With the second round of the NBA Playoffs underway, madness has ensued. The first round told an entirely different story and was largely uneventful. Only three of the eight initial matchups went six games or further. In the East, all top-seeded teams won their series. Now, into the second round, things have been anything but predictable.
There were two upsets in the West’s first round: the Warriors over the Rockets and the Timberwolves over the Lakers. Steph Curry and the 7-seeded Warriors’ win over the 2-seeded Rockets did not come as too much of a surprise. The star-studded Lakers’ loss to a solid Timberwolves team was more disappointing than anything.
Although Houston had an impressive regular season record, they lacked playoff experience. The four-time champion and two-time MVP led Golden State past the young team from Houston with Poise in seven games.
With their new addition, Luka Doncic, fans expected the “Lake Show” to return, expecting flashy plays and huge stat lines. In reality, and to Lebron-haters’ delight, Los Angeles could not find their groove and was bested in five games by Minnesota. Little did everyone know, the NBA Playoffs were about to take upsets to a whole new level.
The most anticipated matchup of the playoffs so far started the second round in the West, Nuggets vs. Thunder. This featured the two MVP front-runners for this season and would be OKC’s first real challenge in the postseason. It did not disappoint.
Many expected the Thunder to roll in game one, coming off a week’s worth of rest after sweeping the Grizzlies and having the home-court advantage. The Nuggets, only being granted one day of rest after their victorious seven-game series against the Clippers, showed OKC they would still have to work for Game 1.
The Nuggets took an early lead, but the Thunder would retake it before the end of the first quarter. From there, OKC dominated; they seemed to never give Denver a window of opportunity, until the fourth quarter.
In a wild chain of events, the Nuggets would claw back from down 11 points with less than five minutes to play in the fourth. A combination of two missed free throws with a game-winning three-point shot from Aaron Gordon would stunningly give Denver Game 1.
The next game, though, was not as big of an upset, but still wild. On the West side of the NBA Playoffs, the Warriors won. Somehow, a Curry-less Golden State was still able to pull off the upset in Minnesota while scoring less than 100 points. On the other side of the bracket, the NBA playoffs continued to subvert expectations.
The one-seeded Cavs were large favorites to win the series, but the upset-minded Pacers were determined to spoil the fun. A spectacular shooting performance propelled the Pacers past the Cavaliers. The roaring home crowd in Cleveland was not enough to silence the continuous rain of threes. Indy made a statement with Game 1, taking it 119-112.
In the NBA playoffs, the home team is said to have a big advantage. Surely the Cavs would not give up two straight home games to start the second round, right? Right?? Unless the Pacers were to somehow lead one of the most improbable comebacks in NBA history, again.
Trailing Cleveland by seven points with 48 seconds left to play, Indiana’s defeat seemed imminent. One may recall a similar situation in the first round, where the Pacers escaped a similar fate. Down seven points with 40 seconds left to play in an OT thriller against the Bucks, Indy found a way to close out the series.
Costly turnovers from Cleveland, and a rebound put back off Pascal Siakam’s missed free throw, allowed Tyrese Haliburton to hit a step-back three for the win. In scenarios where a team trails by seven or more points under a minute in the fourth quarter or OT, hold a record of 3-1,640. Two of those wins were against the Pacers in the last week. Unreal does not begin to describe Indiana’s comebacks.
On the other side of the bracket, somehow, the NBA Playoffs have more home-court spoilers. The Celtics, having the home-court advantage, were expected to open strong against the Knicks. Taking a 20-point lead in the third quarter, Boston seemed to have the game under wraps. That was until a fourth-quarter collapse ensued.
The Celtics’ well dried up, allowing New York to sneak back in, tying the game at the end of regulation. In overtime, Boston struggled to find an answer for the Knicks. With New York up by three with five seconds left, the Celtics were able to set up a play in the halfcourt. The ball was inbounded to Jalen Brown but was just as quickly taken away by Mikal Bridges, securing the victory for the away team yet again.
Lightning never strikes twice, but in the NBA playoffs, 20-point comebacks do. The Celtics came out in Game 2 determined not to let history repeat itself. They led the whole game, with their largest lead again being 20 points in the third quarter.
Deja vu strikes, and another fourth quarter meltdown takes place. Boston cannot knock down a three-point shot to save their lives. Jalen Brunson and crew take over, going up by one with 20 seconds to play. Jason Tatum drives quickly to the bucket and dunks it to retake the lead. On the next possession, Brunson is fouled and knocks down both free throws.
On the last possession, the Celtics down by one, the ball is in Tatum’s hands, right where you want it. He drives in but loses control of the ball, scrambling into the corner. In desperation, he tries to pass, but none other than Bridges is there to make another game-ending steal. The Knicks complete another comeback on the road to go up 2-0.
With the first round of the NBA Playoffs being fairly predictable, no one expected the second round to do a complete 180. For the first time in NBA history, all home teams lost in their opening games of the second round. On top of that, there were four games decided by three points or less. Absolute playoff madness.
Whether it was poor shooting, missed free throws, or turnovers in crunch time, it all culminated to make one of the most exciting starts of the second round. Needless to say, everyone, including myself, cannot wait to see what the rest of the playoffs have in store.
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