NBA Playoffs – April 20th, 2022

NBA Playoffs

The Grizzlies came out with a focused purpose and dominated the Wolves last night as I predicted. Memphis’ defensive adjustments seemed to work pretty well as they held Minnesota to just 96 points compared to 130 in game one. My NBA Playoffs picks are now above water at 4-3.

NBA Playoffs: Celtics (-3.5) Vs Nets $

What a crazy finish it was to game one of the NBA Playoffs with Jayson Tatum laying in the game-winner at the buzzer.

Kyrie Irving was on fire with 39 points and seemed to revel in the hostile crowd verbally assaulting him. Kevin Durant was merely average with just 23 points and his struggles were the difference in the game. In order for the Nets to win any game in this series, those two guys may need to put up 70 points between them. That just isn’t going to happen enough for them to win a seven-game series against the Celtics.

Boston dominated the on the glass and in the paint. They had a 43-29 advantage in rebounds and had a 24-point advantage in paint points, and that is without their best defender, Robert Williams. All the Celtics have to do is keep pace with their 3 point shooting and they will dominate game two and this series.

I don’t feel Brooklyn can play much better than they did on Sunday and they still could not get the win. They would never admit it, but it must have been a demorlizing loss to lose despite playing so well. I expect Kyrie to struggle in game 2 with perhaps only 30 points. This game could be the most lopsided in this NBA Playoffs series with the Celtics growing in confidence and putting the hammer down to crush the spirit of the Nets.

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Jason Grad

Helping serious betters and collectors win more often and grow their portfolios. Follow me on Twitter for my daily sports picks and NFT portfolio management advice.

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