NBA Season and Playoff Catch Up
The NBA Playoffs have officially begun with a slew of game 1 matchups. The regular season ended wildly as the Celtics surpassed the Cavs for first in the Eastern Conference. Plus, we can’t ignore Russell Westbrook’s historic season-ending performances.Whether you’re looking for information on betting for the first round games or just looking to recap the season thus far, we’ve got the resources right here. Before we get too far into the Playoffs, let us catch up on the highlights down the final stretch and in these round 1 games.
Russell Westbrook’s 42 Triple-Doubles
There are some moments as a sports fan that you just can’t ever forget. Russell Westbrook’s triple-double record is one of those moments. After tying Oscar Roberston’s record of 41, Russ played one of the best games of his life to break the record. In a 106-105 win over the Denver Nuggets, he posted 50 points, 16 rebounds and 10 assists. He also lifted his team to victory with a 36-foot 3-pointer at the buzzer to complete Oklahoma City’s comeback from 13 points down over the final 4 and a half minutes of play. During that span, the Thunder scored 18 points, with Westbrook scoring or assisting on all of them.
He finished the season with a per-game average of 31.6 points, 10.4 rebounds, and 10.7 assists. It’s a feat no one ever thought possible after Oscar Robertson averaged a triple-double more than a half century ago. In this modern era of basketball titans and intense competition, it’s simply spectacular.
After his record-setting performance against the Nuggets, Russ said, “[I’m] very, very blessed. I’ve got to give all the thanks from the man above. He’s blessed me with unbelievable talent to go out and compete at a high level. I’m just thankful for my teammates, for my coaching staff, for the organization, for all the fans, for my family for believing in me and allowing me to do what I’m doing.”
The Thunder will face the Houston Rockets in round one of the playoffs. That game is underway as I write this.
“When I got on the floor, I got one friend and that’s the basketball,” Westbrook said of his relationship to James Harden
Cavs Slide To Second
After coasting the entire season in the number one spot, a rocky finish pushed the Cleveland Cavaliers into second in the Eastern Conference. Cleveland finished the season 51-31, with a 20-21 road record. From March 1 to season’s end, they went 10-14. Plagued by injuries big and small, the Cavs never seemed to find their rhythm in the second half of the season. Kevin Love sat for six weeks during which time they lost some crucial matchups. Not to mention, all the fuss about incomplete rotations led them to try and integrate some new faces. Consequently, their defense suffered. On February 23rd, they sat atop the East with a record of 40-16. After that, they went 11-15 the rest of the way. They went from outscoring opponents 111.5-105.9 to getting outscored 107.9-109.8 in those final 26 games. In the last week of games, they lost four games in a row–choosing to sit their star players and conceding to the second seed in the playoffs.
Despite that, the team entered the postseason hopeful that they could shake off the cobwebs. In Game 1 against the Pacers, their defense struggled again. But in the end, they were able to hold off Indiana, and won following a last-second miss by Pacers guard, CJ Miles. So they hold off a late surge from the no. 7 seeded Pacers, and took Game 1. But that win, like many of their final wins of the regular season, was a bit shaky. Playing in his 200th playoff game, James scored 32 points, adding 13 assists and six rebounds on the way to his 18th consecutive first-round game.
After the game, James said, “I’m happy we got the victory. I’m happy how emotional we was. I’m happy with the energy and the effort. They made some big shots and some big plays, so I’m excited about that.”
Game 2 takes place at Quicken Loans Arena on Monday night.
Milwaukee Bucks Steal Game One
With 1:46 to go in the fourth quarter of Game One in Toronto, Demar DeRozan drove to the rim, only to be rejected by an emphatic denial from Giannis Antetokounmpo. That pretty much summed up this first game in the series. The 6-seeded Bucks, who went 42-40 in the regular season, held a solid lead the entire game, beating the no. 3 Raptors on their home court, 97-83. Giannis finished with 28 points and 8 rebounds. Five other players scored in double digits, while for Toronto Serge Ibaka and DeRozan were the only ones to eclipse ten points.
The Raptors have now lost the opening game in eight consecutive playoff series. “Our second half was just abysmal,” Raptors coach Dwane Casey said. “We didn’t play with any pace, any rhythm, any movement. You keep playing that way, it’s always going to bite you in the behind and that’s what happened to us tonight.”
Playing in his second career playoff series, Giannis sank 13 of 18 shots, and kept the pace for his whole team. It was an exciting game for a squad of young guns.
“It’s big for us, but now we have to focus on Game 2,” Antetokounmpo said. “We know they’re going to be more desperate.”
