Detroit had a horror series opener on Monday, losing to Orlando 101-112. As feared, Detroit’s postseason offence simply wasn’t up to scratch, with only Cade Cunningham looking competent on that end of the floor, as the All-Star guard finished with 39 points, five rebounds and four assists on 61.2% TS%. However, his teammates could not come to the party, with Tobias Harris’ 17 points being the next best total, and even that came in a very shaky 47% TS%. Jalen Duren was the biggest letdown, with just eight points and seven rebounds in 33 minutes, as JB Bickerstaff seemingly refused to put any offence through him, and Daniss Jenkins went just 1/7 from the floor in a terrible Game 1 for Detroit.
Orlando will be ecstatic to have picked up the Game 1 victory, carrying on their momentum from the play-in win to run all over Detroit on the road. Orlando led the whole way at Little Caesars Arena, with their 18-5 opening to the game getting them off to the dream start, and they led almost the whole way until the final buzzer from there. A 2-13 Detroit run early in the third tied the scores at 65-65, but an immediate 14-3 Orlando run got them back into a comfortable position, as Paolo Banchero had another standout game. The young star did all of his damage in the opening three quarters, with 23 points, nine rebounds, four assists and one steal, before going quiet in the fourth, which is where Wendell Carter Jr stood tall. The big man had six points, three rebounds, four assists, one steal and one block in the final quarter alone, finishing with 17 points, seven rebounds and five assists on the night in a dominant showing. Franz Wagner had a tidy 19 points, four assists and two steals and while Jalen Suggs and Desmond Bane struggled with their shot, they had 16 and 17 points respectively, along with strong defensive showings to get Orlando the dub.
We will see a much better effort from Detroit on Thursday, but my concerns around their postseason offence remain. Cunningham will get them a long way, but with Duren, Harris and Duncan Robinson being somewhat unreliable, I can’t take Detroit as near double-figure favourites.
Oklahoma City sent a statement with their 119-84 win over Phoenix on Monday. It was about as straightforward a win as possible for the defending champions, who led by 15 points at the end of the first quarter and continued to increase their lead throughout the game. Even as Shai Gilgeous-Alexander struggled with his shot, with a 49.1% TS%, he recorded 25 points and seven assists in 29 minutes, while Jalen Williams impressed with his 22 points, seven rebounds and six assists. Chet Holmgren dominated defensively with two steals and two blocks, to go with his 16 points and to help OKC record a dominant 89.7 defensive rating and stroll to a 1-0 series lead.
It was a sobering defeat for Phoenix, who could simply never get going offensively. Devin Booker had his moments, working his way to 23 points and six rebounds, but a shocking offensive performance from Dillon Brooks (6/22 FGs, two turnovers) saw him bring the team down. Jalen Green failed to continue his play-in heroics, with just a 47.9% TS% on his way to 17 points and the bigs Oso Ighodaro and Khaman Maluach looked well out of their depth.
Mark Williams is questionable to make his return from injury in Game 2, which will give Phoenix at least a little bit more of a presence down low, but he is a non-factor defensively and isn’t going to help Phoenix get all that close. The concerning thing for the visitors is that it is hard to see an avenue to success offensively, especially with Booker having a decent night in Game 1, and we’re in for another low total on Thursday.