FIRST ROUND

East Region

(16) Utah Jazz vs. (17) Indiana Pacers

(9) Portland Trail Blazers vs. (24) Denver Nuggets

(8) Dallas Mavericks vs. (25) Charlotte Hornets

(4) San Antonio Spurs vs. (29) Minnesota Timberwolves

(13) Milwaukee Bucks vs. (20) Miami Heat

(12) Phoenix Suns vs. (21) Oklahoma City Thunder

(5) Houston Rockets vs. (28) Philadelphia 76ers

(Winners in bold)

When comparing matchups between regions, all the fun games ended up in the East region. (Again, this was ironic, given the state of the league’s Eastern Conference.)

Indiana — basking in the triumphant return of Paul George — faced off against Utah, one of the hottest teams in the NBA. Since the All-Star break, the Jazz have the league’s fourth-best record (16–8) and fifth-best efficiency differential (+8.1). And they have a player with one of the coolest nicknames in the league: Rudy Gobert, a.k.a., The Stifle Tower. Despite the emotional boost of having George back on the court, the Pacers narrowly lost to the Jazz.

Fresh off Khris Middleton’s insane game-winner against the Heat on March 24, the Bucks followed that up by grinding out another win versus Miami in a game that saw Giannis Antetokounmpo posterize Hassan Whiteside — it was the equivalent to watching an octopus kill a shark.

In the best game of the first round, the Suns and Thunder engaged in a thrilling shootout that went four overtimes, featured another triple-double from Russell Westbrook, and was capped off by an improbable game-winner from Dion Waiters, who finally had a good reason to put his arms up in the air (i.e., to celebrate rather than to demand the rock).

The biggest upset took place in the Morey Bowl between the Rockets and Sixers. Darel Morey and his protege, Sam Hinkie, were seen exchanging pleasantries before the game. That would likely be the last time they would speak to each other, as Morey witnessed MVP candidate James Harden get neutralized. The Sixers played great team defense by sealing off the lane and not fouling. When Harden did manage to get into the paint, Nerlens Noel provided rim protection. The Sixers got enough scoring from guys like Robert Covington and Isaiah Canaan — who both originally played for the RGV Vipers, the Rockets’ D-League affiliate — to eek out the victory.

West Region

(15) Washington Wizards vs. (18) Boston Celtics

(10) Toronto Raptors vs. (23) Sacramento Kings

(7) Memphis Grizzlies vs. (26) Los Angeles Lakers

(3) Los Angeles Clippers vs. (30) New York Knicks

(14) Atlanta Hawks vs. (19) Detroit Pistons

(11) New Orleans Pelicans vs. (22) Brooklyn Nets

(6) Chicago Bulls vs. (27) Orlando Magic

The West region had a miserable slate of games, but there were two noteworthy upsets. The under-seeded Hawks, losers to the Pistons last week, got torched defensively by the pick-and-roll tandem of Reggie Jackson and Andre Drummond. Again. Meanwhile, Anthony Davis (the league’s modern-day version of Galactus) was unable to overcome a red-hot Brook Lopez and a rejuvenated Deron Williams. It also didn’t help Davis that Monty Williams, despite having a superior roster, got predictably out-coached.

(FWIW, this wasn’t the first time that the best player in a tournament experienced an early exit. Most notably, Kevin Durant and his Texas Longhorns did not advance past the first weekend in the 2007 NCAA Tournament.)