The BEST Plays of the 2022 NBA Playoffs

Winter takes a 3-2 lead in this opening round series. Morant. Oh, foul breaker! At the Grizzlies den, it is Ja Morant on the full extension. 2022 NBA play. Bowdoin State has a lot of time. Pool with the ball. Launches. Flat out. Get it done. Recognizing the clock dwindling down. Knocks down the long ball. Good old-fashioned game of pool. Jalen Brown kicks it out. Smart fakes. Inside. Tatum spins and he puts it in! And when you close there, it's easy to say, but you've got to close under control. Green may angle something toward the rim. He gives it a beat. He'll turn. Got home! But review. It's a turn, a shot, and a score. The catch, the turn, the shot. Philly bitch, they're loving it. I am speechless. NBA catch, turn, two Raptors on them. It doesn't matter. It's Joel Embiid's world. We're just living in it right now. Brunson defends. Snaps it outside to Wiggins. Goes by Poulos. Bumps the sledge. Successful challenge by Steve Kerr and the Warriors. It's not a offensive foul on Andrew Wiggins, nor is it a defensive foul on Luka Doncic, but it is a good bucket and poster by Andrew Wiggins. Challenge successful and Wiggins has his third career playoff double. 15 seconds. Here comes Mitchell. Go Bears! And it's fitting. Give the ball to the big fella. Fade him. Nearly fouled. Dangerous pass. Shot clock at three. Brown puts up the three. Off the mark. Rebound Wiggins. He's got three seconds to get a shot off. Wiggins to Poulos. Poulos gets it off in time. Brooks. Trigger man. Brooks. Toss in. Morant. Drives. Morant. Again, if he wills to the basket. One dribble. Josh, so good. He's able to get there. You have to force the ball to go towards half court. This time, you go for the steal. Anthony Edwards, bad mistake. Stay solid. You have the size and the lateral quickness to stay with them. Portis' effort has been great the entire night and he just stays with it. The ball deflected by a couple of Celtics. Portis is able to corral it. A little fake handoff maybe from Butler. Finds Butler. Butler turns. Fires. It's good as the shot clock expires. Jimmy Butler and it's a six-point lead. We talked about the action. Jimmy Butler, fake handoff and then elevates. Draymond Green actually leaving the court. He's upset. Morant from half court. Oh, he puts it in. Buzzer. More Morant magic. It always pays to at least try those shots. At the end of quarters. He has been spectacular here in the first half. 17 points for John Morant. Through the other way. Just seconds remaining. Nance defends. Double-teamed. Got it. Charts. The degree of difficulty with this shot, but more importantly, how about the little fist pump to the Bambino. Cavon Looney. The interior. Bane tosses it up. It's in. Beats the buzzer on an excuse me three. My goodness. Now Desmond hasn't been able to get his footing up underneath him, but maybe that's the point. He's off balance. Eyes up on the rim. Identifying the shot clock. Get it up there, young fella. Knock it in. Three points field goal prior to the next baseman Don Bullock. Final seconds. Donchich. The bump in the pool. Firing. Good as it goes. By Curry, which leads to this long dagger by Donchich as the first quarter comes to an end. A six-point swing here. Not allowing him to catch the basketball on his sweet spot. Any time to catch and shoot. Struce launches a three. Oh, he knocks it down. It's a tough, tough shot. Grant Williams starting as Struce knocks that down. He's got to look to be aggressive in this situation. Wiggins hedging. Smart with the three. Got it. It was a long two. Actually had his foot on the line and the lead is down to four. Just get rid of the basketball. Forced the help to come. Now you put smart in position to catch. Get Wiggins in the air. Top of the backboard, which is in bounds. And Draymond Green pushing. Six assists for Green. Curry a long three. That's good. Steph Curry from way down to chaos here on the third. It's the largest lead of the game. Curry long three-pointer. That's good. And the foul. Steph Curry with a chance for a four-point play. We'll pick up the foul. His second. That's a flagrant foul. By the way they do it. Settles for the three. Curry with a quick outlet to Looney. Great catch. Right in transition to Brown with a head of steam. Great pass from Curry but Brown doesn't give up on the play. Knows that Robert Williams an outstanding shot blocker. Orford whips a pass. Smart corner three. Count it and the foul. Chance for a four-point and that's going to be four. Penetration. This is Al getting into the seams and then finding Marcus Smart to contact by Tucker and gets the hoop. Wiggins there and a quick show by Curry. Now the blitz. He snaps it in the corner. Finds Finney Smith in the corner and he knocks it down. And much needed as well in this series. 19 for Thompson. Nine at the half. Great patience and ball movement and then an excellent pass from Drew Holliday right on target. Now Colleton on Tatum. There's Tatum on the drive. Even with George Hill back getting some minutes tonight. Good deflection by White and Tatum now in the open floor. Oh Giannis went at him and Tatum slammed it and got five. He chased him down. Okay he chases him down. Now just watch as he's out here. See him come in here now. He thinks that he has a chance. Morant sizing up Wiggins. Switch. Now he's got Poole. Under two minutes to go. The shake. And a one point Memphis advantage. Able to get to the basket. A good thing Jordan Poole had on his shorts or his tights. I think if he wants to pressure you need to go right by him. Rating 94 points per 100 is Brown. Shakes Grayson Allen. And then of course Boston's offensive rating stand in game one was 89. Yeah look Milwaukee's deep. A 13-3 run. No way to the white flag for these Mavericks. It's Paul to traffic it off the glass. What a shot by Paul. Timeout Dallas. Donchich working on McGee. Shot clock at four. 16-point game. Donchich was dancing. Breaking it up was McGee. They sails in with authority at the other end. And a timeout in Phoenix on TMT. Morant tries another. Tillman the offensive rebound. Back to Morant. Up and under. Off the glass. He spins it in. His dad called his play trash. Williams stout defense. Threw it to himself. Oh he's eviscerating the Celtics inside. Wow. You want in a superstar Doris. 6'11 240. You stand him up. He says no problem. I'm going to go around you. Put it off the window. How about this? Looks like he's in the gym in Athens. Just playing by himself. And the bench. The bench has the same reaction as mine. Turnover. Hernan Gomez 2-on-1 developing. He's going to do it himself. Blocked by Donchich. Gets back defensively. Leak out. Dinwiddie. Pump Fagan all alone for two. The defense in there who said he can't play deep. The three amigos. Getting it done for the Pelicans. Five and a half to go. Trying to tie the series at two. He's playing. He's making this look ridiculous now. Look how far he started. How in the world did he fall to the second round? Understanding when you fall asleep or turn your head. Corral that pass. They got a two-on-one. Kaminga trying to go. Detonating Jonathan Kaminga. Lost it on an 8-0 run. Warford gets by Yada. He throws it down. It was an elbow to the jaw. Mike Budenholzer wants them to look at that and I believe they are going to. There's no better time to shoot a spot three than after an offensive rebound. Trae Young. Trae right here pulling up some deep over Tucker who's done a great job. That's a tough one. Here's Morant. Bodies. Artistry. Utah with a chance to tie or take the lead depending on shot selection. Shake. Bake. Dish to tie the game. For the Mavs. Dish. The first pick of the 2020 draft. Edwards with seven already as Morant soars to the rim. This is why this organization is so excited about the future of this franchise because John Morant this kid could very well be the future of this league. And you know what I was going to wonder if it was a guy that was in like his fifth year or my goodness. Oh my god. What's this? Siakam they leave him and he missed the shot. You don't normally see that. Barnes with the hustle but it's Philly ball. Harden. Nice pass to Maxey. Reverse layup is good but what a James Harden. Watch the bounce and then watch the catch and you're not going to block my shot. I'm coming up. We said early on this is a key matchup. Van Fleet and Maxey and you can see tonight Maxey is a major winner. Oh deep three. I can blow by you and create havoc. You lay off. I'm confident in my three. A lot of contact. They let him play on. Bruce Brown to Duran. Back to Bruce Brown. Blocked by Brown. To take the lead here by Vanderbilt. Jackson for the block. You're out of the paint but then he came back to recognize his job was to man up inside and Beasley. Nothing going down for the Grizz. Edwards swatted. Ball spiked from John Morant. Dallas had the block all by himself but Mitchell was able to break it up. Here comes Dinwiddie. A titanic finish from Dinwiddie. No he had that in him and I'm sorry I doubted that but incredible. Attack the big man. You go right at a shot blocker. You don't try to avoid him. House thought that maybe there was going to be a hard show and get back on that screen. Mitchell come with some smoke. Right here just snatching the soul of Bertans right there. Splitting the the trap there at the top. The double team and attacking the basket. But he's got to take it personal. They're going to defend him with a smaller perimeter guy. Oh Gary with the flush goes right at Bane. Now getting it done. Set up screen and roll. Dives to the hoop. GP are you with me? Bane. That's a grown man move. Tremendous athleticism. Seven points for him. The twirling dungeon. Melting into the defense. The front carry. Got it in a foul. I'm gonna count them out for you. There's one. Okay you want to dance? Watch a little Kevin McHale shuffle and then okay I'll come right back into your body. Bane stumbles. Falls down. Shot clock down to four. Jackson Jr. Another three. Way downtown. He had he put it up with a shot clock expiring. Aaron Jackson Jr. Bane keep the ball alive and then looks up realizes that the clock is dwindling down. It's a tough shot. Good defense but fortunately for the Grizzlies ability to knock down the long ball. Aaron Jackson Jr. certainly needs to pool on a kick. Wiggins still looking for his first field goal. Wiggins rack attack. Bench for Jordan Poole. Well back in the day this would have been a poster. And maybe some second shots. Curry again. Oh Steph Curry from way downtown. He's furious. There was contact there. Shot clock at four. Wiggins defends. Townshend with a bomb. Hits the three. 24. His fifth three and the shot clock running down to end this second quarter. Luka. Under a minute to go here in the first half. Stunning. 27 point lead. Down goes Johnson. Oh no. They're shredding him. Oh no he didn't. In the league this year. Donchich right there. 27 points from Luka. Brooks gets a running start ahead to Tillman. Good transition defense from Golden State. Bain steps back three-pointer. That's good. The ball today in Memphis Mark. Bain gets dumped on on the other end. Crosses over Steph Curry. Knocks out a shot. Look at John. The opposite side. Do that dance Gator. Having a good time. Trey Young's got it. Five minute mark. Five point lead for Atlanta. Trying to get back in the series. Clay. Corkscrews one up. It's an offensive rebound for Curry. Denny Smith defends. The bump. Got it. Foul. But his all-around effort in games is putting big-time fingerprint. We can see that his aggression has really picked up. Out of the cool pole. And again working on Horford. Wow. Able to make it spin and get down. Those long arms. Able to reach up and put a little English on it to score. Long arms and a long step. That is an incredible finish. I think at some point here tonight. Pass deflected or shot deflected. And here comes Wiggins. Back to Curry. Up top pull. Curry's got it. Corner three. It's good and Golden State regains the lead. Back up by two as Curry gets knocked down and the foul. Well transitioned. Good unselfish play by both Curry and Poole. And then an unwise foul. John Morant put in a difficult position. Having to try to guard too. And now Mimp. His second triple of a series of drives up to Sledgehammer. They're just as surprised as everyone else. We used to see these kind of highlights on a nightly basis with a younger Iguodala. The offensive end. Poole. The year old. Clay Thompson's got 18 points. He's scored eight of those in this third quarter. Steph Curry could be your sixth man of the year right here. And that is the second four-point play possibility for the Warriors in the quarter. Tomchick one of six. Poole with a blitz and a long three. Look at Steph. He's holding that right thigh. He sure is. See this is the problem. Lobs it up top to Grant Williams. Williams has to hoist it up and just raises the rim. Remember the Celtics doing this without. Oh what a pass and finish. Holliday on target from half court. And Atenecupo throws it down. One of seven to start. Giannis finds Matthews. Matthews missed a three. Allen back tap into the hands of Smart. Here goes Tatum. Down. Jason Tatum fires one home. Boy Jason Tatum coach coming off one of his worst playoff games in his career needed that one to get himself going. Talking about the Lovejoes. Lovejoes against Bridges. Yes. I mean it's one of the best defenders in the NBA. Golden State with another stop. Trying to close out this third quarter bet in game one. No but look on the screen. Auto Porter with a. Tice is dropping. You cannot guard him like that. You have to be up if you're tight. And the answer. Look I'm in position coach. Look at my stance. That's not going to work. You might as well be in the paint. You might as well be on the bench with me. Butler's got Robert Williams on him. Drives the three pointer. Comes up short. Butler gets his own rebound. Throws it off the glass on the file. On the follow. Jalen Rose right here at the FTX Arena. Two quarters complete. Heat 42. The veteran who's never played in an NBA finals trying to get to the conference finals. Very nice job of not allowing Donnis to handle the basketball but using them as a screen and then diving. This is tough to defend. It tells Pritchett. Mind your business. And they've been switching that but they don't want to switch Derek White on to Giannis. Dayton of course has that fractured left elbow. Happened in the second round. Second game against Memphis. Missed a month. Oh what a pass inside from Smart and Robert Williams. Backs home to follow. And here's what you talk about. Posting on Marcus Smart. You're J-Mon Bean. You can't over help. Leaves the body of Robert Williams. Not going into isolation with Luka. Running a double pin away for Jalen Brunson as Landry Shannon makes a nice pocket pass. Wow. And on Luka's head literally and figuratively. He made sure on this one. I'm sorry Mike. This zone defense has done an outstanding job protecting the paint from John. Wiggins coast to coast. Got away with a little discard of Brandon Clark but he turned it over and finished with great strength. Wiggins is so appreciated. Another offensive rebound. Butler gives it up. Strews can't finish it. Snag on a bio with a grown man's jam and the foul. This is just the Miami Heat dissecting the Hawks little by little. Has been going through this since the first half. Didn't have the energy early. A little step behind and I think a lot of it had to do with the emotional content of that game. Jimmy Butler vicious. I think Jimmy Butler's put his postseason struggles from a year ago behind them. Spencer's in with the 0 of 4. Hasn't scratched the scoring column. Calder is right. The bump into Powell. Count it for two and a foul. What a pretty play. He's a master at it. Chris Paul comes off the high screen roll. Gets Powell up in the air. During the regular season Memphis won the season series three games to one thanks to their fast break and their second chance points. Morant spin cycle. Morant's control. Just go ahead let him run. I mean. Tucker had all night left it short. I thought he waited a little too long on that three-point attempt. Green transition three. Splash. And in transition pulling up. Foul by Stroup. Memphis now 6 for 17 from deep. Golden State 11 for 20. Poole finishes. Puts the foul. Another ridiculous prolific intense shooter to fit with this Golden State crowd. When shooting is such a premium in this league and they get Jordan Poole. He plays in the G League. He puts in the work. Jalen Brown drives on Tucker. Stops. Slides a bit out to Smart. Smart the runner. Count it and the foul. Marcus Smart. He's now 3 for 13. Takes the bump. Throws it over the side of the backboard. Man. Hands it off to Curry. Goes around the world. The craftiness. The size and strength. Ability to eliminate elite defenders and then finishing in traffic. Mama. There goes that man. Seen it so many times in the finals. They need scores. Paula Tepo with confidence. Struess with a big time flush. Comes up short. Lowry throws it ahead to Struess. Racing down the floor. Blocked by Tatum. Oh Tatum from Baja. But the Heat get possession. Lady double. Green a floater. Oh. Dropping a sledgehammer inside. Oh nice. Dorian Finney-Smith. That's spectacular. Two possession game. Boston can add to it. Here is Brown between the legs. No. Continues to thrive this postseason. Yeah that bench loves this one. Nobody gets a body on Al Horford. And he throws it. Horford sprays it out to Williams. Another sidestep three. Towns. Nice fake. Beasley. McLaughlin. Inside. McDaniels. Oh. In the face of Jackson. Playing the role of the maestro. Again. Dodgich. Off the drive and kick. Brunson. Hezzy. Brunson. Beautiful fake and pull up. You want to figure out how to neutralize height. Klay Thompson. Wiggins. Looney. Three steps. Got it. He is ruthless. Ball movement. Man movement. Back cut. And the rest. Let me look at my fellas on my way down for his third main three. Klay Thompson is bleeding in his mouth. A lot of blood right now. I'm gonna have to take a look at that. Oh what a fake. That wasn't even a screen. Marcus Smart bails out and forces Al Horford to defend Curry. Curry against Horford. Gets past him inside. Off the glass again.