We look back at this weekend's NBA playoff action to identify who were the individual winners and losers
Thursday 7 November 2019 11:36, UK
With a mouthwatering lineup of second-round matchups having got underway over the weekend, there were varying fortunes for some of the NBA's biggest names.
Here are three players who excelled, and three who struggled during the opening weekend of the second round:
The best offensive performance of the weekend undoubtedly came from Kawhi Leonard.
The 2014 Finals MVP flew out of the blocks to score 17 points in the opening quarter, setting up a 108-95 win for the Toronto Raptors over the Philadelphia 76ers.
The Sixers were never able to slow Leonard down, as he finished the game with 45 points - and 11 rebounds - on 16-23 shooting from the floor.
Jimmy Butler, Tobias Harris and Ben Simmons all had turns guarding Leonard but none of the talented trio could lay a glove on him.
Due to the Milwaukee Bucks' dominant regular-season form, many seemed to have overlooked the Raptors going into the playoffs, but with Leonard in this form they have to be given as good a chance as any of their Eastern Conference rivals to advance to the Finals.
The Raptors' policy to allow Leonard to sit out back-to-back games during the regular season is beginning to look extremely wise with regard to their playoff chances, which could enhance their hopes of persuading him to stay when his contract his expires this summer.
The best defensive display of the weekend was equally easy to pick out.
All the talk going into the series was about how, if at all, the Boston Celtics could slow down Milwaukee Bucks' star man, Giannis Antetokounmpo.
By the end of the game, the question is how Antetokounmpo will find a way to score in Game 2, after a Celtics defensive effort - led by Horford - left him looking anything but the heir to LeBron James throne as the best player in the NBA.
When directly challenged by Horford, Antetokounmpo shot just 1-6, with one of those misses resulting from a stunning denial by the Celtics center.
Not only was Horford effective on defense though, he scored 20 points and grabbed 11 rebounds to highlight why many consider him to be the Celtics' most important player in this series.
"You can't overstate Al Horford's importance to our team," Celtics coach Brad Stevens said following the win.
"Obviously the numbers back that up, but just his ability to stretch the floor against size and post smalls and then also on the other end he's very versatile defensively."
The two-time reigning Finals MVP appears hellbent on completing a hat-trick of titles with the Golden State Warriors.
After elevating his team past the Los Angeles Clippers with a 50-point display on Friday night, Durant continued his scoring spree with a 35-point showing in Game 1 against the Houston Rockets.
In a series that the Rockets have come into full of confidence, Durant paced the Warriors as he continued to make shots of the highest difficulty.
Durant's play has drawn awe from within the Warriors camp, with head coach Steve Kerr so impressed that he said the streak was reminding him of Michael Jordan.
"He's been amazing," Steph Curry said. "He's been so aggressive on the offensive end, finding his matchups, taking his shots. Defensively he's been present. He's been playing with ultimate confidence. I know he always has confidence but it seems it's been amped up a little bit the last five games."
If the Warriors can keep Durant "amped up" for another month or so, it's hard to see the title going to anywhere other than Oakland.
There is a huge amount resting on the Raptors-Sixers series for both franchises in terms of the upcoming offseason.
While the Raptors are trying to persuade Leonard to stay, the Sixers would appear to need to decide whether they want Jimmy Butler to remain in Philadelphia.
With his contract also set to expire this summer, Butler is likely to expect to be paid on a par with the likes of Leonard on a max-contract, but judging by Game 1 alone, he's incomparable to his positional rival.
Leonard repeatedly scored on Butler, to the point that Tobias Harris and Ben Simmons took over primary guarding responsibility during the second half.
Meanwhile on offense, Butler managed just 10 points on a 4-12 shooting effort - an inadequate total, especially on a night where Joel Embiid wasn't firing on all cylinders.
If Butler wants to get paid - by the Sixers or anyone else - he has work to do to prove he is worth the big bucks.
While the Celtics defended him well, Giannis Antetokounmpo contributed to his own demise in Game 1.
Rather than remaining patient in the face of a strategy designed to limit his path to the basket, Antetokoumpo somewhat forced the action, resulting in a number of wild and unsuccessful layup attempts.
Playing in the second round of the playoffs for the first time, the 24-year-old was clearly flummoxed by the situation, with his 5-10 on free-throw attempts another example of his loss of composure.
He did manage to shoot an impressive 3-5 from three-point range, accounting for more than a third of his 22 points, but the Celtics will be delighted if the most damage Antetokounmpo is doing is from beyond the arc.
The Bucks went just 13-39 on three-point attempts as a team, which is an area they will need to improve in if they are to open up a path to the basket for Antetokounmpo in Game 2.
Known for his single-mindedness, the 'Greek Freak' is bound to want to bounce back with a dominant display, but intelligence, rather than brute force, might be the only way to overcome the highly sophisticated Celtics defense.
Chris Paul didn't play badly in the Houston Rockets' Game 1 defeat to the Warriors, but not for the first time, his temperament was a problem.
Paul put in an efficient display with 17 points on 5-9 shooting from the floor to go along with four assists, three rebounds and three steals.
The veteran point guard and Rockets head coach Mike D'Antoni were both called for technical fouls after protesting a non-call on Paul's made three-pointer toward the end of the third quarter, with the pair irate that Warriors guard Sean Livingston wasn't penalised.
The Warriors, who ended up just about holding on for a 104-100 victory, converted both of the resulting free throws for two points which may have changed the outcome of the game.
"To shoot a 3-and-1, get a tech, I mean, it's tough," Paul said. "But I gotta be smarter because that didn't do nothing but hurt our team."
To compound issues, Paul received his second technical and was ejected on the final play of the game, as he got too close to referee Josh Tiven when protesting another call. For the Rockets to overcome the Warriors, they will require more composure.
