NBA playoff scores 2017: The Rockets showed us how good they can really be

Two more Round 2 series got underway Monday night with the Raptors and Cavaliers playing in the Eastern Conference Semifinals and the Spurs and Rockets in the Western Conference Semifinals. Both were extreme blowouts. LeBron James led the Cavaliers as expected over the Raptors but the Rockets were the surprise of the night, taking down the Spurs in unbelievable fashion. Here’s how it all went down.

James came out in Game 1 against the Raptors with that look in his eye and that bounce in his step. There was nothing you were going to do to stop him and he wanted to make you very aware of that fact.

James is not messing around en route a potential seventh consecutive NBA Finals. He came out of the gate aggressive and ready to crush the Toronto Raptors from the get-go. It was easy to forget that this was merely Game 1, because James was that disrespectful.

He finished with 35 points, four assists, and 10 rebounds, and was clearly the best player on the floor, able to put his head down and get to wherever, whenever.

The Raptors, like most other teams, had absolutely no answer for him. James’ teammates filled in perfectly as the three-point flamethrowers he needs to win games too, and that spelled disaster for Toronto.

Even after a week off since their last game, Cleveland looked ready to play and it showed defensively as well.

Defensively, Cleveland did a better job than they had done the entire series against the Pacers. Part of this is the simple fact that the Raptors just don’t have anybody as good as Paul George. Every single pick and roll action initiated by Kyle Lowry or DeMar DeRozan was trapped at the point of attack, and the Raptors bigs were not able to make them pay as playmakers. Serge Ibaka, Jonas Valanciunas, and Patrick Patterson all failed to take advantage of the four-on-three situations that the Cavaliers afforded them. Chalk this defensive gameplan as a win for Tyronn Lue.

Meanwhile, the Raptors have not won a Game 1 in a playoff series since 2001. That’s a long time ago.

It’s hard to really describe how much better the Rockets were than the Spurs in Game 1. Forget everything you know about the history of the Spurs because it will not apply here. The Rockets handed them their worst playoff loss since 2007 and they deserve all the credit for it.

Harden needed just three quarters to amass 20 points, 14 assists, and 4 steals. He found his teammates all over the floor, particularly Trevor Ariza, who scored 23 points on 50-percent shooting overall and from deep, Clint Capela, who scored 20 points and grabbed 13 rebounds, and Ryan Anderson, who broke out of the freezer to shoot 4-for-10 from deep and drop in 14 points.

The Rockets won by 27 points, and that undersells what a thorough domination this was. The Rockets were up 69-39 at halftime and extended their lead in the second half. At one point, they were up 39 points. They had 30 assists on 40 field goals. They out-rebounded the Spurs, dominated them in the paint and from outside. They shot 22-for-50 from deep, a franchise record for deep shooting proficiency.

No matter how bad the Spurs looked in Game 1, it’s hard to count them out already.

The Spurs have won six series under Popovich after losing Game 1 (the last time was in 2010 vs. the Mavericks). Five of those series the Spurs won Games 2 and 3, and once (against the Hornets in 2008) they came back from 0-2 by winning Games 3 and 4, which were at home. It’s not over by any stretch of the imagination, but a lot of things will need to change in a hurry if the Spurs want to go any deeper in the playoffs.

Cavaliers 116, Raptors 105 (Fear the Sword recap | Raptors HQ recap)

Rockets 126, Spurs 99 (The Dream Shake recap | Pounding the Rock recap)