Category: NBA Playoffs Blog

NBA playoffs blog

Rajon Rondo back in action for Lakers, who lose Game 1 to Rockets

The Lakers lost Game 1 to the Rockets yesterday. But at least they won in getting guard Rajon Rondo back in action.

That’s a win of sorts, right? Maybe?

Here’s the OC Register reporting:

With Rajon Rondo, the story is always refracted depending on the eye of the beholder.

Some fans saw his return – an eight-point, four-assist, four-turnover debut after a month and a half on the shelf – as a rusty disappointment. But Rondo’s Laker teammates hope it’s just a starting point for him to build on after missing every bubble game with a fractured thumb followed by back spasms.

Alex Caruso said he thought Rondo’s first in-game action since March 10, in a 112-97 loss to Houston on Friday night, was about where he should be at this point.

“I thought he looked about his normal self,” Caruso said. “Maybe he missed a layup or a shot he normally makes and maybe that’s a little timing and getting used to playing the game again. But I mean, Rondo’s a guy that’s mentally locked in whenever he steps on the court, so I thought he looked pretty good conditioning-wise.”

The Lakers have a lot of work to do. The Rockets’ Game 1 win was convincing. They’re an unusual team, playing super-smallball. Teams going against them have to make some adjustments, but not too many, or else they’d pull themselves out of their own gameplan. It’ll be fascinating to see what, if anything, the Lakers do differently in Game 2. And of course, Rondo’s role going forward.

Down 3-0 in series, Bucks star Giannis speaks on Heat

The Heat are up 3-0 on the Bucks, who had the best regular season record in the league and were favorites in the series. Here’s the South Florida Sun Sentinel reporting:

As for the state of the Bucks’ mental state, perhaps this from Giannis Antetokounmpo after Game 3 summed it up best:

“Miami is a great team. You know they are going to play hard. They play hard for 48 minutes. To be able to beat them, you have to match that. You can’t play hard for 36 minutes, you can’t play hard for 24 minutes, you have to play hard for 48 minutes to beat a team like that. We knew that coming into this series. They were playing harder than us. We’ve got to play harder and we’ve got to play better. That’s it.”

The Bucks face an incredibly uphill battle in keeping their championship hopes alive.

P.J. Tucker plays a huge role for Rockets

P.J. Tucker is one of the most important players in the NBA playoffs who doesn’t put up big numbers in the scoring department. Here’s the Los Angeles Times on a key member of the Houston Rockets, who currently lead the Los Angeles Lakers 1-0 in their second-round playoff series:

If the Rockets have dog inside of them, Tucker is a mastiff. Friday he scored six points but scrapped for nine rebounds against the Lakers’ bigger frontcourt. With him on the court, Houston was 16 points better than the Lakers — a Rockets best in the plus-minus rating.

The 35-year-old forward played professionally in Israel, Ukraine, Greece, Italy and Germany before finding a home in the NBA. Among coaches, he’s revered for his toughness and his awareness, a player willing to take on the toughest challenge on defense while parking in the corner on offense, ready to catch and shoot if the ball makes its way to him.

After beating the Lakers, Tucker was asked about the Rockets being small and having to body up with James and Davis, and in his answer, he delivered his mission statement.

“Yeah, I’m short. But I’m strong and I can move my feet,” he said with defiance. “And I can stay in front of anybody. I’m not going to quit. I’m going to fight every play. They’re going to score. Those guys are two of the best players of our generation — they’re going to score the ball. They’re going to score a lot of times. But we’re going to try and make it tough, try and make them work hard, and try to wear them down throughout the game.”

In Game 1, Rockets looked like a complicated playoff opponent for Lakers

The Rockets looked great Friday as they took a 1-0 series lead against the Lakers in the second round of the 2020 NBA playoffs. Known for their very effective “smallball” offense, the Rockets’ defense has been outstanding in Disney NBA bubble play. Here’s the Los Angeles Times on the series:

As they prepare for Game 2 on Sunday night at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex near Orlando, Fla., maybe the Lakers need to deal with the fact that they don’t have the overwhelming advantages they possessed after losing their first-round playoff opener to Portland.

The Rockets are more blazers than the Blazers. The Rockets are quicker, deeper and far more dangerous. They can make the Lakers look stagnant and stilted and confused. The Lakers have suddenly found themselves in a duel that could test their very being.

“There’s got to be a complete turnaround going into Game 2,” said James…

Maybe they’re a big team that isn’t flexible enough to overcome the Rockets’ small ball. Playoffs are all about matchups, and so far this season the Rockets have won both games against the Lakers with the disparate lineups…

“I think it’s the speed … they play with a lot of speed both offensively and defensively,” James said. “You can see it on film … but until you’re out there, you get a feel for it … that’s what we did tonight, we got a feel for their speed, and we’re fully aware of that going into Game 2.”

Nuggets face tough playoff opponent in Clippers

The Clippers were one of the league’s best teams this regular season, and that remains the case in the playoffs. Here’s the Denver Post reporting on Jamal Murray and Denver’s prospects after Kawhi Leonard scored 29 points as LA took a 1-0 series lead with a 120-97 win on Thursday:

The Clip Show was always going to be a matchup problem, largely because they’re also Blue Arrow Kryptonite. Sight-lines along the perimeter get clogged by waves of big guards with incredible reach. Behind them, a mess of broad shoulders and elbows adjoined like the last line of defense on a foosball table.

[Jamal] Murray’s averaged 12.9 points per game and drained just 26.2% of his 3-point attempts in 14 lifetime meetings with the Clippers, his worst career numbers against any Western Conference dance partner save for Houston (11.5 points per game, 20.4% on treys).

The Nuggets insisted there were no ill-effects from that first-half spill with Utah’s Joe Ingles on Tuesday, but you wonder. Then again, coming off the greatest escape since Steve McQueen and a two-day turnaround, was it any wonder they looked gassed?

“(Los Angeles) got into us,” Nuggets guard Monte Morris said. “They had four days off. We expected them to come out fresh and to set the tone.”

Celtics coach Brad Stevens praises great pass made by Raptors guard Kyle Lowry

Yesterday’s Raptors vs. Celtics game came down to the final seconds as Kemba Walker made a perfect pass, and then even more final seconds as Kyle Lowry did the same, leading to an OG Anunoby game-winning jumpshot at the buzzer. Here’s the Boston Herald reporting:

Jaylen Brown, always earnest and rational, was angered enough to drop an F-bomb or three in his post-game presser. Marcus Smart spent a few extra moments on the bench after OG Anunoby’s walk-off corner 3-pointer, running it all back, contemplating the team-wide breakdown that led to an open shot off an inbounds play with half a second on the clock.

By Friday, with the Celtics’ second round lead over Toronto cut to 2-1, those emotions had returned to a calmer boil. Brad Stevens certainly doesn’t want his players re-living a play he admits was equal parts defensive miscommunication and terrific execution by the Raptors.

For starters, Kyle Lowry had to loop his cross-court inbounds pass over an extended Tacko Fall to find Anunoby, who, yes, had gone invisible in the Celtics’ zone coverage scheme, leaving Brown too far down the baseline to contest the shot.

“We could’ve guarded it better, but that should be on the whole team and where the whole team has something happen, then that’s on me. So, I’ve moved on from it,” the Celtics coach said after Friday’s practice. “We talked about it this morning. We also have to realize that Lowry made a perfect pass over a 7-foot-6 guy all the way across the court, and a guy caught it in .4 seconds and shot it in.

Heat look good in Game 1 playoff win vs Bucks

The Heat were impressive yesterday, taking a 1-0 series lead against a Bucks squad that was missing starting guard Eric Bledsoe but was otherwise at relatively full strength. Here’s the Miami Herald reporting:

Even before the start of the Miami Heat’s playoff series against the Milwaukee Bucks, it had already become a popular take.

The Heat matches up well against the Bucks.

Top-seeded Milwaukee did little to disprove that thinking in an 11-point loss to fifth-seeded Miami on Monday in Game 1 of their second-round series. The Heat is the first team to defeat the Bucks three times this season, as Miami also posted a 2-1 record against Milwaukee in the regular season.

The Heat is one of the most efficient three-point shooting teams in the NBA and the Bucks’ defense allowed the most three-point attempts in the league in the regular season. That’s certainly part of Miami’s perceived matchup advantage, with Game 2 of their best-of-7 series set for Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. on ESPN.

The Bucks rely so heavily on production from Giannis Antetokounmpo that any team that can limit him even a little has a shot to win.

And while Giannis did put up 10 points and nine assists in Game 1, he scored a modest 18 points, and also committed six turnovers. While in the win for the Heat, Jimmy Butler was stellar, scoring 40.

Bledsoe’s status for Game 2 is not yet known.

Mavericks news: Kristaps Porzingis diagnosed with knee injury

Dallas Mavericks forward-center Kristaps Porzingis has been receiving treatment for a lateral meniscus tear of his right knee and further treatment options are being explored at this time. Porzingis suffered the injury in Game 1 of the 2020 NBA Playoffs.

Porzingis has not been medically cleared to play for the remainder of the Mavericks’ first-round series against the L.A. Clippers, and will not be available.

In three first-round games (all starts) against the Clippers, Porzingis averaged 23.7 points and 8.7 rebounds in 31.3 minutes per game while shooting 52.5 percent (21-40 FGs) from the field, 52.9 percent (9-17 3FGs) from beyond the arc and 87 percent (20-23 FTs) from the foul line.

The Clippers have a 3-2 series lead. Game 6 has been rescheduled for Sunday at 3:30 p.m. ET on ESPN.

NBA playoff game schedule updated after player strike

After NBA players essentially went on strike these last few days, not against the NBA but as a protest against anti-Black police brutality issues in the United States, the league had to reschedule some games. Action will pick up where it left off, with a Magic vs Bucks game.

Here’s the new and improved updated NBA playoff game schedule now that the player protest has ended:

All Times Eastern (ET)

NBA Game Schedule For Saturday, August 29

3:30pm: Magic vs Bucks Game 5, on ESPN

6:30pm: Thunder vs Rockets Game 5, on TNT

9pm: Blazers vs Lakers Game 5, on TNT

NBA Game Schedule For Sunday, August 30

1pm: Celtics vs Raptors Game 1, on ESPN

3:30pm: Clippers vs Mavericks, on ESPN

8:30pm: Nuggets vs Jazz, on TNT

Russell Westbrook likely active for Rockets vs Thunder Game 5

Here’s the Oklahoman reporting on Rockets guard Russell Westbrook, who has yet to play in the team’s first-round playoff series against the OKC Thunder but should be ready to go for Game 5:

Rockets guard Russell Westbrook is likely to make his series debut in Game 5 against the Thunder.

“He’ll go through practice today and if things are normal then we expect him to be ready to go,” Rockets coach Mike D’Antoni said Friday. “I’m sure he’ll have time restraints. We have not talked about that at all, and that won’t be discussed until tomorrow. Planning on it, but you never know. Russell will be hard to hold down. I’m sure he’s anxious and ready to roll.”

The Rockets need him. With Russ out, there’s simply way too much pressure on James Harden to create almost every scoring opportunity for the team. Westbrook’s ability to break down defenses and drive by defenders is a literal game-changer for Houston.

The NBA was on hold for a few days due to players rising up and protesting, not against the league, but against police brutality against Black people in the United States. The playoffs will resume Saturday, though the updated game schedule hasn’t been released yet.