BBNBA: Tyrese Maxey, Karl-Anthony Towns DOMINATE Game 1 victories

The NBA Playoffs kicked off with a bang on Saturday with four games throughout the day. Karl-Anthony Towns and Tyrese Maxey took over in two of them. Let’s talk about a banner day for Kentucky guys in the NBA.

Maxey makes all kinds of history with 38 points in Philly win

Take a bow, Tyrese Maxey. The second-year guard out of the University of Kentucky was the best player on any court in any game Saturday as he demolished a great Raptors defense all night long in the 76ers’ Game 1 blowout of Toronto.

He shares a jersey with Joel Embiid and James Harden — who, among the two of them, have finished top five in MVP voting in eight of the last nine years. Yet Maxey was by far the most dynamite weapon in Game 1. He finished with a season-high 38 points to lead all scorers for the day. At 21 years old, only Magic Johnson and LeBron James scored more points in a playoff game at a younger age. Good company? I’d say so.

Followers of Maxey may not have foreseen a 38-point outburst in the very first game of the playoffs, but he’s prone to lighting up the scoreboard on any given night. With how much attention Embiid and Harden draw, Maxey is such a dangerous third option with exceptional burst and the ability to get into the lane whenever he wants. He’ll make you pay dearly if you over-commit to guarding the two superstars and leave him space off the ball. And Harden and Embiid are crafty enough passers to get him the ball in perfect places.

Just take a look at his highlights from Saturday. He sprints past defenders in transition, blow by them off cuts and half-court drives, he knocks down 3s and hits that patented floater of his. He simply does it all.

The Raptors were a trendy pick to upset the Sixers given how both teams played down the stretch of the regular season. A Game 1 victory by no means locks down the series for Philly, but they thumped Toronto to make quite the statement. I’ll bet most of the analysts picking the Raptors will be rescinding their takes today.

KAT bounces back as Minnesota upsets Memphis

The Minnesota Timberwolves are winning a playoff series. That hasn’t happened in the Land of the Lakes since 2004. Kevin Garnett and Sam Cassell were the T-Wolves’ best players back then. Saturday, they defeated the No. 2 seed Memphis Grizzlies in a tight one on the road to take control of the series from the jump.

The win was thanks in large part to their two biggest stars, Anthony “Ant-Man” Edwards and Karl-Anthony Towns. Edwards was terrific in the Play-In game vs. the Clippers while Towns struggled mightily. KAT recorded a season-low 11 points while fouling out. Well, on Saturday, he bounced back big time. KAT was aggressive from the tip. He bullied his way towards the basket against a smaller Grizzlies front line for several buckets while knocking down a 3-pointer in Steven Adams’ face all in the first quarter. In the opening period alone, he outscored himself from the other night with 12 points to get things started.

Behind Edwards and Towns, Minnesota held an eight-point lead after the first quarter and held the lead for most of the game. Memphis made several runs in the second half, and the teams traded buckets in the fourth. But every time Ja Morant or another Grizzly made a play, Minnesota was able to respond or get to the free-throw line to eventually hold on to win 130-117. KAT totaled 29 on the day on 11-18 shooting along with 13 rebounds. That’ll get the job done.

Memphis had a spectacular regular season, but they’re the youngest team in the playoffs and aren’t overwhelmingly talented. They’re susceptible. Especially against a Timberwolves team that, while inconsistent throughout the year, is as talented at the top of their roster as any team in the West.

I wrote a month or so ago that I could see Minnesota making a run similar to Atlanta in 2021 sheerly because of their talent. Well, with a Game 1 win under their belt, the series is theirs for the taking.

Boogie hit with a quick ejection

Roughly 90 seconds into the fourth quarter of Saturday night’s matchup between the Denver Nuggets and Golden State Warriors, a familiar-faced former Wildcat was sent to an early shower. At the 10:28 mark of the final period, Denver backup center DeMarcus Cousins was hit with two quick technical fouls and was subsequently ejected after arguing a call with referee Scott Foster.

DeMarcus Cousins picks up 2 techs and gets ejected

pic.twitter.com/wdAjJbIAjI

— Alex 👋 (@dbs408) April 17, 2022

Despite joining the Nuggets in January, Cousins had already accumulated 10 technical fouls and one previous ejection. Prior to getting thrown out of Game 1 on Sunday, which went down as a 123-107 loss for Denver, Cousins had recorded seven points, two rebounds, and two assists in nine minutes played.

Statistics

Player	Result	Points	FG(3PA)	Rebounds	Assists	Steals	Blocks	Turnovers	Minutes	+/-
Tyrese Maxey (PHI)	131-111 W vs. TOR	38	14-21 (5-8)	4	2	0	0	0	38	+20
Karl-Anthony Towns (MIN)	130-117 W @ MEM	29	11-18 (2-5)	13	3	0	1	3	43	+16
DeMarcus Cousins (DEN)	123-107 L @ GSW	7	2-5 (0-3)	2	2	0	1	0	10	-1
Jarred Vanderbilt (MIN)	130-117 W @ MEM	2	1-3 (0-0)	6	1	0	0	1	19	-11

Today in the NBA

1:00 p.m. (TNT) Hawks (Knox) @ Heat (Herro, Adebayo, Mulder)

3:30 p.m. (ABC) Nets @ Celtics

6:30 p.m. (TNT) Bulls @ Bucks

9:00 p.m. (TNT) Pelicans @ Suns (Booker)