Very true. But as a non-Cavs fan, I was happy to sit back and enjoy an impressive individual performance.
When it’s a team I care about and hope will win, then it’s all about the team effort. 
Very entertaining first half between the Nuggets and Wolves. Anthony Edwards has 25 of the Wolves 40 points. 44-40 at halftime.
T-Wolves beat the Nuggets in game one at Denver. A superb defensive game.
That was a fun, well played game. Naz Reid showed why he was chosen for the Sixth Man award, at both ends of the floor.
I hope this series goes to 7. And, much as I appreciate Denver, they have their ring…so, go T’Wolves!
(That poor-sportsmanship technical on Ant Man was lame, though. There were a dozen or more “worse” displays of enthusiasm during the game, and they didn’t get called.)
Total bullshit. When someone from the Denver team made a good play and mimed shooting the other player, nothing was said. I agree that it was well-played by both sides and it was tight all the way to the final couple of minutes.
Alas, Orlando loses on the road on game 7, the Cavs move on.
The T’Wolves again beat the champion Nuggets in Denver, this time decisively! Murray didn’t play well, and Jokic was less than dominant, but credit Minnesota’s crafty and relentless defense for most of this outcome.
And that Knicks- Pacers game was odd. The last minute-plus hinged on a series of calls the refs had to make, on whether the ball brushed someone’s leg before going out of bounds, etc., etc. I think they got most of them right. The Knicks managed to get a close win, though young and hungry Indiana had led most of the game.
What a shock to wake up to! I saw the last quarter of the Knicks game, which was entertaining, and we were going to watch the Wolves game, but ran out of energy (it was at 9pm our time) and wouldn’t have made it to the finish. I was positive that Denver would come out with revenge in mind and that MN would have a hard time staying in it, especially since Gobert wasn’t playing. My mouth literally fell open when I saw the final blowout score this morning. Winning both away openers is huge, and MN may be heading for the next round for the first time since 2003 if this continues.
Game 3 on Friday night promises to be good.
What? Wait a minute. These are the conference semifinal matchups?
Eastern Conference Semifinals
(2) New York Knicks vs (6) Indiana Pacers
(1) Boston Celtics vs (4) Cleveland Cavaliers
Western Conference Semifinals
(2) Denver Nuggets vs (3) Minnesota Timberwolves
(1) Oklahoma City Thunder vs (5) Dallas Mavericks
Why aren’t the Celtics playing the Pacers? That doesn’t make sense to me.
I thought that was clearly a flop by Donte DiVincenzo with 12 seconds left. In a one-point game, that’s a huge call that should never be made.
Also, the refs called a kicked ball that clearly wasn’t kicked. And that’s a play that can’t be challenged? WTF?
Yeah, I happen to be in the middle of a five-week therapy for insomnia, and I HAVE to stay up late (doctor’s orders!). The timing is perfect!
The bracket isn’t re-seeded after the first round.
The ‘top half’ of the first round bracket is 1 v 8 and 4 v 5. Those two winners play in the next round.
The ‘bottom half’ of the bracket is 2 v 7 and 3 v 6. Again, those two winners play in the next round.
So in the East, 1 (Celtics) beat 8 (Heat), and 4 (Cavaliers) beat 5 (Magic). Celtics play the Cavaliers in the next round. 2 (Knicks) beat 7 (76ers) and 6 (Pacers) beat 3 (Bucks). Knicks play Pacers in the next round.
Our roots are in New York, so we kinda want the Knicks to win, but I agree totally — immediately, my wife, son, and I started chanting “FLOP! FLOP!”. We compared DiVincenzo with Italian soccer players and their histrionics. The Pacers’ Miles Turner’s leg barely moved — not nearly enough to be an illegal screen.
Thanks, @Railer13 .
On the replay, it looked fairly significant. No leg movement, probably no contact in that situation.
Minny is looking like the team to beat right now. I would have guessed Boston and Denver before this, but damn they are looking unstoppable. 6-0 in the playoffs so far, against Phoenix and Denver is impressive.
If my Pacers don’t win the championship, I want to see Minnesota do it.
Why the hell did Rick Carlisle bench T.J. McConnell for the last 7:10?
Good question. McConnell has been playing better than Halliburton. According to my kid (who owns a Halliburton jersey), he (Halliburton) will
never be nearly as good as he was before his injury, even though the surgery was a success in medical terms.