Roy Hibbert, George Hill, Jeff Teague
Three games on Tuesday night, Three games where the road team won Game 1. Three games where the home team should be desperate for a win. For our entertainment’s sake lets hope they are more like Monday’s Grizzlies/Thunder game than Warriors/Clippers.
Atlanta Hawks at Indiana Pacers (Hawks lead series 1-0). The Hawks were likely to win one game in this series because when you launch threes like they do — better than 25 a game, second most in the league — there are nights those are going to fall and you’re going to win. But the way the Hawks exploited the Pacers in Game 1 goes beyond that. Roy Hibbert was out of his customary help positions because he has to respect the range of Pero Antic. With him out of the lane Jeff Teague did whatever he wanted — Paul George has asked for the Teague assignment, expect him to get it. Paul Millsap also exploited Hibbert at points, because he can shoot with a little range and put the ball on the floor and drive. Figuring out how to defend against this team with Hibbert on the floor is key.
On the other end, Indiana’s spacing and ball movement on offense was unimpressive in the second half. Indiana needs a lot more David West, it needs to be a threat inside so they can play inside-out and get good looks.
—Kurt Helin
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Brooklyn Nets at Toronto Raptors (Nets lead series 1-0). Toronto has to find a halfcourt offense because the Nets are not going to miss 19 straight threes again. Toronto got good shots when it attacked the rim in transition but once the long, smart defense for the Nets was set Kyle Lowry or DeMar DeRozan would drive and be forced to take a contested shot because the passing lanes were shut down — Toronto has to move better off the ball to create open looks. The Raptors also can’t turn the ball over 20.4 percent of the time (which goes back to the smart ball pressure and defense). On the other end Nets should just keep feeding Joe Johnson the rock — DeMar DeRozan can handle him in the post, Terrence Ross can’t handle him in the pick-and-roll, and Johnson just went straight at John Salmons and scored at will.
This is basically must-win for Toronto, lose the first two at home and it’s hard to see them bouncing back.
—Kurt Helin
Washington Wizards at Chicago Bulls (Wizards lead series 1-0). If the Wizards or Bulls required any extra motivation, they just needed to watch the 38-44 Hawks rout the reeling Pacers. is there anyway the winner of this Washington-Chicago series isn’t favored to reach the Eastern Conference Finals?
The bigger question is whether the Wizards or Bulls are more likely to win this series.
Chicago is used to taking the hard road. In the Bulls’ last five playoff series, the Game 1 winner lost the series. Surprisingly, scoring wasn’t Chicago’s main issue in its 102-93 loss Sunday. With seven scorers in double digits in a slow-paced game, Chicago’s offensive efficiency was acceptable.
The Bulls’ just couldn’t slow the Wizards, but that might get easier going forward. Nene excelled in Game 1 — producing 24 points, eight rebounds, three assists, two steals and a block in 35 minutes. He hasn’t played 35 minutes in consecutive games since November, though. If Nene can’t play as much in Game 2, Washington will need to get more from John Wall (16 points on 4-of-14 shooting in Game 1) and Bradley Beal (13 points on 3-of-11 shooting).
—Dan Feldman
Tags: Atlanta Hawks, BKN, Bradley Beal, David West, Demar DeRozan, Indiana Pacers, Jeff Teague, Joe Johnson, John Salmons, John Wall, Kyle Lowry, Paul George, Paul Millsap, Pero Antic, Roy Hibbert, Terrence Ross, Toronto Raptor, Washington Wizards
Source
Nene, Carlos Boozer
