The NBA's second quadrupleheader of the weekend featured the defending champion Milwaukee Bucks, and the top seeded teams in the East (Miami Heat) and the West (Phoenix Suns), but it will always be remembered for Jayson Tatum's buzzer beater to cap the epic first game of the Boston-Brooklyn series. My recaps for Saturday's four games are here.
Here are my thoughts about Sunday's games:
Miami 115, Atlanta 91
While teams like Brooklyn and Philadelphia received most of the media's attention throughout the season, the Miami Heat grinded their way to the best record in the Eastern Conference. The Atlanta Hawks, fresh off of their appearance in the 2021 Eastern Conference Finals, struggled for most of this season before beating Charlotte and Cleveland in the Play-In Tournament to clinch the eighth seed.
This series would be a mismatch in Miami's favor even if Atlanta were at full strength, but injuries to Clint Capela (who will be out of action for at least another week) and John Collins--who returned for game one after missing more than a month due to finger and foot injuries--crippled the Hawks' frontcourt depth.
The Heat raced out to a 21-11 lead, but by the end of the quarter the Hawks trimmed the margin to six (23-17) despite suffering through their worst field goal shooting quarter of the season (3-17, .176). The Heat shot 9-21 (.429) from the field, and no player from either team scored more than five points. Both teams committed five turnovers.
The Heat blew the game open in the second quarter, pushing their lead to 59-38 after Gabe Vincent's three pointer with less than a minute remaining. Miami led 59-40 at halftime. Duncan Robinson paced a balanced Heat attack with 11 points on 4-5 field goal shooting. The Heat shot 21-40 from the field (.538), including 10-19 (.556) from three point range, while the Hawks shot 11-38 from the field (.297), including 2-18 (.118) from three point range. This was the Hawks' worst shooting half of the season. Danilo Gallinari scored 14 points on 4-8 field goal shooting, but Trae Young had just eight points on 1-9 field goal shooting.
Young could neither find his shooting stroke nor create open shots for his teammates in the third quarter, and the Heat led 86-60 heading into the fourth quarter. The teams essentially traded baskets in the fourth quarter, with the Hawks never mounting even the semblance of a serious threat.
Robinson scored a game-high 27 points and set a Heat franchise playoff single game record by making eight three pointers. He shot 9-10 from the field, including 8-9 from three point range. Jimmy Butler scored 21 points on 9-15 field goal shooting, while also contributing six rebounds, four assists, and three steals. Gallinari led the Hawks with 17 points on 5-12 field goal shooting. Young finished with eight points on 1-12 field goal shooting.
The Heat are at a different level than the Hawks, whose Eastern Conference Finals run last season is looking more and more like a fluke: the Hawks are a solid team, but hardly a legitimate title contender. It is unlikely that Young will be completely shut down like this again, but it is also unlikely that the Hawks will pose much of a threat to win this series.
Boston 115, Brooklyn 114
This was not just the game of the day and the game of the weekend--it was one of the most exciting playoff games that I have seen in a while, with a dramatic ending that was heartbreaking for the Nets and heart-pumping for the Celtics.
The opening moments of the game provided no hint that this would be a great game. In the first six minutes, the Nets made four field goals and committed five turnovers as the Celtics took an early 15-10 lead. Kevin Durant began the game by shooting 1-7 from the field while committing three turnovers. Brooklyn's starting center Andre Drummond committed four first half fouls. However, the Nets soon settled down, and they led 29-28 by the end of the first quarter.
In the second quarter, neither team led by more than six points, and for most of those 12 minutes the teams were separated by three points or less. The halftime score was 61-61, and there had already been 17 lead changes. Kyrie Irving led the Nets with 15 first half points on 3-6 field goal shooting, while Durant had just seven points on 2-10 field goal shooting. Durant had four first half turnovers. Jayson Tatum paced the Celtics with 15 points on 5-9 field goal shooting, and he also had seven assists. Al Horford had a strong first half (14 points, 5-6 field goal shooting), while Jaylen Brown chipped in eight points on 3-8 field goal shooting.
Defensive standout Marcus Smart made his presence felt on the scoreboard in the third quarter, scoring 11 points on 4-5 field goal shooting as the Celtics raced to an 84-69 lead. It seemed as if the Celtics' strength in numbers had worn down the Nets, but the Nets trimmed the margin to 96-85 by the end of the quarter.
Irving took over in the fourth quarter, scoring eight straight points to pull the Nets to within one point, 98-97. He then assisted on a Durant three pointer that put the Nets up, 100-98. Jeff Van Gundy and Mark Jackson noted various Celtic defensive breakdowns, but even though their individual analysis points were on target--such as the Celtics should not let Irving play one on one during stretches when Durant is not in the game, and help defenders must be positioned such that Durant or Irving are forced to pass when they enter into the paint off the dribble--they both seemed oblivious to the larger issue: the Celtics shot just 1-9 from the field to start the fourth quarter. If the Celtics' offense had not broken down, then all the Nets would have been doing was trading baskets while behind by 8-10 points. Instead, the Celtics' inability to score enabled the Nets to not only erase what had once been a 15 point lead but to actually go ahead by five, 107-102, at the 5:30 mark after Irving drained a three pointer. The Celtics had scored six points in the first 6:30 of the fourth quarter, and no team plays well enough on defense to withstand that kind of scoring drought.
The Celtics tied the score at 107 on Smart's layup with 3:16 remaining, setting up a great finish. The teams traded baskets until Irving's three pointer at the 46 second mark put the Nets up, 114-111. Jaylen Brown countered with a layup to pull the Celtics to within one point, and Durant's attempt to deliver a kill shot three pointer over Tatum was off the mark. Horford snared the rebound with 12 seconds left, and the Celtics declined to call timeout, instead pushing the ball up the court. All five Celtics touched the ball on the final possession before Smart dished to Tatum for the buzzer beating game-winning layup. The last time the Celtics won a playoff game on a buzzer beater was 2010, when Paul Pierce silenced the Heat in game three en route to the Celtics winning in five games.
Tatum led the Celtics with 31 points on 9-18 field goal shooting. He also had four rebounds and a team-high eight assists. Jaylen Brown, who played down the stretch with cotton swabs in both nostrils to stop bleeding, scored 23 points on 9-19 field goal shooting, and he swiped a team-high four steals. Smart added 20 points on 8-17 field goal shooting, plus seven rebounds, six assists, and two steals. Horford had 20 points on 8-13 field goal shooting plus a game-high 15 rebounds. Irving poured in a game-high 39 points on 12-20 field goal shooting, and he filled up the rest of the boxscore with six assists, five rebounds, and four steals. Irving scored 18 fourth quarter points, nearly matching Boston's total for the final stanza. Durant contributed 24 points, but he shot just 9-24 from the field, and he had more turnovers (six) than rebounds (four) or assists (three). Irving was the only Nets' starter who had a positive plus/minus number (+6), while Durant had a -13 plus/minus number. Goran Dragic (14 points) and Nic Claxton (13 points, eight rebounds) made solid contributions off of the bench, but this game highlighted how much more overall talent and depth the Celtics have: Irving and Durant combined for 63 points on 21-44 field goal shooting--which is what one could reasonably expect from the duo, even if one might expect Irving to shoot a little worse and Durant to shoot better--and that was still not quite enough to win; that will likely be the story throughout the series: Durant and Irving will average around 60 ppg combined, and the Celtics will advance to the second round.
Milwaukee 93, Chicago 86
The Bucks opened the game with a 9-0 run in the first 1:33, and it looked like they planned to tame the Bulls the same way that the Heat silenced the Hawks, but instead the Bucks were outscored the remaining 46:27 of the game. The collapse did not happen immediately, though, and the Bucks led 34-21 at the end of the first quarter as Giannis Antetokounmpo scored nine points and grabbed eight rebounds. Antetokounmpo had 17 first half points and 11 first half rebounds, but by halftime the Bulls had pulled to within 51-43.
The Bucks have advantages in size, top level talent, and overall depth, but it is important to remember that the Bulls have several excellent players, including DeMar DeRozan, Zach LaVine, and Nikola Vucevic. Matchup advantages on paper do not win games; exploitation of matchup advantages on the court wins games.
The Bulls took a 67-64 lead on Coby White's three pointer at the 3:11 mark of the third quarter, and shortly after that they went up 69-64. The Bulls have performed horribly against good teams all season long, but with less than 15 minutes remaining in the game the Bucks seemed to have lost their way before Antetokounmpo's three point play put them up 74-71 heading into the fourth quarter.
The fourth quarter was ugly and low scoring, and the Bulls not only led 78-77 with less than six minutes remaining but they were down by only one point, 87-86, with 1:36 remaining. Neither team made a field goal in the final 1:24, and the Bucks closed out the win by sinking their final four free throw attempts.
Antetokounmpo finished with a game-high 27 points on 10-19 field goal shooting, and he grabbed a team-high 16 rebounds. His plus/minus number of +19 was eight points better than any other Buck's plus/minus number; he came to play, but his supporting cast did not consistently follow his lead. Brook Lopez was a major factor with 18 points on 7-14 field goal shooting, five rebounds, and stout defense. Jrue Holiday was OK, but not great, with 15 points on 6-16 field goal shooting, plus six rebounds and six assists. The Bucks need more from Khris Middleton (11 points on 4-13 field goal shooting, plus six assists and five rebounds). The Bulls were done in by poor field goal shooting: Vucevic scored 24 points but shot just 9-27 from the field, DeRozan had 18 points on 6-25 field goal shooting, and LaVine added 18 points on 6-19 field goal shooting. When a team's three best scorers shoot 21-71 (.296) from the field it is very difficult to win.
The Bucks played a very sloppy brand of basketball in the second half, tallying 14 field goals made and 14 turnovers. They shot just .345 from the field after the first quarter. They will win this series, but the larger issue is that they must raise their game to a much higher level to beat whoever they will face in the second round. One wonders how much the Bucks' decision to hunt this matchup by sitting their starters in the final regular season game impacted their mindset and preparation, but I am a firm believer that when you mess with the game the game will mess with you. The Bucks very much wanted to face the Bulls, and the Bucks would be well-advised to focus on the task at hand as opposed to possibly looking forward to playing in the second round and beyond.
Phoenix 110, New Orleans 99
The New Orleans Pelicans were the last team to qualify for the playoffs, and they are the only 2022 playoff team with a losing regular season record. For most of this game, they looked like they are on course to be the first team eliminated from the playoffs. The Suns led 28-16 by the end of the first quarter, scoring almost as many points in the first 12 minutes as the Pelicans put up in the first 24 minutes. By halftime, the Suns were up 53-34, and the main question seemed to be whether the Suns could hold the Pelicans under 65 points--but the Pelicans came to life (or perhaps the Suns fell asleep) in the third quarter, cutting the margin to as low as seven (76-69), and heading into the fourth quarter with the game very much in the balance as the Suns were only up 79-71. The fourth quarter turned into the Chris Paul show, as the Suns' point guard erupted for 19 points to make sure that the Pelicans never got closer than six points the rest of the way. The Suns led by double digits in the final 8:45 except for two brief moments when the Pelicans shaved the margin to nine points.
Paul finished with a game-high 30 points on 12-16 field goal shooting, and he also led both teams with 10 assists. His +20 plus/minus number was nine points better than the next best player. He also had seven rebounds, three steals, one blocked shot, and just two turnovers. Devin Booker added 25 points and eight assists, but he shot just 8-19 from the field. Deandre Ayton scored 21 points on 10-15 field goal shooting while also grabbing nine rebounds and blocking four shots.
C.J. McCollum topped the Pelicans with 25 points, but he shot just 9-25 from the field. He led the Pelicans in assists (six) and he ranked second in rebounds (eight). Brandon Ingram shot 6-17 from the field to score 18 points, and Jonas Valanciunas shot 7-21 from the field for his 18 points, though Valanciunas also did yeoman's work on the glass with a playoff career-high 25 rebounds.
The bottom line is that after a nearly flawless first half the Suns did more than enough in the second half to win the game.