UNC Alum NBA Update (8/19/20)

The NBA Playoffs began in earnest on Monday with eight teams in action and continued Tuesday with the other eight remaining teams taking the court. Of the six remaining Tar Heels in the playoffs, three played on Monday and the other three on Tuesday.

In an interesting anomaly, five of the Heels lost their first playoff game. Nassir Little’s Blazers were the only team featuring a Carolina alum to win. To be fair, a Tar Heels had to win at least one game because the Blazers are playing Danny Green’s Lakers. So teams featuring Carolina players went 1-5 in their first playoff game.

Following is a breakdown of each Tar Heels’ stat line from Game One of their respective series:

Nuggets (#3) 135 – Jazz (#6) 125

Tony Bradley (Jazz): 11 min | 0 pts | 0-3 FG | | 9 reb (4 off)
Ed Davis (Jazz): DNP – out for series with left MCL injury

Trail Blazers (#8) 100 – Lakers (#1) 93

Danny Green (Lakers): 24 min | 10 pts | 4-12 FG | 2-8 3FG | 2 reb (0 off) | 1 stl | 1 blk
Nassir Little (Trail Blazers): DNP – out for series following a syncopal episode

Clippers (#2) 118 – Mavericks (#7) 110

Justin Jackson (Mavericks): DNP – Coach’s Decision

Magic (#8) 122 – Bucks (#1) 110

Marvin Williams (Bucks): 16 min | 6 pts | 2-4 FG | 2-4 3FG | 3 reb (0 off) | 1 ast

Here are the results of the four games not involving a Tar Heel:

Raptors (#2) 134 – Nets (#7) 110

Fred VanVleet led the way with 30 points and 11 assists for the Raptors.

Celtics (#3) 109 – 76ers (#6) 101

Jaylen Brown led all scorers with 29 points.

Heat (#5) 113 – Pacers (#4) 101

Jimmy Butler had a game high 28 points.

Rockets (#4) 123 – Thunder (#5) 108

As he usually does, James Harden carried the Rockets with 37 points.

Curiously, both top seeds (Bucks and Lakers) lost their first game. In the Lakers game, LeBron James became the first player in NBA playoffs history with 20+ points, 15+ rebounds, and 15+ assists in a game, albeit in a losing effort.

Games pick right back up tomorrow in the same type of schedule as the previous two days. Wednesday’s first game pits the Brooklyn Nets against the Toronto Raptors (1:30pm ET | NBA TV).

Next Game for each Tar Heel:

Tony Bradley (Jazz) | at Nuggets | Series: 0-1 | Wednesday, August 19 | 4:00pm ET | ESPN
Ed Davis (Jazz) | at Nuggets | Series: 0-1 | Wednesday, August 19 | 4:00pm ET | ESPN
Danny Green (Lakers) | vs. Trail Blazers | Series: 0-1 | Thursday, August 20 | 9:00pm ET | TNT
Justin Jackson (Mavericks) | at Clippers | Series: 0-1 | Wednesday, August 19 | 9:00pm ET | ESPN
Nassir Little (Trail Blazers) | at Lakers | Series: 1-0 | Thursday, August 20 | 9:00pm ET | TNT
Marvin Williams (Bucks) | vs. Magic | Series: 0-1 | Thursday, August 20 | 6:00pm ET | TNT

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