[2] Toronto Raptors 90-100 [7] Indiana Pacers [Indiana leads series 1-0]
For the third time in three years, the Toronto Raptors enter the first round of the Playoffs as the higher seed and for the third consective post-seeason they lose the first game at home. With the disappointing way they have lost Game 1’s in the last couple of years, you would think the Raptors would wanna exercise their demons and get a Game 1 win but a disastrous game by their All-Star back court duo didn’t help their chances.
Kyle Lowry and DeMar Derozan had more combined turnovers (9) than they had field goals (8). They shot a combined 8 of 32 (25%) and really failed to show up when they were expected to lead their team to the win. To make matters worse for the Raptors, the superstar in the opposing locker room decided to take over the game in the third quarter and give the Pacers a lead they never lost.
After scoring just six points on 2 of 9 shooting, George showed up in the second half. He scored 17 points in third quarter (Raptors scored 22) and added another 10 in the final period to go along with his six assists, four rebounds, four steals and two blocks. While George’s offense in the second half will be talked about a lot but his defense all through the game on Derozan was a huge factor in the win as well.
Game 2 will be played on Monday night at the Air Canada Center.
[4] Atlanta Hawks 102-101 [5] Boston Celtics [Atlanta leads series 1-0]
The Hawks vs Celtics seed was going to be the toughest first round matchup of the sixteen in the Playoffs. It’s was going to be a contest between two well coached teams. At the end of the day, Hawks played their style of basketball and gutted the win on their home floor. Restricting the Celtics to 101 points and 36% shooting the Hawks defense, which is the best in the league this calendar year, delivered once again.
Other than Kyle Korver, who had a rough shooting night (1 of 10), all other Atlanta starters delivered for the team. Al Horford had 24 points, 12 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 blocks while the other major contributor was point guard Jeff Teague with 23 points,12 assists and 4 rebounds. For the C’s Isaiah Thomas registered a game high 27 points to along with his 8 dimes. In a series that was expected to be tightly contested, possibly go all seven games, both teams were dropping dimes left and right.
The Hawks assisted on 27 of their 35 shots while the Celtics assisted on 27 of their 37 field goals.
Game 2 will be played at the Philips Arena on Tuesday night.
[1] Golden State Warriors 104-78 [8] Houston Rockets [Golden State leads series 1-0]
After a historic 73 win regular season, the Warriors in their quest to repeat as NBA Champions began the Playoffs with a clean slate. However their game play from the regular season remained the same as they pretty much wrapped this game up with Houston in the first quarter itself. After the first 12 minutes, Stephen Curry (16 points) had outscored the Rockets (15 points) all by himself. He did twist his ankle in the second quarter that saw him regular trips to the locker room in the second half.
In his absence and down by almost 30 at halftime, the Rockets did make a 16-6 run but were quickly neutralized by Golden State’s bench. The Warriors bench played heavy minutes in the second half against the Rockets’ starters yet had no trouble maintaing their 15+ point lead.
Golden State leads the league in offense but takes away quite a lot of attention away from their defense, which is ranked top 10. Houston committed as many as 24 turnovers and shot just 35% from the field, which made it a lot easier for the Warriors to take control of the game.
The Warriors 27 point halftime lead also came in large part because of James Harden’s absence. Harden had a disastrous first half to say the least with his 4 points ( 2 of 9), four fouls and four turnovers.
Although this is rematch of last year’s Conference Finals, both teams have progressed in the opposite directions since. This series should be a wrap in four games unless Curry’s ankle is a serious issue.
Game 2 will be played at the Oracle Arena on Monday night.
[3] Oklahoma City Thunder 108-70 [6] Dallas Mavericks [Oklahoma City leads series 1-0]
The Oklahoma City Thunder took care of a weak opponent in the only manner they know. The Thunder dealt the Dallas Mavericks a massive 38 point loss, with the Mavs tally of 70 points being their fewest in franchise Playoffs history. Dallas are a much older team and are currently facing a lot of injuries but nobody expected them to lose like this, given the experience of witty Head Coach Rick Carlisle.
Superstars Kevin Durant and Russell led the way for the Thunder. Durant had 23 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists in just 26 minutes while Westbrook had 24 points, 11 assists and 5 rebounds in 29 minutes. For the other team, Dirk Nowitzki was the only player in double figures with 18 points.
Dallas just failed to compete with Oklahoma City Thunder on both ends of the floor. The Mavericks only shot 29.8% from the field, 22% from beyond the arc and 61% from the free throw line. Going by the way this game went, Oklahoma City could be looking at a sweep.
Top 5 plays
A couple blowouts and a couple competitive games. Here are the top 5 plays from the first day of the NBA 2015-16 post-season:
