Obi Toppin returned to the bench on Saturday with Julius Randle back in the lineup, but he still found a way to make an impact in the Knicks’ Game 1 win over Cleveland, Peter Botte of the New York Post writes. Toppin played 14 minutes and scored nine third-quarter points as New York pulled out a 101-97 win.
“I thought Obi gave us really good minutes,” Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau said. “We got hit with some things (Saturday). Some of the silver lining was the last month, we had different guys out, so those other guys had to step in.”
We have more from the Atlantic Division:
- Tobias Harris is often taken for granted but he played in a crucial role in the Sixers’ 121-101 win over Brooklyn on Saturday, Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer tweets. Harris fired in 21 points and added four rebounds and four assists. “For me, it’s just staying in the moment and being aggressive with all opportunities that come my way,” Harris said. He’ll enter free agency after next season.
- After posting 33.1 points, 10.2 rebounds and 4.2 assists per game during the regular season, Sixers star center Joel Embiid has set the bar high for the remainder of his career. Embiid still believes he can get better, as he told Pompey. “Obviously, next year, if I gotta get better again, that’s probably averaging 35, 36 a game,” he said. “The last guy that did it was James [Harden] and that’s hard to do, and that’s impossible. But I still gotta find ways to get better. There’s so many ways I can get better. But yeah, so far, it is my best season, offensively, defensively, and as far as everything, growing as a person and as a basketball player.”
- Joe Mazzulla won his first playoff game as a head coach when the Celtics defeated Atlanta on Saturday. Mazzulla knows that best-of-seven series are a grind and he’ll have to be quick to make adjustments, Jared Weiss of The Athletic writes. “I’m excited because of what a series brings about, the mental toll, the emotional toll, the opportunity for adjustments, the opportunity for doing different things,” Mazzulla said “I’ve seen what it represents, I’ve seen the tug of war.”
The NBA is pretty much a reality show until the playoffs start.
Oh c’mon Pompey. No one takes Tobi for granted. He’s paid like a max player but doesn’t play like half of one.
Harris is taken for granted. All the 76ers fans whine that’s he’s overpaid yet he’s very consistent. He goes out there as the 3rd or 4th option, stretches the floor and gives the 6ers 15 and 7 every night. He’s not even paid like a max player anymore because in today’s NBA a max player 45-52 million dollars a season.
I like Tobias. He’s just been overpaid. I’m just curious who else was going to sign him to that contract. 5/125 to 5/150 and no one brings up him being overpaid. And they may have kept Jimmy (Ben and Brett aside). Tobias is a nice player, not a max dude tho.
Knicks started three of their own draft picks. In a playoff gm. Last time they did that was 1992. Grimes, Mitch, RJ
Randle FA signed. Brunson FA signing… are two other starters. Pretty good management, I’d say.
Obi1 you have to play good mins. This is your stage now. Obi I believe will be moved. He needs to start somewhere.
Sixers had a nice win. Nets are not big inside. So Embiid can have a big series.
Don’t know that Obi is a starter anywhere right now. Still too inconsistent in his minutes on the floor.
It is nice to see some homegrown Knicks as starters in a playoff series. I’m happy that the Knicks pulled out game one, but am concerned about what Barrett is going to give them throughout their playoff run. I believe he should be the guy moved this offseason, along with other assets to add the shooting and D the team needs from the SF position.
Barrett dropped 20 ppg and plays above average perimeter defense. And he was still able to score that average even with the addition of another 20+ scorer on the team.
I think they need an SG if Grimes doesn’t pick up his aggressiveness on offense. He certainly has the potential, but needs to keep it consistent and bring it up a couple of notches, otherwise maybe a Beal could be of interest.
I’m liking what I’m hearing Coach Mazzula say.
And I read recently he’s got Derrick White in the starting lineup partly to infuse him w more confidence & that’s working! DW is playing absolutely great.
Go Joe! Go Celtics!
Thats why Joe should be coach of the year. But the cowards won’t vote for him. Makes me sick.
Joe did immediately what Ime took months to do.
We need Toppin’s best in this series, on both ends. I’m not expecting him to become a physical presence among the 4/5’s in this series, but he has to hold his own. I thought he did in game 1, but suspect that it’s going to get tougher from here on out.
I suspect CLE will conclude soon (if they haven’t already) that they need to establish Mobley as a half court option offensively against our 4’s to offset alot of what we do. We need to control that, and not let him get off where he gets confidence.