The Rush: NBA playoffs open with big time performances and a controversial ejection
The NBA Playoffs started with a bang with the Nuggets surviving a 135-125 OT thriller against the Jazz, despite 57 points from Donovan Mitchell, the third highest total in NBA playoff history. The defending champion Raptors handled the Nets, winning 134-110, which was the most points and most made threes the Raptors have ever scored in a playoff game. Behind their young duo of Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, the Celtics held on against the 76ers, 109-101. Despite Luka Doncic dropping 42 points in his playoff debut, the Clippers beat the Mavericks 118-110, and a questionable call on a Kristaps Porzingis technical foul might have helped them do it. PLUS: Miami Heat star Jimmy Butler is selling $20 coffee to his fellow NBA bubble mates.
Video Transcript
- Double technical fouls, Porzingis and Morris. That's Porzingis' second. He's been ejected.
- Wow.
- That is nothing.
- Yeah.
- That is nothing.
JARED QUAY: The Mavericks, Clippers match-up seemed pretty juicy on paper-- Luka, Kawhi, Porzingis, PG-13. I mean, the game 1 was nuts. Mavs battled back from an 18-2 deficit to start the game to be winning at halftime. But in the third quarter, the Unicorn was ejected for receiving his second technical for a harmless push to Marcus Morris.
It was so controversial that several stars didn't even hold back on Twitter. LeBron called it, bogus as hell. Dirk Nowitzki called it, super soft. And Patrick Mahomes called it, straight up trash.
- Straight up.
JARED QUAY: In the end, Luka had a 42-point playoff debut, but end up losing to the Clippers, 118 to 110.
- Step-back 3, bang.
JARED QUAY: And all I can say is, wow.
- Number seven!
- Kyle L-L-L-L-Lowry!
JARED QUAY: That was Kyle Lowry's kids introducing him for the game today against the Nets. And it set the tone perfectly for Toronto's 134 to 110 victory. But it was Lowry's backcourt partner and Drake look alike, Fred VanVleet, that led the way. He became the first Raptors player ever to have 30 points and 10 assists in a playoff game.
- Another long distance bomb.
JARED QUAY: And that set the table for the defending champs to score the most 3-pointers and the most points in their playoff history.
- VanVleet. Six for six from VanVleet.
JARED QUAY: But the best game was my Denver Nuggets, 135-125, overtime win over the Utah Jazz.
- Raising up!
JARED QUAY: Donovan Mitchell did all he could do for the Utah Jazz--
- Oh, he punches it home!
JARED QUAY: --putting up a career high 57 points and the third most points ever in a playoff game. And Jamal Murray couldn't believe it.
JAMAL MURRAY: Yeah, what, 57?
- [LAUGHS] He did.
JAMAL MURRAY: Oh, damn, D. Well, he-- he was killing us. And we couldn't get a stop. So we had to find some offense.
JARED QUAY: And that offense came from Murray, himself, who scored a career playoff high of 36 points, 20 of those points in the fourth quarter and overtime. And just to highlight the weirdness of the bubble, he ran into a certain someone right after the game.
JAMAL MURRAY: It's the crazy thing out here being in the bubble, I got to see this dude right after the game. He just drops 57!
JARED QUAY: The Celtics beat the Sixers because, let's be honest, without Ben Simmons, the Sixers are asking Joel Embiid to do everything.
- Joel Embiid!
JARED QUAY: And he certainly tried, putting up 26 points and 16 boards. But with a double dose of the Js-- Jayson Tatum scoring 32 and Jaylen Brown dropping 29-- the Cs end up beating the Sixers, 109 to 101. The Miami Heat will begin their playoff run against the Pacers today. But their star, Jimmy Butler, has already started a side hustle, apparently selling cups of coffee for $20 to other players inside the bubble.
- He's a very enterprising young man.
- Mm.
JARED QUAY: This is his own business that he's calling, Big Face Coffee. And he's thinking about raising prices to $30 because these guys can afford it.
- It's great [BLEEP] coffee.
JARED QUAY: This quarantine is really the time to try new things, all right. But let's be honest, $30 coffee in Disney World is actually on the cheap side. Last time I was in Disney World, I ordered two cappuccinos, it was $67. In fact, you should be selling coffee by the bag. You got to pay $10,000 for this bag of coffee, oven-roasted.
