Running analysis of Round 1 of the NBA playoffs
Our basketball writers share their observations and insights throughout Round 1 of the NBA postseason.
Wednesday, April 22
Pistons' defense fuels bounce-back win
Detroit's defense was its calling card all season. With a potential 0-2 series deficit staring the Pistons in the face, they delivered a signature defensive performance to draw level with the Magic. J.B. Bickerstaff's squad limited Orlando to season lows in both points (83) and field-goal percentage (32.5%). The Magic couldn't do anything against the Pistons' stingy half-court defense, managing only 68.8 points per 100 possessions, per Cleaning the Glass. The trio of Franz Wagner, Wendell Carter Jr., and Desmond Bane was held to 27 points on 25% shooting after combining for 53 in Game 1.
Detroit exerted its physicality, forced multiple shot-clock violations with sharp rotations, contested shots at the rim, and created havoc on the perimeter. The Pistons led the NBA in blocks during the regular season, and showed that prowess in Game 2 with 11 rejections - including seven swats in the first quarter to tie the postseason record in the play-by-play era. Jalen Duren was the lone Detroit starter that didn't have at least one steal and one block. Meanwhile, Isaiah Stewart and Javonte Green each posted multiple blocks off the bench.
Ausar Thompson was all over the floor, too, rotating to protect the rim, guarding multiple players, and jarring balls loose to ignite the Pistons' fast break. Detroit tallied 18 points off 17 Orlando turnovers, with the 2025-26 Defensive Player of the Year finalist serving as a major catalyst. - Chicco Nacion
Rockets can't capitalize on size advantage
The Rockets are the league's best offensive rebounding team, and they have a massive size advantage over a Lakers team lacking reliable frontcourt depth. Houston has grabbed 43% of its misses and secured an average of 19 offensive rebounds through the series' first two games. Offensive rebounds lead to more shooting opportunities, and fittingly, the Rockets attempted 27 more shots than the Lakers in Game 1 and 17 more in Game 2. More shots theoretically should lead to more points, but not for a Rockets squad devoid of shooters and on-ball creators.
Even with the return of Kevin Durant (whose erratic ball-handling and playmaking led to nine turnovers), Houston doesn't have enough offensive initiators to create quality looks. And when the Rockets do manage to do so, they deploy too many questionable shooters, especially on nights like Tuesday when Reed Sheppard only plays 11 minutes. The Rockets shot 40% from the field and 24% from three in Game 2. If they can't capitalize on all those extra shots, their offseason will start sooner than expected. - Sam Oshtry
Edgecombe's historic night powers Sixers
As Tyrese Maxey struggled in the second quarter of Game 2 and Paul George sat most of the period because of foul trouble, Sixers rookie VJ Edgecombe scored 16 points and drilled four threes while playing all 12 minutes. First-year players rarely carry teams to playoff wins, but Edgecombe finished with a team-high 30 points and 10 rebounds, becoming the first rookie to score at least 30 in a playoff game since Donovan Mitchell in 2018. He also became the first rookie to record 30 points and 10 rebounds in the playoffs since Tim Duncan in 1998.
Edgecombe made the Celtics look foolish on his catch-and-shoot threes as Boston helped off to prevent the Sixers from getting to the rim. He also torched the Celtics as a pick-and-roll ball-handler, drilling pull-up jumpers as Boston sat in drop coverage. The Baylor product's athleticism shone through in college, but Edgecombe's development as a shooter in his first season was impossible to anticipate. His historic performance sends the Sixers back to Philly with the series tied at one game apiece. - Sam Oshtry
Tuesday, April 21
LeBron, Lakers outclass Rockets in KD's return
There's a palpable difference between the joy LeBron James and the undermanned Lakers are playing with right now and the wretched, laborious basketball the Rockets are subjecting fans to. With Kevin Durant returning to the lineup after a knee injury sidelined him in Game 1, Houston was once again favored. You would've never guessed it.
James just continues to pummel Father Time. Meanwhile, Marcus Smart is making winning plays all over the court. Luke Kennard and Rui Hachimura continue to hit big shots. And JJ Redick is coaching circles around Ime Udoka. Then again, Udoka's stars aren't helping him.
Durant's decision-making in a nine-turnover performance was pitiful. KD himself may chalk that up to the lack of spacing and self-creators around him, as Houston's lack of competent table-setting has been an issue all season with Fred VanVleet sidelined. But the future Hall of Famer just doesn't have the playmaking instincts to quarterback an offense the way James does.
Alperen Sengun looks even worse, as the big man's touch has completely abandoned him through two games. Sengun has managed just 39 points on 44 shooting possessions. There's also zero synergy between Houston's two All-Stars, made painfully clear by the number of mistimed and misplaced passes between Durant and Sengun in Game 2 and by the passes not even attempted.
As Game 3 and 4 loom in Houston, are the Rockets going home to figure things out or to be put out of their misery? - Joseph Casciaro
Blazers stun Wemby-less Spurs
The Trail Blazers outscored the Spurs 24-8 over the final 7:44 of Game 2 and 11-2 over the final 3:26 to steal a win and send what's now a best-of-five series to Portland. But it was the absence of Victor Wembanyama - and uncertainty about his status going forward - that stole the headlines after the unanimous Defensive Player of the Year suffered a concussion on a scary second-quarter fall.
Even in a worst-case scenario where Wembanyama missed extended time, the Spurs wouldn't draw completely dead. Portland's rim frequency would rise, as it did Tuesday night, but Luke Kornet's an underrated rim-protector in his own right, and San Antonio's defense shouldn't fall off a cliff. Plus, the dynamic combination of Stephon Castle, De'Aaron Fox, Devin Vassell, and Dylan Harper is more capable than it collectively showed in Game 2 (when Fox was especially abysmal). But the team's most exploitable mismatch disappears if Wembanyama does.
That much was evident as the Spurs disintegrated in crunch time of Game 2, with no levers for head coach Mitch Johnson to pull without his great equalizer destroyer on the court. Portland has an embarrassment of defensive riches to throw at that aforementioned collection of Spurs guards, while reserve big man Robert Williams III dominated the interior in a way Wemby would never have allowed.
Defense is the first thing that comes to mind when we think of the giant Frenchman, but in this particular matchup against the Blazers, manufacturing consistent offense without Wembanyama will be the real challenge. The seventh-seeded Blazers suddenly find themselves with home-court advantage and potentially the best player remaining (Deni Avdija) in a shorter series. Scary times for the Spurs. - Joseph Casciaro
76ers flip 3-point script on Celtics
Joe Mazzulla's Celtics live and die by the long ball, but they aren't often burned like they were Tuesday. Boston was caught flat from distance on both ends of the court, which allowed VJ Edgecombe and Tyrese Maxey to shoot the Philadelphia 76ers right back into this series with a statement Game 2 win at TD Garden.
Edgecombe specifically shook off a poor playoff debut to put up 20 points in the first half, 12 of which came on four threes in a four-minute stretch late in the second quarter. The barrage was part of an 18-8 run by the Sixers that gave them an eight-point lead at half - their largest lead of the series to that point and a buffer sufficient to withstand Boston's response in the third. Maxey, meanwhile, saved his best for the fourth, capitalizing on breakout center Neemias Queta's reluctance to step out to the perimeter against the pick-and-roll on back-to-back screens by Andre Drummond.
This is probably not where you want to be when Maxey sets his feet.
And yet, the Celtics likely could have lived with the shortcomings of a deeper drop coverage against one of the NBA's most dynamic backcourts if they simply converted their own 3-point looks. Instead, they went historically cold. Of Boston's 89 field-goal attempts Tuesday, 50 were from beyond the arc, and only 13 went in. No team has fired away from deep on a higher percentage of their shots in a playoff game since the Minnesota Timberwolves tried 51 threes in 83 field-goal attempts (a 61.4% 3-point attempt rate) in Game 1 of last year's Western Conference finals against the Oklahoma City Thunder. Minnesota lost that game by 26. - Jonathan Soveta
Gobert's defense shines
With just over four minutes remaining in the fourth quarter of Monday's Game 2, Nikola Jokic isolated Rudy Gobert on the block before missing a hook shot. Nearly a minute later, Jokic went one-on-one with Gobert in the same spot. Another miss. The three-time MVP missed six of his last seven shots, all of which Gobert guarded. The Wolves let Gobert defend one of the greatest offensive players ever on an island, rarely sending double-teams. The Nuggets' big man seldom loses one-on-one matchups, but Gobert's defense overpowered a fatigued Jokic, who finished with only 24 points on 8-for-20 shooting from the floor and 1-for-7 from three.
Gobert's valiant defensive effort came on the same day he was snubbed as a finalist for Defensive Player of the Year.
"Not the first time I get disrespected," Gobert said. "Probably not the last."
The four-time DPOY winner has powered Minnesota's defense this campaign. With Gobert on the court, the Wolves posted a 108 defensive rating in the regular season, which would match the second-best mark in the NBA. However, their rating slipped to 115.9 while he was on the sidelines, a figure that would rank 21st. Minnesota can take control of this series if Gobert continues to shut down Jokic in the clutch. - Sam Oshtry
Monday, April 20
Denver does itself no favors
This was really a case of the Nuggets overcomplicating things offensively, but especially in the second half. Jamal Murray, despite leading the Nuggets in scoring with 30 points, had a string of questionable decisions in the third quarter that would have restored some valuable breathing room after blowing a 19-point lead midway through the second frame.
After failing to bait a 3-point foul by Donte DiVincenzo, Murray tossed up a rushed three with his very next shot despite Denver having a significant numbers advantage in transition, allowing DiVincenzo to bat the ball to safety. The Wolves couldn't crack the Nuggets' defense, and missed free throws from Rudy Gobert and Julius Randle didn't help. However, the Nuggets' poor decisions allowed Minnesota to keep it close enough until late, when neither Murray nor Nikola Jokic - save for an unexpected last-minute dunk on Rudy Gobert - appeared to have much left in the tank from not slowing things down when they had the opportunity to do so.
That Murray tossed up a long two when Denver needed a three to tie (or at least a quick high-percentage bucket) was perhaps the simplest microcosm of how David Adelman's squad let this one slip away. - Jonathan Soveta
Mike Brown has some explaining to do
The list of deciding factors in a close game is often far longer than the losing team's fans care to admit, and a head coach is never the reason a club wins or loses. But Knicks head coach Mike Brown has some explaining to do after a couple regrettable decisions played a part in New York's blown lead and Game 2 loss to Atlanta.
Leaving a timeout on the table is the error everyone will cite. Brown elected not to take his use-it-or-lose-it timeout before the three-minute mark of the final frame despite his Knicks coughing up a double-digit fourth-quarter lead and being involved in a one-point game. Making matters worse (and more perplexing), Brown then called a surprising timeout at the 2:43 mark while Jalen Brunson was in transition. By the time the Knicks collected a missed free throw down one point in the final five seconds, they had no timeouts left.
Perhaps even more unconscionable, the Knicks spent 11:22 of Game 2 with both of Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns on the bench. It was baffling when Brown sat both to start the second quarter, and downright shocking when he did it again for an even longer stretch between the late-third quarter and early-fourth. A minus-seven rating in those minutes might not sound like much, but in a one-point playoff loss, it's colossal. Brown has two All-NBA caliber stars at his disposal. They should rarely be riding the bench together in a postseason contest, let alone for as long as they did on Monday. - Joseph Casciaro
CJ McCollum, ageless wonder
Who had CJ McCollum as the series scoring leader through two games?
The 34-year-old committed a couple turnovers (and missed two free-throws) in crunch-time of Game 2, but he was largely magnificent, matching the Knicks' total of six points over the final 2:08. Add in a 3-point assist to Nickeil Alexander-Walker earlier in the fourth quarter, and McCollum accounted for nine of Atlanta's 13 points over the final 4:12
The 13-year veteran flew somewhat under the radar while younger Hawks led the team's charge up the Eastern Conference standings, but McCollum's shot-creation and offensive know-how helped steady the ship. Atlanta went 19-4 with McCollum in the lineup after he became a full-time starter on Feb. 22, and he owned the team's second-best on/off differential behind Dyson Daniels. Through two playoff games in New York, McCollum has 58 points on 55% shooting.
It's still early, but if McCollum is the best scorer in this series, the Knicks are in trouble. - Joseph Casciaro
Cavs stars remind Raptors there are levels to this
There are too many reasons to list why Cleveland has a 2-0 series lead over Toronto and has led for roughly 86 of 96 minutes thus far. After all, the Cavaliers are the superior team, and the Raptors are missing their starting point guard, Immanuel Quickley. Despite a tremendous second-half effort on the defensive end Monday night, the Raps also aren't going to steal any playoff wins while committing 22 turnovers, many of which were unforced. But the story of Game 2 was that the Cavs have two shotmaking Stars with a capital "S" in Donovan Mitchell and James Harden, while the Raptors employ one lowercase version in Brandon Ingram.
Mitchell and Harden, with 18 All-Star selections and double-digit All-NBA nods between them, consistently beat Toronto's improved Game 2 defense with incredible shotmaking, each made basket more impressive than the last. On the other end, Ingram bricked his way to a 3-of-15 performance after he and the Raptors spent 48 hours talking about how the two-time All-Star needed more shot attempts than the nine he took in Game 1.
Ingram enjoyed a fine first season north of the border, and his ability to make tough shots - bailing the Raptors out on plenty of regular-season possessions - was a big part of Toronto's drastically improved halfcourt offense. The attention he commands from opposing defenses has also been on display in this series. But the lanky forward doesn't score efficiently or consistently enough (and he doesn't get to the free-throw line often enough) to be the go-to scorer on a contending team.
Ingram doesn't have to be Toronto's best player; Scottie Barnes has that covered. But Barnes is a defensive star and playmaking forward who needs a go-to, three-level scorer beside him. Had Ingram played anywhere near the level the Raptors were banking on Monday night, this series might be tied. - Joseph Casciaro
Past analysis
Check out all our archived items from previous days here.
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