NBA Playoffs Day 2!

Hello everybody, welcome to Day 2 of the NBA Playoffs. Today we have the other four series that did not play yesterday.

To start the day, we see the #4 Boston Celtics vs #5 Indiana Pacers. The Celtics have been up and down all year, and they are without Marcus Smart for the first round because of injury. For the Pacers, they do not have many expectations since losing Oladipo to injury. With 6:20 left, Boston had turned the ball over 4 times and Wesley Matthews hit 2 3’s to give Indiana a 12-6 lead early. By the end of the 1st quarter, Boston had tied the game at 20. Marcus Morris Sr. led Boston with 12 points, Wesley Matthews had 8 for Indiana. With 9:08 remaining in the 2nd, the Pacers increased the lead to 7, 29-22. The Pacers pushed the lead to double digits, but Boston pushed back cutting the lead to 7, 38-31. The lead would stay at 7 for Indiana, leading 45-38 at the half. Wes Matthews, Corey Joseph, and Tyreke Evans all had 8 points, Marcus Morris Sr. had 15 for Boston, Irving and Tatum both added 7 for Boston. Boston opened up the 3rd quarter with a 15-1 run, opening up the lead to 53-46. At the end of the 3rd, the score was 64-53, Boston. Irving and Morris both had 20 by the end of the 3rd. Boston blew open the lead and won handily 84-74. Morris and Irving led Boston, both of them had 20. For Indiana, Cory Joesph had 14 points, Bojan Bogdanovic had 12 points. Indiana only had 8 points in the 3rd, and that was when Boston ran away with it.

In the 2nd game of the day, we see #3 Portland Trail Blazers vs #6 Oklahoma City Thunder. Paul George was a game-time decision with a right shoulder injury, but he will play tonight. Lillard and McCollum need to step up for the Blazers, and they need to lead Portland if they want to go deep into the playoffs. Both teams got off too hot starts, and with 7:47 left, the Blazers led 16-13. The Blazers were on fire from the field and blew open the lead to 13, 28-15. Blazers continued the good start, leading by 14, 39-25 at the end of 1. Damian Lillard had 12 points, and CJ McCollum added 11. For the Thunder, Steven Adams had 11 points, Jerami Grant added 6 points. The Blazers knocked down 7/10 3 pointers. With 4:32 left, the Thunder had cut the lead to 8, 44-52. The Blazers, once up by 19, had their cut to 6, 54-48. CJ had 16 points and Dame added 12 points. The Thunder were led by Steven Adams who had 13 points, and Russell Westbrook had 10 points. In the 3rd quarter it was back and forth for the entire quarter, but the Blazers still held onto the lead, 76-69. CJ lead Portland with 20 points, Kanter and Lillard both had 16 points. For the Thunder, Westbrook led them with 20 points, but he has 4 fouls, Steven Adams has 15 points. The game continued to go back and forth, and with 4:05 left, the Blazers were up by 6, 91-85. The Blazers held onto win 104-99. Lillard led Portland with 30 points, CJ added 24 points. The Thunder were led by Paul George with 26, Westbrook added 24.

In the 3rd game of Day 2 of the NBA Playoffs, we see the #1 Milwaukee Bucks led by Giannis Antetkoumpo against #8 Detroit Pistons led by Andre Drummond. The Bucks have been dominant all year, all look to make a deep run in the playoffs. Giannis and the Bucks swept Detroit in the regular season, and look to do the same in the series. The Pistons will be without Blake Griffin who is dealing with a knee injury. Giannis and the Bucks opened up on the Pistons, leading 15-4 with 8:23 left in the 1st quarter. At the end of the 1st quarter, the Bucks led 38-18. The Bucks continued to assert their dominance and led 70-43 at the half. Giannis and Brook Lopez had 14 points for the Bucks, and Luke Kennard had 15 for the Pistons, Reggie Jackson added 10 points. Andre Drummond was ejected in the 3rd quarter for a Flagrant 2 foul on Giannis Antetokoumpo. By the end of the 3rd, the Bucks were dominating 97-61. Giannis has 24 points, Eric Bledsoe had 15 points. For the Pistons, Luke Kennard has 15 points, Drummond and Jackson both have 12 points. The Bucks blew out the Pistons, 121-86. Giannis had 24, George Hill had 16 points. Luke Kennard had 21 points, Drummond and Jackson both had 12 points.

In the 4th and final game of the night, we see the #4 Houston Rockets vs #5 Utah Jazz. The big headliner is the matchup of the shooting guards, James Harden vs Donovan Mitchell. At the end of the 1st, the Rockets were up by 7, 31-24. Harden had 12 for Houston and Ricky Rubio had 8 points for the Jazz. At the end of the 1st half, the Rockets led by 15, 59-44. Harden had 17 for Houston, and PJ Tucker had 11. Ricky Rubio had 13 points, Derrick Favors added 9 for the Jazz. The Jazz cut the lead to 5 at one point, but the lead was still 12, 83-71. James Harden led the way with 23 points, Capela added 16. Rudy Gobert has 16 for the Jazz, both Mitchell and Rubio have 15 points. The Rockets kept the lead and won big, 122-90. Harden had 29 points, Eric Gordon had 17 points. Rudy Gobert had 22 points for Utah, Donovan Mitchell added 19.

So, I hope you had a great playoff weekend and enjoy the rest of your playoffs, please leave a comment on how your team did, and see you next time!