Playoff (over)reactions: Suns, Heat appear in control
The NBA playoffs are always ripe for overreactions, and we’ve had plenty of big stories and moments so far to parse.
The schedule gives us another opportunity to make some snap judgments with a rare off day in the middle of the playoffs. With no games Thursday, we can take stock of what we’ve seen so far in the second round as all four series have played two games.
The top-seeded Suns and Heat are in control of their series with 2-0 leads and appear to be well on their way to the conference finals. On the other side of those matchups, the Mavericks and Sixers are searching for answers before their seasons slip away.
Meanwhile, the Celtics and Bucks are tied at 1-1, with each winning handily. The Grizzlies and Warriors are also even at 1-1 after a pair of nail-biters.
Suns poised for a sweep After a small speed bump in the first round, the Suns are not messing around with the Mavericks.
Chris Paul, Devin Booker and company put away the Mavs in Game 2 with a clinical second-half destruction. Phoenix outscored Dallas 71-49 after the break, including 40-26 in a fourth quarter that snuffed out any hopes the Mavs may have had of pulling off a series upset.
“We have good players,” Suns coach Monty Williams said. “I’d love to sit here and tell you I’m moving the chess pieces around, but we have good players who can knock down shots.”
If they continue to knock down shots like they have in the first two games of the series, the Suns won’t have any trouble finishing off the Mavericks and could make quick work of the Grizzlies or Warriors in the conference finals.
Heat feast without Embiid
The first two games have confirmed most of the suspicions heading into the series: Miami will cruise as long as Joel Embiid is out for Philadelphia.
Defense carried the Heat in Game 1, and it was good again in Game 2 as the offense also found its rhythm. Miami shot 51.3% from the field in Game 2 and 14-of-29 (48.3%) on three-pointers while running up an offensive rating of 125.3 (the best rating in the regular season was 116.2).
Without Embiid defending the paint, Heat center Bam Adebayo has been able to wreak havoc. Adebayo is averaging 23.5 points while shooting a combined 15-for-21 (71.4%) from the field. He’s also gotten to the free throw line where he’s 17-for19 total.
On the other end, Miami has been able to lock down on Philly’s shooters without Embiid’s dominant presence inside. The Heat have held the Sixers to 21.9% shooting from threepoint range.
The series shifts to Philadelphia for Games 3 and 4. There’s a chance Embiid could return Friday after missing the first two games with an orbital fracture and mild concussion, but they’re going to need to improve in other areas, too.
Asked about the possibility of Embiid playing in Game 3, Sixers coach Doc Rivers said, “I really don’t know... He looked good as far as talking [via FaceTime], but he’s got so many steps to go through right now. He hasn’t cleared any of them.”
Doncic exploited for Dallas
Part of the Suns’ offensive plan in the second half of Game 2 was to test Mavericks guard Luka Doncic as a defender. Don’t worry if he scores 45, as he did in Game 1, or 35, as he did in Game 2. Just make sure he earns his points, then attack him relentlessly with your offense, because as great as Doncic is, defense is not his forte.
The Suns did that time and time again in the second half. Doncic guarding you? Penetrate and take a good shot yourself, or kick it to teammates. The Suns did that so often that anyone in the sellout crowd could have yelled out what was coming.
Afterwards, the Suns downplayed their targeting of Doncic.
“We’re just trying to win the game,” Suns coach Monty Williams said when asked about attacking Doncic. “We feel like we have guys who can put [the Mavericks] in certain positions.”
Grizzlies figure out Warriors
What if, with Ja Morant, the Grizzlies could be on the verge of cracking the Warriors’ code?
Those 47 points Morant scored in Game 2 were each sensational in their own way, and the final 15 materialized in a fantastic closing kick, as well-timed as any moment in franchise history.
Indeed it was the battle-tested Warriors who sounded a bit rattled by the ill-advised shots they took down the stretch, and the two horrible shooting games they’ve had to start the series.
It was Morant, meanwhile, who went nuclear again, even when he apparently couldn’t fully see out of his left eye. He rescued Memphis when Dillon Brooks got ejected, and Desmond Bane looked hobbled by injury, and the entire postseason felt like it was close to teetering.
He turned what would have been a devastating loss for Memphis into new seeds of doubt for Golden State.
“It’s going to be a battle,” Morant said. If the Warriors didn’t know that yet, they do now.
Celtics’ D still smothering
Boston turned the tables on Milwaukee in Game 2 despite Defensive Player of the Year Marcus Smart sitting out with a quad contusion.
Even without their emotional leader, the Celtics made things incredibly difficult for Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Bucks offense. The Celtics have as much size and versatility as any team can throw at Antetokounmpo, and they used mostly oneon-one looks on the former MVP to help limit the Bucks’ ball movement. They forced 16 turnovers in Game 2 and held the Bucks to 3-of-18 (16.7%) from three-point range.
After hounding Nets star Kevin Durant in the first round and limiting him to 39.4% shooting, Boston is doing much of the same against Milwaukee and Antetokounmpo.
“Every game isn’t gonna be perfect,” Jayson Tatum said. “We’re playing against the defending champs. They punched us in the mouth first game. I knew we were gonna be ready from a competitiveness standpoint.”
Bucks must unlock Giannis
Over the first two games of the series, Antetokounmpo is a combined 20-for-52 (38.4%) from the field for 52 points. He is 1-for6 (16.7%) from three-point range and 11-for-20 (55%) from the free throw line. Those numbers are easily far below what he did against Chicago in the first round and the regular season, but it’s been awhile since he’s put together consecutive games like that in the postseason.
Antetokounmpo has insisted the Celtics haven’t done anything extraordinarily different in how they’ve given him trouble – they just have.
“Obviously it’s the playoffs – the physicality is going to be higher, the discipline is going to be way higher,” Antetokounmpo said. “But you gotta find a way. You gotta find a way to figure it out no matter whatever they’re doing.”