Welcome to the Basketball Hangover. I write about what’s happening in the NBA daily. Hey! We’re in the playoffs now!
Trae Young holds up his form. He really has embraced being the villain.
First of all, Joel Embiid played. The good news is that he hardly showed any ill effects on his minor meniscus tear. Hopefully, there’s no long-term damage.
The bad news? It hardly mattered to the Hawks.
The Hawks showed how elite their spacing was, which resulted in 13 threes in the first half. Trae Young, in particular, wrecked shop, going for 25 points and 7 assists in the first 24. Atlanta led by as many as 26 points and it was turning out to be an embarrassing home series-opener for Philly.
Philly was able to whittle it down to 16 entering the fourth. In fact, it was still a 14-point deficit with about three minutes and change left. Then my old-school basketball heart became happy when the Sixers went on the extremely tiring full court press. It caused a couple of turnovers, including another rare 5-second violation. It was a quick 11-0 run and, suddenly, we had a one-possession game.
Atlanta was able to counter with a Bogan Bogdanovic three. They fouled Ben Simmons on purpose for split free throws. Then the Sixers went back to the press and got another turnover. Tobias Harris was able to cut the deficit back to three with 28 seconds left.
But the Hawks beat the press. It resulted in a disastrous clear path foul by Joel Embiid (although I do not like this rule myself). John Collins made both foul shots. Then in the ensuing possession, Collins finished off Philly with an alley-oop and drew another foul on Embiid.
Yes, there was a big Sixers rally but a win is a win whether it’s by four points or 40. But Philadelphia has to do something with the spacing; Trae Young is just drawing in everybody. They also have to take advantage of Young being terrible on defense. At least, they know they can go back to the full court press if needed but it shouldn’t have to go that far. There’s a reason why teams don’t do it anymore; it’s obviously very taxing on those players.
But as for Atlanta? It’s a huge confidence-booster for them. They beat the Sixers with Embiid pretty much playing in full force (39 points, 9 rebounds). Trae did keep up, though (35 points, 10 assists), and they hope they can do this again on Tuesday.
Still, I love the Hawks being the bad guys in this. They’re shushing the crowd. Trae Young let the ball roll to midcourt. He’s posing after making at three. And they’re throwing alley-oops at the end of the game.
Maybe the Hawks were not ready to suck it.
Bullet Passes
So, yes, WWE legend Triple H, who is also of D-Generation X fame back in the late 90s showed up to hype the crowd.
I will ask this forever: why does Triple H always tell the crowd to get ready to suck it?
We did have a Game 7 between the Mavericks and the Clippers but it was, unfortunately, an anticlimactic ending (which is why I didn’t feature it). Kawhi Leonard and an apparently-alive Luke Kennard led a 26-4 second half run that went from the end of the third to the start of the fourth.
Luka Doncic was able to cut the deficit to 7 at the two-minute mark but Reggie Jackson and Marcus Morris made consecutive threes to put the game away.
Clips had 7 players in double figures to save their season. Kawhi went for 28-10-9 while Morris put in 7 threes. Luka did all he could with 46-7-14 but it wasn’t even nearly enough.
After the first 6 games were won on the road, this bizarre series ended with a home win that wasn’t close.
The Clippers face off against the Utah Jazz in the second round, which sounds incredible if we get the Clips at their peak.
There’s already talk about Rick Carlisle possibly leaving the head coaching gig of the Mavs after the team blew a 2-0 then a 3-2 lead. Mark Cuban reiterated that he’s not going anywhere.
Carlisle is the third longest-tenured coach in the league (behind Gregg Popovich with the Spurs and Erik Spoelstra with the Heat). He’s been the coach since May 2008 and he was able to help procure a title for the Mavs in 2011. Carlisle is very respected and I agree that this position should be his until Rick says he doesn’t want it.
NBA Playoff Scoreboard
June 6, 2021
NBA Playoff Series Count
EAST
#5 Hawks lead #1 Sixers, 1-0.
#2 Nets lead #3 Bucks, 1-0.
#1 Sixers defeat #8 Wizards, 4-1.
#5 Hawks defeat #4 Knicks, 4-1.
#2 Nets defeat #7 Celtics, 4-1.
#3 Bucks defeat #6 Heat, 4-0.
WEST
#1 Jazz are going to play #5 Clippers.
#2 Suns vs #3 Nuggets hasn’t started.
#1 Jazz defeat #8 Grizzlies, 4-1.
#4 Clippers defeat #5 Mavericks, 4-3.
#2 Suns defeat #7 Lakers, 4-2.
#3 Nuggets defeat #6 Blazers, 4-2.
Watch This Play
Those upstart Hawks made sure to put it away with this alley-oop to John Collins.
TRAE TO COLLINS TO CAP THE @ATLHawks W❗️
Game 2 – Tuesday, 7:30pm/et, TNT pic.twitter.com/vhn1beGwmG
— NBA (@NBA) June 6, 2021
The audacity of Atlanta. I love it.
Everyone, please take care of yourselves during this pandemic. And that goes for everyone involved with the NBA as well.
You can find Rey-Rey on Twitter at @TheNoLookPass.
You can also check out Rey-Rey’s podcast, Rey-Rey Is Fundamental, for more basketball content and, really, whatever else.
R.I.P. Nala.