4 takeaways from opening day of the NBA playoffs

Ten months after the NBA's 2019-20 season tipped off, the playoffs have finally arrived. Here are four takeaways from the postseason's opening day.

Targeting Porter

Donovan Mitchell had one of the three greatest scoring games in playoff history, Jamal Murray put together a masterful performance in the clutch, and the Denver Nuggets beat the Utah Jazz in a close game for the fourth time this season, but let's dig a little deeper to find a takeaway from the first game of the 2020 playoffs.

Michael Porter Jr. was one of the most pleasant surprises of the seeding games, teasing his tantalizing, long-term potential as a secondary star beside Nikola Jokic (or tertiary star behind Jokic and Murray), and earning All-Bubble second-team honors in the process. But as many NBA stars can attest, a youngster's first taste of the playoffs often exposes the holes in their game.

When we think of postseason debutants struggling, we usually imagine them misfiring on the offensive end while they work through their playoff jitters. But it's often on the defensive end where a young player's postseason inexperience is exploited, and they learn hard lessons about how to value every single possession in a way the regular season just doesn't demand of them. Though Denver ultimately came away with the Game 1 win, the Jazz taught Porter those lessons Monday.

Knowing Porter's defensive limitations, the Nuggets tried to hide him on Joe Ingles. The Jazz countered by running pick-and-rolls with Ingles and Rudy Gobert, exposing some of Porter's deficiencies to a national television audience. Chief among them, the 22-year-old rookie leaves a lot to be desired when it comes to his effort defending screens:

That would've been an embarrassing attempt to fight through a screen in an average game, let alone in the second half of a one-possession game in the playoffs.

The trend continued with various screen combinations in the fourth quarter. Here's a good fourth-quarter example: Porter is guarding Ingles, who screens for Mitchell, and Porter tries to communicate a switch to Mitchell's defender, Torrey Craig. But look at these two screengrabs, which perfectly encapsulate Porter's poor positioning and communication. You'll notice that Porter ends up in no-man's land, while Craig scrambles to both cover Ingles on the switch and recover back to Mitchell:

This specific play resulted in a Mitchell drive, a Nuggets foul, and two points at the free-throw line for Utah in what was a one-possession game with less than five minutes remaining.

You can find countless other examples of Porter defending on the perimeter while practically standing up straight rather than getting into a prepared defensive stance, and it's no coincidence that Porter sat on Denver's bench for the final 6:32 of regulation and overtime while Monte Morris filled his role.

This isn't meant as some referendum on Porter's value or his future. The guy has the potential to be an absolute stud, the size and athleticism to be a solid defender at worst, and just got his first taste of NBA playoff action. But it's a good reminder that on both an individual and team level, your flaws will be targeted and mercilessly picked apart by postseason opponents.

A standout rookie being a defensive liability may not seem like much of a big deal after an invigorating win in Game 1 of Round 1, but it needs to be addressed at some point if you expect that rookie to play a starring role in a long playoff run.

Show Fred the money

Who had Fred VanVleet somehow topping his last playoff performance - a heroic, Finals-clinching effort - in his next postseason appearance?

The Raptors guard, who has been Toronto's best player through nearly three weeks in the bubble, poured in 30 points and 11 assists on 11-of-15 shooting against Brooklyn on Monday. VanVleet also went a ridiculous 8-of-10 from deep and committed just one turnover in 39 minutes of action.

VanVleet's shooting and playmaking put the Nets away early, and the budding floor general seemed to come up with a big shot, pass, or defensive play to quell the Nets any time Brooklyn threatened to truly get back in a game Toronto ultimately won by 24 points.

This is the norm now for VanVleet. An undersized guard who used to struggle to finish at the rim or make plays for teammates earlier in his career has slowly morphed into a two-way monster in the backcourt who can just as easily tilt a game with his playmaking as with his shooting. Sure, VanVleet has developed a crafty layup package to overcome some of those size issues, and he's become one of the NBA's elite volume shooters, but he's also dropping pinpoint pocket passes like this while running pick-and-rolls to near-perfection:

On the defensive end, VanVleet is one of the top-performing guards when it comes to affecting opponents' shooting percentages. He led the league in deflections per game this season and finished in the top four in steals.

This is where I remind you that VanVleet, who's also earned a reputation as a big-game player, is set for unrestricted free agency in a year when it's unlikely that any franchise-changing stars will hit the open market.

It's true that not many teams have cap space, with quite a few franchises holding out and saving up for the 2021 free-agency bonanza headlined by Giannis Antetokounmpo, and the future of the salary cap is in flux after a tough financial year for the league. But whether it's the Raptors or a rival team trying to emulate Toronto's culture, someone is going to ensure Fred VanVleet gets paid in a couple months, and it will be well-deserved for a player who famously bet on himself.

The Sixers are maddening

With or without Ben Simmons, the Philadelphia 76ers remain a frustrating case study in roster construction.

The Sixers have been a high-turnover team for the entirety of Brett Brown's tenure (and Joel Embiid, Ben Simmons, and Brown himself need to wear that at some point). But Monday's 18-turnover loss to the rival Boston Celtics in Game 1 of their East quarterfinal also highlighted - for what seems like the hundredth time - how strangely constructed this team is. The Sixers still don't have a reliable ball-handler, as even Simmons doesn't qualify as a dependable offensive initiator in the halfcourt.

This is a team paying the trio of Tobias Harris, Al Horford, and Josh Richardson nearly $71 million combined, and yet in a Simmons-less playoff matchup that Embiid can physically dominate against a smaller opponent, the Sixers were struggling to even competently dump the ball in to their star big man in the post.

Some of that can be chalked up to Boston's defensive pressure on the perimeter and the team's doubling of Embiid, who needs to be more aggressive, but if the Sixers can't combat those elements of the Celtics' defense, this is going to be a short series. Heck, Alec Burks was handling the ball for Philly down the stretch in Game 1.

Embiid is good enough (particularly in this matchup) and Philly's defensive length can be disruptive enough to still trouble Boston in this series. But the Sixers' postseason opener was another reminder in a season full of them that while the team's stars may not be living up to the hype, the front office hasn't done them any favors.

Doncic in a league of his own

The Mavericks lost Game 1 against the Clippers, Kawhi Leonard showed why he should be considered the best player in this series, and Luka Doncic committed 11 turnovers, but don't discount just how special of a performance that was from the sophomore phenom.

The Mavs dug themselves a 16-point hole in the first quarter, blew a 14-point first-half lead, and lost Kristaps Porzingis to a ridiculously soft second technical in the second half, yet there they were in a one-possession game with less than four minutes remaining against a loaded championship favorite. Doncic was the reason why.

The 21-year-old gave some back on the defensive end, but what Doncic did offensively - against a number of All-World defenders, to boot - was truly a sight to behold. Doncic finished with 42 points, nine assists, seven rebounds, and three steals on 61.9% shooting, becoming the first player in league history to score 40-plus in his postseason debut. He's also just the 13th player to ever record a 42-9-7 game in the playoffs.

Even taking his 11 turnovers into account, Doncic still scored or created 66 points on 51 total possessions (1.29 PPP) for the Mavs, and he did so against a combination of defenders that included Leonard, Paul George, and Patrick Beverley.

There are no moral victories in the playoffs, but we should still be able to appreciate what will undoubtedly go down as one of the most memorable playoff debuts in NBA history.