THE New Orleans Pelicans, Boston Celtics and Toronto Raptors have gone fishing. One and done in the 2015 NBA Playoffs, having fallen in a minimum four games against the Golden State Warriors, Cleveland Cavaliers and Washington Wizards in their respective best-of-seven duels.
The Warriors, who own the homecourt advantage throughout the postseason so long as they are still breathing by virtue of their league-leading and all-time franchise-best 67-15 record, swept All-Star frontliner Anthony Davis and the Pelicans, 4-0, in their West matchup, including a Game Three overtime victory at NOLA’s Smoothie King Center where Golden State overcame a 20-point deficit entering the fourth quarter to force a five-minute extension.
Stephen Curry averaged 33.8 points for the Warriors’ first seven-game series sweep since beating the Washington Bullets (now the Wizards) in four straight during the 1975 NBA Finals.
In defeat, the 6-foot-10 Davis registered series norms of 31.5 points, 11.0 rebounds and 3.0 blocks in his postseason debut.
Only three other players have ever averaged at least 30 points and 10 boards per game in a playoff setto in which his team was swept – the Philadelphia (now Golden State) Warriors’ Wilt Chamberlain, 37 ppg/23 rpg vs. Syracuse Nationals in 1961, the Los Angeles Lakers’ Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, 30.3 ppg/16 rpg vs. Portland in 1977; and the Utah Jazz’s Karl Malone, 30.7 ppg/16.3 rpg vs. Golden State in 1989).
Out in the East, No. 2 seed Cleveland swept No. 7 seed Boston and No. 5 seed Washington whitewashed No. 4 seed Toronto.
LeBron James, appearing in his first postseason series in his second tour of duty with the Cavs, averaged 27 points, 9.0 rebounds, 6.5 assists and 2.3 steals against the Celtics while co-All-Star Kyrie Irving posted norms of 23.3 ppg, 5.0 rpg and 4.3 apg.
Cleveland’s Kevin Love, dislocated his left shoulder (following an armlock by Boston’s Kelly Olynyk) in the first quarter of the Cavs’ 101-93 series-clincher and is questionable for the start of the second-round playoffs.
Cleveland will face the winner of the series between No. 3 Chicago and No. 6 Milwaukee, which the Bulls lead 3-1 entering today’s Game Five at the United Center (the Bucks took Game Four, 92-90, at home to avoid a sweep).
With the victory over the higher-seeded Raptors, the Wizards, who registered the first seven-game series sweep in franchise history (since 1961-62) and the club’s first series sweep since 1982 when the then-Bullets of Washington beat the New Jersey (now Brooklyn) Nets, 2-0, in a best-of-three, first-round duel, will meet the winner of the series between top-seeded Atlanta and eighth-seeded Brooklyn, which the Hawks lead, 2-1, entering Game Four today (Manila time) at the Barclays Center (the Nets grabbed the third game, 91-83, also on their home arena).
Toronto had defeated Washington, 3-0, in their head-to-head regular season series but quickly melted in the playoffs as the Wizards, buoyed by their road successes in the first two games, became the 34th five-seed team since the NBA went into a 16-team playoff format in 1984 to beat a four-seed. In first-round matchups, No. 5 seeds are ahead of the No. 4 seeds, 34-29.
Memphis, the West’s No. 5 seed, is in line to join the lower-seeded first-round victors as the Grizzlies currently enjoy a 3-0 lead over the No. 4 seed Portland (seeded that way by virtue of the Trail Blazers’ being the Northwest Division titlists despite an inferior win-loss mark vis-à-vis Memphis) going into Game Four today at Portland’s Moda Center.
In the other first-round West matchups, the No. 3 seed LA Clippers evened their series with the sixth-seeded and reigning league champion San Antonio Spurs at 2-2 after a 114-105 Game Four win at the AT&T Center and the No. 7 seed Dallas Mavericks staved off elimination with a 121-109 victory over the No. 2 seed Houston Rockets at the American Airlines Center in yesterday’s Game Four to trail 1-3.
LAC and San Antonio each won a game on enemy territory with the Spurs taking the second and third games. Game Five of the Clippers-Spurs series, now reduced to a best-of-three, will be held on Wednesday, April 29 (Manila time) at the Staples Center. Game Six will be played two days later in San Antonio.
Game Five of the Houston-Dallas series will be hosted by the Rockets on April 29 (Manila time) at the Toyota Center.
Despite the Game Four triumphs by Milwaukee and Dallas, the odds are stacked against them insofar as capturing their respective first-round duels.
No team in NBA playoff history has ever come back from a 0-3 deficit to win a best-of-seven series.
Only twice has a team forced a Game Seven after trailing 3-0. In the 1951 NBA Finals, the Rochester Royals (the harbinger of the Sacramento Kings) grabbed a 3-0 lead against the New York Knicks but had to win Game Seven at home to secure the franchise’s lone championship in its only Finals appearance so far. The Utah Jazz also beat the Denver Nuggets, 4-3, in the 1994 Western semifinal series after blowing a 3-0 lead.
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