On Monday night, we got a look at Game 2s from three different first-round series, and while one of the series was all tied up, two of them saw teams take a commanding 2-0 series lead.
Before breaking down the games, congratulations to Celtics guard Marcus Smart for winning the 2021-2022 Defensive Player of the Year award. He’s the first guard to win the award since Gary Payton way back in 1995-1996, and he’s had quite the 24 hours after a selfless assist to Jayson Tatum that led to a buzzer-beating layup to get a massive Game 1 victory on Sunday. Mikal Bridges was second in voting, while Rudy Gobert was third, and we should see all the other awards announced shortly.
76ers 112, Raptors 97 (PHI leads series 2-0)
After Tyrese Maxey poured in 38 points in a Game 1 victory, he looked fantastic again with a near triple-double consisting of 23 points on 8-of-11 FGs (4-of-4 FTs), nine rebounds, eight assists, one steal, one block, three 3-pointers and only one turnover in 41 minutes. His numbers didn’t necessarily jump off the page like they did on Saturday, but the way he’s playing, the shots he’s making and the overall energy he brings to this team is something that can’t be put into the box score. He really should’ve gotten some love for the Most Improved Player award, but he’s a huge reason why his team has a commanding 2-0 series lead, and that’s what probably matters most to him. Joel Embiid wasn’t half bad himself with a 31-point, 11-rebound double-double, and while he was efficient with 9-of-16 shooting from the floor and a 12-of-14 clip from the line, he only added a triple and four turnovers to his line. Embiid did injure his elbow in this one and was in some pain, but he came back into the game when the Raptors were on a run and didn’t look to be too bothered by it. There seems to be no way he doesn’t play in Game 3 in Toronto on Wednesday, but I’m sure we’ll get plenty of updates on his status in the next couple of days. James Harden shot just 3-of-9 from the floor but had a full 14/6/6/3/2 line, with his 7-of-8 mark from the line being the reason he was able to get to double figures in the scoring column. Harden added one triple and an unfortunate five giveaways in his 41 minutes, but he really didn’t need to be all that aggressive on Monday with Embiid, Maxey and Tobias Harris (20 points, 10 rebounds, three triples, three blocks) all scoring at least 20 points each. Harris should not go overlooked by any means, as he scored 26 points with a full line in Game 1 and has combined to shoot 16-of-25 (64.0%) from the field in his first two playoff games, and it’s going to be really tough to beat this team if he’s doing stuff like this consistently. Danny Green wasn’t bad himself with 11 points, one board, three assists, one steal, two blocks, three triples and one turnover in 38 minutes, and he even added a nice dunk for good measure, just to show people that he still can. The Philly bench combined for just 13 points in 44 total minutes, which lines up given every starter played at least 37 minutes each.
The Raptors were actually up by a point after the first 12 minutes and were looking pretty good, but they scored 38 total points in the second and third quarters that basically wiped away their chances of stealing a game away from home. Scottie Barnes (left ankle sprain) didn’t play and there’s a good chance we don’t see him Wednesday either, and Gary Trent Jr. (non-COVID illness) was active but played just 10 minutes before being ruled out (and all he did was grab a rebound). As we know, one or more Raptors being sidelined means Chris Boucher is productive, and he was just that with 17 points, eight rebounds, two swats and a trey in 30 minutes off the bench, and if Barnes and/or Trent can’t play in Game 3, he’ll likely be a popular DFS play. OG Anunoby was awesome and scored a playoff career-high 26 points in the losing effort, and he got his points efficiently with a 10-of-14 mark from the floor while making both of his attempts from the charity stripe. Besides his four 3-pointers, his line wasn’t all that, as he added just one board, three assists, one steal and three turnovers in 38 minutes, but they’re going to need plenty of offense from OG if Barnes does in fact remain out. Fred VanVleet started hot and hit four triples in the first quarter alone, but he finished with a miserable 7-of-23 shooting clip for 20 points and five total triples in a whopping 44 minutes. The good news is that DFS doesn’t take percentages into consideration, so if you slotted FVV into your lineup, his four boards, seven dimes, three steals and two blocks definitely helped matters. Pascal Siakam couldn’t get his shot to fall either with a 7-of-20 mark on his way to a 20/10/5 line with a steal and two turnovers in 41 minutes, while Precious Achiuwa got the start but scored just seven points with six boards and a steal in his 29 minutes (also a team-worst -24). Thaddeus Young (left thumb hyperextension) did play after being iffy coming in, but he scored two points with a pair of boards in just eight minutes of action.
Mavericks 110, Jazz 104 (Series tied 1-1)
Even with Luka Doncic (left calf strain) sidelined again, the Mavericks were able to tie up the series, now making it a best of five with Utah technically having home court advantage with a Game 1 victory on Saturday. As far as Luka’s status goes, he was unlikely for Game 2 and coach Jason Kidd says he “continues to progress”, but we’ll see how they tag him for an important Game 3. Jalen Brunson went bonkers for a career-high 41 points on 15-of-25 shooting, adding a full line of eight boards, five assists, two steals, six 3-pointers and zero turnovers in 42 minutes of action. He shot 9-of-24 in Game 1 but opened Game 2 by hitting his first three triples, and he clearly never looked back as he led the team to a massive win and a performance to remember -- this was just the ninth postseason game of his career. While Brunson is going to get the headlines, Maxi Kleber gets almost just as much credit. Even more impressive than his 8-of-11 shooting mark is that all eight of his makes (and all his 11 attempts) were three-pointers, finalizing his line with 25 points, six rebounds and three assists in 32 minutes off the bench. That’s a career high for triples made in his career, easily besting his mark of six last set in January, and he was just a point shy of his regular career high of 26 points. This becomes even more absurd when you take into account that Kleber converted on just 18.8% of his three-point attempts after the All-Star break, so saying he was due doesn’t even do this performance justice. With this pair going off, there weren’t a ton of other big scoring nights on Dallas’ side, but Spencer Dinwiddie’s 17/4/6 line with two steals and a triple in 39 minutes was at least respectable. The issue is that he went 6-of-18 from the field and turned it over three times, but at least he made all four of his freebies. The only other double-digit scorer on the Mavs was Reggie Bullock, who hit three triples for an 11/4/4 line in 45 minutes of a game that did not go to overtime, while Dorian Finney-Smith (9/6/2 on 3-of-11 shooting with a block and three triples) wasn’t bad but couldn’t get his shot to fall. Dwight Powell started but played only 16 minutes and had just two points, one board and a block to his name, while Trey Burke made his series debut and nailed a trey immediately upon entering the game, but he only played five minutes on the night.
Utah may be in trouble, and they’re going to be in even more trouble especially if Luka is able to give it a go after two more full days off. Donovan Mitchell was much better than he was in Game 1 in terms of efficiency, going 13-of-30 from the floor for a team-high 34 points along with two boards, five assists, three 3-pointers, one turnover and no defensive stats in 41 minutes. His stat line in Game 1 was more full but at least he didn’t go 1-of-9 in a half again, and despite a couple key missed shots late, he looked great as usual. Bojan Bogdanovic was aggressive yet again and scored 25 points (9-of-15 FGs, 6-of-7 FTs) and also recorded five boards and a triple in 40 minutes. He continues to put the ball on the floor more and it’s clearly working, and his 1.5 made triple per game in the first two games of this series speaks volumes to the different ways he’s been able to score the ball in the first round so far. Mike Conley battled foul trouble all throughout the night, going scoreless on 0-of-7 shooting in 22 minutes and adding just four boards, three dimes and a steal, and they’re really lucky they had microwave scorer Jordan Clarkson to pick up the veteran point guard’s slack. Clarkson was red hot, shooting 8-of-11 for 21 points and three triples, but per usual, there were minimal surrounding stats to be found besides three makes from range, but they aren’t using him as a playmaker. Rudy Gobert struggled on offense yet again and scored only eight points with four turnovers, but at least had 17 rebounds and a pair of blocks in 37 minutes. The scoring has been pretty abysmal, as he’s now averaging 6.5 points and one made field goal per game in the first two games of this series, which is impressively awful. Sure, he’s not a bona fide offensive weapon, but we know he can score in double digits pretty easily. Royce O’Neale hit a season-high four triples amidst his 12/9/2 line with a steal, while the Utah reserves not named Jordan Clarkson scored four total points in 39 total minutes.
Warriors 126, Nuggets 106 (GSW leads series 2-0)
Saying the Warriors have dominated this series so far is an understatement, as they’ve won Games 1 and 2 by a combined 36 points. In Game 2 alone, they had a span ranging from 7.5 minutes left in the second quarter to the end of the third quarter (about 19.5 minutes) that they scored 70 points as a team. Seventy points in 20 minutes, ladies and gentlemen. Jordan Poole is simply ridiculous, as he followed up his 30-point gem in Game 1 with an even fuller line on Monday including 29 points (10-of-16 FGs, 4-of-4 FTs), five rebounds, eight assists, two steals, one block and two turnovers in 34 minutes, and just like Tyrese Maxey, he really should be getting more MIP love. He had his second Poole party in as many games and continues to be one of the most fun parts of this Dubs team, which really says something. Stephen Curry came off the bench yet again, and he was magical with 34 points on 12-of-17 shooting (5-of-7 FTs), three rebounds, four assists, one steal, one block and two turnovers. The craziest part is, Curry played 23 minutes and was still able to do all that, marking the most points in a playoff game by any player in 23 minutes or fewer, regardless of starting or not. He’s the best sixth man in the world and the fact that they have someone as capable as Poole to slot in there while Curry gets back up to speed is a huge luxury, and as a cherry on top, Chef Curry became the first Warrior to hit 3,000 career playoff points on Monday. Klay Thompson was just fine himself, going 9-of-19 from the floor for 21 points and three triples in 36 minutes, additionally tallying two boards, one dime and a block in the process. Andrew Wiggins (13/8/2 with a block) and especially Draymond Green (6/3/6/3/1) were on the quieter side offensively but they didn’t need them to do much (14 combined shot attempts), while Nemanja Bjelica scored 10 points off the bench. Green gets a special shoutout for totally hounding Jokic for most of the night, and as we’re well aware, what he does in the game doesn’t always show up on the stat sheet.
Nikola Jokic played 28 minutes before getting his second technical foul and therefore getting ejected, finishing with a 26/11/4/1/2 line in the ugly loss. The Joker was clearly getting irritated with Draymond Green and he received his second tech after getting tangled up under the basket with Green and not receiving a call. Jokic shot 9-of-20 from the field overall and made all eight of his freebies, with his only real categorical issues being his three turnovers and no makes from beyond the arc, but he’s bound to be even better for what’s basically a must-win Game 3 on Thursday. The Denver offense was simply not flowing, as no one else besides Jokic scored more than a dozen points. Will Barton (12 points, 10 boards, two dimes, one steal and two triples), Monte Morris (12/4/3 with two treys) and Bones Hyland (12 points with two triples) all hit that exact mark, but besides Barton’s random double-double, the lines weren’t anything to write home about. Bryn Forbes had a random 10 points in garbage time, while Aaron Gordon and Jeff Green both started yet combined for just 10 points on 6-of-18 shooting, and they were simply miserable and need to be better if Denver doesn’t want to get swept.
