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The first round of the NBA Playoffs has been the best in years, maybe even the best ever.
Every series was competitive.
Yes, the Bobcats got swept by the Heat, but they didn’t go down without a fight.
The Wizards came up big when they needed to and beat the highly-fancied Bulls in five games.
The Trail Blazers were phenomenal, led by Damian Lillard and LaMarcus Aldridge – they knocked out the Rockets in six hard fought games.
There were a record five Game 7s, which took place over the last two days. Here’s a quick recap of those seven game series.
The Indiana Pacers, the number one seed in the East, fell behind 2-3 against Atlanta, but somehow dug themselves out of a huge hole. Paul George showed up in Game 6 and 7, and led his team like every All Star should. Even Roy Hibbert, who could hardly grab a rebound all series, managed the not totally awful stat line of seven rebounds and 13 points.
Am I convinced that they are out of their rut? Far from it.
Let’s not forget, they only played the Hawks, who barely scraped into the playoffs in an extremely weak Eastern Conference. The Pacers take on the Wizards next round and they will need to find something extra to have any chance of beating John Wall, Bradley Beal, Nene Hilario and company.
Memphis took it right up to Oklahoma City in what I think was the best Round 1 series of all. There were four overtimes. But when it mattered most, the Thunder stood up.
Kevin Durant, by his own lofty standards, had an ordinary Game 5, scoring 26 points on 10-24 shooting from the field. The critics were having a field day, but they spoke too soon as he went on to dominate Game 6. He had a cool 36 points on 11-23 shooting, and also pulled down 10 rebounds.
Game 7 saw the Thunder run away with the game and record a 120-109 win to clinch the series. To Memphis’ credit, they never gave up and had a great post season, after only just sneaking into the playoffs.
The Warriors and Clippers have a history of bad blood between them. This continued in this series and it was very easy to tell the two teams don’t exactly like each other.
With all the drama the Clippers have gone through in recent weeks – looking at you, Donald Sterling – they did a tremendous job of staying focussed on the task at hand. Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan were huge for the Clippers. They form one of the most athletic front courts in the NBA, and the Warriors just didn’t have an answer for them.
But the Warriors’ loss of Andrew Bogut on the eve of the playoffs can’t be underestimated. He would’ve played a huge role in containing Jordan, who was the leading rebounder in the first round of the playoffs.
Game 7 was a back and forth battle, in which the Clippers had multiple opportunities to close out the match. But just as we know he can, Steph Curry kept hitting crazy shots and giving the Warriors hope.
In the end, the Clippers escaped with a 126-121 win, setting up a mouth-watering contest with the Thunder in the second round.
Toronto versus Brooklyn was just as exciting as any series. The young guns of Toronto took it right up to the experienced Brooklyn outfit.
Game 7 was a great contest. The crowd in Toronto was absolutely crazy, cheering every basket and providing their team with energy. Unfortunately for them, the crowd proved to be added motivation for the Nets.
The hero of the game was none other than ‘The Truth’, Paul Pierce. While he didn’t have a very impressive all round game, he was the match winner when everything was on the line. Terrence Ross came up with a huge steal in the closing seconds of the game which gave Toronto the ball with 6.2 seconds remaining on the clock, down by one point.
Kyle Lowry went for the win, driving to the rim. But who was there to make the huge match saving block? Paul Pierce, of course. Brooklyn prevailed by the narrowest of margins, 104-103. They said the Nets were too old and too slow, but in the end they were too experienced. They take on the Heat in the second round. Sounds like fun to me!
The last of the first round match-ups was between Dallas and San Antonio. This series was full of ups and downs for both teams. The highlight of the series was the vintage Vince Carter match-winning three pointer in Game 3.
Game 7 ended up being a pretty straight forward task for the Spurs. They overpowered the Mavericks, with star point guard Tony Parker scoring 32 points. The final score of 119-96 wasn’t a clear reflection of just how hard the Mavericks played. They simply couldn’t keep up with the clinical Spurs.
Round 2 of the playoffs start on Tuesday. The first match-up sees the Pacers take on the Wizards and then the Clippers battle the Thunder.
If the second round is anywhere near as good as Round 1, we are in for an absolute treat!
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