NBA Playoffs: LeBron's Last Dance, injury concerns & Fun Guy Kawhi
The playoffs are here and there is no shortage of drama, storyline and big-name appeal to get you hooked.
The NBA playoffs have arrived. A glorious time for basketball as the long regular season paves the way for high stakes hooping at the very highest level.
I will admit to not being the most committed basketball fan on earth. I will absolutely phone it in during the regular season. Unless there’s a big controversy, a major trade or some incident that needs time from my valuable sports content clock, I will usually let the regular season games float on by until it gets to the business end of proceedings. That’s when I become a sucker for all the playoff hype, drama and storyline. I will consume everything you have to offer by way of debate and analysis, hype over the latest unlikely playoff star, diligently scope over results and box scores every morning, and chart out the path on who will become this year’s NBA champions.
And this year is interesting because nobody, least of all I, can tell you with any certainty who’s going to win it. It’s absolutely wide open for a glut of teams to make a run, hurdling injury scares, the grueling schedules, shallow roster depth and good old fashioned heart and experience, not to mention Father Time for some of our more notable playoff protagonists.
So if you, like I, needed that post-regular season refresher, early-playoffs tune-up to get you up to speed on the NBA playoffs, then you’ve come to the right place.
LeBron’s Last Dance?
Any playoff discussion is useless without mentioning LeBron James, the 38-year-old superstar of the NBA. However, it is wild that he is even in the playoffs—the LA Lakers’ clinching went down to the wire, needing a late season push to get them over the line and a play-in victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves to seal playoff status.
Just like Splinter walked side-by-side with the Ninja Turtles he raised, old man LeBron is getting a little help from his friends. A 1-0 lead over Western Conference #2, the Memphis Grizzlies, have some people dreaming of another LeBron miracle playoff run, adding another chapter to his greatest-ever thesis versus Michael Jordan.
LeBron was possibly just the fourth best player in yellow on opening night, as he graciously allowed Anthony Davis to power the team forward, knowing his limitations as a player in the twilight of his career. Austin Reaves—an undrafted 23-year old—and Rui Hachimura, a former first round pick they dealt for back in January, are swiftly becoming household names across America as they put in the hard yards and big performances for LA.
Should the #7 rated Lakers get past the Grizzlies, the talk will start. Can James muster one last dance?
Injury Concerns
And that had become all the more possible now that Ja Morant, the star player in Memphis, went down hard on his hand in the series opener and looks doubtful for the second game, not least how limited the injury might make him.
Morant tore up the regular season until a few weeks of personal turmoil back in March led to an eight-game suspension for toting a gun at a strip club, along with allegations that he had got into some fisticuffs with a teenager last summer. He is the Grizzlies, and the Grizzlies need him to be upright and firing to justify their #2 tag. A first-round capitulation would be disastrous for them, despite having entered the playoffs with some degree of uncertainty considering Morant’s recent issues. But they do have experience without Ja on the floor, which will give them hope.
Also on the treatment table is Giannis Antetokounmpo, whose Milwaukee Bucks are 1-0 down to the Miami Heat. Although the Bucks have more in reserve to cater for any absences, no Giannis is a massive loss to both the Bucks and the onlooking viewer looking to see the best of the best in the playoffs. The 2021 winners will only one thought in mind and that is getting back to the top table—something made all the harder without one of the league’s best players.
Another big name missing from playoff basketball is the LA Clippers’ Paul George. He is out for the entire first round against the Phoenix Suns, who boast Kevin Durant in their ranks after his trade from Brooklyn. They do however have…
Fun Guy Kawhi
…Kawhi Leonard, who seems to become an unstoppable juggernaut whenever basketball becomes high stakes playoff basketball. He picked up 38 points against the Suns on opening night, having averaged 23.8 in the regular season across 58 games.
Very much in minutes-management as he combats injury and years of deep postseason runs, Leonard seems purposely geared towards unbridled playoff madness. His coach Ty Lue confirmed as much—”this is what we’ve been saving up for”.
A continuation of that will very much keep the #4 rated Clippers in the midst of it. Basically, never bet against the Fun Guy.
What else do I need to know?
The bookies favourites Boston Celtics should sweep the Atlanta Hawks in the opener. They came up short against the Warriors last year, but have returned all of their big pieces to go one better this year, albeit with a rookie head coach.
Reigning champion Warriors are off to a poor start, 2-0 down already to the Sacramento Kings. Although you should never write off Seth Curry and the perennial winners over there, it kind of feels safe to do at the moment.
The Kings don’t have any household names, but they are exciting and are going for their first ever finals. They would be the hipster choice to support, if you were thinking in football terms.
Oft-overlooked Denver Nuggets boast arguably the best player in the NBA at the moment, Nikola Jokic, and are #1 seeds in the Western Conference. They probably shouldn’t be forgotten about.
The Philadelphia 76ers have MVP favourite Joel Embiid and recently dealt for another big name in James Harden. They lead his former team, the Brooklyn Nets, 2-0.
And the last game I haven’t mentioned concerns the New York Knicks, 1-1 against the Cleveland Cavaliers. Neither side should be underestimated, but this Knicks team looks mightily impressive and Madison Square Garden would make for a tough place to go as they seek to end their 1973 drought.