The NBA Playoffs continued on Monday with a doubleheader on TNT. The New York Knicks hosted the Indiana Pacers to open their Eastern Conference Semifinals series.
In what was a hard-fought game between the two rivals, New York came out on top by the score of 121-117. Jalen Brunson dominated in the fourth quarter.
The late game saw the Minnesota Timberwolves attempt to take a 2-0 series lead over the defending champion Denver Nuggets. Minnesota completely controlled the game, winning by the score of 106-80. Here is a look at the 10 biggest winners and losers from Monday’s action in the NBA Playoffs.
Winner: Josh Hart, New York Knicks
Part of the Villanova trio for the Knicks that dominated last round, Hart was back up to his old tricks in Game 1 against Indiana. As has been the case this entire season, Hart’s all-around game played a huge role in New York’s 121-117 win. The wing hit on 9-of-13 from the field, scoring 24 points. Hart added 13 rebounds and eight assists in what was another brilliant outing. As underrated as they come, Hart is turning into a legitimate star in the NBA Playoffs. That’s for sure.
Loser: Jamal Murray, Denver Nuggets
Jamal Murray just didn’t have it in Game 2 of their series against Minnesota Monday night. Pretty much from the get, it became clear that this wasn’t going to be his game. Murray connected on just 3-of-18 from the field, scoring eight points. While he did add 13 rebounds, turning the ball over four times was also not a great look. In reality, Murray was vastly outplayed by the ‘Wolves guard combo of Mike Conley and Anthony Edwards.
Winner: Anthony Edwards, Minnesota Timberwolves
Anthony Edwards might not be interested in the Michael Jordan comparison. But the dude continues to look the part. He scored 43 points to help defeat Denver in Game 1 to open the second round of the NBA Playoffs. While Edwards was not scoring at the same clip Monday night, his all-around game was elite. The guard hit on 11-of-17 from the field, scoring 27 points. He also added seven assists in playing the role of distributor throughout the 26-point win. Edwards has morphed into a legitimate star and he now has Minnesota up 2-0 in the series heading home for Game 3.
Related: Unhinged Jamal Murray throws heat back during Nuggets Game 2 loss to Timberwolves
Loser: Tyrese Haliburton, Indiana Pacers
Despite his Pacers coming out on top in the first round of the NBA Playoffs, Haliburton did not have the best series. The All-Star guard averaged just 16.0 points on 44% shooting. Indiana knows its star needs to step up big time if the team is going to pull off an upset over the Knicks. That did not happen Game 1 Monday night. He scored just six points on 2-of-6 shooting, turning the ball over three times in the process. Indiana was minus-12 in Haliburton’s 36 minutes of action. That’s simply not going to cut it. Period.
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Winner: Karl-Anthony Towns, Minnesota Timberwolves
With Rudy Gobert out of action Monday evening, KAT knew that he had to step up if the Timberwolves were going to go up 2-0 in the series. That’s exactly what he did in outplaying Nikola Jokic. Towns scored 27 points on 10-of-15 shooting. He also addeed 12 rebounds in what was a great all-around performance. A clear sign that Towns made a major impact is the fact that Minnesota was plus-21 in Towns’ 36 minutes of action. Elite-level stuff.
Loser: Nikola Jokic, Denver Nuggets
It’s not too often that this former NBA MVP is outplayed. We saw that take hold against Towns and the Timberwolves Monday night. Jokic did score 16 points with 16 rebounds and eight assists. But giving him credit is more about box score scouting than anything else. He turned the ball over four times, hit on just five shots. Denver was also minus-16 in Jokic’s 39 minutes of action. That never happens. And in reality, it has the defending champs on the brink heading into Game 3 in Minnesota.
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Winner: Jalen Brunson, New York Knicks
Jalen Brunson. NBA Playoff history. That’s the talk of the Association after he dropped 43 points in Monday’s win over the Pacers. That included a whopping 21 points in the fourth quarter as New York was able to open the series with a win. This represents the fourth consecutive game that Brunson has dropped at least 40 points. The last player to do this was the legendary Michael Jordan all the way back in 1993. Brunson added six rebounds and six assists while shooting 14-of-26 from the field. A star is being born in the Big Apple. Monday’s performance is just the latest example.
Loser: Denver Nuggets bench
Outside of Justin Holiday (13 points, 4-of-6 shooting), the Nuggets’ bench was an absolute disaster on Monday. Before garbage time hit, the rest of Denver’s bench scored six points on 2-of-10 shooting. Taking on a deep Minnesota team, this just isn’t going to cut it. Whether it’s Christian Braun or someone else, a player on the Nuggets’ second unit must step up if they are going to make this a series.
Winner: Donte Divincenzo, New York Knicks
Divincenzo came up big multiple times during the first round of the NBA Playoffs. That included dropping 23 points in a Game 6 win over the Philadelphia 76ers. The Villanova product continued this in Game 1 against Indiana, scoring 25 points on 10-of-17 shooting. That included hitting five big three pointers, two of which came with everything on the line in the fourth quarter. Divincenzo isn’t afraid to shoot. He has no hesitation. What we saw as New York opened the conference semifinals with a win magnified this to a T.
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Loser: Aaron Nesmith, Indiana Pacers
We flirted with Pascal Siakam as a loser. He scored just 19 points on 16 shots. However, Nesmith was a complete net negative for Indiana in Game 1. He attempted just six shots, scoring 12 points. The Pacers were also minus-16 in Nesmith’s 31 minutes of action while finishing plus-12 in the 17 minutes that he sat. There might be a point where Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle opts to go with Isaiah Jackson over Nesmith moving forward in the NBA Playoffs.