What In The World Did We Just Watch…?!

What In The World Did We Just Watch…?!

Man, Westbrook was in his chest like bronchitis. Things are heating up in the second round of the playoffs. And last night, we witnessed two completely different scenarios. Fans in Indiana enjoyed a fast-paced, high-scoring spectacle, while the game between the Nuggets and the Thunder turned into a slugfest. Both matchups rewrote some NBA history. But we got to start in Denver, where OKC really showcased their number one defense to the world. Joic just eight for 25 in game three. Gordon got peeled and ripped clean. Boy, great defense by Jaylen Williams aka Jay Dub. Joic out top off the brush screen by Gordon. Got to the rim and blocked by Hardenstein and have to switch out on Jay Gilus Alexander. Brown had it knocked away. Good steal. It was Jaylen Williams again. The Thunder put the clamps on the Nuggets early in the game, but then there were some open shots like these that weren’t falling either. It’s like there was a lid on the basket or some dark magic spell because Denver couldn’t hit a shot. And I mean literally just two of 22 from the field for the entire first quarter. That’s staggering. Matter of fact, the Thunder weren’t any better themselves. As good as their defense was at the start, the offense was twice as bad. With so many bricks and air balls, it looked like a random pickup game on a Sunday afternoon at the rec center. The score says it all. 25 points combined, tying an infamous NBA record for fewest points scored in a quarter ever. And it didn’t get any prettier in the second period as well. Just listen to this. The Nuggets and the Thunder went on to miss 31 of their first 32 shots from downtown. To be honest, I’m not sure this ever happened, and I doubt it’ll happen again. So, out of all people, Russell Westbrook finally breaks the spell for Denver and receives a standing ovation. Jokic out to the wing. Westbrook got it. That’s their first three ball in 17 attempts. And I guess it was easy for the rest to blend into the overall greyness, calling for this and one bucket by Shay. He rejects the screen, steps through, got it. And Joic looking at the official going, “Wait, what did I do? He ran into me. I was just standing there.” I’m not sure about that one. That was offense initiated contact. Really not that much of a bump. It was just chest to chest and ruling out this welldeserved basket by Nicola Joic. Joic searching the foul. Got it and one. I think they’re going to wave that off. I think he was counting on getting the same kind of call on that. Jake Elgius Alexander got on the other one. You could tell he was intentional here. Such a smart player. But the Joker continued putting his guardlike moves on display because navigates two screens on the pick and pop. Joic on the fly by puts it up. Got it. And that’ll do it for the first half. Maybe that’ll give the Nuggets a little bit more juice going into the second half. Nicola puts a little sweetener on an ugly first half for both teams. However, the third quarter started off with a bang. They’d like to do a better job rebounding as you see the dunk there by Michael Porter Jr. They could do a better job screening as another dunk on the other end by Homer. Well, the one thing that Denver’s been doing is they’ve been hanging in there and their offense hasn’t affected their defense. Joic with the three, make it a four-point game. The Nuggets finally let loose in the third period, unleashing the tension accumulated during the first half. Brown with six on the shot clock. A pull. Got it. Christian Brown’s jumper is wet today. Yic with the screen for Murray. He flips it. Jamal for three. Yes. And after Joic stripped the ball out of Homegr’s hands in transition, the entire building was ready to explode for the first lead of the night. Brown, one more. Murray probes it. Gordon lines up the scenes. Mr. Nugget clocks in. The Nuggets own the third quarter, reloading and shooting seven of 11 from beyond the ark. And they played great defense as well, forcing the ball out of SG’s hands and holding the Thunder to just 21 points on 33% efficiency. And after knocking down his second three of the night to put Denver up by six. Look at thisounding defense by Westbrook on SGA on the other end. Notice Alexander playing with his food out front. Handshake Westbrook tied up. Man, Westbrook was in his chest like bronchitis. Russ ignites the crowd with an eight-point lead at the start of the final period. With all the momentum on their side, the Nuggets seemingly had found the recipe for success. But here come the Thunderb guys. He was great against the Clippers. Had that gamewinner in a big shot response by Wallace. Williams. Wallace. One more. Wiggins. Wide open cash. And a timeout. Denver. Elvis Alexander around the screen. Back out to Pussa. One more to a wideopen Wallace. That is pristine. An 110 timely run fueled by Kase Wallace put OKC back into the driving seat. On defense, the Thunder clogged the paint around Jokic, leaving Westbrook and Brown to shoot wideopen threes which they couldn’t convert, falling right back into another slump. Westbrook for three. Loose ball. Denver can take the lead. Murray. One more. Westbrook for the lead. And he missed everything. Hartinstein along with the help defense did a tremendous job guarding Joic throughout the game holding him to just 31% from the field. Here’s Yic guarded by Hartinstein. Wheels to his left. Tough shot off the mark and that’s going to be a foul on the push up and even the ones he made look like lucky circus shots. Hartinstein stays with him sitting on his right hand. Oh, it did a victory lap. On the other side, SGA picked up the slack when it mattered the most. Off the twain, Gildas Alexander raises up and got an auspicious bounce for the bucket. Gildas Alexander with the midi, knocks it home. The lead is back up to five. Gildas Alexander to the rim and the layup. Shay with nine of his 25 points in the final period. Gave his team a seven-point cushion in the clutch. Jokic finally found himself under the rim with the ball in his hands thanks to AG and was able to cut the lead to five. and he stayed in front of Sheay on the next play to force him kick the ball out of bounds, earning Denver a chance to make it a one-possession game. Personally, I thought they must have pulled a much better shot than this. Murray inside. Good catch. Porter Jr. Oh, and it comes out. Regardless, the Nuggets dodge another bullet with Shay missing the turnaround Jay here. And out of the timeout, they’re given one more chance to try and get back into it. Murray pulls the three came up short. Murray airballs the last straw of hope for Denver as OKC hangs on to win the game at the end. A crucial bounceback win for the Thunder who prove that they know how to handle the pressure in a must-win scenario. The series is now tied at two apiece heading back to Oklahoma. And if they continue with the smothering defense, especially on Jokic, who’s held below 40% in the last three outings, I can see them winning it all in six games. And after catching everyone by surprise to go up 2-1 against the number one team in the East, the Pacers continued with their mission right from the jump. He wants to be but trying to strap it on for his team. The early turnover throws the first punch and another Cleveland turnover. Here comes Nemhard underneath. Seas and that’s this is the Pacers. This is their identity right now. Turner topping coming back door and and so that’s a simple play but that’s a Hallebertton effect even DeAndre Hunter Turner lights the layup from deep Indiana wasted no time taking a double- digit lead when a scuffle broke out on the court at the 432 mark of the quarter and John goal gets Sam Merrill and DeAndre Hunter but look out Turner comes to the defensive math well you can see something brewing between those two the other night and that has spilled in and over here to game four right there that kind of a little bit of a a I don’t want to say a punch but the extension of the right arm from Matin DeAndre Hunter is a pretty mildmannered guy for him to respond like that you knew there something had to happen I understand why they ejected Ben but Hunter must have been thrown out as well wait till the end to hear what Jaylen Rose said about DeAndre use your brain Hunter after the game anyway with one of their top scorers out the Pacers didn’t stop there. Matter of fact, they shifted into a higher gear. Reset Hallebertton on the attempt. Slithers to the cup. That that’s an example of makes the paces good. It’s the pace. Mem beautiful fake. Indiana led by 15 after one. But what would happen in the second would blow the roof off of the arena. Seakum fires and buries a corner three. Shot clock down to four. Seakum crosses over Wade. fires and hits again. Still got plenty of time to shoot. Siaka with a top in. They are tying with Cleveland. So Indiana maintains position. Toppin a magic trick. Look at Tophin doing his best Dr. J impersonation. He and Seakkum took over the game and with a 12 to3 run extended the lead up to 24 points. On the other end, Mitchell and Garland were the only ones making shots with the rest of the group combining for zero makes out of seven tries. Then another huge run followed by Indie or more precisely an avalanche. Smith three to shoot. Fearing right off balance and they got it all working here at Indie. Turner. Offensive brilliance from the Pacers. Smith out of Turner. Well, if this was a boxing match, they’d stop it right now. And they smell blood in the water. Turner. It has been an offensive clinic by Indiana. Get this. The Pacers outscored the Cavaliers 42-6 in the second quarter, securing a 41-point lead at halftime, tying their biggest lead ever in a playoff game. Indiana poured in 80 points alone compared to the Denver and OKC game where both teams combined for 78 only. And things went from bad to worse for Cleveland when they found out that Donovan Mitchell got hurt on the shoot around before the second half. Jar, this was Mitchell just coming out to start the second half to get his warm-ups in and obviously felt something in that ankle. As the old basketball saying goes, you can’t win a game in the first half, but you certainly can lose one. Coach Carlile used the second half to rest his starting five as the game ended with a 20point differential flattering the losing team because this was never truly a contest. And listen to Jaylen Rose after the game speaking about DeAndre Hunter’s gesture towards Ben Matarin. But Hunter you pointing at your head, you stay in the game and you have zero field goals the whole game after that. No, that’s ridiculous. He’s right on point with that. You got to hold your end of the bargain. So, getting a commanding 3-1 lead with the way they’re playing and with Cleveland’s health problems, I can see the Pacers advancing to the Eastern Conference Finals in their next game for sure. The entire playoffs have been out of the charts so far, and I made a video to remind you of the absolute chaos of the season we had in this video right here. So, check it out if you haven’t, and talk to you in the next one. Peace out.

Things are heating up in the 2nd round of the playoffs, and last night we witnessed two completely different scenarios. Fans in Indiana enjoyed a fast paced, high scoring spectacle, while the game between the Nuggets and the Thunder turned into a slugfest. Both matchups rewrote some NBA history, but we gotta start in Denver where OKC really showcased their number 1 defense to the world. The Thunder put the clamps on the Nuggets early in the game, but then, there were some open shots like these that weren’t falling either. It’s like, there was a lid on the basket or some dark magic spell, because Denver couldn’t hit a shot. And I mean literally. Just 2 of 22 from the field for the entire 1st quarter. That’s staggering. Matter of fact, the Thunder weren’t any better. As good as their defense was at the start, the offense was twice as bad. With so many bricks and airballs, it looked like a random pickup game on a Sunday afternoon at the rec center. The score says it all, 25 points combined, tying an infamous NBA record for fewest points scored in a quarter – ever. And it didn’t get any prettier in the 2nd period as well. Just listen to this. The Nuggets and the Thunder went on to miss 31 of their first 32 shots from downtown. To be honest, I’m not sure this ever happened, and I doubt it’ll happen again. So, out of all people, Russell Westbrook finally breaks the spell for Denver and receives a standing ovation. And I guess it was easy for the refs to blend into the overall greyness of the game too. Calling for this and-1 bucket by Shai. And ruling out this well deserved basket by Nikola Jokic. But the Joker continued putting his guard-like moves on display because… Nikola puts a little sweetener on an ugly 1st half for both teams. However, the 3rd quarter started off with a bang. The Nuggets finally let loose in the 3rd period, unleashing the tension accumulated during the first half. And after Jokic stripped the ball out of Holmgren’s hands in transition, the entire building was ready to explode for the first lead of the night. The Nuggets owned the 3rd quarter, reloading and shooting 7 of 11 from beyond the arc. And they played great defense as well, forcing the ball out of SGA’s hands and holding the Thunder to just 21 points on 33% efficiency. And after knocking down his 2nd – 3 of the night to put Denver up by 6, look at this hounding by Westbrook on Alexander on the other end. Russ ignites the crowd and with an 8 point lead at the start of the final period with all the momentum on their side, the Nuggets seemingly had found the recipe for success. Buut here comes the Thunder bench guys. An 11-0 timely run fueled by Cason Wallace put OKC back into the driving seat. On defense, the Thunder clogged the paint around Jokic, leaving Westbrook and Braun to shoot wide open 3’s, which they couldn’t convert, falling right back into another slump. Hartenstein, along with the help defense, did a tremendous job guarding Jokic throughout this game. Holding him to just 31% from the field. And even the ones he made, looked like lucky circus shots. On the other side, SGA picked up the slack when it mattered the most. Shai with 9 of his 25 points in the final period gave his team a 7 point cushion in the clutch. Jokic finally found himself under the rim with the ball in his hands thanks to AG and was able to cut the lead to 5. And he stayed in front of Shai on the next play to force him kick the ball out of bounds, earning Denver a chance to make it a one possession game. Personally I thought they must’ve pulled a much better shot than this. Regardless, the Nuggets dodge another bullet with Shai missing the turnaround jay here, and out of the timeout, they are given one more chance to try and get back into it. Murray airballs the last straw of hope for Denver, as OKC hangs on to win the game at the end. A crucial bounce back win for the Thunder who proved they know how to handle the pressure in a must win scenario. The series is now tied at 2 apiece heading back to Oklahoma, and if they continue with the smothering defense, especially on Jokic who’s held below 40% in the last 3 outings, I can see them winning it all in 6 games. And after catching everyone by surprise to go up 2-1 against the number 1 team in the East, the Pacers continued with their mission right from the jump. Indiana wasted no time taking a double digit lead when a scuffle broke out on the court. I understand why they ejected Ben, but Hunter must’ve been thrown out as well. Wait till the end to hear what Jalen Rose said about Deandre “Use your brain” Hunter after the game. Anyway, with one of their top scorers out, the Pacers didn’t stop there, matter of fact, they shifted into a higher gear. Indiana led by 15 after 1, but what would happen in the 2nd would blow the roof off the arena. Look at Toppin doing his best, Dr. J impersonation. He and Siakam took over the game and with a 12 to 3 run, extended the lead up to 24 points.