NBA playoffs on Apr. 14: Bucks smash Pistons, Celtics freeze Pacers

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On Day 2 of the 2019 NBA Playoffs on Sunday, all four home teams claimed victories. The Boston Celtics defeated the Indiana Pacers 84-74 at the TD Garden in a defense contest; the Portland Trail Blazers took down the Oklahoma City Thunder 105-99 at the Moda Center, although many had expected it to go the other way; the Milwaukee Bucks butchered the Detroit Pistons 121-86 at the Fiserv Forum; and the Houston Rockets crushed the Utah Jazz 122-90 at the Toyota Center.

Celtics vs. Pacers, it's tough and it's ugly

Al Horford #42 and Gordon Hayward #20 of the Boston Celtics defend Domantas Sabonis #11 of the Indiana Pacers at the TD Garden, April 14, 2019. /VCG Photo

Boston had five players score double-digit points, even though the team had in total 84 points. Kyrie Irving and Marcus Morris both had 20 while Jayson Tatum got 15. Al Horford and Gordon Hayward each contributed 10 points.

By contrast, Indiana gave a perfect example of how "one cannot make something out of nothing," as only two players scored over 10 points: Bojan Bogdanovic from the starting lineup had 12, while Cory Joseph contributed 14 off the bench.

Gordon Hayward #20 of the Celtics under the defense of players of the Pacers, April 14, 2019. /VCG Photo

This was a game about who could shoot worse. Neither side's field goal rate reached 40 percent – the Pacers managed just 33.33 percent, and the Celtics 36.36 percent – and their 3-pts were even worse – 22.22 percent for the Pacers, 35.71 percent for the Celtics.

Even with such terrible offense, Indiana still managed to lead by 10 points (38-28) once in the second quarter thanks to the 10 turnovers committed by Boston. However, such precious advantage vanished in Q3 as the Pacers only scored eight points thanks to their 10.52 FG rate (2/19). The Celtics meanwhile claimed 26 points in that quarter to turn the situation around, and left no chance to their opponents for the rest of the game.

Kyrie Irving #11 of the Celtics shoots in the game against the Pacers, April 14, 2019. /VCG Photo

Wesley Matthews of Indiana called Q3 a "nightmare". Thaddeus Young said it was a 50-50 game without the third quarter. Head coach Nate McMillan however did not share Young's optimism and said the team "lost our way" in the game.

Ironically, Sunday's game may have been the Pacers' best chance to claim a victory as they could not compete in offense with the Celtics, so that fighting a slow and ugly game was the only option. If they could not win such a game, it seems unlikely Indiana will be able to win in other situations.

Trail Blazers vs. Thunder, Kanter brings the win

Enes Kanter #00 and Damian Lillard #0 of the Portland Trail Blazers in the game they win against the Oklahoma City Thunder 104-99 at the Moda Center, April 14, 2019. /VCG Photo

Damian Lillard dropped the court's highest points for Portland with 30, while C.J. McCollum had 24. Enes Kanter scored 20 points and 18 rebounds while Al-Farouq Aminu contributed 10 points.

Paul George put down the most points for Oklahoma City with 26 and 10 rebounds, while Russell Westbrook got a triple-double of 24 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists. Steven Adams had 17 points and nine rebounds. Dennis Schroder scored 11 points from the bench.

C.J. McCollum (L) and Damian Lillard (R) of the Trail Blazers talk to each other in the game against the Thunder, April 14, 2019. /VCG Photo

There were multiple reasons for Rip City's victory on Sunday – the tone-setting six three-pointers buried by Lillard and McCollum in the first quarter, the lead in blocks (9-4), the 28 missed 3-pts (5/33) by OKC – but Kanter made the biggest contributions. His 20 points and 18 rebounds, including seven offensive rebounds, remained a threat in the Thunder's paint, filling the vacancy of Jusuf Nurkic.

One of the reasons why many expected OKC to win this series was that injury had cost Portland their starting center Nurkic. However, it seemed that people forgot that the Thunder were also suffering from injuries. In the postgame interview, George said that he could not even raise his arm four days ago and had not touched the ball since the April 9 game against the Rockets due to a shoulder injury, which could explain why he missed 11 of his 15 attempts from the 3-pt line.

Paul George #13 of the Thunder wears a shoulder protection in the game against the Trail Blazers, April 14, 2019. /VCG Photo

Oklahoma City do not need to panic because they only lost by five points even after such a disappointing game. Neither did they make any specific plan about Kanter in offense, which they should be doing. After all, the Turkish center has been well-known as a deadweight in defense and OKC must make the Trail Blazers pay for keeping him on the court.

Bucks vs. Pistons, it's a massacre and it's not over

Giannis Antetokounmpo #34 of the Milwaukee Bucks dunks in the ir winning game against the Detroit Pistons 121-86 at the Fiserv Forum, April 14, 2019. /VCG Photo

How easy was the win for Milwaukee? They led by 20 points (38-18) in Q1 and extended the lead to 43 points (97-54) in the third quarter. It only took Giannis Antetokounmpo 23 minutes to put down 24 points, 17 rebounds and four assists. Including him, the Bucks had eight players who scored double-digit points.

Without Blake Griffin, Detroit had no playmaker who could change the opponent's defense by himself or take on Antetokounmpo. Andre Drummond looked so vulnerable on the court because his teammates could not create easy-point chances for him or rely on him to protect the paint. By the way, he was ejected with a Flagrant Foul 2.

Blake Griffin of the Pistons stands courtside in the game against the Bucks, April 14, 2019. /VCG Photo

It was a painful loss, but the nightmare may not be over for the Pistons. According to Vincent Goodwill of Yahoo Sports., Griffin could miss the whole series because of his knee problem. It's time for head coach Dwane Casey to do something but there's really not much he can do with Detroit's franchise.

Rockets vs. Jazz, Utah commit suicide

James Harden #13 of the Houston Rockets shoots a floater in their winning game against the Utah Jazz 122-90 at the Toyota Center, April 14, 2019. /VCG Photo

How did Utah lose so badly by 32 points? First, Houston were the better team of the series; secondly, a team cannot win by sinking seven three-pointers while their opponent makes 15; thirdly, and most importantly, Utah should not try to defend James Harden by leaving a freeway between him and your paint.

The Jazz were obsessed with the following play defending Harden: their player would stand behind or on the left side of Harden so he could not shoot his signature back-step three-pointer. Then the defender would follow him as Harden moved towards Rudy Gobert. And that's when such a defense became pointless.

Clint Capela #15 of the Rockets dunks in the game against the Jazz, April 14, 2019. /VCG Photo

Since there was no one standing between Harden and Gobert, Harden could easily choose between: shooting a floater, which he missed a few times; passing to Clint Capela for easy dunks, which they did on several occasions; or passing to the teammate in the corner for an open 3-pt, which they did a lot. As Harden kept switching between these three options, the Rockets saw their lead grow to 20 points in Q4, turning the game into a foregone conclusion.

Besides the confusing choice in defense, Utah should also blame themselves for their disappointing offense. Donovan Mitchell again was used as a finisher when he could have contributed the most handling the ball. The team kept shooting three-pointers from the corner despite missing one after the other, without challenging Houston's unstable paint.

Donovan Mitchell #45 of the Jazz shoots in the game against the Rockets, April 14, 2019. /VCG Photo

If head coach Quin Snyder does not figure out something new in defense to somehow help the Jazz make those open shots, his team can expect to be swept while the Rockets can focus on preparing for the semi-finals against the Golden State Warriors.