Young’s Big 2nd Half Leads Hawks To Game 1 Win!; Jazz Struggle In Game 1! 5.23.21
It’s a Sunday night of NBA hoops and we have the last batch of Game 1’s of the NBA playoffs. The playoffs have treated us to some very good basketball, so let’s see if these games can give us the same amount of excitement.
(8) Washington Wizards vs (1) Philadelphia 76ers
Washington Wizards (0-1)
This is an A for effort game. This game shouldn’t have been close. In the first Beal was 4/11 from the field but 4 guys were in double figures. The Wizards held Philly to 3/17 shooting from 3 and the only reason the game was close was because of Tobias Harris. Embiid was 3/6 from the floor, Simmons was 2/6. But Harris was 12/19 from the floor with 28 in the first half. The 76ers shouldn’t have been leading at the half.
In the 2nd Embiid got going and what I mean by get going is he “drew fouls.” Yeah right. 9/10 on free throws for Embiid for a total of 21 in the 2nd half. Curry had 15 in the 2nd half as well as even 23 from Beal in the 2nd half wasn’t enough.
33-10-6 from Beal, 16 points and 14 assists (6 turnovers) for Westbrook. 4 other guys were in double figures but I doubt the Wizards can win a game. They can’t defend and they are sloppy. They had 15 turnovers and while Philly only had 9 points off turnovers, that’s not going to work if you do it multiple times.
The Wizards scored 76 points in the paint. I highly doubt they can do that again because my best guess is that Philly just packs the paint and wins. You can’t stop Embiid and Tobias Harris apparently, this series isn’t going to be close.
Philadelphia 76ers (1-0)
Not choking. Good job Philly, baby steps. This game shouldn’t have been close and the only reason Philly was in the game was because of 28 points from… Tobias Harris? This isn’t possible. Embiid started acting in the 2nd half (only half joking) for 21 points in the 2nd half and Seth Curry (the only Curry in the playoffs) had 15.
Harris had a playoff career-high 37, 30 for Embiid, solid overall game. Ben Simmons was 3/9 from the field and 0/6 from the line. Yes he had 15 rebounds and 15 assists but Beal got the better of him in that 2nd half. Ben has to be better or at least more efficient offensively.
Philly forced turnovers and hit some 3’s. Their paint defense has to get better but that’s about it. I doubt this series goes any further than 4/5 games.
(7) LA Lakers vs (2) Phoenix Suns
LA Lakers (0-1)
The Lakers do know it’s the playoffs right? In their play-in game against the Warriors they looked good only in spurts and barely won. Against a far better Suns team on the road, I expected focus and execution. They seemed lackadaisical. I’m not saying LA is in trouble, but they’re going to be with this effort. They don’t seem to have urgency, thinking they can just play well in spurts to win. Not the case. Lebron and AD were poor and Schroder was doing cardio. Even with CP-3 not being healthy, Booker and Ayton dominated this game as LA was down for almost the whole game. Not a great start to the series for LA.
The first half was ugly. The Lakers started off hot with the quick pace but Booker and Ayton started to get going and give the Suns a comfortable lead. The Lakers shooting struggles continued and AD was passive. He looked like he was gassed or not 100%. Ayton was bothering him, which was surprising. Lebron didn’t look right and Schroder was going cardio. Whenever Harrell or Drummond were in the game, it was trouble. The Suns were running double screen for Booker, giving LA headaches.
Did you trap Booker? Switch. The Suns kept moving the ball around and it let to penetration from Booker and lobs to Ayton down low. But the Lakers should have been winning. They shot 17 free throws in the first half and Phoenix shot 0. Yet they still trailed by 8. The Suns were bullying them down low and getting out in transition. The Lakers also were losing with Chris Paul getting injured. While he came back from his shoulder contusion, he was off for the rest of the game. But LA couldn’t take advantage.
The 2nd half was just no offense, no juice. Booker continued to score and when he missed Ayton got the offensive rebound. The Lakers just looked lost. Very bad way to start the series.
Lebron was 6/13 from the field, shaded by Crowder and Bridges for the whole night. He had 18 points, 7 rebounds, and 10 assists but 5 turnovers were uncharacteristic and he “hurt his shoulder.” The Oscars were last month Lebron.
AD was passive and awful. 5/16 from the field, 13 points, completely dominated by Ayton. With Lebron likely not going to be 100%, AD can’t play like this. LA won’t win.
Drummond was awful defensively and so was Harrell. KCP was 1/7 from 3 and Schroder didn’t do much. He didn’t put that much pressure on CP-3 and it felt like he wasn’t involved in this game or the Warriors game on Friday. Maybe it’s Covid? Schroder has to be better.
The Lakers shot 27% from 3 and they were 17/28 from the free throw line. If you’re getting that many more free throws than your opponent, please make them. The Suns didn’t even get any free throws in the first half and you got 28 for the game and shot 61% from the line.
The Lakers were dominated down low as Harrell and Drummond are awful down low. The Suns got 16 fast break points. The Lakers did force 14 turnovers which led to 18 points. That’s good, but turning the ball over 14 times yourself kind of negates that.
The Lakers got dominated and they have to be better. The main thing is urgency on offense. Get AD in the post and give him the ball. Give Lebron good looks, in the post or in the pick and roll. Guys have to hit open 3’s. But the Lakers can’t play like this offensively and hope to win. It might work against Steph Curry and his G-League friends but not against the Suns.
The defense also has to be a lot better. Chris Paul is likely not 100% so focus on Booker. The double teams were ok but he still got around them a couple of times. I predicted Booker would score one-on-one against any LA defender and I was right. So make sure he’s not isolated. Make Mikal Bridges make a bunch of 3’s, not one of the best scorers in the league.
The Lakers cannot play Drummond and Harrell. On those double screens where Chris Paul is one of the screeners and Booker is attacking, they were confused. Booker got right into the lane and scored and then when they trapped him, he would just swing it to Chris Paul. If they pushed on Booker, backside lob to Ayton was there. The Lakers defense needs to be a lot better.
In short, this was a terrible game. I’m surprised it wasn’t a blowout. Maybe the Lakers are realizing that the Suns are better than any team they played last year in the bubble maybe save Miami. This Suns team isn’t the 8th seeded Blazers. You’re going to have to play really well to win. The Lakers didn’t do that and a lot has to change.
Phoenix Suns (1-0)
Yeah, the Suns are legit. Just so the people in the back know. I knew the Suns would likely win this game because the Lakers always lose Game 1’s, they lost like all of them last year it seemed like. But this was a Suns beatdown. Their gameplan was executed and even with a hobbled CP-3 they led for the entire 2nd half. Booker was excellent, taking over with CP-3’s shoulder injury. Ayton was great on both ends, forcing AD to shoot jumpshots and then cleaning up every miss and turning into points. The Suns dominated, showing why this series isn’t just some sort of cakewalk for LA.
The first 6 minutes of the game was high-paced, lots of scoring. The Phoenix crowd was great. They were at nearly at full capacity and they were roaring. After a bit Phoenix just settled in. Paul injured his shoulder in the 2nd, so it was the Booker and Ayton show. Those double-screens at the elbow were killer, Booker penetrating and getting great looks. If he missed, Ayton would get the board and score.
The Suns outscored LA by 14 in the paint, scored 16 fast break points, and they led by 8 despite the fact that they got 0 free throws and LA got 17. The Suns were dominating and they should have been up more. The Lakers doubled Booker more in the 2nd half and it slowed him down a bit, but Ayton continued to dominate AD and Bridges and Crowder slowed down Lebron a lot. The Suns led for the entire 2nd half and they got a statement Game 1 victory.
34 points, 7 rebounds, and 8 assists for Booker who was killer. Franchise record for most points in a playoff debut in Suns history. As seen by his 8 assists, doubling him isn’t exactly the best idea. I had a feeling Booker would be a problem for LA because they didn’t have anybody go guard him. That hunch was right. Booker is going to be a problem.
Deandre Ayton was a disappoitment for me this year. Yes he was more efficient with less shots and great with CP-3 in the pick and roll, he was passive. Today he was not. Not only did he lock down the versatile AD, he bullied LA down low. 10/11 shooting, 21 points and 16 rebounds. 8 of those were offensive rebounds. If he does this he’s a problem.
Chris Paul’s shoulder injury bothered him. It was his right shoulder so he struggled dribbling and shooting. If he’s not 100% healthy for the rest of the series, it’s a problem. We’ll see how good he is the rest of the way.
The role guys were great. Bridges and Crowder shot just 7/22 from the field combined, but they shut down Lebron James, not allowing him to bully them in the paint much and not allowing him to drive. Cam Johnson had 10 off the bench, Cam Payne got ejected but brought energy, Saric was great as a small-ball center and I’m surprised we didn’t see more Torrey Craig. He’s another Lebron defender.
Offensively, if you get this from Booker and that level of rebounding from Ayton, you’re good. Phoenix dominated down low and they got out in transition. The turnovers, 14, are a problem, but it’s correctable. Shooters like Bridges, Johnson, and Crowder need to continue to hit shots. CP-3 is big to this offense and hopefully he’s healthy. He does so much. Those double screens are going to give the Lakers nightmares tonight, so keep doing those.
Defensively, Ayton, Crowder, and Bridges all get A+’s. They were great on AD and Lebron respectively. The defense was great and the offense was good. The Suns are going to have expect a lot better from LA in Game 2 on Tuesday, but they played great in this game. They’re giving reason to believe that the Lakers repeat attempts are in doubt.
(5) Atlanta Hawks vs (4) New York Knicks
Atlanta Hawks (1-0)
Nice chants New York. Going to need you to hold this L though. Most people picked the Knicks to win this series but what I saw from the Hawks today proved why they can win. Trae Young was very good throughout the game and he got help from Bogdanovic and the bench in the 4th. John Collins shut down Julius Randle as it was just the Knicks bench that gave the Hawks problems. Really good game but a heck of a way to start this series, likely going 6 or 7 games.
In the first quarter the Hawks started off well. The Knicks were a little nervous and antsy and the Hawks led by 11 at one point. But that 2nd quarter was ugly because the Hawks bench was awful. The trio of Burks, Quickley, and Toppin shot 9/11 from the field in the first half and scored 22 points off the bench. The Hawks double-digit lead was gone and now the crowd was back into the game.
But the Hawks did a good job of staying in the game, as Young as Collins combined for 23 points in that first half, Collins holding Randle to just 3/10 shooting. The Hawks stayed in the game shooting just 28% from 3 and without making many free throws.
In the 3rd the Hawks slowed down and fell behind by 7. But Lou Williams ended the 3rd and started the 4th off hot and guys like Bogdanovic and Gallinari (with the ugliest Mohawk ever), bridged the gap between the starters and kept the Hawks in the game. Trae Young came back in with 6:58 left with the Knicks down 3. After not getting free throws for the whole game, Young went to work.
From the time he got back into the game until the end of the game, Young was 9/9 from the line. The Hawks took a 4-point lead after a Trae Young dime to Hunter for 3, up 4 with 2:59 left. With Randle struggling the Knicks went to Alec Burks and the Hawks allowed him. Burks wasn’t going into isolation, the Hawks just left him open. Hunter kept leaving him open in the corner and he either made the 3 or got inside for a mid-range shot. The Hawks lead was gone quickly and they trailed by 3 with 1:11 left.
But Trae Young for Bogdanovic in the corner for a 3 and then two of Young’s nine 4th quarter free throws put the Hawks up by 2. Derrick Rose tied the game after an offensive rebound (the Knicks had a ton of those) and with 9.8 seconds left, the Hawks went to their franchise superstar. Young was guarded by Ntilikina who hadn’t played all game. Taj Gibson came over but Young turned the corner to the right, got right down to the lane and scored over Randle with 0.9 seconds left.
Maybe not the best time to mention Knicks fans were chanting cuss words at Trae Young. Yeah… The Knicks inbounds play was horrible and the Hawks stunned the Knicks to steal Game 1 on the road.
32 points, 7 rebounds, and 10 assists for Young who was great throughout this game. Him in the pick and roll was lethal and he was a problem. All 9 of his free throws came in the 4th, as it’s not a bad way to start off a playoff career. Young becomes the first player since Derrick Rose in 2009 to have 25 points and 10 assists in a playoff debut.
Bogdanovic had 18 points and honestly could have had more if he hit open shots. But he was 3/4 from 3 in the 4th and hit that big 3 with under a minute to go.
Capela, Collins, and Hunter didn’t do too much offensively but they shut Julius Randle down. Hunter also did a good job on RJ Barrett. Lou Williams finally showed up with 11 2nd half points. The Hawks bench was nowhere near as good as the Knicks bench, but he had a big 2nd half.
The Hawks shot pretty well from both the floor and the field although they missed so many good looking 3’s. They only good 12 free throws, 9 from Young in the 4th. They need to do a better job getting to the rim. The Hawks didn’t turn the ball over and they forced 11 turnovers. But the Knicks had 13 offensive rebounds which led to 17 2nd chance points. Better box outs are needed.
The defense on Randle was picture perfect. Made him a jump-shooter and he was awful. The Hawks steal homecourt and their offense was good when it mattered the most. Their defense was good as they played an all-around solid game. Shaping up to be a great series.
New York Knicks (0-1)
The Knicks played a great game. The crowd really helped them as MSG was electric. But their offense couldn’t come through late. Randle was off all night after averaging nearly 40 points per game against Atlanta during the regular season. The Knicks offense late was just Alec Burks and they couldn’t contain Trae Young in the 4th quarter, leading to his game-winner. Again, the game was there for the taking but the Knicks didn’t take it.
The Knicks started off the game slow as they seemed nervous, new to this whole playoffs thing and they fell behind by 11. But their young bench came through big. Quickley, Topping, and Burks did a great job getting the crowd and offense going. Those 3 scored 20 points in the 2nd and 22 for the game. The Knicks trailed by two even with Randle shooting 3/10 from the field and Barrett shooting 1/6 from the field. The Knicks were in this game.
RJ Barrett got some shots to fall in the 3rd including a thunderous dunk and the Knicks built a 7-point lead. But after dominated the Hawks bench in the first half, Williams and Gallinari hit some shots to keep the Hawks in the game while the starters rested. With 7 minutes left Trae Young came back in the game and we was great. He was 9/9 from the line down the stretch as the Knicks couldn’t stop fouling him after not giving him free throws for 3.5 quarters prior.
Even with Young and the Hawks going up 4, the Knicks had a counter. Not All-Star Julius Randle or veteran Derrick Rose. It was Alec Burks. The Knicks scored 32 points in the 4th. Burks had 18 of those as he kept the Knicks alive. He hit back to back jumpshots to put the Knicks up 3 and then D-Rose tied the game with 9.8 seconds left. All the Knicks needed was a stop and we got 5 more minutes.
Here’s where coaching failed them. Frank Ntilikina is probably their best defensive guard but he doesn’t play much and he hadn’t played all game. So why put him on the Hawks best player? Putting a guy like D-Rose on him isn’t a bad idea because D-Rose actually played. Young got by Ntilikina with ease and scored. Nerlens Noel left the game with a ankle injury with about 6:43 left, so Young didn’t have a shot-blocker in the lane.
The Knicks had 0.9 seconds left to score and they made Alec Burks, the hottest guy on the floor, their inbounder. The Knicks fell apart late as they lose Game 1 at home.
The bench is the only reason this game was close. 27 points on 9/13 shooting from Burks who had 18 in the 4th. Immanuel Quickley had 10, and D-Rose had 17. In total you got 64 points from your bench. 61% of your 105 points came from the bench.
Safe to say the starters were poor. Barrett struggled but at least had a decent 2nd half. Randle was awful. He averaged 37.3 points, 12.3 rebounds, and 6.7 assists, on 58% shooting from the field and 50% from 3 during the regular season. Unstoppable. But in his playoff debut, he didn’t play well at all;
6/23 shooting and just 15 points. Randle struggled mightily and his no offense night was simply too little for the Knicks to edge out this game. I don’t get why Elfrid Payton starts when he only plays 8 minutes. Derrick Rose knows how to play with everybody and he played 37 minutes. Start D-Rose to get the offense going, please.
The Knicks shot just 33% from 3 and they had 15 free throws. The Hawks had 9, all from Trae Young, in the 4th alone. I thought they did a good job not fouling Young but they couldn’t guard him in the pick and roll or going to the rim. If they can’t contain him they are going to have troubles slowing down the high-powered Hawks offense.
The Knicks had 11 turnovers and while this resulted in just 7 points, it’s 11 wasted possessions. The Knicks didn’t make Young comfortable and they didn’t force turnovers. Offensively they need Randle to dominate the Hawks like he did in the regular season because 64 bench points isn’t sustainable. The Knicks are going to need to clean some things up to even the series on Wednesday in Game 2.
(8) Memphis Grizzlies vs (1) Utah Jazz
Memphis Grizzlies (1-0)
I thought that after a tough two play-in games and only one day of rest, the young and inexperienced Grizzlies would struggle against the team with the best record on the league. They did struggle early on but they got going and they built a big lead and they narrowly edged out the Game 1 win. Brooks and Morant were great and the Grizzlies defense was very good as Memphis steals homecourt in this series.
The Grizzlies started off poorly. Their offense was poor to start and they trailed by 14 midway through the 2nd quarter. They had scored just 22 points to that point as things weren’t going well. But Memphis ended the 2nd on a 27-7 run to go from down 14 to up 6 at the half. Dillon Brooks had 10 points in the 2nd quarter and 15 for the first half as he was very good. Ja was good and Kyle Anderson had 5 steals.
Memphis forced 12 turnovers in the first half and those led to 9 points. They outscored the Jazz by 8 down low and held Utah to 4/21 shooting from 3. That 27-7 was huge.
The Grizzlies continued to roll in the 3rd. Dillon Brooks added to hit 15-point first half with 14 in the 3rd, as Memphis was rolling. The Jazz continued to miss from 3 and the Grizzlies forced more turnovers. The Grizzlies also got Gobert into foul trouble as he had 4 entering the 4th. Up by 9 entering the 4th, the Grizzlies grew their lead even more.
The lead got to 17 early in the 4th as the Grizzlies went from down 14 in the 2nd to up 17 in the 4th. But the Jazz finally got going. But as the Jazz were making their run, Gobert fouled out. With 4:25 left, the paint was open and Ja Morant took over. He scored with 1:54 to push the lead to 7 and again with 46 seconds left to push the lead to 6.
Morant missed with under 10 seconds to go with Memphis up 3. The Jazz didn’t call a timeout and tried to tie the game by Kyle Anderson smartly fouled Bogdanovic to avoid the tie. He made both and now the Grizzlies had to get the ball inbounds and make free throws. They did that and more. Brooks got open and O’Neale tripped leading to a Brooks layup. The Jazz didn’t get a good shot up and Memphis steals Game 1 on the road.
Morant had 10 in the 4th and 26 for the game in his playoff debut as he was great getting to the rim. Dillon Brooks had 31 points, 7 rebounds, 2 steals, and 2 blocks. He had 29 through 3 quarter and his defense was great as usual.
Kyle Anderson had 14 points and 6 steals, Valanciunas got another double-double, as the starters carried the load in Game 1.
Memphis shot 45% from the field but just 35% from 3. They were 15/21 from the line, compared to 29/33 from Utah. 23 fouls is way too much, one of the reasons Utah stayed in the game. Utah had 16 turnovers and Memphis had 9 as they did a good job taking care of the ball.
The Grizzlies had 62 points in the paint, outscoring Memphis by two down low. They had 12 fast break points and held Utah to 12/47 3-PT shooting (26%). The Grizzlies showed they can hang with the Utah-less Jazz. Can they do that if the 2x All-Star returns to the series? We’ll just have to see.
Utah Jazz (0-1)
I love when I’m right. I never believed in the Jazz as they were so reliant on Mitchell and their 3-PT shooting. Well they didn’t have Mitchell and they didn’t hit 3’s. They lost. The Jazz offense struggled after going ahead by 14 as they got dominated down low. Gobert fouled out and Memphis hung onto win as this was a ugly game for the Jazz. I know Mitchell wasn’t there, but not the best way to project #1 strength. I’m sure when Mitchell’s back they’ll be fine, but this was ugly.
I’m not going into too much detail because the Jazz didn’t have Mitchell but 12/47 from 3? That’s too many attempts to miss that many times. Utah did do a good job getting to the line, 29/33. But they turned the ball over a lot (16 times) and they got bullied down low. This is why I don’t believe in Utah. What’s stopping this poor shooting night from happening more. Can they hit 3’s against teams like the Lakers, Clippers, or Suns who specialize in 3-PT defense?
How good will Mitchell be when he comes back? Good enough to beat those teams up there? Lots of questions for Utah. I will say this, if they don’t have Mitchell for Game 2, it could spell trouble for the Jazz. It would be a shame if they got bounced in the first round. Not really, I never liked them. But to Jazz fans, sure.
What Are Your Thoughts From The 4 Games Today? Leave A Comment Down Below!
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