BIGGEST SURPRISES AFTER WEEK ONE OF THE NBA PLAYOFFS

NBA / Basketball

Written by Eddie Huband

The dust has begun to settle on what’s been a wild first round, and there’s been a few series that haven’t gone the way people expected. With that being said, let’s take a look at the biggest surprises so far.

Source (Background Photos): Getty Images

Philly’s dominance

Heading into the playoffs, the Sixers/Raptors series was a popular upset pick. People were bullish on Toronto’s strong play to end the season and the wacky lineups filled with length and athleticism and figured the supporting cast of the Sixers wouldn’t hold up around Joel Embiid. Most predictions had the series going six or seven games.

Man, have things turned out differently.

Philadelphia absolutely blitzed Toronto in the first two games in dominant fashion. Tyrese Maxey was been the most dynamic guard on the court, James Harden’s stats weren’t off the charts but he picked the Raps apart with his playmaking in the pick and roll, Georges Niang and Danny Green couldn’t miss from three, and Joel Embiid was having his way with the likes of Precious Achiuwa and poor Khem Birch.

Game three back in Toronto was a bit of a different story, the Raptors fought valiantly to try to get back into the series, but Embiid ripped their heart out with a brilliant performance ending with a buzzer-beater to give the Sixers a commanding 3-0 lead.

It would be surprising if the Raps are able to get off the mat after a heartbreaker like that. Now, Toronto has definitely had some bad luck to point to; Scottie Barnes was their best player in game one before spraining his ankle sidelining him for games two and three, Gary Trent Jr. effectively didn’t play in the first two games with an illness, and Thaddeus Young has been limited with a finger sprain.

To be honest though, even if they were at full strength it probably wouldn’t have made much of a difference. They just have no answer for Embiid and no rim protection to challenge Maxey and Harden who attack the hoop at will.

For a team that had a ton of questions before the postseason, things are suddenly lining up perfectly for Philly. They’ll probably face Miami in round two, who like Toronto doesn’t have a ton of size, so Embiid should be able to have his way once again.

Plus, they get to avoid Boston until the conference finals, who’s looking like the best team in the East right now.

If they continue to play the way they’re playing with Embiid leading the charge, a trip to the finals could be within the realm of possibility.

C’s stifling Durant

Without a doubt the most anticipated series before things got started was the Celtics/Nets, and boy has it delivered.

Game one was an instant classic complete with a Jason Tatum buzzer beater layup, Kyrie Irving dropping 39 points and flipping off the entire state of Massachusetts, a Goran Dragic renaissance, and even Marcus Smart turning down an open three in the dying seconds, go figure.

Game two wasn’t quite as dramatic, but it was still a highly competitive affair with Boston turning up their second-half defence and pulling it out late to take a 2-0 lead in the series. The fact that the Celtics held serve at home isn’t that surprising considering how well they’ve played especially all year, but what is surprising is how they’ve been able to hold Kevin Durant in check.

Here are Durant’s stats through the first two games; Game one: 23 points, 9/24 from the field, 4 boards, 3 assists Game two: 27 points, 4/17 from the field, 4 boards, 5 assists

Yes, he scored 50 in two games, but even that’s a low output for someone of Durant’s caliber, especially on a big stage like this. The shooting percentage is the big thing to look at here, it shows what can be seen by watching the games; that Boston is doing a great job forcing him to take tough contested jump shots.

The Celts have been the best defensive team in the league since January, and they’re showing why. They’re being super physical every chance they get with Durant, they constantly have bodies glued to him, and when he runs off any kind of action they’re making sure they stay connected and have multiple people bump and hit him off of spots.

Jason Tatum has stepped up and taken the challenge in one-on-one scenarios, it’s honestly some of the best one-on-one defence ever played on Durant (even though it's a small sample size). Brooklyn heads home for games three and four, and Durant will likely probably be in at least one of those games, but so far, the Celts have made things extremely difficult for him.

If the Nets are going to win this series, Irving and Durant both have to be great. That hasn’t been the case.

Lackluster Bucks

Milwaukee was expected to dispatch Chicago fairly easily in this series, but through two games it’s looking a lot more competitive than most thought. The Bucks took game one by 7 in a low-scoring affair but didn’t look at all like the team that won a championship a year ago.

Even though a win is a win in the playoffs, they didn’t look particularly crisp on offence and were kind of bailed out by an uncharacteristically horrible shooting night by DeMar DeRozan.

In game two, DeRozan went nuts with a 41-point performance and the Bulls managed to even the series with things heading back to Chicago for the next two contests.

Milwaukee’s wing depth is much weaker this year, and it’s showing on the defensive end, especially against a team like the Bulls who have a lot of scorers. Giannis has been great, but he hasn’t gotten much help from his two sidekicks. Jrue Holiday and Khris Middleton have each failed to score 20 points in both games. Making matters worse is Middleton's knee injury he sustained at the end of game two. Who knows how long he’ll be out for.

In the game, two loss Milwaukee looked sluggish and actually were down by double digits for most of the first three quarters. It’s been a running concern throughout the regular season that this team hasn’t quite hit the level we’ve all become accustomed to, but the general consensus was to give them the benefit of the doubt come postseason time.

Now, they have a dog fight on their hands in what was supposed to be an easy series.