NBA Playoffs 2011: What We Learned from the Opening Weekend
The opening weekend of the NBA Playoffs 2011 was even more exciting than any of us could have
anticipated.
Tim Duncan and the San Antonio Spurs, Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers and Dwight Howard and the Orlando Magic all went down.
Derrick Rose and the Chicago Bulls experienced a scare, and Kevin Durant's Oklahoma City Thunder and the Denver Nuggets put on an absolute show in the final game of the weekend. Not to mention, Ray Allen's clutch shot gave the Celtics a victory over Carmelo Anthony's New York Knicks.
Here's what we learned from an amazing opening weekend of NBA Playoff basketball.
10. The Heat May Face More Resistance from the 76ers Than Expected
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We have to give the Miami Heat fans credit, they actually filled the gym for a playoff game AND they all wore white.
I doubt that many of the fans in the gym, or really anyone at home watching, expected Philadelphia to play Miami so close.
The Philadelphia 76ers had the game within four points with less than two minutes to go, then Dwyane Wade took over scoring five points in the final 1.5 minutes of the game.
It will be interesting to ponder the following about the 76ers as the series progresses:
1. Will they be able to play this well again in Game 2?
2. Can they win home games?
3. Will they force LeBron James and Chris Bosh to win games and switch their defensive focus to Wade down the stretch?
9. Injury Factors
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There are several injuries that could seriously limit teams' chances in the rest of their series.
For starters, Chauncey Billups went out late in the New York Knicks vs. Boston Celtics game with a strained knee. The injury was immediately felt in Game 1 when Toney Douglas came down the floor after Ray Allen's clutch three-point shot.
Douglas accelerated down the floor, may have had a driving lane to the basket but seemed to quickly realize this was not his role. He dished the ball to Carmelo Anthony and Anthony fired up a bad, contested shot to finish the game.
With Billups, they would have had a true point guard, who had been in those positions before, and would have either taken the game over or setup Carmelo or Amare Stoudemire with a much better shot.
If the Knicks don't have Billups for Game 2, the Celtics will have a much easier task.
How important is Manu Ginobili to the San Antonio Spurs?
Sunday afternoon's loss to the Memphis Grizzlies in Game 1 answers that question. The Grizzlies are not your average No. 8 seed. Memphis is absolutely loaded with talent, especially at the guards, and San Antonio will not win this series if they can't get Ginobili back on the floor.
The injury to Arron Afflalo is another big injury. The Denver Nuggets need Afflalo's defense and late-game scoring to surpass the Thunder.
8. Los Angeles Lakers Continue To Struggle
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The advantage of Chris Paul over Derek Fisher was obvious, but the undersized and undermanned New Orleans Hornets should not have been able to hold Pau Gasol, Andrew Bynum and Lamar Odom to a combined 31 points.
Granted, this is only Game 1, and Allen Iverson came in and stole the first game with the Philadelphia 76ers, only to lose the next four games to the Lakers in the '01 NBA Finals.
But I see a bigger problem for the Lakers: How are they going to contain Chris Paul?
I assume they will switch Kobe Bryant on Paul, the way they did with Russell Westbrook and Rajon Rondo at times last year. But isn't that going to wear this team down for the rest of the postseason?
If this series becomes a six-game fight and Kobe is expending extra defensive energy on Paul, the Lakers will have a very tough road ahead of them with either the Dallas Mavericks or Portland Trailblazers in Round 2. The old legs of Kobe and Derek Fisher cannot afford a long first-round series.
Should they be concerned about the New Orleans Hornets knocking them out of the playoffs? No, but every game the Hornets take from here on out, the Lakers will feel in later rounds.
7. Dallas Mavericks: The One Team That Was Primed for an Upset Won
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So many people were picking the Portland Trailblazers to upset the Dallas Mavericks that by the time the two teams squared off on Saturday night, the Mavericks seemed like the underdog.
They sure didn't play like it.
Dirk Nowitzki had another big postseason game with 28 points, 10 rebounds and a game-high +17 differential when he was on the floor. Jason Kidd tapped into his younger years, adding 24 points, and the bench gave the Mavericks a 22-point boost.
More importantly, the Mavericks played a great defensive game. There was no way they were going to stop LaMarcus Aldridge—not many teams can—but the Mavericks held Wesley Matthews, Gerald Wallace, Brandon Roy and Nicolas Batum to a combined 26 points. They held the Trailblazers as a whole to 81 points.
The Mavericks received a lot of negative hype going into this series, but they still have one of the league's greatest players, a solid point guard and a very deep bench.
In an opening weekend that had its fair share of upsets, it was only fitting that the team who was supposed to be in the most trouble came out victorious.
6. Boston Celtics Are Still Clutch and Jermaine O'Neal Looked Good
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How many times have we seen Ray Allen come off a screen, catch the ball with barely any space and hit a game-winning shot?
The Boston Celtics showed right away that they are still clutch, and they shine at the end of games.
It all started with Paul Pierce's hounding defense on Carmelo Anthony, which was so tight that Carmelo pushed off and was whistled for a well-deserved offensive foul towards the end of the game.
Then came the Doc Rivers out-of-bounds play. Granted the New York Knicks are known for defensive lapses, but the play Rivers' designed to get Kevin Garnett an alley-oop dunk was perfectly constructed.
After that, they used the same late-game play they have used so many times before, and Ray Allen, once again, nailed the shot.
The Celtics are still a dangerous team because of how smart they play in the final minutes of games. Ray Allen will always be a threat to hit a game-winner, Paul Pierce can still create his own shot and the defensive intensity that Kevin Garnett brings keeps teams from getting to the rim.
Interesting stat to watch: Jermaine O'Neal gave the Celtics 12 points and four blocks in 22 minutes.
If Shaquille O'Neal can return from a calf injury and the Celtics can use the rotation of Jermaine O'Neal, Shaquille and Glen Davis at the center position, they will be in a good position to make a run in the Eastern Conference.
5. Memphis Grizzlies Could Win Their Series
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Game 1 was not a fluke for the Memphis Grizzlies.
Yes, Manu Ginobili was injured, but it wasn't the shooting guard position that the Grizzlies exposed.
Down low, Zach Randolph and Marc Gasol combined for 49 points and 23 rebounds. Tim Duncan, Antonio McDyess and DeJuan Blair combined for 28 points and 20 rebounds. This will continue to be a problem for the San Antonio Spurs.
As for Manu Ginobili, the Grizzlies have plenty of weapons to throw at him. Tony Allen, O.J. Mayo, Shane Battier and Sam Young will all be used at different points of the series to slow down Ginobili. If he's not at full strength, the Grizzlies could have the advantage in both the low post and the perimeter.
This will be a very difficult series for the San Antonio Spurs.
4. Don't Forget About Chris Paul
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Recently, all the talk has been about Derrick Rose and Russell Westbrook at the point guard position.
Why did we forget about Chris Paul?
All three point guards had big games for their teams, but none played better than Paul and none had a bigger win than Paul did against the Los Angeles Lakers. Here's a blind look at the three point guard's opening statistics.
Westbrook: 31 points, 7 assists, 6 rebounds, 1 steal 5 turnovers
Paul: 33 points, 14 assists, 7 rebounds, 4 steals, 2 turnovers
Rose: 39 points, 6 assists, 6 rebounds, 1 steal, 3 turnovers
Chris Paul had the second-most points, the most rebounds, assists and steals, then most importantly, the least amount of turnovers.
Russell Westbrook came up big down the stretch for the Oklahoma City Thunder, but he also had a few costly turnovers in the closing minutes that were covered up by his late basket (which received some help from Kendrick Perkins' offensive interference) .
Rose won the game for the Bulls, but he did it against a lesser opponent and was unable to get his teammates as fully involved, until the pass he made to Kyle Korver late in the game for a three-pointer. Many are comparing the play to the legendary Michael Jordan to Steve Kerr play.
Chris Paul was able to get his supporting cast involved—though inferior to Chicago's—and made an even greater impact on his game than the other two guards made on theirs.
3. Chicago Bulls Might Have a Difficult Series on Their Hands
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The Chicago Bulls were outplayed for about 45 minutes by the Indiana Pacers. Derrick Rose came up big down the stretch, but some of the Bulls' weaknesses were exposed.
Fans had a glimpse at why the Pacers could make this a difficult first-round series.
Comments were made by Charles Barkley after the Oklahoma City Thunder game, questioning how the Thunder would win with only two able scorers.
My question is, what are the Chicago Bulls going to do with only one?
Luol Deng gave the Bulls 18 points, Carlos Boozer chipped in 12 and Joakim Noah added another 10. Their bench gave them a surprising 25-point boost. These numbers are fine, if Rose continues to average over 30. A problem arises if Rose has a below-average scoring night.
Who can pick up the slack?
Also, Darren Collison held his own in the first half, Tyler Hansbrough seemed to score at will and Danny Granger showed that he will be a matchup problem in this series.
On the positive side, Paul George and Brandon Rush only combined for nine points, while Kyle Korver, Keith Bogans and Ronnie Brewer gave the Bulls 15 (although 13 of those were Korver's). The shooting guard position is only a weakness for the Bulls if the opposing team scores more than Chicago's three guys. If Chicago only gets 15 points out of the shooting guard position, but holds Indiana's SG under 10, then they have made their weakness a non-factor in the series.
2. Oklahoma City Thunder vs. Denver Nuggets Will Be an Incredible Series
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We all expected this to be the most entertaining first-round series. Last night lived up to all the hype.
This game was exciting from beginning to end. It was high-scoring but didn't feel like the two teams were playing bad defense. There were big dunks, jump-out-of-your-seat blocks and phenomenal performances by Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and Nene Hilario.
The Thunder will have their hands full in this series. Denver has so many guys that can hurt OKC, whereas the Thunder only have Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook.
Last night, those two guys were enough to win the game.
Durant and Westbrook combined for 72 points, which was three points more than Denver's entire starting lineup. The major question mark for the rest of this series will be the emergence of a third scorer for the Thunder and whether Durant/Westbrook can continue to play at this ridiculous level.
1. Dwight Howard Needs More Help
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The biggest potential story emerging from the first round is Dwight Howard's future in Orlando. Game 1 was the perfect example of why Howard might want to move on to a different supporting cast.
The Atlanta Hawks used an interesting strategy in defending Howard. The Hawks threw every big man they had at Howard, realized they were at a disadvantage but refused to send two defenders at him and leave the three-point shooters open.
There was not much more that Howard could do for his team. He scored 31 points in the first half, 46 overall and pulled down 19 rebounds. With the exception of Jameer Nelson, Howard got nothing from his teammates. The rest of the Magic scored a total of 20 points!
The Hawks' strategy worked in Game 1.
If this strategy continues to win games, or even the series, this will give Howard the perfect reason to either demand a trade or demand he get a better supporting cast.
