By contrast, on the Pistons' side, Mitchell was the only one who stood out, finishing with 37 points, 8 rebounds, and 6 assists. He could at least say he'd gone down with honor. No one else had been able to step up and give him a hand.
He hadn't played as well as the opposing team's star, and his teammates had been left even further behind.
So it was only natural that the Pistons lost in the end.
But for Donovan Mitchell, this probably wasn't something to be happy about.
He'd made his way to the Eastern Conference, only to find himself struggling in the first round again. If anything, things had gotten even harder...
One wrong step, and every step after that was wrong~~
After the Bucks-Pistons game ended, the next matchup got underway: the battle between the Nuggets and the Timberwolves.
Compared with the completely one-sided situation in the East, this Western Conference matchup had been much more competitive.
The Nuggets hadn't shown overwhelming dominance that night, and the Timberwolves had proven they had the strength to go toe-to-toe with them.
When the game ended, the score was 123–122.
The Denver Nuggets had narrowly scraped out a Game 1 win by just one point.
Nikola Jokic had been only so-so, finishing with "just" 26 points, 15 rebounds, and 8 assists. He hadn't shown the ability of the "best center in the league."
At least that night, his performance had been comfortably overshadowed by Giannis on the other side of the bracket, as well as Big Butt the night before.
But fortunately, they had still managed to win the game.
With Jokic playing only so-so, the Nuggets' standouts were Murray, who scored 31 points with 5 rebounds and 4 assists, and Aaron Gordon, who put up 22 points, 8