NBA Playoffs first-round review: Jimmy Butler’s brilliance and New York Knicks beat Cavaliers | NBA News

The first round of the NBA Playoffs are coming to an end, and with it, two weeks’ worth of compelling drama, scintillating action, memorable buckets, and unsavoury clashes to unravel. We take a look back at the biggest moments below…

The biggest story lines

Jimmy Butler fires Miami Heat past Milwaukee Bucks to the Conference semi-finals

There’s a reason why the Miami Heat faithful have nicknamed him ‘Him-my Butler,’ and it’s got everything to do with the fact that when the post-season comes around, he comes out of hibernation and transforms into a formidable offensive force.

There’s no one better to call upon for big games, and the Milwaukee Bucks presented Butler and his team-mates with precisely that: a big game.

The problem is, they did not factor in just how devastating he would be within the paint. The 34-year-old made it look easy when he locked horns with Giannis Antetokounmpo and co in what turned out to be the fourth most extensive series upset in NBA history.

Butler’s plaudits were just as astounding. He became the first player in Miami Heat history with back-to-back 40-point playoff performances. The New York Knicks will need all the preparation time to devise the mother-of-all plans to thwart him on Sunday.

Golden State Warriors orchestrate comeback with a win away from home over Sacramento Kings

The Golden State Warriors have been abysmal away from the Chase Center in the regular season, with an 11-30 record. But, finally, they delivered on the road in one of their biggest post-season matchups against the Sacramento Kings.

It did not seem like it would when the series got going, and the Dubs lost two games in a row. But inspiring performances from Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson, otherwise known as ‘the Splash Brothers,’ led the Warriors to their first post-season win on the road.

The game-five victory means that Steve Kerr’s team have now won a road game in 28 consecutive playoff series – an NBA record. They are on the brink of adding to that tally and securing a second-round matchup against the Los Angeles Lakers or the Grizzlies.

New York Knicks book Conference semi-final appearance after beating Cleveland Cavaliers

What do you do when you have won your first playoff series in 10 years? Flood the streets? Take over TNT’s post-game coverage? Break the internet?

New York Knicks fans did all of the above as their team booked a place in the Conference semi-finals after beating the Cleveland Cavaliers in five games.

Fans were seen jumping up and down singing the riff from Seven Nation Army, with enthusiasm befitting of a city that had been starved of basketball success for an entire decade.

The last time they were in a similar position was in 2013 when they beat the Celtics 4-2, with Carmelo Anthony and Tyson Chandler leading the way. This time around, Jalen Brunson and Julius Randle are making history.

The noisy New Yorkers will face the Heat in the next round, who are fresh from eliminating the No.1 seed in the East.

Injuries to big-game players across several games

Miami’s Tyler Herro broke his hand in the opening game of the Heat’s first-round series against the Milwaukee Bucks.

Julius Randle followed suit by aggravating an existing ankle injury, meaning he had to watch on as his team made light work of the Cleveland Cavaliers.

The Los Angeles Clippers got perhaps the worst news of all the teams. Their star player Kawhi Leonard had re-injured the knee that kept him out of the 2021-22 season. They lost in the first round to the Phoenix Suns.

Ja Morant and De’Aaron Fox got off lightly. The Memphis Grizzlies man sat out game two against the Los Angeles Lakers with a wrist sprain, while the Sacramento Kings’ talisman played through a fractured fingertip in game five of their series vs the Golden State Warriors.

Bust-ups were frequent and had off-court permutations

It’s not just the injuries that have been tallying up. The first round of the playoffs have also played host to a litany of scuffles.

Where to begin? Perhaps with the Golden State Warriors and Draymond Green. Here is a man who punched his team-mate, Jordan Poole, during their preseason campaign and was ejected during last year’s post-season campaign for similar behaviour.

This time, he was adjudged to have stamped on the chest of Domantas Sabonis. Green insisted he was tripped and ‘had to put his foot down somewhere.’ But the NBA thought differently and sentenced him to a one-game suspension without pay.

He was not the only player suspended for a game in playoff series this season. The league also reprimanded Atlanta Hawks’ Dejounte Murray for targeting official Gediminas Petraitis after the 129-121 loss to the Boston Celtics. He was videoed bumping the referee before shouting abuse as he walked off the court. The Hawks did win without him in game five but Murray’s return in the sixth game could not prevent Atalanta from suffering a playoff exit as the Celtics clinched the series 4-2.

The most recent incident concerns the Minnesota Timberwolves’ Anthony Edwards, who was cited by Denver police for allegedly swinging a folding chair and striking two women who were working at the time at Ball Arena after the Nuggets knocked his team out of the playoffs.

Denver beat Minnesota 112-109 to win the first-round NBA playoff series in five games. Edwards missed the tying three-point attempt at the buzzer, a 27-footer that hit the back iron.

Edwards was charged with third-degree assault and scheduled for a court appearance on June 9, but his attorney has said he expects him to challenge these “baseless” accusations.