NBA Playoffs 2017: What We Learned Over The Opening Weekend

Apr 15, 2017; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Toronto Raptors center Jonas Valanciunas (17) fouls on Milwaukee Bucks center Greg Monroe (15) in game one of the first round of the 2017 NBA Playoffs at Air Canada Centre. Milwaukee defeated Toronto 97-83. Mandatory Credit: John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 15, 2017; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Toronto Raptors center Jonas Valanciunas (17) fouls on Milwaukee Bucks center Greg Monroe (15) in game one of the first round of the 2017 NBA Playoffs at Air Canada Centre. Milwaukee defeated Toronto 97-83. Mandatory Credit: John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports
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Apr 15, 2017; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert (27) is helped off the court by teammate guard George Hill (3) and center Boris Diaw (33) after going down to an injury in the opening seconds in game one of the first round of the 2017 NBA Playoffs against the LA Clippers at Staples Center. Mandatory Credit: Robert Hanashiro-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 15, 2017; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert (27) is helped off the court by teammate guard George Hill (3) and center Boris Diaw (33) after going down to an injury in the opening seconds in game one of the first round of the 2017 NBA Playoffs against the LA Clippers at Staples Center. Mandatory Credit: Robert Hanashiro-USA TODAY Sports

The Jazz Didn’t Throw the White Flag

When the Stifle Tower went down a mere 11 seconds into the game, the in-game announcers said that it might have ended Utah’s postseason hopes. Twitter agreed. I thought so. And then Iso Joe happened.

Joe Johnson now has 20,033 points to his name in his career. Joe Johnson is the G.O.A.T.

Okay, maybe the last sentence was a little blasphemous, but come on guys – he’s incredible!

Forget Brooklyn. They didn’t deserve him, but he still gave them all he had:

Joe Johnson is good basketball player.

When the news broke last summer that he had signed with Utah, it wasn’t really given a lot of attention in the media, including by myself.

Utah? Interesting destination, but good for them I guess.

I’m all aboard the Joe Johnson hype train, and there are plenty of seats open.

When future DPOY Rudy Gobert went down, Quin Snyder was forced to go 10-deep early, using the likes of Jeff Withey and Boris Diaw to match the user-athletic frontcourt of DeAndre Jordan and Blake Griffin. While the jury is still out on the how the rest of the series is going to go, with Gobert out for the next few games (if not the series), it’s going to be interesting to see how that plays out. Anyways.

If you watch the Jazz, they might make you want to claw your eyes out – they play slow, and use a lot of the shot clock… but they’re efficient. They play how basketball should be played – smartly, and with few turnovers.

Yeah, Golden State and Houston are fun to watch – but watching Quin Snyder mix and match his lineups was like listening to sweet music, and the Jazz are going to need to hit on some notes if they want to advance into the next round.