Wed, Aug 19, 2020

Lillard's innovation — NBA Lottery — Playoff thoughts

Monday, August 17th, 2020

  

  The Opening Tip

  • Damian Lillard has taken Steph Curry's invention to the extreme

  • Both No. 8 seeds won yesterday

  • The NBA Lottery is tomorrow

  • A few Eastern Conference thoughts

1. The Lead: Damian Lillard is normalizing the near-halfcourt shot

Look at the above GIF again. Look where Hassan Whiteside set his screen.Damian Lillard gathered for a shot in a tied playoff game with three minutes left from 34.3 feet away, about 11 feet further than the 3-point line. You could say that shot was remarkable, exceptional, hard-to-believe, but it wasn’t. He hit one from 31 feet a minute before. In the must-win game vs. Brooklyn last Thursday, he hit one from further than both of those. On the season, he's shooting 41 percent (55-of-134) on shots from 30-plus feet. Lillard, through this sublime bubble run, is normalizing the halfcourt one-dribble pull-up 3-pointer, which is something not even Steph Curry can lay claim to. If Curry is the great pioneer of the deep 3, Lillard is the one who took the new invention and went a (few) step(s) further. Lillard is the iPhone to Curry’s Nokia; one introduced us to the wonders of life beyond the 3-point line. The other formed an assembly line and turned it into big business.  With his new innovation, Lillard and Trail Blazers beat the Lakers last night in Game 1 of the No. 8 vs. No. 1 matchup -- they were only the second team to do that on Tuesday -- further legitimizing the whispers that the series might end poorly for LeBron and L.A.

2. The last time both No. 8 seeds won Game 1...

Before the Trail Blazers beat the Lakers last night, the Magic blew out the Bucks, 122-110, in one of the more confounding losses in recent postseason memory. (The Bucks were 13.5-point favorites and lost by 12.)The last time both No. 8 seeds won Game 1 against a No. 1 seed in the same year was 2003, when: 

  • The Magic beat the Pistons, 99-94, with Tracy McGrady scoring 43 points.

  • The Suns beat the Spurs, 96-95, with Stephon Marbury scoring 26 points. 

The Spurs settled into that series fairly easily, eventually beating the Suns in six games before going on to win the Finals. The Magic, though, took a 3-1 lead in its series before the Pistons came back and won in seven, which is a basketball tragedy for two reasons: 

  1.  It was the first of three straight seven-game first round losses for McGrady, who never reached the second round as the leader of a team. 

  2. The 2003 playoffs was the first year where the first round went to a seven-game format. It had been best-of-five before that, which means Orlando would have pulled an easy upset had the series happened in 2002. 

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3. Playoff thoughts, East edition

No. 1 Bucks vs. No. 8 Magic

Game 1: Magic 122, Bucks 110Game 2: Thursday, 6 p.m. This lukewarm and completely unremarkable Magic team apparently lives for first round Game 1 upsets: It did the same thing last year against the Raptors before losing the next four. To be clear: Anyone flirting with the idea of Orlando winning this series is likely auditioning for a spot on a morning sports talk show. To be clear, also: It was really strange how poorly the Bucks played yesterday, and Giannis is one poor playoff run from going full 2010 LeBron. 

  No. 2 Raptors vs. No. 7 Nets

Game 1: Raptors 134, Nets 110 Game 2: Today, 1:30 p.m. No one's happier Brooklyn's season is three games from being over than Brooklyn's front office, which wants to end this pointless transition year and trade Caris LeVert for a Kyrie-approved third star. 

  No. 3 Celtics vs. No. 6 76ers 

Game 1: Celtics 109, 76ers 101Game 2: Today, 6:30 p.m. You'd be hard-pressed to find an athlete as snake-bitten as Gordon Hayward has been since coming to Boston in 2017. He broke his leg in his first game with the Celtics. He had to play with Kyrie. He broke his hand this past November right as he was getting back to Utah Hayward. He suffered a Grade 3 ankle sprain in Game 1, which is apparently bad enough to keep him out four weeks, at which point the Celtics might not even be playing anymore. And, next year, he's going to opt into a final year of $30 million he'll never live up to, which will make every Celtic fan feel a sensation somewhere between disappointment and hate. 

  No. 4 Heat vs. No. 5 Pacers

Game 1: Heat 113, Pacers 101Game 2: Thursday, 1 p.m.  In the wise words of Charles Barkley, "Why isn't this series on NBA TV?" 

 4. The NBA Lottery is tomorrow 

Tomorrow is an exciting day for the Delete Eight and every other bubble team that's since been sent home. What: The 2020 NBA Draft LotteryWhen: 8:30 p.m. EST, ESPNWhere: It's virtual of course.Every team's odds to win the lottery, via Tankathon.com: 

  1. Golden State (15-50), 14 percent chance at No. 1 

  2. Cleveland (19-46), 14 percent

  3. Minnesota (19-45), 14 percent

  4. Atlanta (20-47), 12.5 percent

  5. Detroit 20-46), 10.5 percent

  6. New York (21-45), 9 percent

  7. Chicago (22-43), 7.5 percent

  8. Charlotte (23-42), 6 percent

  9. Washington (25-47), 4.5 percent

  10. Phoenix (34-39), 3 percent

  11. San Antonio (32-39), 2 percent

  12. Sacramento (31-41), 1.3 percent 

  13. New Orleans (30-42), 1.2 percent

  14. Boston (via Memphis), .5 percent 

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5. By the numbers

  May 16, 2013

The last time the Knicks won a playoff game was May 16, 2013. Why do we bring this up? Because it happened after the Lakers’ last playoff win, which was on May 18, 2012.  

  57 points

ICYMI, Donovan Mitchell casually scored 57 points on Monday, which is the third-most in a playoff game ever, behind only Michael Jordan's 63 and Elgin Baylor's 61. 

  4 times

Via ESPN Stats & Info: After yesterday's 12-point loss to the Magic, the Bucks became the fourth No. 1 seed ever to lose Game 1 against a No. 8 seed by double-digits. Two of the first three lost their series.  

22-6-4

Jeff Green was his good self yesterday in the Rockets' win over the Thunder, finishing with 22 points, six rebounds, four assists, and this play, where he cosplayed Jordan. 

 6.  Quick hits 

  • New body cam footage shows the cop who sued Masai Ujiri for assault at last year's NBA Finals actually started the confrontation.

  • Here's Charles Barkley calling Skip Bayless a "punk ass."

  • And here's Chuck thinking Kyle Kuzma's name is Carl Kuzma. (Karl Kuzma?)

  • The play that set up Damian Lillard's clutch shot was this block on LeBron by Hassan Whiteside. 

  • Great news: Kentavious Caldwell-Pope’s burner account is up and tweeting again.

 7.  Off the press 

  • Why the NBA has a serious viewership problem it needs to fix [The Athletic]

  • The biggest upsets in recent playoff history [The Ringer]