New York were emphatic in closing out their first-round series against Atlanta, winning Game 6, 140-89, to slam the door shut on the visitors and progress to the second round. Mike Brown’s team improved over the course of the series after losing Games 2 and 3 to then go on to record a 16-point victory in Game 4, a 29-point victory in Game 5 and a huge 51-point thumping in Game 6. It was a shocking spectacle at Madison Square Garden, with New York’s lead reaching 50 points in the second quarter, and it got out beyond the 60-point mark in the third quarter to make for an embarrassing defeat for the visitors. It was a crushing two-way performance from New York, with a 139.4 offensive rating and an 88.0 defensive rating to lead to the blowout, with everything going right for the hosts. Their 66.5% eFG% saw seemingly every shot fall, as Mikal Bridges came out of his offensive slump to record 24 points on 10/12 shooting, while OG Anunoby continued his hot run with 29 points on 11/14 shooting. That duo was also highly effective on the defensive end, while Jalen Brunson was happy to take somewhat of a back seat with 17 points and eight assists. Karl Anthony-Towns recorded another playoff triple-double with 12 points, 11 rebounds, 10 assists, three steals, and one block and Josh Hart had his usual across-the-board impact with 14 points, five rebounds and plenty of strong defensive possessions.
Philadelphia pulled off quite the comeback in their series against Boston to come from 1-3 down to win Sunday’s Game 7, 109-100. There was an element of good luck as Jayson Tatum was ruled out of the decider with a knee injury but even when Tatum was healthy, it was the return of Joel Embiid that completely transformed this series. The big man helped Philadelphia take control after returning from appendectomy surgery in Game 4 and his dominance ultimately saw Philly progress to the second round. He was again very impressive in Game 7, leading his team with 34 points, 12 rebounds, six assists and one block, while Tyrese Maxey thrived alongside him, dropping an efficient 30 points, 11 rebounds, and seven assists. VJ Edgecombe also had some big moments, as he recorded 23 points and 4 assists and Paul George had just 13 points but was a defensive standout to help Philadelphia record a huge series victory over the second seeds.
One of the main factors heading into this series will be the health of Embiid, who looked to suffer an injury late in Game 7 as Maxey fell into his left knee, causing him to hobble significantly afterwards. He is listed as probable on the injury report, but whether he is at full health is a big question. Unlike Boston, New York have some size to throw at Embiid and will force him to be active defensively through the likes of Towns and Hart, which makes this somewhat of a difficult matchup for Philadelphia but Embiid’s form, along with Maxey’s effectiveness with Embiid in the lineup, definitely gives Nick Nurse’s team a chance in the series. Home court advantage and rest advantage is firmly with New York in the opener, and that makes them the obvious bet here, but as the series goes on, Philly will make things interesting.
Series Bet
New York 4-2 ($5.50)
San Antonio overcame a couple of shaky moments in their series against Portland to win 4-1, and they closed it out in style with a 114-95 victory in Game 5 last Wednesday. Victor Wembanyama’s concussion was the big talk of the series, but it didn’t end up impacting San Antonio all that much as they went on to win the last three games to ultimately breeze through to the second round. Their Game 5 victory was a dominant one as they led from start to finish and had a 67-45 lead at halftime, which proved to be far too much for Portland to overcome. Wembanyama was at the forefront again for the hosts as he recorded 17 points, 14 rebounds and six blocks, while De’Aaron Fox continued his good form in the postseason with 21 points and nine assists. Julian Champagnie was also on target as he went 5/7 from deep for 19 points and seven boards, and Dylan Harper recorded 17 points and three steals to make it a breezy victory for San Antonio.
Minnesota pulled off a huge upset to send Denver packing and win Game 6 110-98. Despite being without Anthony Edwards, Donte DiVincenzo, and Ayo Dosunmu, Minnesota controlled the game with their physical and relentless defence, restricting Nikola Jokić, Jamal Murray and co. to just a 105.4 offensive rating to close out the series and pull off one of the great first-round upsets in league history. There were plenty of tense moments in the fourth quarter, especially as Denver got to within one point at 86-85, but Minnesota never relented and closed out the game on a 10-1 run to win the series in style. There were a number of standouts for Minny, but Jaden McDaniels was the leader of the pack. He exploded for 32 points, 10 rebounds, two steals and one block, and did a lot of his offensive work while targeting Jamal Murray, as did Terrence Shannon Jr on his way to 24 points and two steals. Rudy Gobert was elite defensively again with 10 points, 13 rebounds, eight assists and two blocks and Naz Reid and Julius Randle added some big buckets as Chris Finch played a triple big lineup in the clutch.
Finch may well opt for big minutes from that Gobert-Reid-Randle frontcourt again in this series to try and combat Wembanyama’s size, but that’s only going to have limited success. SA’s defence is strong all over the floor and with Edwards (knee, questionable for Game 1) likely out for at least another week and Dosunmu (calf, questionable) perhaps not suiting up for the opener, I struggle to see Minnesota getting close on Tuesday and I am picking this to be a short series.
Best
San Antonio -13.5 ($1.95)
Series Bet
Series Most Assists — De’Aaron Fox ($3.00)