Biggest Winners and Losers from 2023 NBA Playoff Opening Weekend
The 2023 NBA playoffs started with a bang this weekend, as all eight series tipped off on Saturday and Sunday.
Of course, each of the Game 1s had their traditional winners and losers, as determined solely by the scoreboards, but others emerged from the action worthy of (or perhaps headed to) those labels.
On Saturday, the Philadelphia 76ers looked dominant in the second half against the Brooklyn Nets. The Boston Celtics had little problem with the Atlanta Hawks. The New York Knicks-Cleveland Cavaliers and Golden State Warriors-Sacramento Kings series already look like they could go either way.
Then on Sunday, the championship mettle of LeBron James and Anthony Davis, as well as huge performances from Austin Reaves and Rui Hachimura, helped the Los Angeles Lakers upset the Memphis Grizzlies. The Miami Heat beat the Milwaukee Bucks in a game in which Giannis Antetokounmpo and Tyler Herro were both lost to injuries. The Los Angeles Clippers squeaked out a win over the Phoenix Suns. And the Denver Nuggets annihilated the Minnesota Timberwolves without a huge performance from Nikola Jokić.
For the specific winners and losers from all of the above so far, scroll below.
Winner: James Harden
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Joel Embiid understandably got most of the attention throughout the regular season, but in Saturday's Game 1 against the Nets, James Harden provided a vivid illustration of the kind of game that helped him finish the season fifth in Basketball Reference's MVP Tracker ("based on a model built using previous voting results").
Philly's 121-101 dismantling of Brooklyn was largely authored by Harden, who had 23 points and 13 assists while posting a team-best plus-20 in the plus-minus column.
When he was on the floor, you could be pretty sure he'd find the right option every time. And the Sixers hit a whopping 21 threes in large part because of Harden's playmaking.
Embiid is almost certainly going to be Embiid during this postseason. He got to 30 points in 44 of his 66 appearances in the regular season. And despite going 7-of-15 from the field in Game 1, he still totaled 26 points because of his ability to draw fouls.
Ultimately, Philadelphia's ceiling over the next couple of months could be tied closer to Harden. If this version shows up consistently, Philadelphia is going to be a nightmare.
Losers: Atlanta Hawks Starters
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The Celtics seemed to take their collective foot off the gas in the second half of Saturday's 112-99 win over the Hawks, perhaps because the game felt put to bed by halftime.
Boston won the first quarter by 10 points. Then, it walloped Atlanta 45-25 in the second quarter.
At the break, Trae Young was minus-26 in 20 minutes. Dejounte Murray was minus-22 in 19 minutes.
Lineups headlined by the two former All-Star guards were completely overwhelmed by the Celtics starters, who combined to hit 13 threes (each of the five had at least two triples).
For most of the first 24 minutes, Atlanta's starters seemed a half step slow on rotations and closeouts, and the Celtics can make you pay as much as anyone for inattentiveness.
They finished the regular season in second place for threes per 100 possessions and in sixth place in three-point percentage. If the Hawks can't find more defensive focus against Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown and the rest of Boston's first five, this could be a short series.
"We weren't timid," John Collins told reporters after the game. "We weren't scared. We just came out with a lack of mental focus. We weren't locked in enough. Sometimes that just happens. As a team we definitely knew what to expect game plan-wise, but on the court sometimes it's harder to execute. Not scared. Not timid. None of those negative phrases from us. We're together."
Winner: Josh Hart
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Just over two months ago, Josh Hart was on a sub-.500 Portland Trail Blazers team that seemed (and eventually was) destined for the lottery.
Then, he was included in a four-team trade that landed him with the Knicks and sent Cam Reddish to the Blazers.
The move was undoubtedly a short-term upgrade for New York, and Hart more than proved his usefulness there.
In 25 regular-season games as a Knick, Hart averaged 10.2 points, 7.0 rebounds and 3.6 assists while shooting 61.9 percent on twos and 51.9 percent from deep.
Then, in Saturday's 101-97 Game 1 win over the Cavaliers, Hart came off the bench for 17 points (on 8-of-11 shooting), 10 rebounds and two dimes.
He also helped close things out with a clutch three that gave the Knicks the lead with less than two minutes to play.
With the inconsistency of RJ Barrett throughout his career, having the grit, defensive ability and secondary playmaking of Hart for those late-game situations will be huge.
Winner: Sacramento Kings Fans
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The final scores of the first two contests had a lot to do with this, but no game Saturday had an atmosphere quite like the Warriors and Kings shootout at the Golden 1 Center.
The dizzying array of shotmaking from both sides down the stretch had Thinking Basketball's Ben Taylor wondering if extraterrestrials had made their way onto the floor.
In the fourth quarter alone, Stephen Curry had 13 points on 5-of-8 shooting, but it wasn't enough to top De'Aaron Fox's 15 points and three assists in that frame.
And with every play Fox or any other King made down the stretch, the fans that packed that arena reached some kind of fever pitch that none of the day's Eastern Conference games seemed capable of.
The 126-123 win produced a euphoria from the crowd that escaped the arena and television screens all over the world.
From a team that hadn't been in the postseason since 2006, Saturday's win was as perfect a gift to the fanbase as possible.
Loser: Grizzlies' 1st-Round Chances
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The Lakers entered the first round as a trendy pick to upset the Grizzlies, and their supporting cast would've been a worthy "winner" in this slot. Rui Hachimura and Austin Reaves combined for 52 in a 128-112 win over Memphis, and the latter completely took over down the stretch. On multiple key possessions in the final minutes, the ball was in Reaves' hands to create, rather than LeBron James'.
But the bigger story going forward could very well be the Grizzlies' chances (or lack thereof) to advance past the first round.
Now down a game and without home-court advantage, Memphis has a 31 percent chance to advance, according to FiveThirtyEight's projection system, and that's not even accounting for the possible absence of Ja Morant, who hurt his hand in Sunday's loss.
After the game, Morant told reporters that his status for Game 2 is "in jeopardy," and an 0-2 hole against LeBron James and Anthony Davis could darn-near doom them.
This isn't 2021-22, when the Grizzlies were statistically better with Morant off the floor. On the contrary, Memphis was plus-7.5 points per 100 possessions with Morant and plus-2.3 without him.
And without Ja's ability to apply constant pressure in the paint, L.A.'s defense (which ranked second in the league after the All-Star break) could suddenly feel stifling.
Loser: Bucks' Title Chances?
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The Grizzlies weren't the only team that lost their best player to an injury before Game 1 finished.
And, interestingly enough, Giannis Antetokounmpo's fall was the result of a similar play. With just a few minutes left in the first quarter, Miami Heat forward Kevin Love slid in front of Giannis as he was taking off after a drive. The resulting fall wasn't pretty.
It wasn't long before Antetokounmpo was ruled out for the rest of the game with a lower back contusion. And as Bleacher Report's Mo Dakhil put it, "Giannis' fall really might change the entire playoffs."
"Might" is the appropriate qualifier, since we don't know the severity of the injury or the timeline for Giannis' recovery, but if he misses more time, the East is suddenly wide-open.
Even Milwaukee advancing past the first round no longer feels like a given. With Antetokounmpo missing all but 11 minutes of Game 1, Miami won 130-117. And Giannis' counterpart, Jimmy Butler, had a gaudy stat line of 35 points and 11 assists.
Having said that, Antetokounmpo suffered a nasty injury toward the end of the conference finals in 2021, and he came back much quicker than expected to average 35.2 points, 13.2 rebounds and 5.0 assists in a Finals matchup against the Phoenix Suns. And the Bucks had a winning record in games Giannis didn't play this season.
It's too early to count them out yet, but a nagging back injury is far from ideal.
Winner: Kawhi Leonard
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With Paul George "likely to miss" the first-round matchup between the Clippers and Suns, Kawhi Leonard has to reactivate Terminator mode for his team to win the series, and that's exactly what happened in Game 1.
Russell Westbrook was a dismal 3-of-19 from the field (though he did come up with some big rebounds and a key defensive stop late), and he and three other starters were all in the red in the plus-minus column. But Leonard dropped 38 points on 13-of-24 shooting, handed out five assists and was plus-three in 42 minutes.
Postseason matchups often come down to which team has the best player in the series, and Leonard reminded everyone he can absolutely be that.
And if the Clippers can just get one or two slightly more controlled games from Russ, L.A. knocking off the betting favorite for the West heading into the playoffs is in play.
Winners: the Other Nuggets
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Nikola Jokić had what felt like a pretty pedestrian night by his historic standards in Denver's 109-80 win over the Timberwolves on Sunday.
He played just 28 minutes and finished with 13 points, 14 rebounds and six assists before fouling out, but the defense and intensity from the rest of the Nuggets completely overwhelmed Minnesota in a 54-36 second half.
Throughout the regular season, non-Jokić minutes were a disaster. Denver was plus-13.2 points per 100 possessions with the two-time MVP on the floor and minus-11.6 when he was off. And the impact was felt on both ends of the floor.
On Sunday, several Nuggets seemed keen on shouldering more of their star's burden than they have all year.
Jamal Murray finished with 24 points and hit some dazzling second-half shots while piloting the offense during Jokic's foul-trouble-induced rests.
He, Michael Porter Jr., Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Aaron Gordon combined for 13 threes. And reserves Bruce Brown and Christian Braun provided plenty of stout defense. Even DeAndre Jordan finished two lobs backing up Jokić.
If the rest of the Nuggets play like this, this team is very much in the hunt for a championship.
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