Knicks Dominate 2nd Half To Tie Series!; Mitchell Returns For Game 2 Victory! 5.26.21
It’s another day of NBA basketball and we have 3 more games tonight, all Game 2’s. Let’s see how these games go.
(8) Washington Wizards vs (1) Philadelphia 76ers
Washington Wizards (0-2)
The Wizards roster is already overmatched and Westbrook getting injured in the 4th certainly doesn’t help. But this was to be expected. Also, Philly fans, come on now. Please don’t throw things at players. Be better.
Philadelphia 76ers (2-0)
First of all, we’re going to need some crowd manner lessons because throwing popcorn at an injured player is wrong. Booing and yelling is one thing, doing stuff like this is another. Philly won this easily, as expected. But come on fans, we can do better.
Also Matisse Thybulle had 5 blocks and 4 steals in 19 minutes. So that’s a thing.
(5) Atlanta Hawks vs (4) New York Knicks
Atlanta Hawks (1-1)
The Hawks had their chances in this game. But my god can they make open 3’s. Trae Young gave them (mostly Hunter and Bogdanovic) shot after shot, good looks. Brick after brick followed as the Hawks just kept chucking 3’s to end the game. The Hawks folded to end this game as without Trae Young getting into the lane, they struggled. The bench was awful again but the Hawks again had a chance to win, still getting a split after the first two games.
The Hawks defense started off well again. They did let the Knicks into the paint a lot, but they made their inside shots almost impossible to make. The Hawks led by 7 after the first quarter and then in the 2nd quarter Young and Bogdanovic got hot. The two of them shot 8/14 from the field in the 2nd quarter alone and combined for 37 in the first half.
The Knicks held Randle to 0/6 shooting and New York shot below 30% from the field. With a dominant first half and a 13-point lead, the game was right there for Atlanta to take. But then they crumbled in the 2nd half, because of course they did. The Hawks shot just 28% from the field in the 3rd and New York got going.
Gallinari was on Randle (for some reason) and they attacked him. The Hawks defense struggled against Randle as New York put him off ball and gave him running starts to attack. D-Rose and Randle combined for 21 points in the 3rd, which is more than Atlanta had themselves. The Hawks were outscored 32-18 in the 3rd and their lead was gone just like that.
The 4th was more of the same. Nate McMillan waited too long to put Young into the game. He could have put him into the game after a timeout with 10 minutes left in the 4th, Hawks down 3. Instead he put Young in with 8:34 left when the Hawks were down 10. Now the Hawks did go on a 13-3 run to tie the game at 91 with 5:06 left. But then after that, here come the 3’s.
The Knicks did a great job getting the ball out of Young’s hands in the 2nd half. But that led to some great looks from outside and the Hawks couldn’t capitalize. The Hawks scored just one points in the final 5 minutes of the game, shooting 0/8 from the field, 0/6 from 3. The Knicks did better than that to say the least and the Hawks threw away a game they could have very easily won.
Trae Young had 30 points and 7 assists, but he wasn’t nearly as good in the 2nd half as he simply didn’t get the same looks he was getting in the first half.
Bogdanovic went from having 17 points in the first half to going 2/11 in the 2nd half, 0/7 from 3. De’Andre Hunter was 1/5 from the field in the 2nd half. The Hawks shot 28% from the field in the 2nd half and a atrocious 3/19 from the 3-PT line.
Don’t get me started on the bench, that 2nd unit is awful. Trae Young wasn’t on the floor for 12 minutes and 31 seconds. In that time, the Hawks scored 16 points. 16 points in 12 minutes? They have to be better. But the Hawks have to be optimistic.
Their defense on Randle was still pretty good and the Knicks bench continues to keep the offense afloat. Slowing down Randle makes the offense slow down a lot and the Hawks have done that with their versatile forwards. The Hawks have to not jack up 19 3’s in a half. Trae Young is generating good looks, don’t take a 3 every single time. Get to the rim. But the Hawks stole a game and played poorly in the 2nd half and it took a meltdown from them to lose. More of them losing and less of the Knicks winning. Like Trae Young said; “We’ll see you in the A.”
New York Knicks (1-1)
The Knicks really needed this win and their defense came through big in the 2nd half. They did a much better job getting the ball out of Trae Young’s hands and making others make shots (spoiler alert, they didn’t). D-Rose and Randle led the way in a dominant 2nd half where the Knicks really controlled the game, getting a much needed Game 2 win at home, tying the series at 1-1.
In the first half, things were ugly. The Knicks would get into the lane but they couldn’t convert. Trae Young and Bogdanovic were scoring like crazy, Randle and Barrett combined for 3/16 shooting in the first half, it was a mess. The Knicks shot 29% from the field and they were 2/12 from 3. What saved them was D-Rose and free throws. D-Rose had 14 points and the Knicks were 14/17 from the free throw line in the first half. For them to only be down 13 was a miracle.
Their offense would need to be a lot better to catch up with the Hawks and their defense would have to return to form. Safe to say, both of those things happened. The Knicks moved Randle around, used him off ball and gave him room to attack instead of just letting him score in isolation. Randle and Rose had 21 points in the 3rd and the Knicks held the Knicks to just 28% shooting in the 3rd to take the lead.
That lead got to 10 in the 4th as MSG was going crazy. The Hawks did tie the game with 5 minutes to go then the Knicks turned up the pressure on Young and forced other guys to make shots. The Hawks went 0/8 in the final 5 minutes and the Knicks get a key victory, their first playoff win since 2013.
26 points for D-Rose as he kept them afloat in the 1st half and then played a great 3rd quarter. He has been great for the Knicks and he started the 2nd half. He played 20 minutes in the 2nd half and 38 for the game. Elfrid Payton played 5 minutes. It’s time for him to start, it’s for the best.
After a 0/6 first half, Randle was 5/10 in the 2nd half, finishing with 15 points and 12 rebounds. Going to need more, but at least he got going. That’s a good sign.
Bullock was 4/7 from 3 with 15 points. RJ Barrett had 13. Nerlens Noel didn’t start the 2nd half, clearly not the same with that ankle injury. The veteran Taj Gibson played 17 minutes in the 2nd half and he had a +/- of +17. So even if Noel isn’t 100%, Gibson can still make an impact defensively and he did in this game, great job blitzing Trae Young.
The Knicks shot below 40% from the field and they were 17/23 from the line. They had 16 points off turnovers and outscored the Hawks by 14 down low. Now the offense has to be more efficient, especially in the paint, to try and win a road game. They can’t rely on free throws and the Hawks shooting 3/19. But that defense was excellent and if they can play like that for stretches, it’s hard to beat them.
This series has lived up to the hype and the Knicks played well. They’re going to have to continue to harass Trae Young and try and get more out of Julius Randle. Let’s see how Games 3 and 4 of this series play out.
(8) Memphis Grizzlies vs (1) Utah Jazz
Memphis Grizzlies (1-1)
With Mitchell back this was to be expected. Dillon Brooks picked up his 2nd foul mid-way through the first and that limited the amount of time he could be on Mitchell. The Jazz’s shooting was red-hot in the first half and they led by 22 at one point in the 2nd. The Grizzlies shot 67% from the field in the 3rd and scored 43 points to cut that 22 point lead to just two but the 4th was more Utah offense. The Jazz poured in 38 more points and the Grizzlies fell behind again and they couldn’t comeback.
Ja Morant was amazing, 15/26 shooting from the field and 15/20 from the free throw line for 47 points and 7 assists in his 2nd ever playoff game. The Grizzlies sure didn’t lose because of this guy.
Brooks was limited to 28 minutes with foul trouble but he had 23 points. 18 for Valanciunas, and double-figure outings for JJJ and Kyle Anderson. The bench was poor but the offense was great. 54% shooting from the field, 29/38 from the line, 62 points in the paint. They got 19 fastbreak points as well. With all of this offense, you would think that Memphis would have also won Game 2. `
But Memphis relies on their defense to hold them together and Utah got whatever they wanted whenever they wanted. The Jazz hit 11 more 3’s than the Grizzlies. The trio of Conley, Gobert, and Mitchell all scored over 20 points to negate what Ja was doing on the other end.
The Grizzlies have to do a better job running the Jazz off the 3-PT line. If they can’t do that, the healthy Jazz will win this series handily. The bench also has to be better as this now becomes a very tough series for Memphis to win with a healthy Mitchell on the other side.
Utah Jazz (1-1)
With Mitchell back the offense was great. Now if Dillon Brooks didn’t have fouls this game would have been different, but for the most part Mitchell didn’t have to be guarded by Brooks. The Jazz were on fire, that ball movement leading to open shots from everywhere. 10 3’s in the first half led to a 22-point lead. That lead got cut to two in the 3rd but 38 more points in the 4th led to the Game 2 victory, trying the series at 1-1.
25 for Mitchell who was 5/10 from 3. It’s good to see him back and now we can really see how the Jazz play in the playoffs with their All-Star on the floor. 20 points and 15 assists for Conley who was great. 21 points, 13 rebounds, and 4 blocks for Gobert who did struggle with Morant in the paint but he was still good.
Bojan, Ingles, Royce O’Neale, and Clarkson were all in double-figures. Utah hit 11 more 3’s than the Grizzlies did and they also didn’t get dominated down low. They outscored Memphis 43-14 in bench scoring and they just flat out out-gunned the Grizzlies in this game. With Mitchell back and healthy, this series should be over soon as the Jazz look to make a run for the title (only to be stopped by the Lakers/Nets, how sad).
What Are Your Thoughts From The 3 Games Today? Leave A Comment Down Below!
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