Saturday's NBA playoff previews
DALLAS vs UTAH
Game 1 on ESPN at 1 Eastern
DALLAS, FOUR SEED
C: Dwight Powell — defends and dunks and defends and Dwight and dunks.
F: Dorian Finney-Smith — his defense was worth any percentage from deep, but DFS nailed a sparkly, career-best 39 percent.
F: Reggie Bullock — big help down the stretch, hits an average mark on threes, turned it over 40 times in 1902 minutes.
G: Luka Dončić — dominates the ball and whines at the refs and still isn’t super annoying? I said “super” annoying.
PG: Jalen Brunson — never turns it over, makes shots, runs an orthodox offense, whatta luxury.
Spencer Dinwiddie was the X-Factor in his 1st Grade class, he was the X-Factor on the bus to junior high, he’s been the X-Factor in any mall he’s ever been in, this guy was born to be “the X-Factor against the Utah Jazz” … Dāvis Bertāns, please, watch his defense here:
Impeccable. Dāvis shot 36 percent from long-range as a Mav.
Jason Kidd tossed 21-year old Josh Green into the rotation for good down the stretch in response to Tim Hardaway Jr.’s broken foot and thrived, Josh is very Maverick-y … Maxi Kleber slightly tailed off post-Achilles tear, slightly, he says he’s ready to go after an ankle sprain … Many can tell you from experience that Boban Marjanović is not smaller in person.
JAZZ, FIVE SEED
C: Rudy Gobert — 15 and 15 and made 71 percent of his shots, time to dunk all over some 6-8 guys.
F: Bojan Bogdanovic — 18 a game on the wing of the No. 1-ranked offense. One block all season.
F: Royce O’Neale — shoots once a year but parks it (46/39/80) when he does.
G: Donovan Mitchell — 26 a night and way stronger around the rim this year, Gobert-like, someone tell Donovan that.
PG: Mike Conley — another season over 40 percent from deep.
Jordan Clarkson is worth a righteous 16 points in 27 minutes but his three-point shooting fell to 31 percent this season … In 2016 we let Hassan Whiteside on the All-Defensive Team, I probably said “yes” to it … Danuel House Jr. nailed 41 percent of his threes in 25 contests with the Jazz, sneaky addition … Rudy Gay is around and contributes strong minutes off the bench but I’m not going to pretend he isn’t super old when he was taken in the same draft as Ryan Hollins.
The Mavericks split the four-game series with Utah but downed the Jazz twice in March in Dallas. Still, calf strain.
We’ve all already visualized Utah’s top-ranked offense taking a passive/aggressive dive against Dallas’ top-six D. We’ve steeled ourselves for the sniping and TNT drama and the end of the end for this version of the Jazz.
But, calf strain. If Luka plays from the outset, his iffy shooting will cost the Mavs a win. If he sits, Dallas personnel taking portentous projections personally is worth at least one game against Utah.
Mavericks in seven
The last person that said “portentous” around Jerry Sloan got hit.
MEMPHIS vs MINNESOTA
Game 1 on ESPN at 3:30 Eastern
MEMPHIS, TWO SEED
C: Steven Adams — Wolves kept him busy in three regular season matchups.
PF: Jaren Jackson Jr. — a 6-11 guy that has legs for three-pointers and 16 points per game also tops the NBA in block percentage and yanked 73 steals.
G/F: Dillion Brooks — returned as a starter and the Grizz still use one ball, everything is fine. Dillion passes better than ever, 50 turnovers in 32 games and because he didn’t play enough minutes, Dillion Brooks did not lead the NBA in fouls (Jae’Sean Tate) for the first time since 2019. Even though Dillion Brooks fouled at the same rate he did the last two years.
SG: Desmond Bane — top-ten in total threes and doesn’t turn it over.
PG: Ja Morant — dominates the ball but isn’t blatant as other high-usage types, rare for a player that isn’t a natural spotter-upper. This should be seamless.
Tyus Jones is 45/39/81 and he turned it over 46 times in 73 games, obscene … Ziaire Williams is a lengthy rookie whom the Grizz are comfortable with in and out of the lineup … De’Anthony Melton is going to go Anthony Johnson in a playoff game someday, I can feel it … Brandon Clarke’s two-best moves are the dunk and the nervous extra-pass, but he can block the hell out of anything … Kyle Anderson still does his thing in various increments off the pine but his efficiency dimmed this season even against second-teamers … John Konchar (61 percent on twos, 41 on threes) ran the shit out of the second-teamers.
TIPS FOR MINNESOTA, SEVEN SEED
KAT? Ride waves between the dunk and face-up jumper. Drop some runners, flip something, create some curvation. Bank some leaners. It doesn’t have to be pretty, you just have to put some arc and touch on it and watch the two-pointers pile up.
Anthony Edwards? We have fun with the way you tend to score most your points in the first half but please keep it up. Your teammates need someone to go lights-out on the first run through the order. They need an hour to warm up.
Jarred Vanderbilt, and Jaden McDaniels, you think this is about to be a steal, but it won’t be. It is going to be a foul. You are good at this without steals, move your feet if you want to meet May.
Celebrate, however you want. This is entertainment.
Minnesota whupped Memphis’ ass in both games in Minneapolis, full strength and full rest for both sides. Memphis took each contest at home, a close conquest and an overtime victory. The Timberwolves played well throughout.
Memphis is very good, though.
Memphis in six
Nobody knows Kevin Garnett’s professional origin story sparks with Blue Edwards hitting a game-winning jumper in his face during KG’s rookie year
PHILADELPHIA vs TORONTO
Game 1 on ESPN at 6:00 Eastern
PHILADELPHIA, FOUR SEED
C: Joel Embiid — listen to me: Joel Embiid wants to DESTROY the Raptors.
F: Tobias Harris — sopped up minutes for the Sixers this season, which was important, but shot 15-47 against the Raptors in four games, 22 assists and 13 turnovers.
F: Matisse Thybulle — won’t play in the Toronto games because freedom.
G: James Harden — will be fine for this series, but the Sixers may not hang on long enough for Harden to fall apart in the playoff rounds he usually splats in.
G: Tyrese Maxey — handed lead-guard duties at age 20 and responded with only 88 turnovers in 2650 minutes. Good enough to win a playoff round right now.
Danny Green is back and ready for the playoffs, you’ll see … Shake Milton is not your perfect backup point guard but at least he’s older than you think he is … DeAndre Jordan is poison! … Georges Niang is a career 40-percent shooter from deep but you’re still allowed to call him “Streaky” because that nickname is unrelated to basketball … Furkan Korkmaz’s shooting fell off and his minutes turned spotty … Paul Reed only plays if you go to bed on time and eat all your vegetables and also if Doc Rivers leaves to coach the Lakers.
TORONTO, FIVE SEED
C: Khem Birch — does Nick Nurse go big with Birch or Boucher or throw small? Birch started against Joel Embiid last week and held him to only 30 points.
F: Pascal Siakam — runs the show on both ends for a team that doesn’t let up on either end.
F: Scottie Barnes — what a perfect pick, Raptors are set for years. Owns major motivation for a big series.
SG: Gary Trent Jr. — 73 turnovers in 2448 minutes, legend.
PG: Fred VanVleet — double-figure days off by the time Game 1 tips, be confident in Toronto’s legs.
OG Anunoby has to gunk it up for the Sixers in transition, he needs to be the reason Doc Rivers calls timeouts … Precious Achiuwa can’t score in an empty gym which may loom large in the rare minutes Embiid sits … Chris Boucher worked an insane 39 minutes off the bench against PHILA in March, regulation game … Thaddeus Young was drafted by the Philadelphia 76ers because the retirement of Lucious Jackson left a hole at power forward … Thaddeus Young was drafted by the 76ers because Sharone Wright didn’t work out … Yuta Watanabe is a lot of fun … Remember when Nurse had to start Malachi Flynn? Well, there is no Dalano Banton to save things. There is no Milt Palacio. We could get Flynn’d.
The Raptors took three of four in the regular season series, including two victories over Harden (who shot 8-24). By all rights: Toronto.
But then I remember the Sixers and that bell and the song they play after each win and the fact that Joel Embiid is better at basketball than most birds are at chirping.
Chirp at me when you can dunk, stupid birds.
Sixers in six
Never forget the time we ruined Vince Carter’s graduation.
GOLDEN STATE vs DENVER
Game 1 on ABC at 8:30 Eastern
GOLDEN STATE, THREE SEED
C: Kevon Looney — only 26 but it’s a Milwaukee 26
PF: Draymond Green — if his timing is back, Warriors could win everything.
SF: Andrew Wiggins — a Shandon Anderson with actual offense, I’m down.
SG: Klay Thompson — misses more midrangers and hits only 38 percent of his threes, otherwise “back.” Scores 20 a game and turned it over 43 times in 941 minutes despite not playing NBA basketball for the previous seven years.
PG: Stephen Curry — scared shitless over him. His left foot is his jumping foot and his left foot feels like it had a pine cone surgically implanted inside last month. A sprained foot changes your concept of balance.
Jordan Poole can absolutely score enough to win a series in Curry’s (available) absence … A point guard that hits 75 percent of his twos, I love Gary Payton II … Jonathan Kuminga gave nine points and three boards in 17 minutes a game and when Golden State plays its first exhibition game next October he’ll still be a teenager … Nemanja Bjelica has only been a Warrior for the last six months, not the last six seasons … Damion Lee, for when you want to hit a third of your threes … I’ve always enjoyed Juan Toscano-Anderson’s sneaky rebounding ability and the fact that Basketball-Reference.com shows his caption-less photo on the top left of its front page once per week … A reminder that Moses Moody owns Denver, owns it.
DENVER, SIX SEED
C: Nikola Jokic — drove Philadelphia mad in ways David Cone couldn’t dream. Bobby Bonilla couldn’t even make Philly fans this angry and he worked in the same STATE.
F: Aaron Gordon — didn’t want to be the offensive focus after all, no matter what he said, and kept the Nuggets afloat with hustle all season.
F: Will Barton — just as savvy and strong and rife with two-way potential as Andrew Wiggins.
G: Austin Rivers — they’re not all gonna be game-changers.
PG: Monte Morris — 75 games and 78 turnovers, 39 percent on threes and 54 percent on twos, made his free throws, marvelous work filling in for Jamal Murray.
Bones Hyland rebounds and passes too, 36 percent on threes as a spindly rookie … Comparatively, DeMarcus Cousins is not a spindly man … JaMychal Green works his butt off and is a career 36 percent shooter from deep and the digits roll back to 0000 in the postseason … Bryn Forbes was fine as a Nugget, fine, sustained the 41 percent shooting from deep … Facundo Campazzo and the NBA were not a match.
The Warriors beat Denver in the last meeting, Jokic turned it over five times and missed all eight of his three-pointers as Curry dropped 34, the Nuggies won the first three.
Draymond Green hasn’t played against the Nuggets this year, Green is the only player in the league whom I’d trust to upset Nikola Jokic’s vision, but I don’t even think Draymond is enough. Jokic is going to get his against the NBA’s best defense. He’s going to get his and the Nuggets will act like the sort of team that expects to play at least two rounds.
I don’t know if that’s enough. Seven games is a long time for Golden State to figure things out.
Warriors in seven
Combined: 320 points in 48 minutes. And Denver started T.R. Dunn.
Jim Barnett on the call, too.
FRIDAY NITE PLAY-IN
Cavaliers over Atlanta.
For all his national TV ubiquity, Trae Young turned in an underrated season. Yet with or without Jarrett Allen, anti-Midwestern bias left too many forgetting how good Cleveland is, especially at home. These Cavs are all farmboys, one of them is Winston Garland’s kid, they get it done.
The Clippers made their marks as overachievers, so to depend on all-out execution as the norm is a bit much, even with Lue coaching, even with Norm back. Yet L.A. can win even if Paul George isn’t awesome, you don’t know how L.A. does it but suddenly C.J. McCollum can’t square his shoulders with three different-sized measuring triangles.
The Clippers aren’t about to play their way out of the playoffs. Not with that Western finals date with Minnesota to keep up.
RHYME TYME PEOPLE
Soul Train Saturday!
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Sunday previews hit for subscribers early Saturday morning, this is the best time to jump on. Thank you for reading!
