Goeiedag, enchantée and welcome to this week's episode of Eight 2 Four presents: All-NBA Team of the Week. We are flying towards the finish line now, Round 1 of the Playoffs is already over. In the end, we can’t really say that we saw any surprises. All top 4 seeds in both conferences have progressed to the next round and not a single series had to go to 7 games. As much as everyone likes to talk up the drama, at the end of the day, the strongest teams always win. Does that mean we can expect the Suns to play Miami in the Finals? Not necessarily, but I wouldn’t be surprised. What I do know is that there are no handouts left and the second round of the Playoffs is proving to get really exciting. Good thing we’re allowed a day off in between to catch our breath. On the show this week, we look back at some of the winners of round 1 and players that will need to step up in round 2 to get their team over the line. Get ready for your All-NBA Team of the Week!
PICK #1
Our first pick of the week is Ja Morant of the Memphis Grizzlies. It was a tough series, but the Grizzlies did, they eliminated the Minnesota Timberwolves. It took 6 gruelling games and was often a punishment to watch. But it was also often the most exciting series to watch in the first round. Ja absolutely killed Malik Beasley with a monsterdunk in Game 5, we saw massive scoring runs and the Timberwolves have blown lead upon lead upon lead. The Grizzlies won pretty much every one of their 4 games coming back from behind, except in Game 2, their first win of the series. A very disappointing ending for the Timberwolves, who had plenty of opportunities to swing this series in their favour, but a great start for this young team to learn and grow from in the next few years.
So, the Grizzlies progress to the next round and have to play the Golden State Warriors. The Warriors had very little trouble with the Nuggets, completing the gentleman’s sweep, winning the series in 5 games. The Grizzlies and Warriors have played 4 games during the regular season and the Grizz are 3 and 1. Obviously, the Warriors struggled all year to get their starters on the floor together, so take that with a grain of salt. In their last game, on the 28th of March, Memphis blew Golden State out with 28 points, but no Steph, Klay or Draymond on the roster that night. None of that matters now, this series is going to be tough and will likely last 6 or 7 games.
But in order for it to do so, Ja needs to be the superstar he can be. In the series against the Wolves he struggled a bit, but still managed to average 21 points per game, 10 assists and 8 rebounds. His superstrength is that he can blow past anyone and get to the rim, where he can literally jump over anyone. The biggest problem the Grizzlies will have with the Warriors is that they can’t afford to fall behind as much as they did against the Timberwolves. The Warriors are defensively very strong and will not allow the Grizzlies to make a 20-0 run back into the game. Memphis will need to stay close to the Warriors all game long so they can take over at the end of the game, but are these young guns able to stay concentrated for a whole game? Time will tell. I predict that this will be the most exciting series of the second round, and no matter who comes out of it, both teams will be really tired at the end of it.
PICK #2
Our second pick of the week is James Harden of the Philadelphia 76ers. Harden had a terrible series against the Toronto Raptors, and yet, when it mattered in Game 6, he showed up. He finished that game with 22 points, but more importantly 15 assists. It was a very impressive game all around from Philly, with all starters finishing in double digits and Joel Embiid, Tobias Harris and obviously Harden finishing with a double double. Considering the media circus around the league had already booked their hotel rooms in Philly for Game 7. A very imposing performance by Coach Doc Rivers and his guys, and took care of business and never looked like they would lose this game.
But so far the good news. The main reason we have picked Harden in our team is not because he played one good game. No, we picked him because in the next series, against Miami, he needs to show up in at least 4 of them. Embiid left Game 6 injured, he has an orbital fracture and is out indefinitely. For those of you who don’t know, your orbital socket is the set of bones that protect your eye. He had a similar injury a few years back and that took him 3 weeks to come back from, with a mask. It’s hard to say how long he is going to be out for, but I’m not expecting him to suit up in the series against Miami. If Harden can pull this one out, Embiid might be back in the Eastern Conference Finals.
And that brings us to the 260 million dollar question: can Harden pull it out for Philly? So far these Playoffs he has averaged 19 points, 10 assists and 5 rebounds per game, and his shooting splits are ok. They are not fantastic, but it’s not the numbers that are the problem for Harden, it’s the eye test. He was not able to get past anyone on that Raptors team. Translate that to a Miami side, that is even tougher defensively, and this could be a massive problem for the Sixers. Yes, the Heat have their own injury woes, with Kyle Lowry out and Jimmy Butler has knee soreness, but Miami has guys on guys to throw at Harden. And we’re only talking about on court stuff right now. Can Harden resist temptation to go partying in Miami every night on the road? I see this as the make or break series for Philadelphia. If they make it through, anything is possible. But if they lose, ooo, they’ll have a lot of work to do in the offseason.
PICK #3
Our third pick of the week is Mikal Bridges of the Phoenix Suns. For a minute there, it looked like the Suns were going to struggle against the Pelicans. Devin Booker missed some games, Brandon Ingram turned into an offensive killing machine, Herb Jones and Jose Alvarado changed from simple rookies to accomplished role players and Willie Green’s coaching brain worked overtime. The Pelicans made a valiant effort in their first round match-up, but the Suns were simply better. As you’d expect in a one versus eight Playoff battle. Chris Paul and Deandre Ayton found each other, Booker returned, maybe a bit early but he’s back anyway, and most of all, Mikal Bridges emerged as someone who’s a lot more than just a 3-and-D role player.
In his time in the league, Bridges has changed his game from when he was in college. On a roster with Jalen Brunson, Eric Paschall and Donte DiVincenzo, he averaged over 17 points per game and led them to the NCAA championship in 2018. He was a go-to scorer, shooting at a very high clip, especially from deep. When he was drafted by the Suns, scoring was not important, they have Booker to do that, so he focused on improving his defense, and he basically turned himself into a potential Defensive Player of the Year candidate, coming second to Marcus Smart in this year’s award. When the Suns missed Booker in the crucial Game 5, Bridges stepped up and scored 31 points, including 4 from 4 from deep.
Not only is Bridges happy to play the role the Suns need him to play, he is also always available. Bridges has never missed a game, not in the league, not in college. He is rarely injured and never tired. Bridges is exactly the player anyone would want on their team, and if the Suns manage to make it all the way, he will play a big part in that championship. The Suns are back at full strength, just in time to meet Luka Doncic and the Mavericks. They will count on Bridges to stop Luka and his old Villanova teammate Brunson. It won’t be easy and a good test for the Suns to see if they’re ready for a run towards the Championship.
PICK #4
Our fourth pick of the week is Giannis Antetokounmpo of the Milwaukee Bucks. Even though the Bucks moved through Chicago quite easily, they could be in quite a bit of trouble in their second round series against Boston. Khris Middleton is out with an MCL sprain and is likely to miss the whole series. Missing any players in a Playoff campaign is difficult but if that player is your number 2 on the roster, it takes the difficulty to a whole new level. Giannis, Jrue Holiday, Brook Lopez and the rest will have to dig extra deep to make up for the big hole Middleton leaves on both the offensive AND defensive end of the court.
But if there is one player capable of handling the extra pressure, physically and psychologically, it is Giannis. The Greek Freak averaged more than 28 points and 13 rebounds a game in, what you can now call, a walkover. The Bulls looked like they could be a dangerous customer for the Bucks when they took Game 2, but Milwaukee had absolutely no problem finishing the series off in 5 games. Giannis is the most dominant player in the league right now, I don't see any other player out there that can compete with him physically. He is an absolute beast and he will make life hard on Al Horford and anyone else tasked with guarding him. The Celtics may be one of the best defensive teams in the league, but they will struggle containing Giannis.
Maybe the Celtics don’t have to worry about Giannis, because if they can stop everyone else, Giannis can be Giannis. He’s not going to make 100 points on his own. I have a strong feeling that this series will go down very similarly as the Celtics-Nets in the first round. If these games can stay close, the Celtics are more likely to close it out at the end, because the best closer for Milwaukee is Middleton, and he won’t be there. Imagine the Celtics sweeping the Bucks in round 2, wouldn’t that be something? It would surely spike up all those rumours from last season about Coach Bud getting fired. But the Bucks are a better team than the Nets, even without Middleton.
PICK #5
Our fifth pick of the week is Draymond Green of the Golden State Warriors. The odds of winning the whole thing are in favour of the Warriors. They had a nice and fairly easy run in the opening series in the Playoffs against Denver, wrapping the whole thing up in 5 games. Stephen Curry started the series on the bench, recovering from his foot injury, and gradually played more and more minutes until he was allowed to start and play nearly 38 minutes in Game 5. He finished with 30 points, clinching the series for the Warriors. Curry is the main man for the Warriors, without them they are nothing. But they still need the guys around him for him to succeed.
Over the last week we heard a lot of different names for the new Warriors line-up. I’m not a big fan of naming line-ups, especially ones that haven’t really played much time together, but it is no secret that Curry, Poole, Klay, Wiggins and Draymond are Steve Kerr’s preferred starting 5. Bring Kevon Looney off the bench, if you need him, and add Otto Porter Jr, Iguodala, GP 2 and Kuminga where needed. The Warriors have a great roster, and considering how deep they had fallen in the years without Klay, quite a surprise that they are back so soon. After watching the Nets fail against the Celtics, I’m a bit wary to stamp them as favourites to win the league, in my eyes, that’s still the Suns, but I’m sure they’ll work their way through the Grizzlies to the Western Conference Finals.
But it won’t be a breeze like against the Nuggets. No, the Grizzlies are ready to fight this Warriors team with tooth and nail, literally. The Warriors will need to be on, from start to finish, and that’s where they count on Draymond Green. Draymond is the engine of this team, he’s the spark that sets it all on fire. He brings the intensity to the game and his court vision is second to none, even though he hit a couple of teammates in the head with his passes in the last round. But a series against the Grizzlies can be dangerous for Draymond too, because they don’t back down either. This could become a very verbal series, which usually ends in a suspension for a game or 2 for Draymond. He’ll have to keep it together to lead the death lineup to the Western Conference Finals.
This is our All-NBA team of the Week. Please share our podcast and give us 5 stars. If you have any questions, you can contact the show on eight2fouroffice@gmail.com. Thank you for listening, ballers out!
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