Welcome to the Basketball Hangover. NBA Playoff Basketball is afoot!
The L.A. Lakers looked like their pre-pandemic selves on Thursday.
(PHOTO CREDIT: Kim Klement/AP.)
Last Tuesday, the #8 seeds surprised their #1 seed opponents by not laying down and actually beating them. Well, the #1 seed teams made it look like a regular 1-8 situation on Thursday.
The Milwaukee Bucks jumped on the Orlando Magic early and never felt threatened. Giannis Antetokounmpo is the defending Most Valuable Player winner and he will ALWAYS get his. But he really got his and more: 28 points, 20 rebounds, and 5 assists. And the Bucks were able to get through that wall because they started making threes.
Brook Lopez recovered from his dismal Game 1 performance to sink four threes in Game 2. He had a huge 20-point game. Pat Connaughton came off the bench and gave the deer a big boost with 15 points (five threes!) and 10 boards. That bench was also helped by Donte DiVincenzo (11 points) and Kyle Korver (9 points).
It’s a minor issue for now but Khris Middleton hasn’t gotten it going in the scoring department (two points) but he’s doing the other things to keep himself on the floor (5 rebounds, 6 assists). And luckily for the Bucks that they put it away early because Nikola Vucevic continues to be awesome on the floor (32 points, 10 boards). But you can’t do much when your team is bricking your threes (7 for 33, .212). Normally, this is where we say that Orlando did their job and got the split. Well, okay, they are in Orlando, Florida but we meant that they could’ve gone to their home arena with their adoring fans for the next two games.
The Lakers did their job as well against Rip City. It was ugly to start, which is honestly what the Lakers would want since Frank Vogel is that defensive wiz. They built their lead to 21 by halftime and all miracles that Portland would potentially have disappeared when Damian Lillard dislocated his finger. Let me tell you: IT HURTS. But he should play in Game 3 because he’s a tough dude while I whined for a few weeks when it happened to me (okay, I was 13 but still!).
Anthony Davis felt the wrath of the criticism from every supposed pundit but he came back and had himself a game that destroyed the Blaze: 31 points and 11 rebounds in three quarters. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, who got the bullying from Lakers fans early in the season and Game 1, scored 16 points and made four treys. LeBron James didn’t even need to have a huge game (10-6-7) for the Lakers to tie the series up.
And maybe Portland was due for a letdown. Every game in the bubble felt like a do-or-die situation for them and they mostly did because of Dame Time. Well, they don’t have much turnaround time as Dame and his finger have to bang back on the courts on Saturday.
It’s good to see the Lakers back but the win in Game 1 made Portland believe they have a chance.
Bullet Passes
The NBA Draft Lottery was held before the Blazers/Lakers game and it was the Minnesota Timberwolves that came out with the win.
There’s really no consensus #1 pick so hope the Wolves don’t mess this up. And what the heck? The Golden State Warriors have the #2 pick and have a chance to add a young stud to the core of Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green, and Andrew Wiggins. Does that seem fair? LIGHT-YEARS.
Duncan Robinson went 7 for 8 (24 points) from behind the arc while Goran Dragic had 20 points. The Miami Heat put in 18 threes to keep the Pacers at bay. And the T.J. Warren from the earlier bubble games hasn’t been around. They really need him.
The Oklahoma City Thunder looked much better in the first half but the Houston Rockets (THOSE ROCKETS) held them to 39 points in the second half. Plus the Rockets had 7 players in double figures. Wait a second. Defense. And James Harden not dominating in scoring. What the hell, man.
Also, the normally inconsistent Jeff Green has been very good thus far. 22-6-4 in Game 1 and 15 points and 7 rebounds in Game 2.
Three of the four winning teams in Thursday’s game each had 111 points. The other winning team (the Heat) scored 109.
Hi, Bango.
Here’s Bango again. pic.twitter.com/JBhoyxGsMr
— 𝘙𝘦𝘺-𝘙𝘦𝘺 🤞🏾✌🏾 (@TheNoLookPass) August 20, 2020
NBA Playoff Scoreboard
Game 2: #4 IND 100 vs #5 MIA 109 (MIA lead series, 2-0)
Game 2: #4 HOU 111 vs #5 OKC 98 (HOU leads series, 2-0)
Game 2: #1 MIL 111 vs #8 ORL 96 (Series is tied, 1-1)
Game 2: #1 LAL 111 vs #8 POR 88 (Series is tied, 1-1)
Watch This Play
The patented Giannis spin and slam.
OH MY, GIANNIS 😳 pic.twitter.com/M7d7TfHlmf
— NBA TV (@NBATV) August 21, 2020
That was punishing.
Everyone in the bubble, please stay safe!
Rey-Rey is on Twitter at @TheNoLookPass.
TNLP on FaceBook.