Tim BontempsESPN
The top of the NBA Eastern District could not be much more compact. Entering action on Tuesday, four teams – the Miami Heat, the Milwaukee Bucks, the Boston Celtics and the Philadelphia 76ers – were in a losing streak. And, on an incredible schedule, all four were ready to face off, with the Bucks playing in Philadelphia on Tuesday, followed by the Heat and Celtics in the Boston Quarter on Wednesday – a 24-hour period that could provide a pair Eastern Conference semifinal preview. Let’s look at a key question that concerns each of the top four teams in the conference as they prepare for the playoffs and how each story was played in two high-level matches. The results – a pair of closed, competitive games with Milwaukee and Miami both winning on the road – only whetted the appetite for what should have been a thrilling spring full of action playoffs in the East. NBA Future Power Rankings: Predicting the best, worst franchises
Is the Lowry Miami X playoff a factor?
When Heat manager Erik Spoelstra was asked if Kyle Lowry’s performance in Wednesday night’s Miami win over the Celtics was indicative of the kind of performance the Heat expected when they signed him last summer, Spoelstra smiled. “Look, we were on the other side,” Spoelstra said. “It simply came to our notice then Really “He did not like Kyle Lowry, because he was such a thorn in our side.” Spoelstra showed a series of seven games between the Toronto Raptors and Miami in the first round of the 2016 playoffs, which the Lowry’s Raptors won. “The deeper this series got, the better it played in clutch moments,” said Spoelstra. “You can not define it with a detail or a number or a playcall … it just knows how to play winning games.” I’m playing 0:16 Kyle Lowry drains three-pointer with Grant Williams’s hand on face Lowry made them all sorts of things on Wednesday. He finished with 23 points (6-for-12 from the 3-point range) and eight assists in 36 minutes. He played his usual defense in his face despite collecting four fouls throughout. “It’s just a luxury to have a Hall of Fame point guard who can choreograph your attack but also face great defensive challenges from the other end,” Spolstra said. It was an ups and downs season during Lowry’s first in Miami after nine seasons with the Raptors, especially since he lost a lot of time dealing with personal issues. After a difficult week that saw Miami give up three lead in the fourth quarter and be beaten at home by the Brooklyn Nets, this show was vintage Lowry. Coming to Boston, which has been the hottest team in the league for more than two months, and winning a game back and forth was a perfect elixir to wash away last week’s bad times. 2 About In last year’s one-sided scan of the first round in Milwaukee, the Heat were exposed as a team that needed another playmaker. Lowry’s addition gave them a guard who could direct their attack, remain part of the Heat’s defensive identity and offer the kind of offensive jolt he gave Miami on Wednesday inside the TD Garden. I believe that having a real live point guard is a player with a first pass, who has the last “Screw first, I will score first”. “That’s good,” said Jimmy Butler. “I miss Goran [Dragic] like hell, I like to handle the ball, Tyler [Herro] he likes to handle the ball. “But having a guy like Kyle who tells everyone where to go, knowing how to get the ball to everyone … Yes, we needed Kyle Lowry.”
How will Boston adapt to life without its anchor?
In the first Boston test without Robert Williams III, who will be out of action for at least four weeks after meniscus surgery, the results were mixed. Heat center Bam Adebayo controlled the game. In a reminder of what Adebayo did in Boston in the 2020 Eastern Conference Finals, he finished with 17 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists. It was no coincidence that he was co-12 in 33 minutes, and Al Horford, who struggled with 6 points in 2 to 6 shots, was minus-14 in 34 minutes. Grant Williams, meanwhile, was 2-for-7 off the field and missed all three 3-point shots in his first start in place of Robert Williams along with the rest of the Boston starting line-up, such as Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Marcus. Smart and Horford. Daniel Theis, meanwhile, finished with 15 points in a perfect 6-on-6 shot in 17 minutes. It’s a reminder of the different skill sets Boston must now use to respond to Robert Williams’s impact on both ends of the pitch. “We feel confident with the big three, [and] “The flexibility they have,” said Celtics coach Ime Udoka. “He’s not the same as Rob in terms of shooting blocks, but many of the similar things he did on and off the ball are very capable of.” I’m playing 0:26 Smart passes behind Tatum for easy lay-up Robert Williams could certainly help in the effort to contain Adebayo on Wednesday, even as an assistant defender. And, perhaps more glaringly, he could boost Boston aggressively with his ability to create vertical distance as a lobby threat and easily shoot when it was most important (Boston shot 6-to-22 in the fourth). “It’s definitely an adaptation that Rob’s not here,” Horford said. “We have to find ways to be effective and we have to find other ways to score.” Even if they were completely healthy, the Hot Celtics were sure to lose one or two games. Their 24-4 lead until Sunday’s win over Minnesota – the game in which Williams injured his knee – was unlikely to continue in this clip. Nevertheless, Wednesday’s match showed the difficulties that this team will face in navigating the playoffs in the East with its defensive anchor off the field.
Splash Mountain returns: Could Lopez unlock the best version of the Bucks?
The Bucks spent most of the season with Brooke Lopez, their home center, watching in street clothes. He has only played in eight games – seven in the last three weeks – after undergoing back surgery on December 2. Tuesday night was a major test. How would Lopez withstand Philadelphia MVP candidate Joel Embiid’s arguably bigger and tougher league center during the race? The answer, it turned out, was quite good. Lopez played 29 minutes and scored 17 points for Milwaukee – 11 of which were all in line to open the second half for the Bucks. Most importantly, Lopez made it 4-for-9 from the 3-point range, helping to create some space on the pitch for Giannis Antitokoumbo – he finished with 40 points, 14 rebounds, six assists, one steal and three blocks, including of the one that won the Bucks game – to work. I’m playing 0:24 John’s clutch block at Embiid seals Bucks victory in Philadelphia The fact that Milwaukee is 14th in the league on defense this season with Lopez, one of the league’s best (and greatest) home defenders watching mainly as a spectator, is not a shock. The part of Lopez’s game that has been forgotten, however, is how the pitch can be broken wide open for Antetokounmpo & Co. It is rare for a man the size of Lopez (7 feet, 282 pounds) to be able to shape the toy at both ends. And while he is not Milwaukee’s most important player – or even their third – the Bucks looked like a team ready for the playoffs on Tuesday with him on the pitch. Wednesday, March 30 Heat in the Celtics, 7:30 p.m. Suns at Warriors, 10 p.m. Sunday, April 3 Mavs at the Bucks, 13:00 (ABC) Nuggets at the Lakers, 3:30 p.m. (ABC) All times Eastern And for a team that has spent much of the season playing a combination of Antitokunbo and Bobby Portis in the center, having another 30 minutes of high-level, big play made everything else fall back into places that were so effective for the Bucks. during last year’s championship. On a night when there were many reasons to smile for the Bucks, Lopez’s return and efficiency may have been the greatest of all.
Will Harden make more MVP appearances for Philly?
After the defeat on Tuesday night, 76ers coach Doc Rivers said he and James Harden had spoken at length that morning that the guard needed to become a scorer for the Houston Rockets again, instead of acting as a distributor for the Brooklyn. . And, after playing his best game as a 76er – 32 points, five rebounds and nine assists in 37 minutes in the loss to Milwaukee – Harden said he felt it was a step in the right direction. Get access to exclusive original series, premium articles from NBA experts, the full 30 for 30 library and more. Sign up now to unlock everything ESPN + has to offer. “I’m trying to do it right,” Harden said. “I try to be the best James Harden I can be. And I try to make sure I do what I can to help my team win. “[Rivers] you just told me, to sum it all up, to get out there to be you. And that was my mentality today, and I felt good that I had that confidence from Doc. “ The 76ers need the best James Harden they can be – because this is the version they hoped to get from the Nets on the trade deadline. And while Harden had moments of brilliance – averaging 23.0 points, 9.8 assists and 7.4 rebounds in 15 games as Sixer – he failed to play consistently at the level of MVP that Philadelphia hoped for. For example: Of the 133 players who have attempted at least 200 lay-ups or dunk this season, only three shoot below 50% off the court: Orlando Magic Cole Anthony, Utah Jazz Nickeil Alexander-Walker and Harden . I’m playing 1:18 Chiney Ogwumike describes in detail the challenges the 76ers could face that could derail their playoff ambitions. But Tuesday night was a vintage show for Harden. He went 5-pro-7 through the bow, had the step back to work (went 4-pro-10 out of 3) and reached the free throw line 12 times. Most importantly, he did brief work on Milwaukee’s experiment to get Wesley Matthews to start the game by guarding him. In the final minutes, defensive stopper Jru Holliday – not Matthews – controlled Harden. If Philadelphia can get it that Harden version …
