Are the Brooklyn Nets the most dangerous No. 7 in NBA playoff history?
Even Boston sports fan Andy Nesbitt admits that Brooklyn is no ordinary No. 7 and the Celtics-Nets series should be their best of the first round.
US TODAY
The opening weekend of the NBA playoffs is always one of the most exciting times on the league calendar, and the 2022 postseason typically kicked off on Saturday.
The series’ opening four games began with two lower-ranked teams stealing home field advantage with upsets in Game 1, as the Jazz defeated the Mavericks in Dallas and the Timberwolves stunned the Grizzlies in Memphis.
Then a few championship hopes got breakout performances from young guards as Tyrese Maxey scored 38 points to lead the Sixers past the Raptors and Jordan Poole had 30 points to lift the Warriors over the Nuggets.
Sunday promises even more excitement with four more series starts.
The league-leading Suns are looking to continue their dominance against the Pelicans. Defending champion Bucks begins his path to a replay against the Bulls. And the Celtics and the Nets tip in perhaps the most interesting series of the first round.
SATURDAY REVIEW: Warriors and Sixers roll, Jazz and Wolves steal the home game
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Follow USA TODAY Sports throughout the day for live updates and analysis of all of Sunday’s action:
No wonder, but Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo, Philadelphia’s Joel Embiid, and Denver’s Nikola Jokic are the three finalists for MVP. There was some irritation on Twitter that Golden State’s Jordan Poole wasn’t a finalist for best improved player — Cleveland’s Darius Garland, Memphis’ Ja Morant and San Antonio’s Dejounte Murray were nominated as finalists in that category.
Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo had 17 points and 11 rebounds in the first half against Chicago, and while it looked like the Bucks could blow the Bulls out in the first half, the Bulls kept it tight despite having 31.7% of the field shot.
Milwaukee possessed a halftime lead of 51-43.
Three Bulls were in double digits: 12 points for DeMar DeRozan, 11 points for Zach LaVine and 10 for Nik Vucevic.
Kyrie Irving is guarded by the Brooklyn Nets seemed to give the “double bird” to Boston Celtics fans before a jump ball in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference first-round series.
There is no love lost between Celtics fans and Irving, who left the Celtics to join the Nets in 2019. Irving once burned sage in the Boston arena to “cleanse the energy,” he told reporters.
If the league confirms Irving’s actions, he will be fined. The typical fee for an obscene gesture to a fan is $15,000. However, Irving was fined $25,000 earlier this season for using obscene language at fans during a game in Cleveland, where Irving once played for the Cavaliers.
The Celtics won Game 1 115-114 despite 39 points from Irving.
“When people start yelling (expletive) and (expletive) and (expletive) you and all that stuff, there’s (only) so much you can take as a competitor.” Irving said after the game. “We are the ones who are expected to be docile, humble and take a humble approach. No, (expletive) these are the playoffs. That’s it. I give them something back.”
– Jeff Zillgitt
Jayson Tatum saved the day for the Boston Celtics. His drive serve on time gave the Celtics a 115-114 win. You could say the Celtics were lucky to get Game 1. The Celtics scrambled to their feet on their last possession – and Marcus Smart delivered a pass to Tatum just in time.
There’s a reason the Brooklyn Nets are considered a dangerous No. 7. You have Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving. Even when Durant was struggling against Boston in Game 1, the Nets almost made the excitement thanks to Irving, who had 39 points, six assists, five rebounds, four steals and a block. And he did it in front of a Boston crowd who despised him for leaving the Celtics.
Without Celtics center Robert Williams (left knee injury), veteran Al Horford came through with 20 points and 15 rebounds.
How did the Celtics do it? Tatum (31 points), Jaylen Brown (23 points), Smart (20 points) and Horford delivered enough offensively – 94 points together.
No matter how many games this series includes, it will be fun. Let’s hope it will be seven.
-Jeff Zillgitt
Brooklyn star Kevin Durant had just seven first-half points in a 2-for-10 shootout against Boston, but bench Kyrie Irving and Goran Dragic helped the Nets go into the half in a 61-point tie. Irving had 15 points and Dragic had 11 in the first half. Boston star Jayson Tatum had 15 points and seven assists, while Al Horford contributed 14 points. Marcus Smart had a nice all-around half with seven points, three rebounds, three assists and a steal. Brooklyn should be comfortable about the first-half result — on the road, tied and with Durant not making any shots. The Nets scored just 61 points against the league’s best defense without much from Durant. In the first 24 minutes there were 17 lead changes and eight draws
Bruce Brown was asked last week for the key to slowing down a Celtics team tied for second behind the game of Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown. With center Robert Williams III, who underwent surgery in late March for a torn meniscus in his left knee, likely to miss the first-round series, Brown said he thinks it would be best to focus on neutralizing Boston’s front court.
“We can’t let Tatum get 50,” Brown said. “We have to deal with them physically. Now they don’t have Robert Williams so they are less present in the paint and we could attack Al Horford and (Daniel) Theis. Not having Robert Williams is huge.”
When Kevin Durant learned of his teammate’s comments minutes earlier, he was visibly upset.
“We respect our opponents,” Durant said. “We don’t have to talk about what we’re going to do to them. I just don’t like it, but that’s Bruce. He comes in and keeps the same energy all season. But we don’t have to say so (expletive). Let’s just go out and hop.”
The Celtics scoreboard operator did his part to stoke the Celtics’ ire by putting Brown’s message on the jumbotron.
When Duncan Robinson goes 8-on-9 on 3s and PJ Tucker goes 4-on-4, the Miami Heat are hard to beat. And that was the case in Miami’s 115-91 win over the Atlanta Hawks.
The 3-ball is still important. Miami was 18-38 (47.4%) and Atlanta just 10-36 (27.8%) – a 24-point difference in just 3 seconds.
Good news for the Hawks: Trae Young probably won’t fight back like this off the field. He was 1-for-12, including 0-for-7 on 3s. The last time he scored just a field goal in a game was on Jan. 15, 2021 against Utah.
Miami’s defense, ranked 4th in the regular season, forced 18 turnovers, had 12 steals and limited the Hawks to 38.7% shooting from the field.
In his first game since March 11, John Collins (foot and finger injuries) showed he can contribute. He had 10 points and four rebounds in 21 minutes.
The Heats Are Deep: Off the bench, Robinson led all scorers with 27 points, and nine Heat players scored at least six points. Jimmy Butler had 21 points, six rebounds and four assists and Kyle Lowry had 10 points, nine assists, four rebounds and two steals.
When Kyrie Irving is introduced before the Nets take on the Celtics in Boston, his cold reception was no big secret.
Irving, who left Boston in free agency after saying he wanted to re-sign, wasn’t a fan favorite there. When he returned to Boston last year, Irving stepped on the Celtics logo in the middle of the court. And his recent comments haven’t smoothed things over.
Irving hopes everyone has moved on and asks fans to remember the good times they had.
“I hope we can move on from my Boston era and reflect on some of the highlights I left at TD Garden that they can repeat,” he told reporters this weekend. “Go forward. Just a new paradigm, baby.”
After a 131-111 loss to the Philadelphia 76ers on Saturday, Toronto coach Nick Nurse said Sunday that rookie-of-the-year contenders Scottie Barnes (left ankle sprain), Thaddeus Young (left thumb sprain) and Gary Trent Jr. (non-COVID) are likely doubtful for Game 2 on Monday. “It’s not looking good for any of these guys,” Nurse told reporters.
Atlanta Hawks forward John Collins, who has not played since March 11 due to foot and finger injuries, is expected to play Sunday in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference first round series against Miami. Hawks coach Nate McMillan called Collins a game-time decision. Atlanta center Clint Capela, who injured his knee in a play-in game, is out indefinitely but could return later in the series.
The Brooklyn Nets have two of the most talented offensive players in the league in Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving. So it’s understandable that the Nets would have a chance against the Boston Celtics in their Eastern Conference first-round series. But if you’ve been paying attention, you know the Celtics have been the best team in the east for the past three months and the best defensive team in the NBA all season. The Celtics are too good on both sides of the ball with All-NBA players (Jayson Tatum), all-defensive players (Marcus Smart) and one of the game’s most underrated players (Jaylen Brown). The Celtics are just a better all-around team. Selection: Celtics 113, Nets 103.
– Jeff Zillgitt
The New Orleans Pelicans are by far the feel-good team in the NBA playoffs. They caught a terrible 1-12 start for first-year coach Willie Green. And would-be franchise savior Zion Williamson has not played a game this season due to a foot injury. Their second-best player, Brandon Ingram, was limited to 55 games due to injuries.
But the Pelicans clinched the final playoff spot in the Western Conference when they defeated the LA Clippers 105-101 in Friday’s play-in game. Their reward: a clash with the Suns, the team with the best record in the league.
For a long time it looked like Friday would mean the end for the Pelicans. They were down 84-74 at the start of the fourth quarter. But Ingram led them back with some big baskets in the last quarter after an inspirational speech from Green, who told them they’d been through too much to face anything like a 10-point deficit.