TheAlumWatch: Playoffs Game 1 -- Caron Butler was great, Ray Allen not so much

The opening weekend of the NBA Playoffs is over and for UConn alums it was a pretty mixed bag. First, the good: Caron Butler played very well in his first playoff game as a Mav. Dirk Nowitzki is going to get some rightly deserved praise for his fantastic performance in Dallas' game 1 victory over the Spurs, but Butler played a big role as well. The former Husky had 22 points on 8-19 shooting, grabbed six board and three assists. He did commit five turnovers, which is certainly far from ideal, but nobody is perfect.

If you're looking for proof of that, look no further than Ray "Best Husky Ever" Allen's performance on Saturday. Allen had 8 points on 2-9 shooting and went 0-4 from behind the arc in the Celtic's game 1 win. With Kevin Garnett suspended for Tuesday's second game, the Celtics are going to need more production from Allen if they want to head to Miami up 2-0.

In other news, the Thunder lost to the (evil) Lakers on Sunday. I can't prove it, but I'm going to assume that the only reason why is that former Husky Kevin Ollie did not play (coaches decision). 

Finally, this is not relevant to the blog, but it is to me, so I'll mention that the Nuggets are up 1-0 on the Jazz, who have lost Mehmet Okur for the rest of the series. Go Birdman, go Nugs.