Control games: The regional semi-finals will put the big stars to the test

If Yannis crosses the wall of Boston, he will finally turn out to be the best player in the world.

If Doncic rises above Paul, he will finally become the real thing.

Ravitz prepares for the second round, wondering how much Ambide's injury will ruin Philly and explains why Memphis will not really have an answer to the Golden State lineup.

Assaf Ravitz

01/05/2022

Sunday, May 01, 2022, 2:30 p.m.

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Joel Ambide Celebrates Philadelphia's Round of Two (Official Sixers' Twitter Account)

The first round is behind us.

It included some fascinating series, but the bottom line ended with no 7th game and no surprise, with the 1-4 ranked East and West in the second round.

We have not yet had time to get excited about the huge potential of the regional semi-finals, from four very interesting series, and an injury has already arrived that may have ruined one of these series.

With it we will start the second round preview.

More on Walla!

A blow to Philadelphia: Joel Ambide suffers a concussion and a fracture in his face

To the full article

The injury mentioned again: his peak may be shorter than usual.

Ambide (Photo: GettyImages, Cole Burston)

More on Walla!

• A blow to Philadelphia: Joel Ambide suffers a concussion and a fracture in his face

• Memphis defeated Minnesota in Game 6 and advanced to the Western Conference semifinals

• Paul made history and stung, Harden and Doncic "took a monkey off his back"

• The first aid button that accompanies anywhere and anytime - and saves lives

(1) Miami - (4) Philadelphia

The fracture in Joel Ambide's eye socket fundamentally changes a series that could have been egalitarian and fascinating.

Even before that, Ambide suffered from a thumb injury that seemed to limit him, and this is a reminder that he is one of the players whose career highs can be shorter than it seems.

On the other hand, Kyle Laurie has missed the last two games against Atlanta and is in doubt for the series opener, while Jimmy Butler is apparently fit.

The depth of Miami allows it to survive the absence of anyone who is not a butler or a mother-in-law, and there is no doubt that the absence of Ambide, at least from the first part of the series, is much more significant.

At the moment, when it is not clear whether Ambide will return during the series, there is no choice but to analyze it both with and without him.

With Ambide, it will be very interesting to see him face Bam, who has developed into one of the best defensive players in the league but is not sure he can physically face the Cameroonian giant throughout an entire series.

It will also be interesting to see Eric Spolstra's deal with Ambide and Harden's n 'roll.

Miami can put PJ Tucker on the Arden and make a substitution, Tucker strong enough to make it difficult for Ambide until help arrives while Am is the best chin in defending guards in the substitution.

Miami tends to bring in significant help, cram the color and live with threes from sub-players, but Philadelphia proved in the first round that its sub-players can score those threes at very high percentages.

Tyrese Maxi and Tobias Harris took advantage of the focus of the Toronto defense in Ambide and Harden to express their offensive qualities.

It might be better for Miami to change its approach against Philadelphia and stay closer to the sub-players,

In the absence of Ambide, Miami's defensive focus will shift to Harden.

He will likely receive a treatment similar to the one that Trey Young received in the first round: automatic substitutions and closing angles of delivery.

Without the indicated chin only the hit's ability to avoid excessive help is strengthened.

Harden has yet to prove this year that he is capable of being the consistent scorer he has been in previous years, also against Toronto he scored 19 points per game in 40.5 percent from the field, with very low percentages in color.

Until he proves otherwise, it's better for Miami to let him be a scorer and not a game manager, he's still doing great.

The disadvantage of Ambide will be very significant in defense as well.

His presence near the ring will be lacking in the face of Butler's color entrances and in the face of the diverse abilities of Adbayo.

Even so, Miami poses a challenge to the Sixers' defense in the ability to deal with the multiplicity of movement without a ball, the dedication and possible scorers, it is difficult to hide in front of the hit weak links and moments of lack of concentration.

Paul Reed will be thrown into the deep water and Diandra Jordan will be pulled out of the mothballs, but perhaps the situation created will force even Doc Rivers to think creatively and try low vehicles with Tobias Harris as center, at least to get Miami to think and react.

This will also make it easier to use Matisse Thebol despite its lack of offensive capabilities.

It's his time to prove he's still the scary scorer he once was.

Harden with Tyrese Maxi (Photo: GettyImages, Tim Nwachukwu)

(2) Boston - (3) Milwaukee

Boston is the only team that has not tried to avoid second place and a meeting with Brooklyn in the first round, now the award comes in the form of a home advantage in the second round.

This may be a crucial factor in this series, between two very egalitarian groups on paper with great home halls.

Here, too, there is a significant injury that affects the balance of power - Chris Middleton will probably miss the entire series and leave Milwaukee without one of the three players capable of creating shot situations in front of strong defenses.

And if someone is not up to date - they are going to meet a very strong defense.

This could be the series that will finally close the question of the best actor in the world today.

If Yannis Antocompo were dominant against the defense that neutralized Kevin Durant in the previous round, he would leave no more doubt.

It's very interesting to see what Aima Yuduka plans for Yannis.

I guess Horford will not get the initial assignment, but Boston is the rare team that will not be afraid to allow all of its top five players to get Yannis in exchange, as long as he gets the ball far from the basket and with enough time to help get there.

Can Yannis force his will on this defense and get to the ring when he feels like it?

Will the Boston defense know how to build the famous wall in front of him and make good enough rotations to prevent the sub-players free throws?

These are the key questions on this side, in the battle between the most dominant player in the league in recent years and the most dominant defense this year.

After Middleton's injury, Mike Bodenholzer raised a high five with Bobby Fortis and Brock Lopez, it could be that this five turns out to be too heavy for Boston's offense, which has been driving a good and fast ball lately.

But even when Grayson Allen and Pat Conaton play, Milwaukee will continue to be a team that seals the color and allows threes.

Boston also relies on outside shooting, but in this series it will be especially difficult for her to get to the ring and she will probably need four good shooting days to win.

Middleton's disadvantage will also be reflected in the fact that Bodenholzer will not have an ideal guardian for Jason Taitum, who has reached a point where he must be prepared.

Wes Matthews and Jero Holliday (who will have a hard time making an offense against the defensive player of the season) are good guards, but may turn out to be too low to stop him from getting his shots.

It may be that Yannis will have to deviate from his custom and personally keep the star of the opponent in large parts of this series.

Bottom line, even with Middleton and certainly without him, it would really be no surprise if the champion is relegated in this series, it can be said that she comes as an underdog.

Comes as an underdog - and can provide conclusive proof of being the best player in the world.

Yannis vs. Boston (Photo: GettyImages, Adam Glanzman)

(1) Phoenix - (4) Dallas

Chris Paul v. Luka Doncic.

It is worth checking what is the series with the slowest pace to date, because this record is in real danger.

It will be a meeting between two players who love to control every aspect of the game, between the veteran master who has already gone through everything to the next big thing who has just now gone through a round for the first time.

The experience gaps can turn out to be very significant.

You can expect a series with very few losses and a running game, it will be decided in the standing attack.

Luca returned from injury during the series against Utah and was not as sharp and consistent as he could be, but the biggest question mark has to do with Devin Booker, who only returned for the final game of the series against New Orleans and looked rusty.

If Morning is far from its peak it is a completely different series, but it is likely that as the series progresses he will get closer to the familiar ability that made him one of the top scorers in the league.

The Dallas first line of defense, which neutralized Utah's offense, will be the focus.

Reggie Bullock is likely to keep CP3 and Dorian Pini Smith on the morning, these are two underappreciated personal guards who are given tasks that are very suitable for them.

If they manage to force hard shots without needing too much help, it could make it very difficult for Phoenix's n 'roll game.

But the Suns are a very skilled pick-and-roll group, with control over the small nuances of spacing, movement and the ability to perform the crucial action even in the final seconds of the shot clock (Mikel Bridges specializes in this).

Dallas will have to make adjustments to deal with Phoenix's incredible shooting from half distance, this is the shot that defenses tend to give but the Suns win games like that.

Luca will get Bridges, one of the best personal guards in the league.

He will look for substitutions to create miss-matches, but the Phoenix primer players keep much better than those of Utah and are not sure it will bother them to let Luca try to deal with them one on one and not allow the other players free throws.

It will also be a much more difficult series for Jaylen Bronson, because the Monty Williams players are much harder to get through.

It's likely to look like a lot of minutes of a low outside scoring quintet on the part of Jason Kidd again, but Phoenix proved last year that it is much better prepared than Utah to deal with such quintets.

Diandra Eyton knows how to deal with outside players in substitutions, mobile enough to help with color and get back to his player and knows how to take advantage of miss-matches on the other side much better than Rudy Gover.

In the low lineup Dallas will try automatic substitutions on five positions, and for her it would be a win if Phoenix started looking to attack Miss-Matches in isolation, because that's not her style.

Prepare for a particularly slow duel between the master and the next big thing.

Doncic vs. Paul (Photo: GettyImages, Richard Rodriguez)

(2) Memphis - (3) Golden State

The only series in which the foreign team comes in as a pretty obvious favorite.

Maybe excessively.

Golden State looked much more impressive than Memphis in the first round, much more experienced and cohesive, but the Grizzlies prove time and time again that they are not worth eulogizing.

Everyone is talking about Minnesota losing three times a double-digit lead in the last quarter, the other side should be mentioned as well: Memphis came back three times from such a lag to win.

This is a group with a special spirit, connection and self-belief.

But it will be very difficult for Taylor Jenkins 'young team to cope with the Warriors' attacking play, with the relentless movement of the three scenes.

Every little mistake in front of Golden State turns into a free throw of an excellent sling or playoff, and Memphis makes a lot of small mistakes.

Steph Kerry has felt very comfortable against the Grizzlies in regular season games, and that's not something Jenkins can afford.

If Memphis has reason to be optimistic, it's in the puzzlers' game.

In the regular season she forced the Warriors 19 turnovers per game and also controlled the rebound, so she had 11 more passers per game and many opportunities to run.

Golden State will have to reduce this gap and avoid as much as possible its tendency to scattered days, because Memphis blackens prey in these situations.

Both teams opened the first round with a high five and finished it with a low five.

I hope they both continue with the bottom five for this round.

This is also not a series for Stephen Adams, because Golden State will involve him in blockade to the scenes and force him to come out high, which is hard for him to do (he is also currently in the Corona protocol and will miss the opening of the series).

The Memphis' top five in the first round were not the quintet that opened games but the one that finished them: Ja Morant, Desmond Bain, Dillon Brooks, Brandon Clark and Jaren Jackson Jr..

This is a quintet that balances size with mobility and had a net rating of 35.4 in 36 minutes against Minnesota.

The Warriors' new death quintet, which includes Steph, Clay Thompson and Jordan Paul, was with a net rating of 21.4 in 39 minutes against Denver.

These two quintets are supposed to get a lot more minutes in this series, and the battle between them may overwhelm it.

The only series with a clear advantage for the away team.

Kerry vs. Morant (Photo: GettyImages, Justin Ford)

The defensive guards on the bench could carry a lot of weight in this series - D’Antoni Melton on one side and Gary Peyton on the other.

Which of them will score his threes could be a real X Factor in this series.

Peyton will keep Ja when he plays, and I wonder who will do so in the minutes of the top five.

If Clay Thompson is still capable of retaining senior guards, this is his chance to prove it.

Anyway, Drymond Green will be waiting for Ja in color and the battles between them there will be fascinating.

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Tags

• Boston Celtics

• Milwaukee Bucks

• Dallas Mavericks

• Phoenix Suns

• Miami Heat

• Philadelphia Sixers

• Golden State Warriors

• Memphis Grizzlies