Easter Weekend marked the start of the NBA Playoffs, the moment was finally here. The moment where we get to cut the fat and get straight to the good part of the NBA. 16 teams, 2 conferences, 1 championship.
The first game tipped off on Saturday around noon between the 5.) Brooklyn Nets and the 4.) Toronto Raptors. Toronto was in the playoffs for the first time since 2008, coming off a franchise-best record, hosting a playoff game needless they were feeling themselves something fierce. Meanwhile in the Toronto tabloids there was no shortage of trash talk and even rapper Drake and the Raptors GM threw their shots. The Nets were called old by the Raptors and even “dinosaurs”. Although when the game started those old geezers got the best of the new kids on the block. Paul Pierce closed the game in classic Truth fashion taking a 1-0 lead in that series
The rest of the playoff games came with their own headlines as well. The 3.) Los Angeles Clippers got clipped at home by the 6.) Golden State Warriors 105-109. The 1st seeded Indiana Pacers got handled at home by the 8th seeded Atlanta Hawks 93-101. The 2.) Oklahoma City Thunder kept off the 7.) Memphis Grizzlies 100-86.
The headlines for the Easter Sunday games gave us the expected and the unexpected. The reigning champions 2.) Miami Heat got back into form against the 7.) Charlotte Bobcats 99-88. The 1.) San Antonio Spurs outlasted the 8.) Dallas Mavericks 90-85. The 3.) Chicago Bulls got out-paced by the 6.) Washington Wizards 93-102. And finally, the 4.) Houston Rockets came up short in Overtime to the 5.) Portland Trailblazers 120-122.
A lot of home losses and series swings in that first weekend of playoff basketball, but the beauty of a series is there will always be a game 2.