What we’ve learned from the NBA Playoffs so far

Photo Credit: ballerball

Photo Credit: ballerball

The opening weekend of the NBA Playoffs are now behind us; a surely entertaining one at that. Now class, what have we learned from these first eight games?

Atlanta Hawks: Nothing

A big question would be how the 60-22 Atlanta Hawks would fair in the postseason, being the franchise’s first one seed in over 20 years. Some thought that they might trip or show signs of weakness and perhaps lose their opener against the Brooklyn Nets. Did Jeff Teague and company care? Not really. They went into Phillips Arena and took care of business exactly how they have all season long. With efficient offense, Kyle Korver leading the way with 21 points, and solid defense, the Hawks looked just fine.

Talent over experience

While broadcasting the Cleveland Cavaliers-Boston Celtics game, ESPN Analyst Jeff Van Gundy said on live air, concerning the Cavs lack of playoff experience, I’d rather have great talent over experience. Of course Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love were making their playoff debuts, and turns out Jeff is on to something here. Kyrie made NBA history in this game, becoming the first player to ever score 30 points with five three pointers in his playoff debut. In fact, the four players who’d never played in a playoff game before: Irving, Love, Tristan Thompson and Matthew Dellevadova outscored the rest of the Cavs veterans 63-50.

The Warriors should be scared of Anthony Davis

Through three quarters of domination in game one, the Golden State Warriors held Anthony Davis and the New Orleans Pelicans in check. Leading by 25 close to the end of the third quarter and not allowing the Pelican’s star anything, Draymond Green started talking some smack. While he looked lost through three, Green poked at the kind-hearted unibrowed beast and unleashed absolute fury. Davis scored 20 points in the fourth quarter alone and nearly brought the Pelicans from 20 points down all on his own. While the Warriors still won, they know that The Brow is out for blood now, and good luck stopping that man when he’s determined to dominate.

Home court advantage = Key

Home court advantage is always key in the playoffs, as the winner of Game One in a seven game series, usually the home team, wins the series approximately 79% of the time. So far this year, the home court has been very effective as home teams went 7-1 in the first weekend; the lone loss was the Toronto Raptors to the Washington Wizards.

Derrick Rose is back

In his first playoff game since tearing his ACL in 2012, Derrick Rose dominated the Milwaukee Bucks with 23 points and seven assists in just 28 minutes of play. The Chicago Bulls looked doomed once Rose re-tore a meniscus in his knee, but now they are back at full strength. With a likely Eastern Conference Semifinals matchup with Lebron James and the Cavs lurking, this kind of play from D. Rose is absolutely critical.

This could be the Clippers’ year

In what should be the most entertaining series of the first round, the Los Angeles Clippers handled the San Antonio Spurs in game one by double-figures. Chris Paul dominated with 32 points and the red hot Clippers, now winners of eight consecutive games, looked as complete and dominate as we have seen in the CP3 era. Blake Griffin held the pace with 26 points and some emphatic dunks, Deandre Jordan had four blocks and J.J Reddick is having his best season in the NBA after making 200 three pointers in the regular season. It’s just one game, but it’s a game in which they handled the playoff-powerhouse Spurs in nearly dominate fashion. If there’s one year for the Clippers to make the finals it seems to be this year.