The NBA playoffs have been contested 14 times so far, with surprises and regrets. In the eight matchups of G1 in the first round, the top four in the east and west all won as desired, which is undoubtedly a strong confirmation of the true strength of each team in the regular season. However, with the resumption of the G2 war, the situation began to move in two very different directions. On the one hand, the series between the defending champion Nuggets and the Lakers is almost out of suspense. When Russell broke out, James played an efficient game, and the Lakers still couldn't win, they seemed to be overwhelmed and ran out of ammunition. The Suns are also 0-2, compared to the Lakers, the Suns' offensive system seems disorganized and desperate!At the same time, the series between the Cavaliers and the Magic is a little boring, and Mitchell's experience and combat power are absolutely inevitable that they will sweep the Magic. After the 76ers trailed the Knicks 2-0, they began to complain about the referee's blow, believing that the unfair blow deprived them of their victory. But one thing to say, Embiid's own style of play also has a lot of problems, and it is indeed difficult to raise the team's ceiling.
In the G1 game between the Clippers and the Mavericks, despite the lack of small cards, Harden led the team to easily defeat the Mavericks with an excellent performance of 28 points and 8 assists. However, when Leonard made a strong comeback in G2, the Clippers fell into a long period of passivity. Harden in the playoffs, uncharacteristically, began to increase his offensive aggressiveness. In the absence of Gafford and Hardaway Jr., the Mavericks relied on Doncic and Irving to bolster the situation, and Kleber's magical three-pointer set the stage for the team. At the last moment of the game, Leonard's 2+1 was challenged by Kidd, and the final referee's decision was changed, although it was in line with the player-in-one rule, but Irving obviously pulled Leonard's arm, and the difference was supposed to be 2 points, but it became 3 points, and the Clippers unfortunately lost.
Truth be told, in G1, the Mavericks made 33 free throws in the game, while the Clippers only had 13. In Game 2, the Mavericks still had 27 free throws, while Leonard, George and Harden battled inside frequently, and the team only made 26 free throws. I have to say that the Clippers are really not the darlings of the league, and Harden and Leonard are both stars that league executives don't like! In these two games, Harden's performance has no obvious problems, and although his hand has fluctuated, his offensive resoluteness is sufficient and his efficiency is good. Next, Leonard must find his touch as soon as possible, and if the small lineup is really not good, he may consider letting Tucker top it, otherwise Harden and Westbrook will be overconsumed on the defensive end.
The Pacers are the most scoring team in the regular season, averaging 123.3 points per game, with an overall shooting rate of 50.7%, both of which are the first in the league, and the 3-point shooting rate of 37.4% is also ranked 9th in the league. In the G1 game, Lillard scored 35 points in the first half, completely confusing the young people of the Pacers, and in the second half, Middleton and Portis also played steadily, even so, Carlisle still gave the team's young people enough relaxed shooting environment, even if they couldn't shoot, they also let them stay on the court to shoot wildly, find their touch, and once almost achieved a 30-point reversal. In the G2 game, although Lillard continued to go berserk, the Pacers had more firepower, hitting 50 shots in 90 shots, 12 of 36 3-pointers, and playing the touch of an offensive team, and finally defeated the Bucks 125-108, becoming the first team in the first round of the playoffs to tie the score at 1-1.
It is worth noting that the biggest contributor to the Pacers' win in this game is Siakam, who shot 16 of 23, 3 of 4 of 3 points, got 37 points, 11 rebounds, 6 assists and 0 turnovers, Siakam is the most consistent star in the series, in the G1 game, Siakam shot 15 of 25 and got 36 points and 13 rebounds. After two games, Siakam averaged 36.5 points per game, the first in the playoff star scoring list, and Sika is also the player with the most stable mentality and the strongest desire to win. Siakam is a well-rounded striker with impressive reach. Defensively, he has a strong and energetic style of play and has excellent switching ability. On the offensive end, Siakam has the ability to break through and have a certain mid-to-long range shooting ability. As the Raptors' championship-winning No. 2 or No. 3 man, Siakam has contributed a lot, and he has no shortage of playoff experience.
In mid-January, the Pacers, who see playoff hopes, will send Bruce Brown, Jordan Nwora and three first-round picks to the Raptors in exchange for Siakam, who is young, and Haliburton is the team's cornerstone player. In the 41 regular season games after joining the Pacers, Sika averaged 21.3 points, 7.8 rebounds and 3.7 assists per game, shooting 55% from the field and 39% from 3-point range. It is worth mentioning that after Siakam went on a rampage one after another, American netizens also ridiculed the Warriors management for refusing to exchange Kuminga for Siakam, and the Warriors thought that Kuminga was a stronger player than Siakam!