The first round of SB Nation's NBA 3 on 3 Tournament went almost exactly as predicted by our panelists with only one significant upset in 16 round one matchups. Six games into the second round, there have now been four upsets.
The Indiana Pacers may not be the most fearsome threesome in this tournament, but they were nonetheless expected to take care of the 11 seed, the Detroit Pistons; our panel of experts gave the Pacers a 60 percent chance of winning each game. But Rodney Stuckey, Jonas Jerebko and Greg Monroe had other ideas, dispatching Paul George, Lance Stephenson and Danny Granger. The Pistons needed rolls of 61 or higher to win games -- and 61 is exactly what they got on the first roll, the equivalent of a buzzer beater. Game two was almost as close, with a roll of 58 giving the Pacers the win to force a game three. But the dice left no doubt as a big roll of 93 sent the Pistons to the conference semis. Detroit will next face the winner of Miami versus New York.
Out West, one of the favorites many NBA fans would probably like to see eliminated was able to avoid the upset epidemic. Of course, being given a 94 percent chance to win any single game is a pretty good inoculation against said epidemic. The Los Angeles Lakers trio of MVP-caliber players, Steve Nash, Kobe Bryant and Dwight Howard, easily handled the overmatched Phoenix Suns threesome of Goran Dragic, Jared Dudley and Marcin Gortat. Only huge rolls could save the Suns, and neither 57 nor 80 were big enough, as the Lakers advanced in a two-game sweep. They'll face the winner of Oklahoma City-Dallas in a West semi-final.
For a complete look at the SB Nation 3 on 3 Tournament, check back with this StoryStream.
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