FOX Sports writers are providing information drawn from games during the NBA knockouts. Here are their thoughts from the first Sunday of the post-season.
Circuit Breaker 115, Sun 110: Sun faces early depth concerns
Trade for Kevin Durant is no wisdom for phoenix sun. At this point, it’s hard to put into words how good Durant has become. He’s basically perfected basketball. We saw this in Game 1 on Sunday night, when he burned Laser cutting with a performance of 27 points, 11 assists, 9 rebounds, saves, including some tight defense on Kawhi Leonard and some elite rim guards.
But the problem with mid-season deals for stars is that they gut your depth. Usually, teams need a few more transaction cycles to fix holes along the margins. The Suns haven’t had that chance yet. And in their 115-110 loss in Game 1 to the Clippers, we saw how the Durant deal exposed them.
The Suns starting lineup with Durant is probably the best in the NBA. Their Top 4 of Durant, Booker Devin, Chris Paul And Deandre Ayton as good as anyone’s and possibly the best we’ve seen since Durant left golden state. It’s just not clear that there is anyone else they can rely on. This is also not an attractive point from the couch. Just look at how Suns coach Monty Williams distributed his minutes in Game 1.
Durant played 45 minutes. Booker plays 43. Paul plays 39. Ayton plays 33. The team’s fifth starter, Torrey Craig (27 minutes), and Embarrassed Landry (24) were the only other Suns to have a game time of more than eight minutes. Josh Okogie, Bisack Biyombo, Ish Wainright, Jock londale And Terrence Ross all are also played from four to seven minutes. In other words: Even Williams isn’t sure who he can rely on in this tight knockout environment.
And, honestly, who can blame him? The Clippers run a lap around the Sun whenever one of those subs lands on the floor. just look at plus/minus numbers: -12 for Wainright, -10 for Okogie, -11 for Biyombo, -8 for Landale, -14 for Shamet, -1 for Ross.
There are moves Williams could make. Maybe he’s starting to dazzle his stars, ensuring that two of his top four are always on the field. But the fact that he has had to rely heavily on his top guys is something Suns fans should be worried about. Stars win NBA playoffs. But they also need help.
— Yaron Weitzman
Lakers 128, Grizzlies 112: Team effort helps Lakers regain momentum soon
camera caught Austin Reaves smiled brightly as he walked through the tunnel at FedExForum.
He only made $1.56 million this season, the lowest salary Lake Los Angeles who had playtime in Game 1 of their first round playoff series with Grizzly Memphis on Sunday.
However, he had one of the biggest impacts in the team’s 128-112 win.
Reaves finished with 23 points, scoring 14 of them in the fourth half shooting 5 to 5. With less than three minutes left, and the Lakers leading 111-109, Reaves scored nine consecutive points to open the scoring. for the Lakers.
The seventh-seeded Lakers, who have been underrated in this series, are currently leading the second-seeded Grizzlies 1-0 with Game 2 on Wednesday in Memphis.
The Lakers also have a huge contribution from Rui Hachimura, who scored the team’s highest 29 points when he shot 11 to 14 from the bench, including scoring 5 to 6 from outside the 3-point line. Hachimura surpassed Mychal Thompson’s record in 1988 for the most points scored from the bench by the Laker in a knockout game.
The usual suspects also shine at both ends of the court. Davis has 22 points on 10 to 17 shot, 12 bounces, 3 steals and a career-high 7 blocks in the playoffs. LeBron James added 21 points, 11 rebounds, 5 assists and 3 saves.
Meanwhile, the Grizzlies not only faced a loss in Game 1, but also potentially, the loss of their superstar.
The match was less than six minutes away, Ja Morant his right hand relapsed when he drove to the basket and collided with Anthony Davis. Morant performed a somersault from above and tried to counter the fall with his right hand, his right arm awkwardly bent as he landed.
Morant writhed on the floor in pain, went into the dressing room and then returned to the bench with his heavily bandaged right hand. After the game, Grizzlies coach Tyler Jenkins told reporters that an X-ray on his arm was negative.
It goes without saying how important Morant is to the Grizzlies. This season, the two-time All-Star has averaged 26.2 points, 8.1 assists and 5.9 rebounds.
Morant’s injury aside, here’s to guess Dillon Brooks regrets a comment he made last week. During a Grizzlies practice session on Tuesday, Brooks told reporters he “doesn’t mind playing LeBron in a series of seven games,” adding, “Let’s knock him out right away.”
For the Grizzlies, it looks like this series will be much tougher than Brooks predicted.
—Melissa Rohlin
Heat 130, Bucks 117: What does Giannis’ injury mean for the series?
Obviously we don’t have enough information about by Giannis Antetokounmpo injury even try to guess when he might be back. What does the MVP finalist have to endure Milwaukee Bucks was officially referred to as a “lower back injury” during the first quarter of Sunday after landing hard on the field after a hit into the ring. He returned to the dressing room at the end of the first half and did not return.
Bucks never recovered.
Just like that, the team that ended the regular season with the best record in the league is now leading 1-0 in the first round after a 130-117 loss to Heat Miami.
All of this leads us to an obvious question: How many more games must Giannis miss for the Heat to have a legitimate chance?
We’ve seen what happens to the Bucks when Giannis isn’t playing. This has been a team that has at times struggled to score points (15th in regular season fouls), especially in midfield (13th in regular season), and that depends. on Giannis’ speed boost and glass smash (the Bucks ranked 12th in attack recovery rate in the regular season) to make the difference.
So what happened in Game 1, when Giannis played only 11 minutes? The Bucks won only eight counterattacks and only six quick breaks. They also fired an ugly 11/45 from the deep, and while some of these looked good, Giannis’ absence no doubt allowed the Heat defense to catch the Bucks’ shooters. .
Oh, and let’s not forget the other end of the floor, where Giannis might be the best in the NBA. Without Giannis lurking from the weak side, Heat was able to attack Bam Adebayo in paint with pocket passes and break the often stingy D of the Bucks, triggering spins and releasing shooters for a clear look from the worm. Miami, the team that finished the regular season with a third-worst 3-pointer streak, has scored 15 of its 25 3-pointers.
The lead for Heat, as we are used to in the knockout stages, is Jimmy the butler. Again, he’s awesome, gaining 35 Points on 55% shots along with 11 assists, 5 bounces, and 3 steals. As long as Giannis is absent, Butler will be the best player (obviously) in the series.
After the loss, Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer told reporters that Giannis had an X-ray that showed “clear” results.
“We’ll keep an eye on him and see how he wakes up tomorrow,” he added. The Bucks also have some scheduling help; Game 2 doesn’t take place until Wednesday, while Game 3 is Saturday.
Just knowing how connected Giannis is, it would be surprising if he doesn’t return at some point in this series. All we know for now is that the Bucks’ road to another title gets much more complicated.
— Yaron Weitzman
Melissa Rohlin is an NBA writer for FOX Sports. She has previously covered the tournament for Sports Illustrated, the Los Angeles Times, Bay Area News Group and the San Antonio Express-News. Follow her on Twitter @melissarohlin.
Yaron Weitzman is an NBA writer for FOX Sports. He is the author of “Reaching to the Top: Philadelphia 76ers and the boldest run in professional sports history.” Follow him on Twitter @YaronWeitzman.
John Fanta is a national college basketball broadcaster and writer for FOX Sports. He covers the sport in a variety of capacities, from calling games on FS1 to being a main presenter on the BIG EAST Digital Network to providing commentary on The Field of 68 Media Network. Follow him on Twitter @John_Fanta.
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