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Scores and Series Updates:
Toronto 118 @ Milwaukee 93 (TOR -6)
Toronto leads 3-2… Game 6 Thursday @MIL… NBATV 7:00
Washington 101 @ Atlanta 111 (ATL -2.5)
Series tied 2-2… Game 5 Wednesday @ WAS… TNT 6:00
Golden State 128 @ Portland 103 (GS -9)
Golden State Wins Series 4-0
Three Big Takeaways:
1) Hey, remember when we noticed that the Warriors had a Chance concert scheduled for the same day at a potential game five with the Blazers?
Well it took all of about five minutes last night for the Oracle event staff to start setting up that stage.
Once the Warriors started on a 14-0… which became a 22-3 run… which became a 28-5 run… which became a 35-11 run… then I think it was safe to get the event staff kicked into gear.
This… this was probably the nail in the coffin
35 points on 18 possessions? Folks I’m not much of a data guy ever since David Fizdale made fun of data guys last week… but this… I’ll take this for data
Folks I haven’t seen someone murder Portland like that since Quavo gave Drake the vocals on More Life. Little hip hop and basketball joke for all you readers out there.
Thanks,,
2) Atlanta flipped this series on it’s head with their transition defense.
Biggest takeaway from any game last night… other than the Warriors being good at this sport… was that Atlanta won this game by getting back in transition.
Transition is the Wizard’s game. They blow games open by getting out on the break with Wall attacking the rim and Beal and others hitting transition threes. That becomes decidedly more difficult when Atlanta is getting back and turning those 2-on-1 and 3-on-2 breaks into 1-on-3’s and 2-on-4’s. Yes, Wall still broke through for some outrageous shots. And Beal had himself a hell of a game. But Atlanta’s discipline in getting back prevented Washington from ever blowing the game open with an insane run.
Also helping them win? Big games from Dwight and Millsap… plus Dennis Schroeder losing his mind in the fourth.
This has very very sneaky become the best series of the first round. Some really fun, REALLY contentious games so far. And I’d guess three more still to come. The first four games have either been either buried on NBATV, up against another game in the early time slot, or tossed in on a Saturday Night. But with two series now finished and likely a third done tonight, we should get games 5, 6, and 7 of this matchup on their own. Game Five is Wednesday at 6:00 on TNT. Weird time slot again — but at least it’s on it’s own, right?
Also, Scott Brooks apparently never learned from his biggest mistake in OKC and just went like three minutes without Wall or Beal on the floor last night. And to the surprise of absolutely no one, the Hawks jumped out to a lead that Washington couldn’t make up. Figure it out Scotty. Figure it out.
3) Norman Powell? Norman Powell!
How about Norman Powell! Dude started his second game of the series and tore it UP last night. 25 points on 8/11 shooting. 4 threes, 4 boards, 4 assists, 4 steals. Hit the dagger three pointer that all but wrapped the game up. Dunked in between about 25 feet of length in Giannis and Thon. And gave the night the exclamation point it deserved with an explosion down the middle of the lane.
I still believe in Milwaukee. Mostly, I still believe in Giannis. And I do think he can get them to bounce back and push this to 7. But ever since Casey threw Powell into the starting lineup and went small, it feels like Toronto has kind of figured this thing out.
But I won’t give up on Giannis just yet…
Stuff That Happened:
Again… I’m not giving up on Giannis. But this was tough…
Greg Monroe and Jonas Valenciunas had beef to the point that Monroe was all good shoving his teammate out of the way. “Nah I got this”
Speaking of beef… can I interest you in a little former-Knick PG on PG action?
Jose Calderon gave the Hawks some good minutes last ni– wait what?
Hey… um… at least the Blazers got one win tonight
Schedule for Tuesday, April 25th
Houston @ Oklahoma City (HOU -7.5)
Houston leads 3-1… Game 5 Tuesday @HOU… TNT 8:00
San Antonio @ Memphis (SA -10)
Series tied 2-2… Game 5 Tuesday @SA… NBATV 9:00
Los Angeles @ Utah (LA -3.5)
Series tied 2-2… Game 5 Tuesday @LA… TNT 10:30
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