West First Round Review

West First Round Winners.

The Nuggets beat the Lakers by 5.

The Denver Nuggets had an impressive series against the Lakers. Defeating them in five games was easy. In every game, they were down at halftime only to end the series game-winning. Jamal Murray ended the series with two game-winners in games 2 and 5. Michael Porter Jr. and KCP were excellent shooters and played good defense. Aaron Gordon was great at cutting to the basket. Nikola Jokic had tough shooting games. But he still made the offense flow and made the right plays. The Lakers were a challenge in the first half, yet they struggled to close out games. Darwin Ham, it seemed like he did not bother to make the adjustments on both ends of the court. Anthony Davis made Jokic earn his points. LeBron is one of the greatest players of all time. D'Angelo Russell scored 0 points in Game 3. Though Nugget's depth was missing, Guys like Bruce Brown and Jeff Green were not there to fill in the holes that were missing. It could end up being a problem against a deep Minnesota team. Jamal Murray and Jokic continue to be one of the best guard duos of all time.

Thunder beat the Pelicans 4.

The Oklahoma City Thunder showed confidence in the first round. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is playing like an MVP in this series. Dominating on offense, looking unguardable against the Pelicans' defense. Chet Holmgren and Jalen Williams looked like they had a lot of experience. Chet played great in game 2. Along with Josh Hart, who had a good series. It was a good showing for the young team with a bright future. The Pelicans are a shooting team with shots not hitting. Jonas Valančiūnas looked like Shaq in game one. He was great in the post. CJ McCollum is on the decline of his career. He sucked in that series and is no longer a main option on a competing team. Trey Murphy III is a great 3-point shooter. Herb Jones is a good defender. Brandon Ingram did not step up in this series. He did not rise to be an All-NBA-caliber player. It was a disappointment, and it affirmed that he wasn't a star. The Pelicans missed the physical presence and playmaking of Zion Williamson. If he were healthy, the Thunder would struggle against Zion as he would force his way to the basket. This series was just a warm-up for the Thunder.

The Mavericks beat the Clippers by 6.

This was the best first-round battle in the West. Five future Hall of Famers will share the same court. Luka Doncic continues to be one of the best players in the world. Kyrie Irving was an awesome second option, playing off of his franchise player. He took over the game when the Mavs offense couldn't get anything going. It was vintage Kyrie. The forwards in the series for the Mavs did great. Josh Green, Derrick Jones Jr., and PJ Washington did an incredible job on the defensive end. Dereck Lively II and Daniel Gafford did well on both ends of the court and played next to Kyrie and Luka. The Clippers missed Kawhi. It sucked that he went down after the third game of the series. Paul George had another inconsistent playoff series. He would have games where he would have 22 points and the next game only 7 points. He was not able to show up when it mattered the most. James Harden it was the same old story of starting strong and then ending the series weak. The Mavs looked strong in this series. They are a scary team that can compete night in and night out. This was good preparation for the Mavs to make a deep run.

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