This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
The most competitive opening game of any Western Conference playoff series was Portland's 20-point loss to the Los Angeles Clippers.
The East looks much more interesting in the NBA's first round, especially the Atlanta-Boston series. This matchup already had my attention because of the teams' playing and coaching ties to the Jazz, and now it becomes more fascinating as Boston coach Brad Stevens adjusts to the apparent loss of guard Avery Bradley to a hamstring injury.
This series pairs two very good coaches in Stevens, who coached the Jazz's Gordon Hayward and Shelvin Mack at Butler University, and Atlanta's Mike Budenholzer, Jazz coach Quin Snyder's former boss with the Hawks.
Atlanta blew a 19-point lead at home in Saturday's Game 1 before salvaging a 102-101 victory — in a finish undoubtedly aided by Bradley's absence. Game 2 is Tuesday at Philips Arena.
Stevens is widely being acclaimed as the NBA's next great coach, and I've followed him with interest because of his ties to Hayward — and Mack, who joined the Jazz from Atlanta, coincidentally. Stevens will have to do some of his best work to win this series, presumably without his No. 2 scorer.
The Celtics and the Jazz have been on similar rebuilding tracks during the past three seasons. Each team went 25-57 during a tearing-down process in 2013-14, then the Celtics went 40-42 to the Jazz's 38-44 mark in 2014-15, Snyder's first season. Boston surged ahead this season by going 48-34 to the Jazz's 40-42 record, as the Celtics tied for third place in the East but drew the No. 5 seed via tiebreakers.
The Hawks missed their chance to grab the No. 3 seed and avoid Cleveland in the second round, but that's a problem for another day. Atlanta first must deal with the Celtics, while getting more production from former Jazz players Kyle Korver and Paul Millsap.
They have thrived with the Hawks — partly due to Snyder's influence on them in 2013-14, they have said — but Korver shot poorly in the 2015 playoffs and struggled Saturday, going 1 of 10 from the field and missing all seven of his 3-point attempts. Millsap posted 14 points and seven rebounds.
But the Hawks are a deep, balanced team and they overcame those guys' sub-par efforts. Atlanta will need more out of them as the series continues, while Stevens searches for solutions to the Celtics' short-handed situation.
Twitter: @tribkurt