This is the Hangover. We get basketball-wasted all the time. Yes, we recap the NBA every night in our own way.
(PHOTO CREDIT: Joshua Gunter/Cleveland.Com.)
#8 DETROIT PISTONS 101 @ #1 CLEVELAND CAVALIERS 106
EAST First Round – Game 1 – CAVALIERS lead series, 1-0
What we got out of here was that the Pistons weren’t afraid. Detroit was in the bottom 10 in three-point percentage but Sunday was different as all the outside flings were going in (15 for 29, .517). The Cavs, however, showed a lot of ball movement and, in a not-so-common game, Kyrie Irving, Kevin Love, and LeBron James had a nice flow going with each other. They helped break the Cavs away from the Pistons; Cleveland built a nine-point lead in the end.
Whatever P.T.A. meeting that those three guys had, it worked.
BEHIND THE LINES
LeBron James (CLE): 22 pts, 6 rebs, 11 assts.
Kevin Love (CLE): 28 pts, 13 rebs.
Kyrie Irving (CLE): 31 pts, 5 rebs, 6 assts.
Marcus Morris (DET): 20 pts, 5 assts.
Andre Drummond (DET): 13 pts, 11 rebs.
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (DET): 21 pts.
#6 CHARLOTTE HORNETS 91 @ #3 MIAMI HEAT 123
EAST First Round – Game 1 – HEAT lead series, 1-0
Luol Deng jumpstarted the Heat to a 9-1 lead and, other than a fleeting moment that the buzz got close, it was all Miami. We were all talking about how the middle playoff teams in the East can be in any seed from three through six but in this game, the third seed REALLY looked like the third seed and the sixth seed, well, looked like the sixth seed. But in an extreme case, after all.
Man, Deng and Amar’e Stoudemire (11 points) played really well. It’s like 2010 all over again. WHO WANTS TO TAKE PLANKING PICTURES?!
(PHOTO CREDIT: Jeremy Lin.)
This picture feels appropriate. The Heat made the Hornets lay down.
BEHIND THE LINES
Luol Deng (MIA): 31 pts, 7 rebs.
Hassan Whiteside (MIA): 21 pts, 11 rebs.
Nicolas Batum (CHA): 24 pts.
#7 MEMPHIS GRIZZLIES 74 @ #2 SAN ANTONIO SPURS 106
WEST First Round – Game 1 – SPURS lead series, 1-0
As I mentioned before, it’s the greatest Spurs regular season team against a depleted Memphis Grizzlies team that used 28 players this year and is missing two of their top three players.
It was so lopsided that Lance Stephenson got super frustrated Kawhi Leonard wouldn’t give him room to run around the court.
BEHIND THE LINES
Kawhi Leonard (SA): 20 pts, 4 stls.
Vince Carter (MEM): 16 pts.
#5 PORTLAND TRAILBLAZERS 95 @ #4 LOS ANGELES CLIPPERS 115
WEST First Round – Game 1 – CLIPPERS lead series, 1-0
People either thought this series would go the distance (me) or the Blazers would upset the Clippers. The Clippers just dunked all over our thoughts and all over the Blazers in Game 1, breaking away in the second half and showing all of us that the West top seeds are superior. I mean, this game had the lowest margin in all of the Western Conference games. A TWENTY-POINT GAME.
This was all of our looks after seeing all the West scores.
(PHOTO CREDIT: Bruce Ely/Portland TrailBlazers.)
BEHIND THE LINES
DeAndre Jordan (LAC): 18 pts, 12 rebs, 4 blks.
Blake Griffin (LAC): 19 pts, 12 rebs, 6 assts.
Chris Paul (LAC): 28 pts, 6 rebs, 11 assts.
Damian Lillard (POR): 21 pts, 8 assts.
Al-Farouq Aminu (POR): 10 pts, 12 rebs.
WATCH THIS PLAY
This video has three devastating dunks from the Clippers. But my favorite was the last dunk by Blake Griffin.
(VIDEO CREDIT: NBA.)
Follow Rey-Rey on Twitter at @TheNoLookPass for all tweets about the NBA and terrible pop music. Also, check out his podcast, Rey-Rey Is Fundamental.
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