NBA playoff scores 2017: Recap from Day 2 of NBA playoffs

The first weekend of the NBA Playoffs is over. We got an upset from the Bulls on Sunday, while the Wizards, Warriors, and Rockets took care of business at home. We’ll recap Sunday’s games right here:

In another season, if there weren’t historic MVP candidates who demanded our focus, we could have talked a lot more about Wall. He’s averaging career highs in points, assists, and field goal percentage, and his constant pushing of the ball and full-court blurring when he takes off makes Washington’s offense into a deadly transition attack all by himself. Here’s one.

Great point guards generally accomplish the same set of goals on the floor, each choosing their own preferred way to do it. Where Chris Paul is sneaky and exploitative, Russell Westbrook is soaring dynamics, and Stephen Curry thrives off causing panic, Wall’s trick is to treat the defense like they’re not even there. He’ll loft a touch pass over them to his big man, or glide by them effortlessly. Occasionally, he needs a bit of help — but his reaction here sums it all up, right?

Did we ever decide on a nickname for Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum? A Google search comes up with “Rain Bros” but I reject that nightmare of a nickname. We suggested Junior Splash Bros at SB Nation a while back. Maybe we just call them the Splash Sons, or Splash Relatives, or Splash Cousins, or Splash-in-Laws.

Whatever it is, those two combined for 75 points against the original Splash Bros on Sunday, even though Portland still fell 121-109. A healthy Golden State team is just impossible to plan for, but the Trail Blazers decided they would try their best to outscore them. With two dynamic guards like Lillard and McCollum both playing great basketball, they’re one of the few teams in the league that could reasonably think this strategy could work for a game or two.

It wasn’t enough, though. The two had 75 points on 28-of-54 shooting with seven threes, but only two other Blazers hit more than one field goal. (Moe Harkless shot 5-of-13, and Evan Turner was 3-of-7.)

Portland could possibly see Jusuf Nurkic return, and it’s possible Lillard and McCollum keep this up for another game at least, but it’s hard to see it resulting in more than a win or two. Any slippage at all, and this series might get ugly.

What more could Draymond Green have done on Sunday?

There’s actually an easy answer to that. With 6:52 left in the fourth quarter, Green stole the ball, sprinted with it down court in traffic, and rose up for a vicious one-handed tomahawk slam ... that bounced off the back iron and into the Trail Blazers’ hands. There’s a flaw from Green’s performance in the 121-109 Game 1 win against Portland. It might have been the only one.

Even if that’s slight hyperbole, what more could you really have asked from Green on Sunday? Take his line: 19 points, 12 rebounds, nine assists, five blocks, three steals, and 6-of-10 shooting. Two more steals, and he would have recorded the 18th five-by-five — at least five of each of the five major counting stats — in NBA history. (Of the previous 17, the most recent one does belong to Green.) One more assist, and he would have added another triple-double to his ledger.

For those who ask why Green is still seen as a better player than, say, Paul George, here’s why. He’s the exact opposite of what we’d expect from a “traditional” superstar, who takes 25 shots per game, often creating them by himself. Instead, he just does everything else on the basketball court, and it’s great.

Also, don’t try to dunk on him.

Jimmy Butler is the best player in the Celtics-Bulls series

The Bulls were in and out of the playoffs throughout the regular season, finding themselves in the No. 8 spot against the No. 1 seed Celtics in the first round. On paper, the top seed should handle the lowest seed with ease, but there is one problem for the Celtics in this series. Jimmy Butler is the best player on the floor.

Butler was doing everything for the Bulls on Sunday and you can imagine he will continue to be that force for the rest of the series. Butler scored 23 of his 30 points in the second half, and 15 points in the fourth quarter, putting the Bulls on his back and leading them to Game 1 win. Now the Bulls have home court advantage moving forward and the best player in the series. That is not a great recipe for a Celtics team that many thought wasn’t built for a real playoff run, despite its top seed.

When trying to predict how this series will play out, it’s hard to ignore the Celtics’ tragic issue off the court. Boston was in an unfamiliar place on Sunday after its leader and floor general, Isaiah Thomas, suffered the loss of his sister just the day before. That surely had an impact on the game and the team’s emotions. After the game, Al Horford said that the issue will “make us stronger moving forward.” It’s unclear if Thomas will be with the team this week.

James Harden was in complete control against the Thunder

Yes, the MVP race is a regular season award, but it’s hard to ignore the discussion when James Harden and Russell Westbrook face off in the first round. Simply put, James Harden outshined Westbrook in the series opener.

Harden finished the night with 37 points, seven rebounds, nine assists, and three steals. He got the most help from Patrick Beverley, who scored a playoff-high 21 points and was the energy spark the Rockets needed all night. In a game they won easily, they didn’t get much production outside of those two. The Rockets only got 19 points total from Lou Williams and Eric Gordon.

Westbrook finished with 22 points and 11 rebounds on the night. It was a blowout win for the Rockets, but many expected this series to be a long one. Russell Westbrook is too good and too demanding of his teammates to let this get out of hand again. We know we’ll see bigger games from Russ, but the question is if he can get the rest of his team to contribute at the level of Houston’s output.

Wizards 114, Hawks 107 (Bullets Forever recap | Peachtree Hoops recap)

Warriors 121, Trail Blazers 109 (Golden State of Mind recap | Blazer’s Edge recap)

Bulls 106, Celtics 102 (Blog A Bull recap | Celtics Blog recap)

Rockets 118, Thunder 87 (The Dreamshake recap | Welcome to Loud City recap)