NBA Saturday Roundup: Celtics, Hawks Lay Foundation for Classic Playoff Series
In a series widely expected to be a lengthy one, the Atlanta Hawks could've sent a deafening message. But instead of punctuating Game 1 with an exclamation point, they merely survived and advanced, limping to the finish and a 102-101 victory.
Rather than setting the tone and reshaping expectations, an uninspired second half made it feel as if Atlanta simply held serve in front of its neon-clad hometown crowd at Ferrell Center Philips Arena.
The first half was filled with utter destruction by the Hawks. Everything seemed to go right behind a suffocating defense that completely neutralized the painted area and an offense that was picking apart an overmatched and seemingly intimidated Boston defense.
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This Atlanta squad was the worst offensive-rebounding squad by a wide margin during the regular season, but it consistently pounded the glass and created second-chance opportunities. When the beautiful ball movement or drive-and-dish play led to a miss, like the one below from Kent Bazemore, someone was there to clean up and create an extra possession:
On the other end, Atlanta suffocated Boston behind a defense that constantly helped in the paint and dared the C's to drain perimeter shots. Bazemore sliding over and recording a momentum-earning rejection was just one of many brilliant first-half plays on the interior:
And the strategy worked. Boston misfired when it did manage to create an open look—Jae Crowder was a putrid 1-of-10 at one point—and couldn't adjust, leading to a 51-34 home-team advantage at halftime. A mere minute and 55 seconds into the third quarter, the visitors' situation appeared even more dire, as they'd already recorded enough fouls to push Atlanta into the bonus.
The Celtics looked uncharacteristically rattled. Head coach Brad Stevens couldn't seem to make the right adjustments, as his team's offense devolved into isolation plays called for role players.
But just when the Hawks appeared poised to step on the Celtics' throats, they couldn't.
They began giving up fast-break opportunities and letting their foes climb back. A 19-point advantage dwindled to single digits. Midway through the fourth quarter, Boston had the advantage.
Atlanta still managed to squeeze out the victory, but this game provided the C's with a moral victory—if such a thing can exist during the NBA playoffs. It also allowed Isaiah Thomas to play the part of (almost) hero with a deep three in the final seconds, even winning over Hawks legend Dikembe Mutombo in the process:
Stevens ultimately helped his team cover up the weaknesses that appeared so glaring in the first half. The Beantown shooters started connecting—including three triples from Marcus Smart, who shot just 25.3 percent from three-point territory during the first 82 games.
The Celtics even managed to keep the score close enough that they will go into Game 2 feeling confident about their chances of stealing away home-court advantage. After Boston showcased its resiliency and forced Atlanta to drain crunch-time free throws in order to hold off the fourth-quarter charge, it's clear more entertainment is on its way.
Raptors Experiencing Deja Vu All Over Again
This wasn't supposed to happen.
Again.
Game 1 against the Indiana Pacers was intended to serve as the start of a deep run for the Eastern Conference's No. 2 seed, not a flashback to the Toronto Raptors' 4-0 series defeat at the hands of the Washington Wizards in 2015 or the Game 7 letdown against the Brooklyn Nets one year prior. Paul Pierce wasn't even on the Indiana roster after emerging as a postseason nemesis each of the previous two campaigns.
But everything still fell apart north of the border, as the Pacers turned a two-point halftime deficit into a 100-90 lead when the buzzer rang. For all the inspired rebounding from Jonas Valanciunas, the effort plays from Norman Powell and the bench contributions of Patrick Patterson and Bismack Biyombo, they couldn't overcome stinkers from their star-studded backcourt.
Now, the Raptors will be pondering what went wrong until the series resumes on Monday night. There's a lot to think about, even if they only focus on the unfortunate contributions of Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan.
The All-Star point guard submitted a miserable line—11 points, two rebounds, seven assists, two steals, one block and six turnovers on 3-of-13 shooting from the field and a 4-of-9 showing from the free-throw stripe. This was supposed to be his stage, presenting a chance for acquittal after he was so ineffective during last year's first-round loss.
Instead, his deep-seated nightmares turned to reality yet again.
Even when he managed to work his way free of George Hill's suffocating perimeter defense, he bricked everything he looked at, though head coach Dwane Casey remains confident his stud floor general will turn things around, according to TSN Sports' Josh Lewenberg:
Commenting on DeRozan was also necessary, since the dynamic 2-guard threw up 14 points, two rebounds and four assists but needed 19 shots to get those numbers. He also turned the ball over three times, and he left no doubt he was having trouble against Paul George's long, lanky defense.
The Indiana swingman was clearly the best player on the court Saturday afternoon, recording 33 points, four rebounds, six assists, four steals and two blocks on 12-of-22 shooting and punctuating his performance with a dominant 17-point third quarter. He also punished the rim on multiple possessions, including one that saw him suck the life out of Air Canada Centre by trumping a reverse dunk from DeRozan with one of his own:
Fortunately for the Canadian franchise's tortured fans, this was only one game. As DeMarre Carroll made sure to tell his teammates, plenty of opportunities for a turnaround remain, as the Toronto Sun's Ryan Wolstat pointed out:
Toronto may now be 0-8 in opening-round Game 1s. But at least its 3-4 record in follow-up contests offers some hope for optimism.
Warriors Get a Scare, But Not from the Rockets
The Golden State Warriors were never truly tested by the Houston Rockets, as they stormed out to an early lead and never looked back en route to a 104-78 Game 1 victory. They held James Harden in check, prevented him from taking even a single free-throw attempt and constantly exploited his defense—or lack thereof.
This was less of a battle and more of a blowout. Even when the Rockets closed the gap to 15 points during the third quarter, it never felt like they were testing the defending champions, who were handing major minutes to their bench troops and letting the key guys catch their breath.
It's not like we should've expected anything else.
Golden State was nearly unbeatable within the friendly confines of Oracle Arena during the regular season, and it won its record-setting 73rd game on the same night the Rockets climbed back to .500 and clinched their playoff berth as a No. 8 seed. These teams are in different weight classes, and that should only become increasingly clear as the Warriors continue their inexorable march toward the second round.
So naturally, it wasn't Houston that provided the scare. Instead, it was Stephen Curry.
The presumptive favorite to repeat as MVP logged 24 points, seven rebounds, two assists and three steals in the first half while shooting 8-of-13 from the field, 5-of-7 from downtown and 3-of-3 from the charity stripe. But he retreated to the locker room twice to have his ankle injury re-taped—a malady that became obvious when he inbounded the ball before hopping and skipping down the court:
Fortunately for the Dubs, Curry should be fine.
Per Diamond Leung of the Bay Area News Group, he was available during the fourth quarter, but it wasn't necessary to deploy him with the margin already out of hand:
When this series resumes on Monday for Game 2, Curry should be back in action, ready to continue the pursuit of consecutive titles. And since we can't escape comparisons to the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls this year, it's worth noting Michael Jordan led his troops to an opening-round sweep of the Miami Heat two decades ago.
No pressure, Golden State.
Oklahoma City Thunder Roll
It was easy to figure the Oklahoma City Thunder would steamroll their way through a first-round matchup with the Dallas Mavericks, but not even the most optimistic OKC fan could've predicted a blowout of such epic proportions in Game 1. When the final buzzer sounded, the Thunder had emerged with a 108-70 win that actually featured a larger margin late in the fourth quarter.
This wasn't an offensive explosion by the victors, even if Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook combined for 47 points in 57 minutes. Instead, it was a lockdown defensive performance as OKC held Dallas to 29.8 percent shooting from the field—just the 13th time this millennium a playoff squad has been below 30.
David Lee's face while JaVale McGee was bricking free throws basically summed up the No. 6 seed's performance:
That final difference of 38 points was also historically significant. Throughout the entire history of the NBA, only four teams have opened their postseasons with a larger spread—the 1986 Los Angeles Lakers and 1995 Orlando Magic lead the way, both winning by 47 points.
OKC didn't just win on Saturday night; it sent a message to the rest of the league that it wants to be considered one of the NBA's true elites.
Adam Fromal covers the NBA for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter: @fromal09.
All stats, unless otherwise indicated, are from Basketball-Reference.com or Adam's own databases and accurate heading into games on April 16.
