Detroit emerged from their gruelling series against Orlando to win Game 7 116-94. It wasn’t the most convincing of series from JB Bickerstaff’s side, as they fell into a 1-3 hole after four games. As Franz Wagner went down with an injury and Cade Cunningham upped his game, the first seeds were able to clean up their act and win the last three games to progress to the second round. Cunningham finished the series with averages of 32.4 points on 60.2% TS% and 7.1 assists per game to dominate on the offensive end, and Tobias Harris came up with some big performances in the final five games, but none was more important than his Game 7 showing. The veteran forward dropped 30 points, nine rebounds and three steals to provide a crucial scoring punch for Detroit and although Jalen Duren was somewhat reserved offensively again, he provided a crucial defensive effort to finish with 15 points, 15 rebounds (six offensive) and three assists to have his best game of the series. Daniss Jenkins was also important, with 16 points and five assists, and Ausar Thompson did his thing defensively with eight points, two steals and two blocks.
Cleveland produced a huge 38-19 third quarter in Game 7 of their series against Toronto to flip the match on its head and record a vital series victory. It was a poor start to the contest for Kenny Atkinson’s men, quickly falling to a 10-point deficit, and while it took them some time to warm into the contest, they looked unstoppable once they did. A 36-12 run across the end of the second quarter and start of the third turned a nine-point deficit into a 74-59 lead and Cleveland kept the heat coming for an 87-68 lead at three-quarter time, all but sealing the series in the process. It was the defence of the hosts that ultimately got them home in the 114-102 victory, with Jarrett Allen recording his best-ever postseason game with 22 points, 19 rebounds, two steals and three blocks to dominate the paint. Max Strus was also reliable defensively and Evan Mobley had his moments, while Donovan Mitchell joined Allen on the offensive charge to also post 22 points. James Harden was shaky from the floor but did a lot of his damage from the free throw line for 18 points, six rebounds and three steals and Sam Merrill hit some important threes in his 13 points.
Both teams will feel that they need to be much better if they are going to win this second round series and while Cunningham will likely be the best player on the floor, Detroit’s offensive woes still make me hesitant to back them with any confidence. Mitchell and Harden have hardly had the best start to their postseasons, but the class of this Cleveland starting unit will be a real handful for the #1 seeds. That makes the visitors good value in the series opener.
Series Bet
Cleveland 4-2 ($4.25)
Oklahoma City barely had to break a sweat in their opening round win over Phoenix, sweeping the eighth seeds and capping the series off with a 130-122 victory in Game 4. As the only team to record a sweep in the first round, Oklahoma City looked every bit like title favourites. It was again Shai Gilgeous-Alexander who was at the forefront, with the reigning MVP averaging 33.8 points and 8.0 assists per game. Chet Hongren was also elite, recording 17.3 points, 8.5 rebounds and 2.0 blocks per game to be the cornerstone of Oklahoma City’s dominant defence. However, it was their offence that really stood out across the four games, capping the series off with a 136.8 offensive rating in last Tuesday’s contest, as SGA, Holmgren, Isaiah Hartenstein (18 points, 12 rebounds) and Ajay Mitchell (22 points, six assists) all got in on the fun. It’s an interesting trend to keep an eye out for as the playoffs continue and it may well remain to be the case against a Lakers team that is not known for its defence.
Los Angeles pulled off the upset in the opening round, beating Houston 4-2 despite being without Luka Dončić (hamstring) for the whole series and Austin Reaves (oblique) for the opening four games. It was LeBron James who instead led the way for the Lakers, with averages of 23.2 points, 7.2 rebounds, and 8.3 assists per game. His shooting wasn’t particularly tidy, with just a 53% TS%, but the likes of Rui Hachimura, Marcus Smart and, at times, Deandre Ayton were able to keep Los Angeles’ scoring coming, which made for a relatively comfortable series win for JJ Redick’s team. It was on the defensive end where the Lakers impressed most, though, with Smart’s on-ball tenacity often causing problems for a Houston side without an elite ball handler, and James, Ayton and Jaxson Hayes often being locked-in on the defensive end. Reaves didn’t look all that tidy in his two games post-injury but he will be back to his best after a three-day rest.
It’s an interesting series ahead of us, with James set to take on another juggernaut of a team in the playoffs. That said, this obviously isn’t a 2016 version of LeBron that we are getting, and that is going to make it hard work for the Lakers to do much damage to OKC in this series, especially without Dončić. The Slovenian may well feature around Game 4 onwards, but it’s going to be too late of the Lakers then and I expect OKC to really assert themselves in the opener, but the 15.5-point line is a bit ambitious. The Lakers had no success against OKC in the regular season but playoff basketball is a different game, as we have seen so far, and Redick is going to pack the paint on SGA’s drives which is going to throw a spanner in the works for OKC’s offence, at least early on. This game won’t be a huge blowout as the market is suggesting.
Best
Los Angeles Lakers +15.5 ($1.90)
Series Bet
Series Most Threes Made — Rui Hachimura ($8.00)/