The Eastern Conference predictably lacks the intrigue of the wild wild West, but that doesn’t mean we didn’t have some really pleasant surprises. If you missed the Western Conference recap here’s the link. You’re Welcome!
Heat lead Bucks 1-0
Brandon Jennings tweet prophesizing the Bucks would win this series in 6, at least to this point, doesn’t seem to be working out. One thing you can’t say is that Jennings didn’t put his money where his mouth was leading his team with 26 points with some dazzling moves to get to the basket. Unfortunately for Jennings, as everyone else was well aware, his best wasn’t good enough.
The Bucks hung strong tying the game up on multiple occasions, but the Heat weren’t really ever challenged and knew they could pull away at their leisure in the second half. My only word of warning is that the Heat doesn’t let the Bucks hang around any longer than necessary. The Derrick Rose injury in the 1 v. 8 series last year should be all the motivation the Heat need to end this one quickly.
Knicks lead Celtics 1-0
Fresh off his first scoring title Carmelo lit it up in MSG against the Celtics. A combination of good Jeff Green and a healthy dose of Avery Bradley had the Celtics leading at the half and looking like once again they were able to flip the switch in time for the playoffs.
In the second half bad Jeff Green along with stifling Knicks defense held the Celtics to 25 points in the second half. They scored more than that in the Less than 1 quarter to start the game! If the Knicks can defend like that the rest of the playoffs I’ll feel fairly good about ranking the second best team in this year’s playoffs.
Pacers lead Hawks 1-0
Like many people, I didn’t actually watch this game 1 So all I’ll say is that box score Paul George sure looked like someone that’s ready to make the leap to legitimate star posting an impressive game 1 triple double.
Nets lead Bulls 1-0
With an 8:00pm tip time, this game fit considerably better with my sleep cycle. Boy am I glad I saw it. Deron Williams, who was fat, and seemingly happy that way, in the first half of the season has become the player that we have been pretending he was for the last 2 or 3 seasons.
The final score doesn’t speak to the level of domination demonstrated by the Nets in this game. Brook Lopez channeled his inner Shaqness, looking totally dominant on the offensive end while putting up meager rebounding numbers. If the Nets can continue this high level of play maybe they’ll be able to take the Heat to 5 games in round 2.