Tune-In Tidbits: TNT/NBA TV Wednesday, May 26, 2021
Tobias Harris scored a playoff-career high 37 points in Philadelphia’s Game 1 win.
Game 2: Wizards at Sixers
7 p.m. ET, NBA TV | Sixers lead 1-0
• Tobias Harris playoff career-high 37 points, second highest scoring game of his career, had 39 on Dec. 17, 2018 as a member of the LA Clippers. Rui Hachimura was the primary defender on Harris, guarding him for over 50% of his offensive matchup time (6:55) and holding him to only 13 points (35% of his points).
• Joel Embiid scored 30 points in Game 1, his 24th game this season (regular season and playoffs) with at least 30 points. The Sixers have gone 19-5 in those games.
• Ben Simmons became just the fourth player since 1984 to record at least 15 rebounds and 15 assists in a playoff game, joining LeBron James (2020), Jason Kidd (2007) and Fat Lever (1985). Simmons finished with six points, 15 rebounds, 15 assists, a steal and a block in Philadelphia’s Game 1 win against Washington on Sunday. Simmons also held Bradley Beal to two points during the 7:24 minutes he was the primary defender on Beal (over 50% of his offensive matchup time).
• The Wizards dropped Game 1 despite shooting 55.7% from the field. The last time a team lost a playoff game while shooting that well was on April 17, 2018, when the Bucks lost to the Celtics (59.7 FG%). Since 1984, teams that shot at least 55% from the field in a playoff game have gone 298-37 (.890 win pct).
• The Wizards scored 76 points in the paint in Game 1, led by Beal with 22 of his team-high 33 points coming in the paint. The 76 points in the paint were the third-highest total of the season for the Wizards (96 on May 3, 86 on April 26) and the most points in the paint the Sixers have allowed since OKC had 76 on March 22, 2017. The common thread between those two games is Russell Westbrook.
Trae Young finished with 32 points, 10 assists and seven rebounds in his playoff debut.
Game 2: Hawks at Knicks
7:30 p.m. ET, TNT | Hawks lead 1-0
• Trae Young led the Hawks to a win in Game 1 with 32 points, including the game-winning floater with 0.9 seconds remaining. Young shot 8-12 (66.7%) on driving floaters in Game 1; during the regular season he shot 159-325 (48.9%) on those shots. He scored a game-high 18 points in the paint, despite going up against New York’s Nerlens Noel, who finished third in the league in blocks during the regular season (2.2 per game).
• Alec Burks scored a playoff career-high 27 points in 26 minutes off the bench to lead the Knicks in Game 1. Burks shot 69.2% from the field (9-13), 60% from beyond the arc (3-5) and 75% from the line (6-8). Burks scored 18 of his 27 points in the fourth quarter as he accounted for 56.3% of New York’s fourth-quarter offense.
• Led by Burks’ 27 points and Derrick Rose’s 17 points, the Knicks’ bench outscored the Hawks’ bench 64-31 in Game 1. New York’s reserves accounted for 61% of the Knicks’ 105 total points. During the regular season, New York ranked 12th in bench scoring (37.4 ppg) while the Hawks ranked 24th (32.9 ppg).
• Atlanta committed only six turnovers in their Game 1 win. That marked their fewest in game all season and the fewest they have had in a playoff game since May 1, 2013. During the regular season, the Hawks ranked ninth in fewest turnovers (13.2 per game), while the Knicks ranked sixth (12.9).
• Young (32 points, 10 assists, seven rebounds) wasn’t the only player to have an outstanding playoff debut in Game 1 of this series. Bogdan Bogdanovic scored 18 points and posted a game-high plus-17 for the Hawks in 34 minutes. RJ Barrett posted a double-double (14 points, 11 assists) in his playoff debut; he had just five double-doubles in 72 regular season games.
Dillon Brooks and Ja Morant combined for 57 points in Memphis’ Game 1 upset of Utah.
Game 2: Grizzlies at Jazz
10 p.m. ET, TNT | Grizzlies lead 1-0
• As the graphic above shows, the Grizzlies had a pair of standout playoff debuts from Ja Morant (26 points, four assists) and Dillon Brooks (game-high 31 points, seven rebounds) in their Game 1 upset of the No. 1-overall seeded Jazz. This was only the second game this season that Morant and Brooks both went for 25 points or more, both of which are games the Grizzlies won. Individually, the Grizzles are 7-9 when Morant scores 25+ and 6-2 when Brooks scores 25+ points.
• Donovan Mitchell is expected to return tonight to help the Jazz bounce back from their Game 1 loss. Mitchell scored 35 points in both of his meetings with the Grizzlies this season (March 26-27 in Utah). Mitchell’s 35.0 ppg against Memphis was his third-highest scoring average against any opponent this season, while his 60% shooting was first and his 71.4% 3-point shooting was second.
• Bojan Bogdanovic scored a team-high 29 points, including 20 in the fourth quarter in an attempt to rally the Jazz back in Game 1. Bogdanovic was a top-10 3-point shooter in the league during the regular season, averaging 3.3 made 3-pointers per game, the second-highest on the team behind Mitchell’s 3.4 per game.
• Memphis finished Game 1 with a 20-point advantage in points in the paint (62-42) with 22 coming from Morant, 16 from Brooks and 14 from Jonas Valanciunas. During the regular season, the Grizzlies averaged a league-high 55.8 points in the paint, while the Jazz allowed the ninth-most points in the paint of any team (and the most by any playoff team).
• The Jazz attempted 47 3-pointers in Game 1, four more than their league-leading average of 43.0 during the regular season. However, they only connected on 12 of those attempts, which is well below their league-leading average of 16.7 3-pointers made. Utah’s 25.5% shooting from long distance was their second-lowest percentage of any game this season as they finished fourth in 3-point accuracy during the season at 38.9%. Getting Mitchell back (3.4 3PM on 38.6% shooting) should help the Jazz bounce back from beyond the arc in Game 2.
