NBA Playoffs Scores: The Kings give Stephen Curry first 0-2 deficit of his career

The first 30 minutes were extremely back-and-forth; a six-point Brooklyn lead turned into a four-point Philly lead which turned into a 10-point Brooklyn lead which turned into an eight-point Philly lead. So to recap, that makes a 10-point swing, 14-point swing, and 18-point swing all in the first two-and-a-half quarters. Sixers pulled away in the second half, ending the game on a 52-33 run, which included a 20-5 stretch.

My presumed MVP, Joel Embiid, hardly showed up as a scorer until late, scoring eight of his 20 points (6-11 FG) in the final six minutes. He dominated just about every other aspect of the game finishing with 19 rebounds, seven assists, one steal, and three blocks. Tyrese Maxey was the biggest benefactor, finishing with 33 points (13-23 FG); three of his made buckets were assisted by Embiid.

The Nets are making a habit of starting strong but not being able to finish through the second half, and that starts with their leading scorers through two games, Mikal Bridges and Cam Johnson. The two are averaging a combined 32 points in the first half and 16.5 in the second.

The two teams get an extra day of rest as they travel about 100 miles to Brooklyn ahead of a Thursday game 3 at 7:30 p.m.

Maybe it’s not cool enough to have some outrageous take to what conspired with just over seven minutes remaining in this one. Sacramento had a four-point lead when Domantas Sabonis appeared to grab Draymond Green’s leg out from under him before Green subsequently appeared to stop directly on Sabonis’s sternum, prompting postgame x-rays that fortunately came back negative.

Instead of some inflammatory reaction, I’m just disappointed that’s what it came to. I love the way Green plays when he’s not engaging in shenanigans; I appreciate just how revolutionary he’s been for the game of basketball whether it’s his playmaking — including the marriage-like chemistry he has with teammate of 11 seasons, Steph Curry — or his defense that’s shifted the modern game.

But for both players to resort to non-basketball plays in what otherwise is shaping up to be an awesome series of straight basketball, that leaves me quite disappointed. The Warriors took a four-point deficit into the kerfuffle and left Sacramento with an eight-point loss. Green being in that game late could’ve easily changed the outcome of this one.

Other than that, the two biggest catalysts that I saw from game one to two involved better games from Sabonis and Kevin Huerter, Golden State’s entire starting frontcourt finishing the game with five fouls, and Jordan Poole playing a very poor 16 minutes (four points on 1-7 shooting).

Hopefully as we travel to Sacramento with an extra day to burn off some steam, these squads can put the non-basketball behind them and move on with a great basketball series. Warriors will look for their first win in the series on Thursday at 10 p.m.