The first round of SB Nation’s NBA 3 on 3 Tournament went mostly as our experts predicted it would. In 16 first round serieses, there was only one significant upset where the dice that determine the outcome had a different plan than our panelists. But so far the second round has been a different story.
NBA 3 on 3 Tournament Results: Another Big Upset
In the East, the Boston Celtics, with Rajon Rondo, Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett, became the first favorite to actually advance to the conference semis, defeating John Jenkins, Josh Smith and Al Horford of the Atlanta Hawks. Our panel gave the Celtics a 73 percent chance to win any given game, and the dice came up 59 and 21, a two-game Boston sweep. The Celtics will now face the East Leftovers in the first east semifinal next week.
But in the West another favorite fell. The Los Angeles Clippers, with Chris Paul, Blake Griffin and Lamar Odom, were stunned by the talented Minnesota Timberwolves threesome of Ricky Rubio, Andrei Kirilenko and Kevin Love. Our experts had given the Clippers a slight edge at 59 percent, and when the first roll came back 52 the Clippers won game one. However, the second roll was an 89, evening the series at a game apiece. In the crucial game three, the roll was a 62 and Minnesota eked out the victory. Of course, if J.R. Wilco of Pounding the Rock had half a brain he would have at most called this series a push, instead of making the Timberwolves 13-7 favorites, in which case the Clippers would have advanced. But I'm not bitter. He's just still mad at me for creating that West Leftovers team that eliminated his Spurs -- and as it happens, the Leftovers are the team the Timberwolves will meet next week in a west semifinal.
For a complete look at the SB Nation 3 on 3 Tournament, check back with this StoryStream.
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