By Anthony Slater, Tim Cato, Jared Weiss, Jay King and Joe Vardon
The Boston Celtics easily took on the Cleveland Cavaliers in Game 1 on Tuesday, even with an off night for superstar Jayson Tatum. Meanwhile, the Dallas Mavericks were blown out after their The superstar, Luka Dončić, struggled against the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Here’s what we saw.
Thunder 117, Mavericks 95
Series: The Thunder leads 1-0
Game 2: 9:30 p.m. ET Thursday in Oklahoma City (ESPN)
Thunder creates distance in the second half after tweaking the rotation
The Thunder’s Game 1 win over the Mavericks was reversed midway through the third quarter. Coach Mark Daigneault quickly replaced Isaiah Joe with Josh Giddey after the Mavericks cut their nine-point halftime lead to one.
Giddey does a ton for the Thunder, but his presence causes the floor to crack and his jumper was removed. Joe, a floor spacer, made a 3 on his first possession. Luguentz Dort, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Chet Holmgren followed with 3 seconds as part of a 14-4 score in Joe’s first three minutes on the floor. OKC sprinted away.
As this series progresses, Giddey’s minutes will be important to track. He started but only played 17 minutes in the first game and was minus-7. Joe was plus-12 in his 15 minutes on the bench.
Cason Wallace made two 3s and guarded well. Aaron Wiggins could have been the Thunder’s third-best player even though he started the night as the 10th man: 16 points in 19 minutes, plus several choppy plays. If the next matches are closer, Daigneault’s final choice will be scrutinized.
Jalen Williams seemed to wake up after three terrible quarters and what appeared to be a calf tweak. He was 2 of 11 shooting, but exploded for 10 straight points on a spurt early in the fourth quarter to seal it. If the Mavericks get more out of Dončić and Kyrie Irving — 39 points on 33 shooting, nine turnovers — the Thunder will need a more stable Williams for the duration of the game, not just a surge.
Jalen Williams scores 8 points in a row and electrifies the building!
OKC leads in 4th on TNT pic.twitter.com/KFyWh2ceQT
-NBA (@NBA) May 8, 2024
Gilgeous-Alexander guided OKC in the first half, taking advantage of a close call. He had 19 points in the first two quarters and made his way to the free throw line 11 times. Gilgeous-Alexander finished with 29 points, nine rebounds and nine assists.
The big men from Dallas had difficulty defending him without committing a foul. The Mavericks tried to stay small throughout. It didn’t work, but it’s remarkable that Jason Kidd tried, even without the injured Maxi Kleber. -Anthony Slater
Luka is still not right
As of Tuesday, the Mavericks had not won the first game of the four series under which Kidd was head coach. The team’s loss to Oklahoma City made it the fifth.
On the one hand, Dallas came back to win three of those four series. The team showed its ability to adapt in subsequent games of a tight series. But no amount of on-field adjustment can resolve the team’s main concern following Tuesday’s defeat: that Dončić, once again, was far from his usual attacking character.
He injured his knee in Game 3 of the team’s previous series, against the LA Clippers, an injury that caused him to briefly retreat to the locker room before returning. He didn’t miss any major moments, but Dončić admitted before Game 5 that he probably would have been out if it was the regular season. He reiterated before Tuesday’s game that his injury likely won’t recover until he rests this summer.
Dončić has shot 46 of 120 from the field since that injury. He shot particularly poorly from behind the 3-point line (8 of 49) although he had his best shooting season this year, finishing with more 3s than anyone other than Stephen Curry. He appears to be moving sideways but struggles against the explosion.
There are two options: Both teams deal with the player who has confounded defenses since entering the league six years ago and who entered these playoffs with the highest points per game average in the playoffs for all players not named Michael Jordan. Or his knee is affecting him, which no amount of adjustments from the first game can fix. -Tim Cato
Celtics 120, Cavs 95
Series: The Celtics lead 1-0
Game 2: 7 p.m. ET Thursday in Boston (ESPN)
Tatum struggles, but an unexpected hero emerges
The Celtics’ early 20-point leads became a nightly occurrence this season and it didn’t stop against a team that had all of its playmakers healthy. Miami lacked a ton of offensive firepower in the first round, so it wasn’t a shock to see the Heat fall so far behind. But with the way the Celtics’ second unit played in Game 1 of the second round, Cleveland could find itself in a similar situation.
With Kristaps Porziņģis out, Luke Kornet was huge (four points, 10 rebounds, two blocks) entering the rotation. The Cavs will need to keep Kornet away from the rim if they want to score consistently in this series.
Tristan Thompson got the backup minutes at center in place of Georges Niang, so will Cleveland try to space the court as much as possible in the next game? The Cavs need to do something to move forward Darius Garland, since Donovan Mitchell (33 points) and Evan Mobley (17 points, 13 rebounds) can’t play much better offensively than they did in the first game.
On the other side of the floor, Joe Mazzulla had the ideal scenario. While Tatum struggled to score (18 points on 7 of 19 shooting), Jaylen Brown and Derrick White stepped up and were on fire (32 and 25 points respectively).
If there’s anyone you can trust to find their place on the show, it’s Tatum. The Celtics want him to pace himself and find his rhythm consistently so he doesn’t overexert himself. Their hope is that it gains momentum as they get closer to the conference finals. —Jared Weiss
Jaylen Brown and Derrick White lead the way as @celtiques take a 1-0 lead in the series! ☘️
JB: 32 PTS (12-18 MGF), 4 3 p.m., 6 REB
D-White: 25 PTS, 7 3PM, 5 AST#NBAPlayoffs presented by Google Pixel pic.twitter.com/qdlqseDCk7-NBA (@NBA) May 8, 2024
What can Brown do for you? All. pic.twitter.com/XVLI5dMt99
– Boston Celtics (@celtics) May 8, 2024
Derrick White’s shot ignites the Celtics
At a press conference last week, a reporter asked White if he came back to Earth after a big game against the Miami Heat.
“I don’t think I left Earth,” White replied.
Maybe it’s because he’s always flown in space. After averaging 26.3 points per game over the final three games of the first round, White made seven 3-point attempts in the first game of the second. He finished with 25 points on 9-of-16 shooting, including 7-of-12 from downtown, while allowing Boston to maintain a double-digit lead for most of the second half.
Do this 7 triples!
White (25 PTS) stops in no time for HARD recoil 👀 https://t.co/YGF9BbR5W2 pic.twitter.com/gctamznVB7
-NBA (@NBA) May 8, 2024
Tatum did not have an effective offensive game. The Celtics defense didn’t always operate at full intensity. Mitchell scored 33 points on 12 of 25 shooting. Boston still held a comfortable lead for much of the game, largely because White buried outside shot after outside shot.
Once a doubtful shooter, he now has full confidence. Based on his performance all season, he should. It will take a strong defensive effort to slow down the Celtics’ offense if White can stay on his rocket for the rest of the playoffs. -Jay King
The Cavs kept shooting, rightfully so, but the shots weren’t falling either
So apparently there’s more to it than just drawing a bunch of 3s.
In their first game against the Celtics, the Cavs actually hit the magic number of 40 3-point tries (they attempted 42, after making 40 midway through the fourth quarter).
They were still blown up.
The story of all this is, of course, that in mid-December, with things looking so bleak for Cleveland due to a slow start and Garland and Mobley on the verge of missing two months, the Cavs shocked the NBA by posting the best record of the year. the league from that point until the All-Star break. They did this by spacing the floor and shooting an obscene number of 3s, and slowly moved away from that style as the season progressed and Mobley returned to the lineup.
Cleveland has no choice but to play this way as long as Jarrett Allen is out — he missed his fourth straight playoff game with a rib injury. But it didn’t work against Boston.
On one hand, the Cavs continued their dismal outside shooting from last series, making just 11 of their 3s (after shooting about 28 percent from deep against the Magic). Second, the Celtics play small, with essentially three guards, Tatum and a big. They lead the league in 3s and were 18 of 46 on Tuesday.
The one-in-four-out style suits this Boston group perfectly. Just stay on the perimeter and bombard until the defenders dare to come out. When they do, Tatum, Brown, White and Jrue Holiday can put it on the floor and get past their man.
We won’t know what kind of series it will be until Game 3, when we see how the Cavs perform at home. The last playoff game this franchise won on the road took place here in Boston six years ago – Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals. There’s no reason to suspect this streak will end on Thursday, barring a lapse in concentration on the Celtics’ part or a sudden change in Cleveland’s shooting percentage.
This is why Game 3 is the litmus test. Meanwhile, Mitchell became the fourth player in NBA history to score at least 30 in six consecutive games. His 33 points followed the 89 he scored in Games 6 and 7 against the Magic. Mobley’s 17 points and 13 rebounds were nice, but the Cavs didn’t get enough from their bench or Max Strus (2-of-8 shooting). —Joe Vardon
(Top photo of Jalen Williams: Joe Murphy/NBAE via Getty Images)
News Source : theathletic.com
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