First Impressions From Every Team In The Second Round
After every team has played once in the own semi-finals series, what are their first impressions like? Let’s find out!
We have seen all four conference semifinals series get started. Now, it’s time to break down every team’s first impressions. Some teams looked impressive, rising to the occasion of a new series. Others, meanwhile…well, let’s just say they weren’t up to par.
Here’s every team’s first impression (so far) from the second round.
Phoenix Suns First Impressions: I’m Impressed
For the seventh straight game, the Phoenix Suns shot above 50% from the field. They opened up their second-round series with Dallas in impressive fashion. Sure, they couldn’t stop Luka Doncic, but they didn’t need to.
Their offense was on another level. Don’t let their seven point victory fool you, this game wasn’t close. The Suns have their grips on this game from the tip, never trailing.
I thought the Mavericks would struggle with Deandre Ayton coming into this series. To prove my point, he scored 25 points. He was a bully, just like the Suns needed him to be. All five of the Suns’ starters were in double-figures.
Chris Paul was surgical. Jae Crowder was blunter. No matter, the Suns made things look easy in game one. They made Dallas work on offense, forcing the ball out of Doncic’s hands as much as they could. Even with Doncic putting up 45 points, the game never felt close.
Maybe their hiccups with the Pelicans woke up a sleeping beast. Not only were the Suns the best regular-season team by a mile – they have Dallas’ number. I thought this series would go the distance. After game one, I’m rethinking things.
Phoenix is again proving a point. You don’t want to mess with them. Especially Jae Crowder.
Dallas Mavericks First Impressions: They’re Overmatched Defensively
Facing the Jazz in round one was child’s play. Now, the Mavs are in the big leagues. After game one, they deserved to be sent back down. The Suns ran circles around them, leaving the Mavericks hand-tied.
Deandre Ayton was a force down low. The Mavs had no answers for him, and I don’t think they will be able to for the entirety of this series. No offense to Dwight Powell or Maxi Kleber, but they can’t handle Deandre Ayton.
While the Suns scrambled around the perimeter like mad men, the Mavs didn’t. After the Suns swung the ball a few times, they found themselves wide-open. Of their 28 three-point attempts, fifteen of them were wide-open. Dallas couldn’t guard the Suns for more than 15 seconds.
Given their lack of threats, Dallas likely won’t be able to stop Phoenix all series long. I would consider that a problem, but we knew this was going to be the case coming in. Unless Jason Kidd concocts another genius gameplan, the Mavs don’t have the personnel to deal with Phoenix.
Memphis Grizzlies First Impressions: The Defense Needs Help
All signs pointed to the Memphis Grizzlies winning game one against the Warriors. Ja Morant was telling people they couldn’t guard him. Draymond Green was ejected after some heinous officiating. After falling behind by double-digits in the fourth (again), Memphis was making a comeback.
But, even with all of that, the Grizzlies lost by a single point. The worst part is that Memphis played well, at least on offense. As for their defense. Well…
117 points allowed
48% shooting
14 3-pointers
Poole + Curry = 55 points
Memphis’ defense was sub-par in the first round due to foul trouble. That excuse isn’t in play as Jaren Jackson Jr. finally avoided foul trouble. Still, Memphis couldn’t guard a parked car out there. Why is that?
Poor Screening Defense
Screens are a staple of Golden State’s offense. Most of them occur off-ball, and they’re oh-so hard to stop. If you can’t stop those screens, you’re in for a long night of work. Just ask Memphis;
Xavier Tillman shuts off Klay’s driving lane well. In doing so, he leaves Draymond Green wide open. Morant doesn’t have any help on the screen. Curry gets shooting practice.
This time, Tillman and Morant do a much better job containing the ball-handler. But, after Poole finds Looney rolling to the rim, JJJ’s help comes too late.
I don’t know how this much separation was created by so little contact. This Curry-Poole rip screen shouldn’t produce this sort of shot that easily. I don’t really know what Desmond Bane was doing here.
Sagging off Looney or Draymond is never the answer. JJJ, try as he may, has too much ground to cover. Another easy shot for Curry on the wing.
This was just one component of Memphis’ poor defense. They got beat on numerous back door cuts and leak-outs in transition as well. Add onto that with some undisciplined closeouts, and that’s how the Warriors looked unstoppable in game one.
For once, foul trouble didn’t shoot the Grizzlies in the foot. Instead, they did it to themselves.
Golden State Warriors First Impressions: Their Offense Is Unstoppable
On the flip side, the Warriors also played very well in game one. They took Memphis’ and the refs’ best shot in the first half. Instead of staggering around, they absorbed it and retaliated. A classic Warriors third quarter got them back in control of the game.
Down the stretch, Golden State’s defense came up with huge stops. Klay Thompson avenged his free-throw misses, stealing homecourt from Memphis. All of that without their feverish leader on the road is impressive.
Golden State’s defense wasn’t ideal in this game, either. But they certainly made it harder for Memphis to score than vice versa. Instead of talking about defense, I want to talk about their offense. When Draymond Green missed time during the regular season, the offense struggled.
But they were just fine in the second half of this game. So…what gives?
Da Boards
During the season, offensive rebounding was not Golden State’s strong suit. So, when they went tit-for-tat with a Grizzlies team that was amongst the best in the league at offensive rebounding, it was surprising.
The rebounding battle was something I expected the Warriors to lose in this series. Memphis is just the bigger team. Instead, through one game, the Warriors won the rebounding battle. WHAT! Coming into this series, I was certainly not expecting that.
And, of course, because they’re the Warriors, Golden State made some of their offensive rebounds backbreaking. Andrew Wiggins had two on the same possession with under a minute left in the fourth. His hustle eventually led to Klay Thompson’s dagger three.
Gary Payton II stole a rebound from Ja Morant, tapping it to Jordan Poole on the perimeter. Poole subsequentially found Wiggins down low to score – tying the game.
Even with their size disadvantage (and no Draymond in the second half), if the Warriors can hold their own on the boards, it’ll be a huge win. They’ll effectively knock over one of the Grizzlies’ pillars for success.
Salivating Passing
This is more like Warriors basketball. In game one, 71% of Golden State’s points were assisted. Since 2015, the Warriors have had 27 games where they’ve reached 30+ assists. Their passing is something we haven’t seen since the days of the old Spurs dynasty.
Against a Memphis team eager to get out in transition, Golden State’s passing was the perfect remedy. Plays like this happened early and often;
Watching the Warriors play is downright pleasing. Whether you like them or not, their style of play continues to be an outlier compared to the rest of the league. But they’re still the most difficult offense to try and stop on a nightly basis.
Miami Heat First Impressions: Nothing New
It may not have been as dominant as expected, but Miami cut through the 76ers like butter in game one. They opened the game by attacking DeAndre Jordan, America’s second favorite pastime.
A second half spurt got them a lead they never looked back on. Things went as expected for Miami. Bam Adebayo feasted without Embiid down low. Miami limited James Harden offensively, picking him up the length of the floor from the tip.
Now, Miami did get lucky in some regards. I doubt Philly will shoot 17% from 3-PT range again. It’s also unlikely that Philly goes 0/10 from distance when receiving a pass from James Harden. Still, the Heat felt in control.
This series was another friendly reminder to all that this series won’t last long if Joel Embiid isn’t on the floor. Hopefully we see Kyle Lowry return in game two, but even if he doesn’t, Miami shouldn’t feel threatened by this sixers team.
Philadelphia 76ers First Impressions: They Need Help
Philly did better than expected in game one. They still lost by double-digits and were forced to start DeAndre Jordan at center. Yikes. After taking a halftime lead, Philly shut down in the second half. Getting outscored by 15 in the second half isn’t a recipe for success.
This is what it’s going to be like without Joel Embiid. Their offense loses it’s best player, and their defense loses its best interior anchor. After going up 3-0 on the Raptors in the first round, the 76ers lost all the momentum.
The best-case scenario has Embiid returning for game three. Given the severity of his injuries, Embiid playing all during this series would be a miracle. But, no matter when Embiid returns, he’s not going to be 100%.
It’s the perfect storm of unfortunate situations for the 76ers. Embiid being out is obviously crappy. But if he returns, he’s not going to be the same player. Miami’s swarming defense is bound to affect him more than usual.
I know he couldn’t play for half of the Toronto series, but it seems he’s been blacklisted from the rotation. His starting spot is gone, and he’s hardly playing off the bench. Was his decision to not get vaccinated so unpopular in the locker room? I get continuity matters in the playoffs, but he’s an All-NBA Defender. Not playing him at all doesn’t seem like the answer to me.
Boston Celtics First Impressions: They Fell For The Bait
After sweeping the Nets in the first round, Boston looked sluggish against the Bucks. Marcus Smart battled through multiple in-game injuries. Robert Williams still didn’t look like his legs were under him. And most importantly, Boston got away from its bread and butter.
Not known for shooting threes, the Celtics fell into Milwaukee’s trap. The Bucks want you to shoot threes, which is an interesting defensive strategy in this day and age. But, Boston was afraid to go inside against the likes of Lopez and Giannis.
Their solution? Chucking up a franchise playoff record fifty three-pointers. Yeah…that’s not a great idea. Here’s what Boston did wrong in Game one, and what they have to fix going into game two.
Falling For The Bait
Of the Celtics’ fifty threes in game one, most of them were open. Boston should have made more of them. But, think of it like this. If Milwaukee is fine with giving up the shot, is it actually a “good shot?”
If Al Horford, Marcus Smart, and Payton Pritchard take all those open looks, Milwaukee is fine with it. They’re relying on the idea that these guys aren’t All-Stars. Giving these three guys looks is a-ok in Milwaukee’s book.
So, when looking at plays like these, are the Celtics really open? Or are the Bucks getting exactly what they want? I choose the latter.
I didn’t even show you Payton Pritchard’s four consecutive misses to start the fourth quarter. All four of those shots were open. But, when the Bucks are ok with who’s shooting the ball, it’s not as good a look as it seems.
But enough with the negativity. I’ve had enough of these bricks. What can Boston do in game two to avoid this situation again?
The Blueprint
Other than not shooting at many threes, there’s some stuff the Celtics can do to improve their offense. One thing I keep coming back to is post-ups. The Celtics hardly ran any Tatum screens, which were very effective against Brooklyn.
While the Bucks are a bigger team, Tatum can take advantage of Grayson Allen and Pat Connaughton. If the Celtics decide against doing that again, at the very least, they could post Tatum up. Not only would be put more pressure on the defense, it would be harder for the Bucks to shut off the paint.
Boston shot just six free throws in the first half. They have to be more aggressive, not letting the Bucks off the hook for packing the paint. Also, where are my Timelord lobs? I need more of them in my life.
In short, Boston can’t do what they did in Game one. To even the series later today, I need to see some changes.
Milwaukee Bucks First Impressions: Their Defense is Shining
Injuries played a huge role in Milwaukee’s defense being ok during the regular season. But, ever since they got Brook Lopez back, it’s been a return to form on that side of the ball. Game one against Boston was everything Milwaukee hoped to have happened.
Not only did they coax Boston to shoot more threes than usual, they shut down their inside game. Without Khris Middleton, we all worried about their offensive production. Maybe we should have focused on their stout defense more.
Giannis + Lopez Wombo Combo
The Celtics shot 3/20 from the field when they were contested by Giannis and Brook Lopez. You may as well have chalked up every shot against those two as a miss. They were an impenetrable wall that the Celtics chose to avoid. But, when they dared to shoot amongst the trees, here were the results;
Note to self, don’t challenge these two.
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