The NBA playoffs feature several teams capable of winning it all. When was the last time you could honestly say that?
Sure, the defending champion Golden State Warriors were still a well-oiled offensive machine while thrashing the San Antonio Spurs 113-92 Saturday night. They filled the basket at a dizzying clip despite missing guard Steph Curry, who is still working his way back from a knee injury.
But the 2016 NBA champion Cleveland Cavaliers looked like a shell of their former selves while falling hard to the Indiana Pacers to open their series.
Meanwhile the top Eastern Conference seed, the Toronto Raptors, and the top Western Conference seed, the Houston Rockets, flexed their muscles with postseason-opening victories.
The surprising Indiana Pacers looked terrific while routing LeBron James and the Cavaliers, proving there is life beyond Paul George. The long-suffering 76ers curb-stomped the Miami Heat in Philadelphia’s first NBA playoff game since 2012.
Oklahoma City flashed star power while handing the Utah Jazz. The injury-depleted Boston Celtics will likely wait until next season to bid for another title, but this postseason offers ample hope for teams outside of the Bay Area and Cleveland.
NO EMBIID, NO PROBLEM
The 76ers rolled into the playoffs with 16 consecutive regular season victories, then demolished the Heat 130-103 Saturday night even though superstar Joel Embiid was sidelined with his orbital bone fracture.
“I know for a lot of us, it’s kind of scary to see what we did without Jo,” rookie 76ers guard Markelle Fultz told reporters. “We’re really looking forward for when he gets back for how even more talented we’re going to be.”
The 76ers are finally making “The Process” pay off after winning just 19, 18, 10 and 28 games during the painful four-year rebuilding process with coach Brett Brown at the helm. Now this team is coming of age.
“There is a gratitude that I have, we have,” Brown told reporters. “Finally, here we are and our fans genuinely have something to be proud of with us.”
FEAR THE BEARD
With his teammates clanking shots left and right, Rockets star James Harden lit up the Minnesota Timberwolves for 44 points — including 13 in the fourth quarter — to lead Houston to its 104-101 victory Sunday night.
“If you have that aggressive mindset, good things will happen,” Harden told reporters. “If they gave me space, where I could get my shot off, I shot it. I was feeling it. If they pressure me enough, I would try to get by them and create for myself or for someone else.”
But the Rockets will need a more balanced attack to play for the NBA title. Trevor Ariza, P.J. Tucker, Eric Gordon and Chris Paul combined to make just 10 of 35 shots in that game.
SPEAKING OF ONE-MAN TEAMS
LeBron James delivered a triple-double performance against the Pacers (24 points, 12 assists, 10 rebounds) and his team still lost 98-80. James had not lost a first-round NBA playoff game since 2012.
And he had never lost the first game of a first-round series during his 15-year career.
Collectively the Cavaliers missed 26 of 34 shots from three-point range, including 8 of 10 from the corners. James kept gaining the lane with his dribble drives and kicking the ball back out to shooters that missed.
“That’s just how the game was being played,” James told reporters. “Guys had great looks and they just didn’t go down.”
Long-range shooter Kyle Korver battle with a nagging foot injury doesn’t help matters. Nor does the sore back guard George Hill suffered while crashing into a pick.
AS FOR PAUL GEORGE
He tore up the Utah for 36 points in the Oklahoma City Thunder’s 116-108 victory Sunday night in Game 1 of their series. George knocked down eight shots from three-point range to live up to his self-anointed nickname of “Playoff P.”
“I’m going to bring it to that level on a nightly basis,” George told reporters. “Obviously, I was hot tonight, but that’s the level I am going to bring it to every night.”
The explosive tandem of George and Russell Westbrook (29 points, 13 rebounds and eight assists) give the Thunder hope of winning it all as the middling No. 4 seed in the Western Conference.
With so much firepower spread across several teams, this NBA postseason could be full of pleasant surprises.
