8 Huge Moments From The First Week Of The NBA Playoffs

8 Huge Moments From The First Week Of The NBA Playoffs

These plays and players helped define the drama and high stakes of the NBA Playoffs during the first few games of the first round.

Apr 20, 2018 by Cleft Fielder
8 Huge Moments From The First Week Of The NBA Playoffs
Going into the postseason there were a few schools of thought. 

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Going into the postseason there were a few schools of thought. 

Some felt like the Cleveland Cavs and Golden State Warriors were destined to square off in a round four battle. Others thought both conferences were more open. But those battles won’t be until June, and much of the NBA was simply excited to see competitive games in what looked to be a number of series. 

We have seen that, and after one full week, I have seen plays and players that help define the drama and high stakes of the NBA playoffs.

1. Gone In A 'Flash'?

There are many things that define superstars. Swagger, production, late-game heroics on the biggest stages—basically guys who prove consistently to be among the elite few players in the world. 

But there is another tie-in with almost all of them: a heightened willingness and awareness that being competitive is incredibly important—and risking failure to achieve the goal is just part of the game.

If the Miami Heat upset the Philadelphia 76ers and take the series, Game 2 will always be remembered for what Dwyane Wade did as a scorer to pull out a win. A loss on Monday meant they’d be down 0-2 and have to take four of the next five games, perhaps all with Joel Embiid back on the court. Wade scored 28 points in 26 minutes off the bench on 11-of-16 shooting—no doubt an enormous effort toward the win. 

It’s his willingness to value every gained possession, even knowing that diving on the court may not result in controlling the ball for his team, that sets the tone for this Heat team. Scoring, ball skills, and shot making are all talents Wade possesses in huge amounts. Toughness and overall competitiveness are talents, too—and are of equal value in a star like Wade. 

Taking risks to win is not sought after by teams: it’s required and demanded. Miami's Game 2 win has only magnified in significance with the Heat getting drummed at home in Game 3. Can Wade put his team on his back again, and will it matter now that Embiid has returned? Probably not, meaning this standout performance could be his last in a big postseason win.


2. Valanciunas Coming Up Big For The North

One important part of the Toronto Raptors' success is their player development program. They simply have outdone most teams (maybe all?) at drafting or acquiring players and getting more out of them than perhaps most other teams would—or as much or more than what was expected of the player. 

Jonas Valanciunas was a lottery pick and has produced about what teams thought he could do, not less, and maybe not more. He’s a solid two-way player who starts for a top five offense and defense. But in the postseason there has been a reason for concern as teams go small, making it tough for him to stay on the court. 

He isn’t just a bucket-getter who destroys mismatches inside. He isn’t an elite rim protector where the Raptors have to have him inside to succeed on defense. Nor is he a guy who forces teams to defend him on the perimeter—as he has never made a playoff 3-pointer in his career. 

That is, until game two against the Washington Wizards on Tuesday. 

That he could take one in the earlier part of the game tells us so much about the Raptors' culture. Their openness to letting their players get better (which includes necessary failures) might be the key to them winning the Eastern Conference. 

And if their center can keep doing this, then perhaps they will have added a big weapon to their guard-centric offensive attack.   


3. Not-So-Happy Trails

Playoff tension is so large when the home team loses Game 1 of a series. Not only does it mean that team now has lost home court advantage and must win four of six games, including three on the road, but it is also in that position to a lower seed. 

That is why Portland Trail Blazers fans were in full throat when their team battled back from a double-digit hole to take the lead against the New Orleans Pelicans in Game 2 on Tuesday. 

So who hit the big shot to immediately put New Orleans back in front, this time for good? Not Anthony Davis, who pulverized Portland in Game 1, or Jrue Holiday, who did so in Game 2. This dagger was thrown by Nikola Mirotic, a late-in-the-trade-deadline acquisition who has been a huge part of this current Pelicans surge. 

The best part about the play was that it wasn’t necessarily designed for him to take that shot—a simple screen-and-pop action that gave him the chance to shoot if he wanted. That he took it, much like the Valanciunas shot, showed that he believes his coaches are fine with someone like him taking that shot and not demanding that it is one of their two stars shooting, or Rajon Rondo attacking and making a play. 

Mirotic helped lead his team to the brink of a series sweep with an outstanding Game 3 performance, launched by his huge shot in Game 2.  


4. Road 'Dipo Steals Home Court From The Cavs

The Indiana Pacers may have felt they could win Game 1 but history was not on their side. LeBron had won five straight round one series in a sweep, thus he entered on a 20-game win streak in first-round play. 

The Pacers jumped on them early and never let up, immediately earning the respect of the average fan who may have missed what they accomplished this season. Losing Paul George hurt, but gaining former Indiana Hoosiers star Victor Oladipo more than makes up for it. 

Like PG, Oladipo is a two-way player who doesn’t just have one set position. He had a remarkable year and is likely going to win the Most Improved Player Award for it, but the playoffs are another level of intensity. To lead his team to a first-round road win in the first game is special, and though the Pacers lost, he showed it was no fluke in his Game 2 effort that fell three points short on Wednesday. 

Oladipo has made himself into a good perimeter threat, and he has improved his ability to finish at the rim. Knowing that teams are now more focused on making it tougher for him out there just adds value to his ability to continually increase the threat he poses. 

He can beat a defense now no matter how they choose to defend him, and against a defense like Cleveland’s, it’s possible he can carry his team to two home wins. Possible, but not a sure thing. 

LeBron scored 46 in Game 2. Oladipo might score 75-plus in Games 3 and 4. 


5. Jimmy's #Jimbo

For an eight seed like the Minnesota Timberwolves to be within three points of the NBA’s best team in the Houston Rockets with 8.7 seconds left to go would seem like a “best situation imaginable” for them. 

No one saw this series as having any chance to be competitive. Houston shredded Minnesota in all four games this year, offensively, and the Wolves have not ever seemed prepared to alter that. Yet, there we were in the final moments of Game 1 on Sunday, and the choice of the coach or their best player, Jimmy Butler, was to give him the ball and ask him to make a shot against one of the Rockets' best defensive players. 

It was a huge letdown, especially when social media is full of great last-second plays from pro leagues all over the world, including the NBA. There were no screens set on the ball to make defenders think and potentially make a poor choice. No screens were set off the ball, either, though Towns easily could have provided one for Teague and then slipped behind the line himself.  

To pull off this upset, against a team as mighty as Houston has been for some time, requires 48 minutes of focus and execution, plus great effort. Minnesota came up eight seconds short of what was needed.


6. What Can Brown Do For You?

Go back a few years ago when the San Antonio Spurs killed the Miami Heat and ended that dynasty. 

LeBron James was the best player on the court, without a doubt. But Kawhi Leonard won the MVP of the Finals because he played very good defense while being assertive on offense. Basically, it seemed clear that his coaches told him, “We know LeBron is the best player in the world, but for this series, see if you can come close to producing what he can do. Because if you get even close, we can make up for the rest of our team versus their other guys.” 

I feel like we are seeing this come to life again, as Jaylen Brown knew last week who was the best player in the Boston Celtics-Milwaukee Bucks series. Giannis Antetokounmpo has been everything the Bucks' fans and the franchise could want from him, at least. He scored 65 points in the first two games while totaling 22 rebounds and 15 assists. 

But Brown was terrific in those Boston games, scoring 50 points, himself, and proving to be very hard to stop in transition and from deep (7-17 from 3 in the two home games). 

The Celtics needed to win both games to assert the control they have in the series and Brown’s production not only provided that but also helped us envision a wider role for him in the future, much like we saw from Kawhi after that Heat series. 

The 21-year-old Brown still has significant unrealized potential.


7. Rubio Rains On The Thunder

With four minutes left in a tied game that the Utah Jazz must’ve felt like they needed to win on Wednesday, their top scorer and playmaker, rookie Donovan Mitchell, controlled the ball at the top of the key—Ricky Rubio stood alone on the wing.

If you were the Oklahoma City Thunder, what do you do on a Mitchell penetration? 

Rudy Gobert was in the short corner, meaning Russell Westbrook had to make the choice. Stay home on Rubio and allow Mitchell to shoot a floater over Steven Adams or a lob to Gobert if Adams helped. Or, help and let Rubio deal with a hard-charging Adams as OKC defenders flowed to the ball side. 

Seems like an easy choice, as Rubio has never been known as anything but a below average shooter. 

But this isn’t the old Ricky Rubio. He grew this year into a decent threat from deep (35 percent) and that shot was fifth make in eight attempts. How Utah scrambled to the fifth seed this year without Gordon Hayward is a testament to its overall coaching strategies and player development designs—and the arrival and stellar play of Mitchell, of course. 

Rubio’s 3 gave the Jazz a lead they never lost in Game 2. 

Mitchell’s overall offensive talent is impressive, to be sure. But now not only does OKC have to worry about him and Rubio’s shooting, but it also has Derrick Favors making two shots from behind the 3-point line in Game 2. They were his first-ever made 3s in the playoffs and just the 19th and 20th of his career. 

Oklahoma City will likely continue to let Favors and Rubio take deep shots rather than give Mitchell open looks or lobs to Gobert. How those two do as shooters can help define this series' winner.


8. Golden State Provides (Some) Answers

There were a few question marks heading into the Spurs-Warriors series:

When would Stephen Curry return? Would the Warriors flip the switch, so to speak, and start defending with passion again? Could Draymond Green and Andre Iguodala make important 3-point shots? 

While Curry's return remains a mystery, their defense has started to look like their old swarming identity and, yes, those two guys have made important 3s. 

Both defensive stars have been in a season-long shooting slump. They both have just been less than average, and, in Iggy’s case, mostly just bad. It wasn’t likely to cost them a series win over this version of the Spurs, but starting in round two, it certainly could be a major problem—specifically because of Curry’s uncertain availability. 

In Game 3 on Thursday, dealing with the loss of their head coach’s wife, the Spurs fans and players were inspired, as expected. Golden State was dealing with a defense it will see again and again going forward, with no one really guarding Green and Iggy (who started this game). 

As the Spurs hung around in the third quarter in a two-point game, the ball found a wide open Iguodala (again), who had missed his first three attempts from behind the line in this game. He made 4 of 5 in Game 2 and definitely felt better about his shooting, and making a deep shot in a tight road playoff game would only enhance his confidence. 

Because of missed games and poor shooting he had not made a 3 since March 27 entering the postseason. Though he finished 1 of 5 from 3 in this game, it is clear that teams who leave him alone will be more at risk than the Warriors had hoped just a few weeks ago.

It should be noted that Green made a second-half 3 while completely unguarded and then cursed out the entire San Antonio team on the court for not bothering to close him out. This is an issue on both players’ minds, making this important 3-point shot even more significant.