NBA Playoff Overreactions: One Reckless Takeaway From Every Game 1

Getty Images/Ringer illustration Home teams are unbeatable. The Damian Lillard trade was worth it. LeBron James is stuck in a time loop. After one whole weekend of postseason basketball, it's time to jump to conclusions. Home teams are unbeatable. That's the overarching overreaction from the first weekend of the 2023-24 NBA playoffs, as all eight higher seeds won Game 1s at home. With only two games decided by single digits, it wasn't the most compelling weekend of hoops—but as an appetizer to the next two months of playoff basketball, it's a worthy start. So let's dive into the initial results by examining one specific overreaction from each of the eight games thus far, in chronological order. Will these overreactions prove true and lasting for more than the first weekend? Who knows: that's the entire point of overreactions! We'll learn more in Game 2 and beyond. The Magic Offense Will Break My TV The first game of the 2023-24 playoffs might end up as the ugliest. That's how terrible the Magic offense looked in a 97-83 loss to the Cavaliers. A final tally of 83 points is bad enough in this offensive era. But the Magic's performance was even worse when removing their 18...