Looking Back At Some Of The Most Memorable Playoff Moments So Far

Look it’s Friday. I don’t want to work, you don’t want to work, and if you’re like me this layoff between games has been absolutely brutal to deal with. So I figured since these playoffs have been pretty awesome so far right from the jump, why not kill some time and look back on some of the best performances we’ve seen this postseason. This is in no particular order so I don’t want anyone to get upset, these are just listed as they popped into my brain.

James Harden Game 1 vs Minnesota

Heading into the postseasons, we were all anxious to see just how different James Harden would look. After the way things ended the year before, you could say he had a certain amount of pressure on him, and boy did he hit the ground running. He went 15-26 from the field and set the tone for what would ultimately be a gentleman’s sweep

Ben Simmons Dropped A Triple Double In His First Playoff Game

Sure The Process ended up stalling, but that doesn’t mean Sixers fans shouldn’t be excited. We can all be honest that if a “rookie” on our favorite team dropped this sort of stat line in their first ever playoff game, we’d be over the moon. It just goes to show that against a weak team you don’t really need to know how to shoot because you can just dunk on everybody, but in terms of playoff debuts I can’t think of many that were all that better.

The Timberwolves Finally Won A Playoff Game

This was an awesome moment for Timberwolves fans everywhere. They waited a looooooooooooooooooonnnngggggggggg time to finally taste playoff success, and even if they wouldn’t win another game in this series, you can’t take that Game 3 win away from them. People from MIN are so nice I was happy they finally got to celebrate something when it came to the Wolves, because lord knows it’s been a brutal rebuild since the KG days.

Jrue Holiday’s First Round

Obviously a lot of focus with the Pelicans first round upset was around Anthony Davis, but Jrue Holiday was every bit as important. In that series he averaged 27.8/4.0/6.5 on 56.8% shooting and 1.8 3PM a night. Not only did he show up on the offensive end, but he literally stole Game 1 by himself on the defensive end as well. I could see Pelicans fans prior to this playoff run not really loving the fact that Holiday got a max level deal, but he has more than backed that up this entire season.

Victor Oladipo took a leap

Right from the start of the season Oladipo showed why the Pacers sneaky may have won that offseason trade. In his first chance to face Lebron and the Cavs, Oladipo proved that not only did he belong, but that he could be the best player on the floor. He’ll probably end up winning the MIP Award this season, and Pacers fans should be really excited about a guy that not only is turning into one of the better guards in the league, but also a guy who loves and wants to be in Indiana.

Terry Rozier tossing Eric Bledsoe like a ragdoll

Not the best series for Bledsoe if I could be honest. Between that toss and this jumper

This was just the beginning of what looks like a pretty incredible postseason run for Rozier.

Everything Donovan Mitchell did

Stud. What else can you say?

Khris Middleton’s prayer and overall dominance in the first round

I mean what the hell. I wasn’t surprised that Middleton hit this shot, because the guy had literally not missed the entire series. He averaged 24.7/5.1/3.1 on 59.8/61% splits while making 3.6 3PM a night. Pretty unreal series for a guy who not many talk about when it comes to the Bucks. If those numbers don’t sound impressive, here’s what it looked like

You could say Lebron is having a decent postseason

I know the Cavs are down 0-2 and Lebron realizes his team stinks, but that doesn’t mean he hasn’t been utterly ridiculous so far this postseason. The game log speaks for itself

Jayson Tatum destroying Robert Covington and Ben Simmons

Nobody wanted to talk about Tatum for ROY during the season. Then Sixers fans were trying to tell us how All NBA Defense Robert Covington was going to shut him down. In reality, Jayson Tatum abused the shit out of both Ben Simmons and Robert Covington all series long.

Anthony Davis getting his first postseason win

With every single season including some sort of Anthony Davis trade proposal, I’m sure there were a ton of Pelicans fans that were happy to see this team and Davis finally get their first playoff win together. If they can continue to show Davis that they are on the right path, then they should have nothing to worry about once he hits FA in a few years. He talks all the time about how he wants to stay in NO, but talk is cheap. Postseason success is what is going to keep him there, so this was a big one.

OKC Thunder’s 25 point comeback

Here’s something you don’t see often in a playoff game. Just a little 25 point comeback, no big deal. With their season basically on the line, it was a pretty incredible run for the Thunder, who we know ultimately lost the series, but at least they went down swinging. I’m a sucker for anytime we see history being made, and this comeback ended up being the 5th largest in league history. Sure it was sparked by a phantom foul on Gobert, but still impressive nonetheless.

Marcus Morris trolling the master troll Joel Embiid

Impossible not to love this when it happened. Nobody in the league loves to talk trash more than Joel Embiid, and honestly I have no problem with it. The game needs that sort of stuff. But if he thought he was going to intimidate Marcus Morris, he does not know Marcus Morris.

So nobody is going to be able to stop Kevin Durant. Got it.

Things haven’t really changed much in the WCF either. A lot of people say Lebron is the best player in the NBA which is hard to argue against, but I’d personally say Kevin Durant is the best scorer in the league and it’s not even all that close. I just don’t know how you guard him when he can just shoot over you, put it all on the floor and drive past you, and then also nail it from 30 feet. What a beast.

Giannis killed Aron Baynes

This happened a few times during the year, but for some reason Aron Baynes keeps challenging Giannis at the rim. You love him for it, but sheesh this was a cold blooded murder. Giannis is another guy that doesn’t really shoot it from anywhere other than the paint, but when you can do shit like this against a beast of a 7fter, why would you?

The Cavs Game 1 comeback against TOR

It was at this moment that we knew that things were indeed not different for TOR, and that Lebron & Co still owned not only the Raptors franchise, but the entire city. Once they blew that Game 1 the whole basketball world knew the series was over, and we were right. The Cavs NEVER led at any point during regulation which makes this even more impressive for them and embarrassing for TOR. You can say Lebron killed the Raptors because not only did they go on to fire their coach, but now they’re shopping their talent.

 



I’m sure I left off some, so if there is anything you were also impressed with say it in the comments. I can’t be alone in saying that after such an awesome regular season that I was praying the playoffs would be just as good, and so far I’d say it has absolutely lived up to the hype. Now we just have to make it to the weekend for more. We can do it if we stick together.