Goeiedag, enchantée and welcome to this week's episode of Eight 2 Four presents: All-NBA Team of the Week. The first week of the Playoffs has given us exactly what we expected. Drama, excitement, surprise and entertainment. Some series are all but over, other series have still all to play for. We’re seeing more fans in the stands, which is also causing friction with the players with at least 2 incidents. A fan in Philly dropped a bucket of popcorn on Russell Westbrook and in Madison Square Garden, a Knicks fan spat at Trae Young. Jayson Tatum proved that he is capable of stopping the Nets on his own, but can he do it 3 more times? Unlikely. The Wizards have not enough size to stop the Sixers and Utah and Memphis are heading towards an epic battle in their first round match-up. This week, we take a closer look at the most influential players in the 5 most intense series so far. This is our All-NBA Team of the Week.
PICK #1
Our first pick of the week is Luka Doncic of the Dallas Mavericks. At the start of the Playoffs, very few people were expecting Dallas to steal the first 2 games at Staples Centre in LA but they did it anyway. And they have their superstar, Luka, to thank for it. The Clippers, on paper, have one of the best defensive teams in the league with 2 stars, Kawhi and Paul George, that are known for their defensive skills. And yet, the young Slovenian is not bothered by them in the least.
The win in game 1 could have been seen as a fluke, Luka surprised everyone with a triple double, and the Clippers wanted to feel Dallas out in that first game. I mean, LeBron is famous for losing his first game and then moving on to win the series. But then they dropped the second game too, and that was no accident. Kawhi had 41 points and PG 28, they really played for it but Luka’s 39, 7 and 7 was enough to inspire his team mates Hardaway Jr and KP to play great games as well.
The Clippers did get one back when the series moved to Dallas, but they need to win 3 out of the last 4 games to get through to the next round. If Luka keeps playing at this level, he scored 44 points in game 3, a career-high in the Playoffs, I don’t see that happening. Luka wants to win game 4 in front of his home crowd, this is the first time in his career he is playing in front of his own fans in the Playoffs. And if Dallas takes game 4, the Clippers will need some sort of miracle to claw themselves back into this one.
PICK #2
Our second pick of the week is Jrue Holiday of the Milwaukee Bucks. The Bucks acquired Holiday in the off-season in a trade that sent Eric Bledsoe to New Orleans. Obviously, there was a lot more involved in this 4-team trade but I don’t have time to go into the details here, google it if you want to know. The point I am trying to make is that the Bucks upgraded their roster at the point guard position. And it shows.
In the series against Miami last season, the Heat were looking for Bledsoe in almost every match-up. As we all know, they tore the Bucks to shreds in that series and went on to play the Lakers in the NBA Finals. This year the tables have turned, the Bucks are out for revenge. Giannis plays harder than ever before and Middleton looks like a different guy out there. But the absolute game changer for the Bucks is Jrue Holiday. In game 2 he was +37 in the box score and in game 3 +41. That is the 7th highest +/- score ever in a Playoff game.
The Bucks have wrapped up the series against the Heat quickly, they won 4 and 0, and in the 2nd round they should be meeting the Nets, who are still battling with Boston. With Jrue running the defence for the Bucks, they actually have a chance of beating the Big 3. Not only do they have a chance, I think that they are more likely to go to the Eastern Conference Finals than the Nets. Milwaukee is doing all the things right. They have taken the time to improve their game during the regular season and have already proven that they can beat the Nets, they did it twice at the start of this month. This is the year for Milwaukee, because next year, everyone else will be a bit stronger too.
PICK #3
Our third pick of the week is Trae Young of the Atlanta Hawks. The series against the New York Knicks is full of firsts. The first time that Trae Young makes it to the Playoffs, the first time in 8 years the Knicks make it to the Playoffs, first time in over a year fans were allowed back into Madison Square Garden and, maybe the best first of all, the first time since Reggie Miller that an opposing player was able to quiet the Knicks fans.
In game 1, Trae Young won the game with a floater for the Hawks and celebrated by shushing the fans. Granted, his shot was a lot more accurate than the positioning of his finger on his face but it was a bold statement none-the-less. The fans had been chanting “F.U. Trae” all evening and he did not let it bother him. Instead, he let it fuel him and gave the fans in MSG a great show. Too bad it was for the opposing team.
But the Knicks fought back in game 2 and drew level, taking the series to Atlanta where Trae can finally play in front of his home fans. And he delivered. Not only did he score 21 points, he dished out 14 assists, allowing 6 of his teammates to score in double digits. The Hawks have the Knicks number in this series, but it will be interesting to see how they will hold up against Philly in the second round of the Playoffs.
PICK #4
Our fourth pick of the week is Damian Lillard of the Portland Trailblazers. Dame is not the best player in this series, that honour is set aside for my regular season MVP, Nikola Jokic. But Dame does have the keys in hand for this series. If he can get hot, just like he was for a few stretches during the regular season, Denver will not have a chance. He had 6 games with more than 40 points during the regular season and only one of those, against the Suns, ended in a loss. But his team has to make sure that they take advantage when it’s Dame-time.
Portland lost game 2 in Denver even though Lillard dropped 42 points on them. The highest score in the game but only CJ McCollum and Norm Powell could add double figures to their boxscores. Clearly not enough from Portland, and they have to work harder to win this series. They started by stealing home court advantage in game 1 but gave it all away in the next 2 games. Giving Denver the win in game 3 put Portland with their backs against the wall to win game 4. Which they did, quite comfortably.
Game 4 will go in the books as the Norman Powell game. On a night that Dame is going 1 for 10, he needs someone else to step up. Usually that would be CJ but today, Powell came to the party. He shot 11 of 15 Field Goals, including 4 for 4 3’s. Portland tied the series and heads back to Denver where Dame can try to steal home court again. Jokic will be on top of his game and unstoppable for Denver so, I think, that the next 2 or 3 games will be high-scoring games. This means that Dame will need his teammates to step up and put some amazing performances on the court. Otherwise, round 1 will be the end for Portland. And would that spell the end of the current roster as well?
PICK #5
Our fifth pick of the week is Chris Paul of the Phoenix Suns. I’m very disappointed that Paul is the decider in the series against the Lakers and I feel for him. Paul is injured, yet again, during a crucial Playoff series. This seems to happen to him every time he gets to a crucial point in his career. A hamstring injury in 2015, a hand fracture in 2016 when he was with the Clippers, another hamstring injury in 2018 with the Rockets, and now a banged-up shoulder in 2021 with the Suns. Each time, Paul and his team looked like they could take it all the way.
He hurt his shoulder in game 1, when he bumped into his teammate Cam Johnson. His arm wasn’t the same after that, it looks like he can’t use his right hand at all. But Paul persevered and pushed Booker to a great performance and the win. But you can’t beat LeBron when you are not at full strength and the Suns were chopped into pieces in the next 2 games. The Lakers now have a chance to win game 4, at home, and take the series to 3-1. I can’t see the Suns coming back from that, especially without a healthy Paul.
Chris Paul’s career is almost perfect. He was Rookie of the Year, 9 times All-NBA, MVP of the All-Star game, led the league in steals 6 times and 4 times in assists. For his career, and he played more than 1000 games, he is less than 1 assist per game short of a double double. Every team he has played on has improved dramatically upon his arrival and the majority of his teammates over the years don’t have anything bad to say about him. The only thing that is missing is an NBA-title. Time is running out for the point-god, it’s looking like he will need a miracle to get there.
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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