Green free-throw miss. Here’s Rondo wiping the ball with sweat before handing to Green. Here’s them straight trash talking.

  • Kevin love got away with this obvious travel. Oh, wait, make that two travels.

  • To add to Van Vleet’s nightmare night, he got called for this soft foul.

  • From ESPN Stats & Info: The Cavaliers are the second team in the last 20 postseasons to win a game despite never leading in regulation.

  • READ: Space City: How Faith Fuels the Rockets' Explosive Offense [Tap Here]

  • READ: The NBA’s foreign players get away with swearing at the refs in their native tongue [Tap Here]

  • READ: John Wall had a lot to say following Washington’s six-game series loss [Tap Here]

  • READ: ESPN dropped a huge piece yesterday on the Kawhi Leonard saga. It’s a fascinating read [Tap Here]

  • LISTEN: Ramona Shelburne, part of the Leonard piece, joined the Lowe Post to talk about the story [Tap Here]

Courtesy of Sports Illustrated