The NBA Playoffs’ kicked off and was pretty much as expected with favourite teams going on to stamp their authority. The second day? Yeah, not so much.
Both No. 1 seeded teams from the Western and Eastern conferences lost surprisingly to their opponents in Game 1 of the playoffs. Milwaukee Bucks started the day by losing to the Orlando Magic, and the No. 1 seeded, Los Angeles Lakers, ended the day by losing to the No. 8 seeded, Portland Trail Blazers.
It is a record that’s been in place since 2003 in which both No. 1 seeds lost their openers, and in the Lakers’ case, it came down to a lack of depth.
LeBron James always fulfils his end of the bargain and scored 23 points, pulled in 17 rebounds and dished out 15 assists while Anthony Davis poured in 28 points of his own, but the Lakers role players shot 4-of-22 from 3-point range. They simply couldn’t score enough to win when that happens.
Portland’s role players weren’t all that either, but Damian Lillard puts in his offensive best on the night to earn 34 points which proved enough to lead them to a victory.
All the Blazers need to do now is only win three games out of the remaining six to stun the Western Conference’s No. 1 seed.
The Lakers, however, will have to go back to the drawing board if they want to avoid such humiliation as what transpired on Tuesday was completely and utterly unacceptable.
Related
- Kawhi Leonard and the LA Clippers beat the Dallas Mavericks to take Game 1 of the playoffs,
- Utah Jazz loses in overtime to Denver Nuggets despite Donovan Mitchell’s 57 points performance
