Sunday, the Boston Celtics tipped off the second round of the NBA Playoffs with a 123-111 win over the Washington Wizards. Isaiah Thomas dropped 33 points on the Wizards and that was after he returned from attending his sister’s funeral. Tonight the Wizards and Celtics will go at it again in Boston and unless John Wall and Bradley Beal and the rest of the D.C. crew can find an answer for Thomas the Wizards may be in trouble. But before I leave you with that thought, I have to let you know that in the four games regular season series between these two each team won two games on their home court. So the home court is big in the series and it may not be a surprise if Boston wins the first two games since they are both in Boston.
Monday night the Cleveland Cavaliers opened round two whipping up on the Toronto Raptors 116-105 to take a game lead in their Eastern Conference Semi-Final. Did you see the game? The Cavs seemed very comfortable playing at home and Lebron James led the way with 35 points. That’s big considering the Raptors top two scorers Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan had a combined 39 points. So it looks like the defending champions may be at an advantage since they swept the Indiana Pacers in the first round and were able to enjoy a seven-day break, while the Raptors were still trying to dispose of the Milwaukee Bucks. By the way, just in case you didn’t remember this series is a rematch of last year’s Eastern Conference finals which the Cavs won of course four games to two. Wednesday night these two will go at it again in Cleveland and I like watching the Raptors play but I just don’t think they will win game two either, their best chances will be when this series moves to Toronto.
Moving out West the Houston Rockets jumped out to an 18-8 lead early on the San Antonio Spurs in game one of their Western Conference Semi-Final. The men from Houston were on fire knocking down three-pointers and finding open men for open shots. The big thing is they were finishing plays and keeping up the pace of a fast start throughout the first half. The Rockets were so hot they knocked down 12 three-pointers in the first half against the Number one defense in the NBA. Did I mention this game was played at the AT&T center in San Antonio? Anyway, the Rockets Blasted off on the Spurs and went into the locker room with a 30 point lead ( the largest halftime deficit in San Antonio Spurs Playoff history). In the second half, the Rockets came out firing on all cylinders knocking down 22 three-pointers in all on their way to a 126 to 99 bombing of the spurs. James Harden led the way with 20 points and found time to dish 14 assist. Game two will be Wednesday back in San Antonio.
Tonight the Utah Jazz who eliminated the L.A. Clippers from the playoffs on Sunday will take on the Golden State Warriors in game one of their Western Conference Semi-final. Gordon Hayward has been and will be the leader for Utah. I just don’t think that Hayward and the Jazz have enough firepower to give the Warriors any trouble. Granted Hayward is not alone he has big man Rudy Gobert (one of the best shot blockers in the league), Boris Diaw, George Hill, Derrick Favors and Rodney Hood to help, I just don’t see the Jazz being able to run with Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green and Kevin Durant. Do You? I See this series going 5 games maximum ( No disrespect to Utah).
Trevin A Jones
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