The second round of the NBA playoffs exceeded all expectations. The Heat punched the top-seeded Bucks in the face, and then stole their lunch money. The Lakers out small-balled the Rockets. The Celtics outlasted the Raptors in a seven-game thriller. And, of course, the Nuggets completed a second consecutive 3-1 comeback to eliminate Kawhi Leonard, Paul George and the L.A. Clippers.
While there is so much to talk about, there is only one place to start.
Los Angeles Trials and Tribulations Clippers
FRAUDS.
Watching the Clippers demise was quite uplifting. Basketball Twitter hadn’t seen slander and jokes like that since after the Warriors blew a 3-1 lead in 2016. I woke up for work the next morning on about four hours of sleep grinning ear-to-ear. Here’s the best source of entertainment on the subject:
I have never been a fan of how this team acted/treated the regular season. I’m all for teams having confidence and acting like they’ve been there before, but not at the cost of effort and chemistry.
There’s so much blame to go around and I’ll try to be brief but the Clippers did not make that task very easy.
Kawhi Leonard
Some basketball analysts want to give Kawhi a pass or the benefit of the doubt for his hand in the Clippers demise. No sir, I say! He deserves plenty of blame for this historic debacle.
Let’s take a look at some basic numbers. The Clippers led by 16 at halftime of Game 6. In the second half, Kawhi scored 11 points on 3-10 from the field and was a minus-21 in 21 minutes.
The Clippers held just a two-point halftime lead in Game 7, and Kawhi was even worse in the second half. He scored TWO POINTS on 1-11 from the field. He did not attempts a single free throw either, which backs up the belief that he quit, or at the very least settled. He was a minus-20 in 21 minutes. That was the second time he did not score in the fourth quarter of a Clippers loss this series (Game 2).
What would we say if LeBron did that? Kevin Durant? Steph Curry? James Harden? We’re already condemning Pandemic P — put the Board Man in the flames with him.
Kawhi’s fault goes beyond those atrocious numbers. Whether he liked it or not, Kawhi was the leader of this team. Where he goes, they go. So when he does his “I’m not showing any emotion” schtick despite the fact that a lack of emotion is among the Clippers biggest problems, that’s on Kawhi. When Marcus Morris, Lou Williams, and Montrezl Harrell are shooting too much and nobody is holding them accountable, that’s on Kawhi. When Patrick Beverly is acting like a goddamn fool both on the court and off, that’s partially on Kawhi.
This team had no chemistry, no cohesion, no sense of urgency — that falls largely on Kawhi. He deserves every bit of slander that comes his way.
Patrick Beverly
What more can I add that Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum didn’t add on Twitter?
Doc Rivers
First off, let me say that Doc Rivers is an exceptional human being who has dealt with unspeakable racism throughout his life. He is a truly great man and a great leader. Nothing he does as a coach can take that away.
However, Doc Rivers has now blown a 3-1 lead as head coach three different times. He’s blown a 3-2 series lead an additional three times. So Rivers has a history of being too slow at making adjustments.
In this series specifically, the Clippers continued playing Harrell excessive minutes as he got gashed defensively. Justin Russo, expert on all things Clippers, dove deep into the issues that plagued LA’s season. I strongly suggested listening to his analysis over mine as far as X’s and O’s go.
Paul George
Last and certainly least is Paul George, aka “Pandemic P”, aka “Way Off P”, aka “PG13%”, aka “COVID-13”, aka “Playoff Paddington”.
Where to start? The Game 6 postgame comments about how the Clippers “are still in the driver’s seat”? The three points on 1-7 shooting in the second half of Game 7? The wide open shot attempt that broke a light fixture in the fourth quarter? The “this was not a championship or bust season” comments after he spent all season saying the Clippers were ready to win the championship?
This dude has constantly underperformed in the playoffs since his Pacers days. He constantly says stupid shit in the media to deflect blame. Harrell called George out on his bullshit in Game 2, saying “You’re always right. Nobody can tell you nothing” during a timeout after George committed a pair of turnovers.
The Clippers traded seven years of draft picks (four picks and three swaps), plus Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Danillo Gallinari for this man. Some may argue they essentially got Kawhi as part of this, but I don’t know if I buy that. Kawhi used his leverage and got LAC to find a second star, but do we know he would not have signed there otherwise? He clearly didn’t want to go back to Toronto and I have a hard time believing he wanted any part of joining LeBron and Davis. The Clippers could (and should) have called his bluff, I say with zero knowledge of the situation from my entirely useless perspective.
So the Clippers wasted year one with George and Kawhi — that’s okay right? The Heat lost in 2011 after all.
No. Everything is entirely not okay.
Kawhi and George can become free agents after next season. There might only be one year left of this current iteration of the Clippers. There’s not a damn thing they can do if Kawhi and George want to leave. And without any good draft picks for the foreseeable future, there’s not a damn thing they can do if they leave. They are fucked if next season doesn’t end in a title.
Toronto Raptors
The other team that lost in seven games could not have gone down with more pride and dignity. The Raptors clawed their way through seven games against the Celtics but just ran out of gas. They defended their title with as much honor as any, while the Clippers were satisfied with merely winning the offseason.
I have an affinity for the small, scrappy guards who take charges because that’s who I was in my seventh-grade rec league days. Kyle Lowry is the quintessential version of that.
Nothing about Lowry blows you away. He’s a six-time (Eastern Conference) All-Star with a career slash line of 15-6-4. Even in this year’s postseason, he only averaged 18-7-6 and shot 32% from three-point range (if I round up).
Nobody would call Lowry a top ten or fifteen player, but it’s hard to say many more players impact winning games more than Lowry. When you watch any Raptors game, it’s impossible to deny he is their best player. He is their engine, their leader. There is no way in hell Toronto should’ve had a chance against the Celtics based on talent, but Lowry’s bulldog attitude invigorated the Raptors entire depth chart.
Go watch the title-clinching Game 6 of the Finals from last year. Who set the tone for Toronto? It wasn’t Kawhi Leonard. Lowry scored the Raptors first eleven points from the field in the opening 2:15 sparking a 11-2 Toronto start. He led the Raptors in scoring with 26 points, added ten assists, seven rebounds and three steals. The Raptors won by just four points, but Lowry was a game-high +16.
The fact that Toronto lost arguably the best basketball player in the world and came within a few points of the conference finals is a testament to Lowry’s leadership, Nurse’s coaching prowess and their organization as a whole. Think about this: Toronto lost Kawhi and went just as far in the postseason as him.
Hindsight is always 2020, but from a purely basketball perspective, Kawhi messed up by not re-signing with the Raptors. They probably would’ve won back to back championships.
Boston Celtics
The Celtics are a philosophical conundrum for me. I loathe everything about Boston sports and the city as a whole. If the Celtics never won a single again, I’d be a happy man.
At the same time, I love so many Celtics players. Kemba Walker’s 2011 March Madness run is one of the reasons I love basketball today. I didn’t really watch basketball at all until then. Marcus Smart is another one of those pesky small guards that I adore. Jaylen Brown is simply one of the smartest and best people in all of professional sports; if you don’t like Jaylen Brown as a person, I don’t know what to tell you.
Jayson Tatum isn’t someone I initially liked because of the whole Duke-UNC thing. But I grew to appreciate him as my freshman year roommate could not stop bragging about how he watched Tatum play in high school. It’s pretty hard to root against a team when you love 80% of the starting lineup, but that’s just how much I fucking hate the city of Boston.
Speaking of Tatum, the kid is elevating his play to levels rarely seen in NBA history. He is averaging 25-10-4 while shooting 40% on seven 3-pt attempts per game as a 21-year-old. Tatum’s 25 points per game in the playoffs is the fourth-highest ever by a player 21 or younger, behind only 2010 Derrick Rose, 2006 LeBron James and 2020 Luka Doncic.
What Tatum lacks in playmaking (for now), he makes up for with two-way dominance. Multiple All-Defensive teams are in his future. This is Tatum’s second time leading the Celtics to the Eastern Conference Finals in his first three NBA seasons (and he dunked on LeBron in Game 7 the first time around). The ceiling on Tatum’s greatness is, as Michael Jordan would say, “the roof”.
Miami Heat
The Heat just read everything positive I wrote about the Celtics and taped it to their lockers. They play with more intensity and determination than any team still going. The Clippers talk the talk; the Heat walk the walk.
I was slow to believe in Miami as a legit Finals contender — as I am with most surprise teams (hello, 2019 San Francisco 49ers) — despite so many smart basketball analysts telling the world about how good they were. That was due in part to my perception of Miami looking like a rag-tag bunch, but they are far from it. This team is a calculated ensemble that Pat Riley and co. have constructed, as illustrated by Zach Lowe.
Tyler Herro’s always been a confident kid, but now that confidence has reached borderline arrogance. Combine that with his talent and it’s no surprise how well he’s playing — regardless of the fact that he’s a 20-year-old rookie. Ditto for Bam Adebayo. The sneaky additions of Jae Crowder and Andre Iguodala as three-and-D wings with immense playoff experience at the deadline for basically nothing — sorry, I’m not a Justise Winslow truther — have been massive. Iguodala’s playing more golf than basketball, but his locker room presence is worth every penny of his $30 million extension.
My other qualm with Miami is that I still kinda can’t wrap my head around Jimmy Butler being the best player on a Finals team. Don’t get me wrong — I love Jimmy Butler. Last year, I wrote about his winning attitude proved to be vital for the Sixers’ playoff success. Let’s not forget that if a certain shot bounces another way, Butler might’ve already made a Finals.
Before the series I predicted the Celtics would win in seven games, but with Miami already up 2-0, I’d change that prediction. Boston won’t go down without a fight, not with Marcus Smart on their team. But Miami has Butler, eight hungry dogs alongside him and a coach who actually gives a damn. I think the Heat are going back to the Finals for the first time since LeBron left South Beach.
Denver Nuggets
The other team I was slow to believe the hype on (at least for this year) is the Denver Nuggets. I’ve been very high on their long-term outlook, but I did not see that upset coming. Back-to-back 3-1 comebacks is truly legendary shit.
Murray’s always been a streaky player, but his floor is now All-Star level and his ceiling is game-breaking. His numbers against Utah in round one were other-worldly. Despite the Clippers having three of the best wing defenders in the league (Beverly, PG and Kawhi), Murray continued his excellent play. He bombarded the Clippers with 40 points in Game 7, including 25 in the first half when Denver needed him most.
There hasn’t been a dominant center capable of leading his team to a championship since prime Shaq. Jokic appears to be the one capable of ending the curse. Of all the centers in recent years labeled as “unicorns”, Jokic is the actual one. He often gets lost in player rankings because he plays in a smaller market, isn’t on social media like Joel Embiid and frankly doesn’t “look” like a star.
But one look at Jokic’s playoff numbers on Basketball-Reference erases any prejudicial skepticism. In 29 career playoff games, he has a career average of 25 points, 11 rebounds and 7 assists per game while shooting 42% on five three-point attempts per game as a seven-foot center. That’s absurd.
He doesn’t just put up numbers; he wins. His stat-line in Game 7 against the Clippers doesn’t blow you away scoring wise (just 16 points), but his 22 rebounds, 13 assists, 3 blocks and 2 steals absolutely do. His unique style flummoxes defenses. He’s the greatest passing big man of all-time full stop. At just 25 years old, with a 23-year-old sidekick who perfectly suits his game, Jokic is going to lead Denver to a Finals soon enough.
Los Angeles Lakers
The Nuggets took out one L.A. team, but will have their hands full with the other one. Jokic was a huge mismatch against Clippers, but the Lakers have a stable of athletic bigs to run Jokic ragged. You saw that in Game 1, as Dwight Howard turned back the clock with a vintage Superman performance.
It’s undeniable that luck has gone the Lakers’ way this postseason, but I’m of the opinion that you create your own luck. The Lakers imposed their will and broke the Trail Blazers in the first round, but that doesn’t change the fact that Portland was among the better eight-seeds in recent memory. In round two, Houston posed significant match-up problems, but again the Lakers flexed their muscles and beat them. You can say Harden and co. folded, but you have to credit LA for causing them to fold.
There won’t be a “Battle for Los Angeles” in the conference finals like many of us hoped, but that’s not the Lakers’ fault. It kinda does mean that LeBron didn’t have to go through Kawhi-PG-Morris, but it also means the Clippers were not good enough to make it. They didn’t deserve to the opportunity; the Lakers did.
Revisionist history is fair in some cases, but not this one. Credit the Lakers for making the task look easy, rather than discrediting the challenge in the first place.
Looking ahead, things look pretty damn good for Los Angeles. LeBron and Davis are two of the three best individual players remaining, which gives them a tremendous star-power advantage in any series. Should they get past Denver, they’ll have the best two players in the Finals.
I expected the Lakers to dispose of the Nuggets in about six games, but I leaned closer to five than seven. Game 1 proved that a four-game sweep is in the cards, though predicting that would be completely disrespectful to what Denver has accomplished.
Nekias Duncan wrote an excellent two-part preview dissecting how the Lakers and Nuggets can win the series. To my untrained eye, Los Angeles has already slowed down Damian Lillard and James Harden this postseason; all due respect to Murray, but LeBron and Davis will surely figure out his two-man game with Jokic. Offensively, I’m just not that worried about the Gary Harris, Torrey Craig, Paul Millsap trio against LeBron and Davis.
A presumed match up with the Heat would be the ultimate test of stars versus depth. The Lakers have the two best players in the series, but Miami has the next like seven. Unlike the Clippers, Miami’s role players fit perfectly next to their stars. Adebayo would be a defensive force in the interior that the Lakers have not seen this postseason, while Butler, Crowder and Iguodala (should he play) on the wings against LeBron is as good as you can hope for. Spoelstra and Riley know LeBron very well from the Big 3 Heatles days.
I do think that while the Heat have played fearless thus far, LeBron is a different beast, especially with all the young players on Miami. LeBron been the best player in the world since Robinson, Herro and Adebayo’s early-teens — he’s probably one of their basketball heroes. No disrespect to Tatum or Giannis, but there’s a difference between facing your rivals and facing your idols.
I’ll go back to my initial pick before the bubble: The Lakers will be NBA champions. LeBron gets his fourth ring, Davis his first as the Lakers secure their 12th championship in Los Angeles, capping off an emotional year for the franchise.