Chalk it up: No upsets on Day 2 of NBA playoffs

On Saturday, three of the four games ended in upset with lower seeds winning. There was no such luck for the underdogs on Sunday, with the higher seed winning every Game 1 played.

The Bucks and Rockets had the most impressive statements. Milwaukee bludgeoned a totally overmatched Pistons team without Blake Griffin. Detroit was ice cold all day, and frankly stands little chance of competing even with Griffin on the floor. The Bucks are too good. (This was also a little reminder that the Raptors really got a bad first-round draw with Orlando.)

Houston, meanwhile, obliterated the Jazz in Game 1 of the West’s 4-seed vs. 5-seed match-up, making a statement after Utah became a trendy (minor) upset pick. The Rockets look keyed in from the jump.

The Celtics needed a comeback to stifle the stifling Pacers after a slow start, but Boston did what it needed to know to get enough points out of an incredible slog of a game. The Pacers were colder than Winterfell in the third quarter. That’s not a spoiler, everyone knows Winterfell is cold, it’s in the name for gods’ sakes. This is a spoiler safe zone for Thrones. Fear not.

The Blazers held on in their thriller against the Thunder, capitalizing on poor shooting from Russell Westbrook and Paul George to eke out a win. Enes Kanter was marvelous against his old team. Damian Lillard made some deeeeeep threes.

After Saturday, it looked like anything could happen in this postseason. Sunday brought us back toward normal.

Pacers 74, Celtics 84
Boston leads 1-0

Thunder 99, Blazers 104
Portland leads 1-0

Pistons 86, Bucks 121
Milwaukee leads 1-0

Jazz 90, Rockets 122
Houston leads 1-0

Nets at Sixers, 8, TNT
Brooklyn leads 1-0

Clippers at Warriors, 10:30, TNT
Golden State leads 1-0

Blake Griffin might not play in the Bucks-Pistons series at all. Tough finish to a tough season.

Reigning WNBA MVP Breanna Stewart suffered what looked like a bad lower leg injury in the Euroleague Final on Sunday. Best wishes to a good prognosis and a speedy recovery.

The Lakers are talking to Monty Williams. And Juwan Howard. And Ty Lue. Can our dude David Blatt get a call? Hello? Anyone?

The Cavaliers are looking at top young assistants in their search. I’m not sure who we can attribute this trend to — does Brett Brown count, or is Steve Clifford, Michael Malone, or Kenny Atkinson the patient zero here? — but it’s a good one. By the way, I think Atkinson and the Nets are the right answer here. Cliff and Malone were older, Brown had a very varied background when the Sixers hired him.

Short set of links, as may often be the case on Mondays when there’s a Sunday newsletter. Be excellent to each other.