NBA: Week 3 Playoff Takeaways

1) Miami is the real deal: The Miami Heat have looked far ahead of schedule in the their first eight games of the postseason. A lot of people expected this team to challenge the Milwaukee Bucks, and I thought they could develop into a championship team in the years to come, but it seems they're ready for primetime right now. Miami is 7-1 and just one win away from their first Eastern Conference Finals appearance since 2014 after beating the Bucks by an average of 8.7 points in three victories.

2) Boston and Toronto are almost dead-even: The Boston Celtics and Toronto Raptors will face off in a crucial Game 5 on Monday evening. After getting up 2-0, the Celtics cooled off a bit in Game 3 and Game 4, and Kyle Lowry made sure to take advantage of that and tie the series. Lowry had 31 points, eight assists, and six rebounds in a 104-103 win, as OG Anunoby knocked down a pivotal buzzer-beating three. Look out for Jayson Tatum to go for 30+ in Game 5 if the Celtics win the game.

3) The Clippers are beatable if you can (somehow) speed them up: I really like the Los Angeles Clippers and they're one of the two best teams in the league. With that said, I think they are beatable and more vulnerable than the other team in LA. As you saw in Game 2 against the Denver Nuggets, if the Clippers are sped up and uncomfortable, then you can capitalize on both ends of the floor. Denver poured in 44 first quarter points, while forcing 17 turnovers and limiting Kawhi Leonard to 23.5%.

4) Milwaukee doesn't have enough versatile scorers: Milwaukee had another great regular season but after falling down 3-0 in the second round before squeaking out a Game 4 win, it's obvious that they need to shake things up. If the Bucks are going to win with Giannis Antetokounmpo, they need to either acquire or develop more versatile scorers. Antetokounmpo, Eric Bledsoe, Brook Lopez, and Khris Middleton all have aspects of their offensive game that defenses can key in on too easily.

5) The Lakers need Anthony Davis and LeBron James to shoot more: It's not that AD and LeBron played poorly in a Game 1 loss to the Houston Rockets, it's just they weren't aggressive enough. And that's been an issue with both of these guys in the past. Davis and LeBron should be shooting 20+ shots each pretty much every game. The two combined for 45 points on 31 shots in the loss, before turning up the aggression and totaling 62 points on 41 shots in a 117-109 win to tie the series.

Photo Credit: Hoops Habit.