J-Speaks: Young Guns Shine To Start 2022 NBA Playoffs

 

On Saturday afternoon, the 2022 NBA Playoffs, presented by Google Pixel began with four second-year players and one third-year player that are considered the future of the NBA made either their postseason debuts or the second appearance and left a major impression that this is the only the beginning of a plethora of performances to come when the lights are brightest.

The start of the past weekend saw four players 22 years of age or younger score 30 points or more, the most ever in a single day of NBA postseason action, surpassing the previous record of two.

The No. 7 Seeded Minnesota Timberwolves’ in their 130-117 victory at the No. 2 Seeded Memphis Grizzlies Saturday on ESPN, 20-year-old Anthony Edwards, scored 36 points with six assists and two steals on 12/23 shooting, including 4/11 from three-point range, and 8/8 at the foul line.

Edwards, the No. 1 overall pick in 2020 NBA Draft out of University of Georgia tied the fourth most points by a player making their postseason debut.

Most Points First Career Playoff Game
2020 Luka Doncic (DAL) 42 points
1979 John Williamson 38 points
1949 George Mikan 37 points
2009 Derrick Rose (NYK) 36 points w/Bulls
1976 Gary Brokaw 36 points
1970 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 36 points
1977 Julius Erving 36 points
Anthony Edwards (MIN) 36 points

Edwards scored 13 of his 36 points in the opening period, scoring 19 points on 7/13 shooting with three assists in opening half and 17 points and three more assists on 5/10 from the floor, including 3/9 from three-point range in 2^nd half in helping the Timberwolves lead a playoff series 1-0 for just the second time in franchise history (2004 First-Round versus Denver Nuggets). It was also their first playoff victory on the road since winning Game 3 of the 2004 West Semifinals at the Sacramento Kings.

“Whatever my shot is I like. Sometimes Coach may not like it. But I love my shots,” Edwards, who also scored 30 points on 10/21 shooting, including 5/11 on his threes in the Play-In victory Apr. 12 versus the Los Angeles Clippers that got the Timberwolves to the 2022 Playoffs said after the win at the Grizzlies. “Basketball is fun to me. I love it”

Edwards had 31 of his 36 points the first three quarters became the youngest player at age 20 to score 30 points in a playoff game in Timberwolves history.

He joined the Derrick Rose of New York Knicks; Kia Sixth Man of the Year candidate Tyler Herro of Miami Heat; and Hall of Famer Earvin “Magic” Johnson to score at least 35 points in a playoff game before age 21.

     Youngest Players With 35-Point Game NBA Postseason History        
                                                      Season                 Years/Days
Derrick Rose (NYK)                    2009                       20/196       w/Bulls 
Tyler Herro (MIA)                       2020                       20/247
Anthony Edwards (MIN)            2022                       20/254
Earvin “Magic” Johnson            1980                       20/276     w/Lakers

One person who has had a front row seat the ascension of Edwards performance in his second season in the NBA is veteran guard Patrick Beverly who said earlier this season and continued to say that he could be up there with the best that ever played in NBA like the great Michael Jordan.

“You’re the No. 1 pick. So, I don’t want you to be anybody else but the greatest,” Beverly said to ESPN “NBA Today” crew of Malika Andrews, Richard Jefferson, Vince Carter, and Kendrick Perkins back on Apr. 13 about what he says consistently to Edwards each day. “I’m going to push him. I’m on him constantly. I’m not letting him go. I’m going to make sure he reaches everything he needs to reach, man.”

Fellow Timberwolves teammate Karl-Anthony Towns, who had a playoff career-high with 29 points to go along with 13 boards on 11/18 shooting concurred saying after win that when Edwards plays like he did on Saturday at the Grizzlies he is “almost unstoppable.”

“He is unstoppable actually,” Towns added.

Opposite Edwards, Grizzlies 22-year-old floor general Ja Morant scored 15 of his 32 points with eight assists on 16/20 from the free throw line versus the Timberwolves.

It was the second career 30-point game of his postseason career for Morant, who had 19 points and five assists on 6/10 shooting in first half.

Edwards and Morant became the first opposing players in NBA history to each score at least 30 points in a playoff game at age 22 or younger.

What made what Morant did even more special is that Edwards was check the Grizzlies’ All-Star guard on a few occasions in Game 1.

Edwards in speaking with the “NBA Today” crew on Monday said that he gets has the “highest” confidence when he steps onto the basketball court doing what he loves, he feels like no one can stop him. That he can score at any given moment as well as make a game changing play at the defensive end from getting a block shot.   

“I feel like I’m a great defender. I actually feel like I’m the best defender in the NBA if you ask me,” Edwards said to ESPN’s Malika Andrews, Richard Jefferson, and Zach Lowe. “I feel like I can guard anybody. Like when it comes to like shooting guards, small forwards, point guards, I feel like I can guard anyone.”  

The Golden State Warriors’ return to the postseason following a two-year absence were led in their Game 1 win (123-107) on Saturday night on ABC, it was not two-time Kia MVP Stephen Curry or fellow perennial All-Star and “Splash Brother” backcourt mate Klay Thompson. But by third-year guard Jordan Poole’s 30 points on 9/13 shooting, including 5/7 from three-point range.

The former late First-Round pick in 2019, No. 28 overall out of University of Michigan, who went 6/6 from the field for 17 points in the opening half became just the third player in franchise history to register 30 points in their playoff debut in franchise history.

       Most Points In a Playoff Debut in Warriors  History           
 Wilt Chamberlin 1960 35 points w/Philadelphia Warriors
 Jordan Poole 2022 30 points
Mitch Richmond 1989 30 points

Poole also became the first player in Warriors history to make five triples in their postseason debut and joined Brooklyn Nets Kyrie Irving while with the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2015 to score 30 points and make five three-pointers in their playoff debut.

“Just came out. Continued to be aggressive. It’s a really good team that we played over there. Tried to execute the game plan and just tried to get a win against a really good team,” Poole, who became the 35^th player in NBA history to register 30 points or more in one’s playoff debut said after the win to ABC’s Andrews.  

The growth of Poole did not come by accident. According to Raymond Ritter, Poole very often in practice over the course of his first two seasons sitting next to Curry, Thompson, and Green to pick their brains and learn the ins and outs of the game and how to be a true pro both on and off the court. To gain the understanding of the kind of level to succeed in the playoffs.

Poole said to Andrews that he asked Curry, Thompson, Green and Kevon Looney “a lot of questions.” He is thankful that he has that quartet of “amazing vets” that have been around the playoff block before to help Poole out in his first playoff experience.

“They just told me to continue to play my game. Be me and just be ready for the moment,” Poole said.

Poole proved that with his performance in Game 2 scoring 29 points with eight assists and five boards on 10/16 shooting, including going 5/10 from three-point range in the Warriors 126-106 win on Monday night versus Nuggets to go up 2-0 in series.

Curry, Thompson, and Poole combined to shoot 31/52 from the field, including 13/28 combined 13/28 from three-point range in Game 2.

Poole has totaled 59 points the first two games against the Nuggets, second only to the aforementioned Wilt Chamberlin for most total points first two games in franchise history.

“I think we just want to see other people get easy shots,” Poole said postgame of Game 2 to NBA on TNT’s Jared Greenberg. “We want to see other people get going. We love playing team basketball. We all can get hot at any second and trying to be able to get good looks early is something that separates us. And we all feel like we’re really special and playing together really makes it lethal.”  

Another player who has risen his level play in these playoffs has been the lead guard representing the squad from the “City of Brotherly Love.”

In the Philadelphia 76ers’ 131-11 Game 1 win versus the Toronto Raptors on Saturday night, second-year lead guard Tyrese Maxey had a playoff career-high 38 points going 14/21 from the floor, including 5/8 from three-point range.

The 21-year-old, who was drafted No. 21 overall out of University of Kentucky in 2020 NBA Draft took over in the third quarter scoring 21 on 7/8 from the floor in the period and 23 points total in second half.

Maxey at age 21 became the youngest player in franchise history to score 30 points in a playoff game. He played so well that he had Sixers’ nation in attendance at Wells Fargo Center of 20,610 chanting, “Maxey! Maxey! Maxey!” after making one sensational play after another. He dazzled with each whirlwind layup. Each long-range triple try he connected on and did seemingly whatever he wanted at times as he dismantled the Raptors defense with each electrifying he played.

“I think the only thing I’m going to remember is us winning,” Maxey said after the win.

The only good that came out of the fiasco with former Sixer Ben Simmons was that it provided playing time for Maxey, who post All-Star break averaged 18.7 points making 48 percent of his three-point attempts.

In the opening half against the Raptors, Maxey had 15 points on 6/10 from the floor in the opening half, falling one shy of tying his playoff career-high, which he set in Game 6 of the 2021 East Semis at the Atlanta Hawks.

“He’s been doing it all season,” Joel Embiid, who had 19 points and 15 rebounds versus the Raptors Saturday night said postgame Saturday night. “It’s only one game. We need to do it three more times.”

Maxey registered his second straight performance with 23 points, eight assists and nine rebounds on 8/11 shooting, including 3/6 on his threes in the 76ers’ 112-97 Game 2 win versus the Raptors on Monday night on TNT to go up 2-0 in the First-Round series.

In Game 2, the 76ers scored 19 points on 8/9 shooting off passes from Maxey. The 76ers’ young floor general also had an impact defensively holding Raptors All-Star Fred VanVleet to 2/12 from the floor as the primary defender. Maxey also scored or assisted on 15 of 76ers 28 fastbreak points.

At the start of the 2020 Playoffs, no team was under more pressure to perform than the 76ers because of their inability over the past few seasons to reach at least the Eastern Conference Finals as well as the individual postseason disappointments by perennial All-Stars in leading Kia MVP candidate Joel Embiid and 2018 Kia MVP James Harden, who was acquired from the Brooklyn Nets at the Feb. 10 trade deadline.

So far in their series against the Raptors, Embiid and Harden have performed well and the performance by Maxey has given them a major spark in their quest for the team’s first title in nearly three decades.

“I saw growth man,” Harden, who had 22 points, 14 assists, five rebounds on 4/7 on his threes in Game 1 win said that postgame about Maxey. “I saw him from being up-and-down and not really having consistent minutes last year in the postseason to starting and having a huge role on a championship contending team.”

Over the weekend, we saw four of the NBA’s rising stars begin to as TNT’s co-host of “Inside the NBA” and two-time NBA champion with the Houston Rockets Kenny Smith once “Make their Fame.” Tyrese Maxey of Philadelphia 76ers, Anthony Edwards of Minnesota Timberwolves, Ja Morant of Memphis Grizzlies, and Jordan Poole of Golden State Warriors let the country know that in this postseason and in the years to come, their names will be fully present on the marquee and will have a major voice in the hopefully championship success of their respective teams.  

Information, statistics, and quotations are courtesy of 4/13/2022 3 p.m. “NBA Today’ With Malika Andrews, Richard Jefferson, Vince Carter, and Kendrick Perkins; 4/16/2022 8:30 p.m. “Denver Nuggets versus Golden State Warriors,” Game 1 NBA Playoffs on ABC, presented by Google Pixel with Mark Jones, Doris Burke, and Malika Andrews; 4/18/2022 3 p.m. “NBA Today” With Malika Andrews, Richard Jefferson, Zach Lowe, and Kendrick Perkins; 4/19/2022 1 a.m. ESPN’s “Sportscenter” With Max McGee and Zubin Mehenti; https://www.espn.com/nba/player/gamelog/_/4277956/jordan-poole; https://www.espn.com/nba/recap?gameid=401429873; https://www.espn.com/nba/recap/boxscore?gameid=401430247; https://www.espn.com/nba/recap?gameid=401429874.