What We Learned Last Night

Usually, Game 1 results turn into blatant overreactions as to how a given series will play out. But after the Cavs-Raptors dual and the Rockets-Spurs showdown, I think we learned just plenty about the direction these series are heading.

Raptors-Cavs Reaction

Many thought the Raptors would be the Cavaliers fiercest competitor to reach the Finals for a third year in a row. While that very well may be the case, it is all relative, because LeBron absolutely took it to them. He recorded his 88th career playoff game with at least 30 points, while also adding 10 boards and a handful of dimes.

I think that Tyronn Lue has figured something out with his team. Their most effective offense, and I have been saying this for a while, is to put the ball in LeBron's hands and surround him with a combination of four of the following players - Kyrie Irving ,JR Smith, Kyle Korver, Channing Frye, Kevin Love, and Deron Williams. All above-average shooters. This forces the defense to play a game of math. Do they leave the shooters to help on LeBron? In which case the greatest passing forward in the history of basketball dissects their defense finding the open man? Or do the Raptors elect to try and guard LeBron one-on-one and stick with the shooters? Good luck trying to contain that freight train with a single defender.

Toronto doesn't have an answer for this strategy, and quite frankly, I am not sure anybody does. Their best bet is probably to double LeBron and pray his teammates go cold. That's unlikely. I picked the Cavaliers in six, prior to yesterday, but I might want to revise that. I'm not sure if the Raptors can hang with the King.

Rockets-Spurs Reaction

Kawhi Leonard has very little help. He, not LeBron, should have been pleading for a playmaker at the season's trading deadline. But that's just not his style. The Rockets took it to the Spurs last night, right from the jump. It was not even competitive. I think those who picked the Spurs put too much faith in Gregg Popovich. Yes, he is a Hall-of Fame coach, but that does not make up for the fact that his team is so inferior to the sharpshooting Rockets.

The Spurs need to make several adjustments if they do not want to have their doors blown off in this series. I think they need to run the Rockets off of the three-point line at all costs. They can live with contested twos, but the number of threes that they surrendered last night is untenable. I also think that they need to force James Harden to work harder on both offense and defense. When the Rockets have the ball, the Spurs should have Patty Mills or Danny Green deny Harden and make him really work to get open. Then once he receives the ball, pressure him. Get up in his grill so that by the time he maneuvers up the court the shot clock is trickling down and the Rockets offense has less time to operate. Then defensively, the Spurs need to make Harden guard. They can't allow him to stand on the perimeter guarding a non-threatening offense player, as is so often the case. Whoever Harden is guarding the Spurs should allow to handle the ball so they can expose the Rockets MVP candidate. At least they should involve his man in a pick-and-roll so that Harden is forced to defend and cannot just stand off in the corner conserving his energy for the offensive end, where his team needs him most.

The Spurs certainly need to make some major adjustments moving forward. They did get blasted in Game 1, but the Rockets are a high variance team. They have nights like last when they shoot 22-50 from three, but they will likely regress to the mean. San Antonio on the other hand plays a very consistent brand of basketball. That wasn't evident last night, but it better be moving forward if they want to advance on.