The first round of the NBA Playoffs is underway, and it seems we have some excellent matchups on our hands.
So far, at least five of the eight showdowns threaten to go the distance. With the first of seven games over, I wanted to examine the list of our Game 1 losers to assess the panic level. We’ll break down each opening game and decide whether the loser should be sounding the alarms or proceeding as planned.
Miami Heat: Panic Level Low
Once again, the Miami Heat fought their way out of the play-in tournament. Once again, they’re looking to pull massive upsets. This time, they’re trying to do it without Jimmy Butler.
Sunday’s 121-100 score is flattering to the Cleveland Cavaliers. Miami hung in the game well into the fourth quarter; it was 95-88 with 8:32 to play before a Ty Jerome Takeover made it 111-94 with 4:29 to go. The goal remains the same: take one of the two road games and try to make this Cavs team panic. A promising first showing goes a long way towards belief.
Part of why I’m categorizing this as low is the nature of this season for Miami. Butler’s forced departure has coach Erik Spoelstra and a team that prides itself on continuity and chemistry out of whack. Half of their eight-man rotation are in their first year with the franchise, two of whom arrived at the deadline. Losing this series would be the least of Miami’s problems. Any noise they can make here is a building block as they look to retool in the offseason.
Milwaukee Bucks: Panic Level Medium
The good news: All-Star Damian Lillard is close to a return from his blood clot. The bad news: he’s needed ASAP. Outside of Giannis Antetokounmpo running halfback dive, this Milwaukee Bucks offense had nothing.
Brook Lopez had nine points, Ryan Rollins had five, and Taurean Prince put up a bagel, along with Kyle Kuzma’s Tony Snell tribute performance of 0/0/0/0/0 and a -24 rating. Some of the bench guys like Gary Trent Jr. and AJ Green hit shots, but Giannis does not trust his teammates right now. He chose to take the ball into his hands instead of passing, recording 36 points, and it didn’t matter. Indiana controlled this one start to finish.
The Pacers, on the other hand, continued their winning offensive ways. They had six players in double digits and weathered a bad Tyrese Haliburton shooting night on the way to a 117-98 victory. A commanding 2-0 victory would go a long way towards putting this to bed.
Having the best player in the series gets you far. Unfortunately, it feels like Indiana has every other good player, unless Lillard can return swiftly. Without some help for Giannis, these Bucks are dead in the water.
Detroit Pistons: Panic Level Low
Everything was running smoothly through three quarters for the Detroit Pistons. They were up 91-83 in Madison Square Garden. Cade Cunningham looked like his All-NBA self, Malik Beasley was hitting shots, and the role players were role playing. Then the Knicks ripped off a 40-21 fourth quarter, including a 21-0 scoring run, and it was all over.
This is an experienced and dangerous Knicks squad. They have lots of cohesion and a coach in Tom Thibodeau, who’s been here before. No shame in being down to them, or even losing this series. Detroit is playing with house money after a miraculous turnaround from last season.
All is forgiven if they can pull out the win on Monday night and steal home-court advantage. If they go back to Detroit down 2-0, especially if it’s another close loss, the belief will begin to crater.
Orlando Magic: Panic Level Medium
What can you even do against this Celtics machine? For these Magic, the ceiling may have been the first half of Sunday’s game. They played elite defense, Paolo Banchero looked incredible (sorry, calculator boys), and went into the half up 49-48. Then Boston’s threes started falling, and it was all over.
Orlando is tied for the longest odds to come back of any team in these playoffs. Their convincing win in the play-in tournament and strong first half in Game 1 did little to deter the books. The Magic won the Memphis Grizzlies’ mantle of most catastrophically injured team in the Association. The players and fans would never admit it, but the sooner this cursed season ends, the better. I doubt losing against the defending champions sets off many alarms in the franchise.
Memphis Grizzlies: Panic Level High
Woof. My condolences to any Memphis Grizzlies fans who had to watch that.
Despite the play-in tournament, it seems nobody told the Grizzlies that the playoffs had begun. Oklahoma City ran circles around them from the start and didn’t let up. Despite the worst scoring game from Shai Gilgeous-Alexander all season (no, seriously), the 131-80 defeat was one of the most devastating in recent memory.
Firing your coach shortly before the playoffs is shocking enough. The end-of-season slide was plenty concerning. It’s not as if Memphis went into this 1-8 matchup expecting to beat a 68-win team. If they don’t even look competitive, hard questions will be asked this offseason, and nobody will be safe.
Los Angeles Clippers: Panic Level Low
Saturday’s tilt between the Clippers and the Nuggets was one of the best playoff games in recent memory. It felt like both teams won and lost the game multiple times down the stretch. I could go on and on about the star showings, the drama, the Russell Westbrook of it all, but what matters is Denver is up 1-0.
For the Clippers, it’s a heartbreaker, but this series is going to be tight. Monday night’s game has some must-win energy to it. They’ll need to solve the problem of the Nikola Jokic-Jamal Murray two-man game, but they knew that going in. The real issue at hand is the double teams thrown at Kawhi Leonard that helped force seven turnovers and swung the game massively.
If they can get Leonard in a groove and figure out how to stifle some of Denver’s ball screen actions, they’re in good shape. If not, it could spell an early end to a promising end of the season.
Los Angeles Lakers: Panic Level High
If you were a Minnesota Timberwolves player, chances are you got open looks on Saturday. Led by Anthony Edwards’ passing and Naz Reid’s scorching corner three, Minnesota hit 21 of 42 looks from beyond the arc and left the Lakers scrambling. The pack-the-paint tactic by coach JJ Redick burned them severely; even 37 points from Luka Doncic couldn’t save them.
I think more than any other team down 1-0, Los Angeles is questioning their game plan. Forcing Anthony Edwards to give up the ball burned them time and time again. Their ball screen actions repeatedly went nowhere. Their depth offered little in the way of defense and scoring punch. LA’s LeBron James-Luka Doncic-Austin Reaves trio scored 72 of their 95 points as they shouldered an incredible offensive burden.
Home court advantage is gone, and Tuesday’s game just became a must-win. Being down 2-0 going back to Minnesota spells defeat. They’ll need to ramp up the intensity and change some tactics or face a bitter offseason.
Houston Rockets: Panic Level High
Many thought that Houston being the underdog as the two seed was unfair. Sunday’s game did not help their cause.
Houston’s offense stumbled to a 95-85 defeat at home, losing home-court advantage in the process. A “here we go again” attitude is festering among Rockets fans, who are tired of seeing Steph Curry and his teammates walk all over them in the playoffs. Now they, too, are faced with a must-win Game 2 at home.
Something must be done about this half-court offense. They were outscored by 29.7 points per 100 possessions in the halfcourt by Golden State. The only thing keeping them alive was a preposterous 22 offensive rebounds. It felt through the entire second half that their best play was to chuck something at the rim and hope that Steven Adams could grab it. Otherwise, they had nothing going.
Alperen Sengun showed up for the game offensively, at least. Nobody else bothered. Their defensive performance was encouraging against every player except Curry and Butler, and that’s something to build on. But the time for “encouraging” passes quickly in the playoffs. Houston has a young roster on the rise, but another crushing playoff defeat to the Warriors (this would be the fifth in ten years) would feel like a setback.
