Heist night

The Nuggets and Knicks rob their opponents in instant classics.

Good morning. Holy smokes. Let’s basketball.

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Valley of Aosta: Snowstorm, Avalanche and Thunderstorm; J.M.W. Turner; 1836-37

If the 2023-24 NBA season were the French Revolution, the equivalent date of April 22 on that calendar — 2 Floréal, I guess — would be one of those tent-pole historical dates everyone remembers for, like, four fanbases.

For the Philadelphia 76ers, it’s the date of the 8th Avenue Heartache. The sequel to The Bounce. The agony in the Garden.

For the New York Knicks, it’s the Miracle at Madison Square.

For the Los Angeles Lakers, it might be one of the last threads holding this would-be contender together.

For the Denver Nuggets, it’s another thread in the rope that will eventually lift Jamal Murray’s jersey to the rafters.

Two of the wildest finishes of the season, both in Games 2 with the home team providing the explosive force against very high-profile opponents, back-to-back on national TV. This is peak basketball, and I feel lucky that I was able to be a neutral fan for that. Because if I wasn’t a neutral fan watching those two games, I probably would have spontaneously combusted for better or worse.

Let’s break them down.

But first, we have to talk about …

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Scores

Magic 86, Cavaliers 96 (CLE leads 2-0) — Cleveland is putting the wood to Orlando. The Magic defense did its job, but its offense is in pure struggle mode through two games. The Cavaliers defense has been one of the best in the NBA for two years. They know how to limit what teams do, even with an undersized backcourt. Unfortunately for the Magic, they are uniquely unequipped to exploit Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland. Gary Harris hits some shots in Game 2, but Jalen Suggs was cold before injuring his knee, Markelle Fultz didn’t take a shot in six minutes off the bench and Cole Anthony remains 0-for-The-Series.

The Jonathan Isaac line-up shift hasn’t paid off at all. Isaac isn’t taking either Cleveland big out of their game, and Wendell Carter Jr. is less effective playing long minutes without Paolo Banchero. I’m not sure I’ve seen a legitimately good team — the Magic are good, they proved it over the course of an 82-game season — with so little offensive capacity. It’s really Paolo or nothing at this point. He’s very good at scoring and creating … but you need, like, Nikola Jokic or peak LeBron to pull this group up to an effective offensive level, especially against Cleveland’s Twin Towers.

The Cavs’ offense is not inspiring wonder, but it’s consistently been good enough against a great defense through two games. They really just need to watch their turnovers and occassionally attack the paint (which are they doing enough.)

The Magic have never led in this series, and it feels like it.

Sixers 101, Knicks 104 (NYK leads 2-0) — To set the scene, Joel Embiid (knee) and Tyrese Maxey (illness) were both game-time decisions. Surprising no one, both started. And Philadelphia basically had control the entire first half: their schemes to limit Jalen Brunson continue to work, Embiid continues to put up numbers despite moving like a 42-year-old Kevin Willis, Maxey was electric. Philly’s biggest problem by halftime was Josh Hart deciding he’s Jaylen Brown now.

Embiid continued to roll in the third, but the rest of the team went quiet and Isaiah Hartenstein began what would become an hour-long hero’s journey. New York took slight control into and most of the way through the fourth. Until Maxey perked back up and took over the game. He led a 12-4 run deep into the fourth to tie the game at 94. Let’s pick it up there.