From the Milwaukee Bucks to the Memphis Grizzlies, the NBA suffered an upset (losing to a lower seed) in the first leg of the playoffs in the 2022-23 season.
On the 17th (Korean time), all the first leg of the NBA playoffs were played.
4 of them came out. The #2 West seed, the Memphis Grizzlies, lost to the #7 seed, the Los Angeles Lakers; the #5 East seed, the New York Knicks, defeated the #4 seed, the Cleveland Cavaliers; and the #5 West seed, the Los Angeles Clippers, beat the Phoenix Suns and #8 East. The seeded Miami Heat defeated the Milwaukee Bucks.
The last time the seventh seed had an upset was the San Antonio Spurs’ win over Dallas in 2010, and the eighth seed had the Philadelphia 76ers knock out #1 seed Derrick Rose’s Chicago Bulls in 2012.
Therefore, among the teams trailing 0-1 in the first round series, we picked the team we are most concerned about.
No. 4: The Milwaukee Bucks, the least worry
Milwaukee was defeated again by head coach Eric Spolstra’s ever-changing defensive tactics. In the first game, star Giannis Antetokounmpo missed most of the game with a back bruise, but he has a chance to return in the second game.
Milwaukee, which has built a strong rotation of members including Cruz Halladay, Chris Middleton, Brooke Lopez and Bobby Portis, should still be able to hold an edge in the series. Most of all, Tyler Hiro, who is in charge of the Miami Heat’s perimeter and scoring explosive power, is out of the series with a wrist fracture. No matter how strong defensive tactics are planned, if you can’t make points, it’s a joke. Earlier, Miami had self-defeated in a play-in tournament game against the Atlanta Hawks when their offense was unresolved.
■ 3rd place: Wake up district 1 option! phoenix suns
Phoenix showed strengths and weaknesses with Kevin Durant, Devin Booker, Chris Paul and DeAndre Ayton.
First of all, the shooting ability to overwhelm the opponent at any time was still there, and Booker’s tremendous hustle was also noticeable. However, he lost by giving Westbrook several offensive rebounds. Therefore, we will have to focus on cracking down on defensive rebounds.
Phoenix will need to take advantage of the absence of Paul George a little more, and Durant will need to be more aggressive on offense. Durant threw only one shot in 6:30 in the fourth quarter. Passing Durant is attractive enough, but scoring is a district 1 option.안전놀이터
■ 2nd place: Cleveland weak against away
The Cleveland Cavaliers are 20-21 in road games this season. On top of that, they lost their home-court advantage in a Game 1 loss to New York.
For Cleveland to win this series, it needs to pick up a win at home in New York, which is strong on its home court this season. New York has been 23-18 at Madison Square Garden this season and 24-17 on the road, showing a balanced winning rate. So, Cleveland, which is looking for its first PO win since LeBron James, will have to put everything on the line in the upcoming Game 2.
■ 1st place: Memphis missed both the starting center and backup center
Memphis was the team I was most worried about before starting the series with the LA Lakers.
It was Memphis where the frontcourt operation became difficult as the starting center Stephen Adams and the backup center Brandon Clark were both absent. The defense displayed by Jaren Jackson Jr., Dylan Brooks and Desmond Bain was excellent, but the center void was not filled. Above all, Morant, who should be in charge of the offense, is in an uncertain state due to an injury.
The Los Angeles Lakers, which Memphis faced, had Anthony Davis, one of the best centers in the league, and Louis Hachimura, a big wing with excellent individual offense. Plus, the presence of LeBron James, who has more playoff experience than all Memphis players combined, played a part.
Attention is focusing on whether the top teams will be able to reverse the series and advance to the next round, and whether they will be recorded in history as victims of the upset.