The No. 1 seeds took care of business with not much of a worry, and stars – some new, some old – showed up as the NBA playoffs opened with eight Game 1s Saturday and Sunday.
The Oklahoma City Thunder, the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference, and the Cleveland Cavaliers, the top seed in the East, were impressive.
Denver’s Nikola Jokic, Indiana’s Pascal Siakam, New York’s Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns, Minnesota’s Anthony Edwards, Oklahoma City’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jalen Williams, Boston’s Derrick White, Cleveland’s Darius Garland and Donovan Mitchell all showed why they are All-Star caliber players.
And of course, several teams, including the Los Angeles Lakers, need to improve in Game 2.
Here are the winners and losers from Game 1 of the first-round series as the NBA playoffs began:
NBA playoffs Game 1 winners
Boston Celtics’ depth
This is how good the Celtics are: They can absorb substandard offensive games from Jayson Tatum and Kristaps Porzingis. Tatum was 4-for-13 (0-for-3 on 3s) and 0-for-2 with eight points and Porzingis was 1-for-6 with five points nearing the end of the third quarter and the Celtics were still ahead 72-59. That’s because they’re deep – Sixth Man of the Year favorite Payton Pritchard scored 19 points, Derrick White scored 30 and Jaylen Brown had 16. And it’s because Tatum, who finished with 17 points, and Porzingis contribute in other ways – 14 rebounds, four assists, one steal and one block for Tatum and six rebounds and four steals for Porzingis.
Oklahoma City Thunder
The Thunder were dominant in a complete, two-way victory against Memphis: 131-80. And it’s quite possible it was worse than the score looks. Six Thunder players reached double figures, including all five starters. It was the perfect start to the playoffs for the Thunder.
Playoff Ty Jerome
On the day he was named a finalist for the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year award, Cavaliers guard Ty Jerome erupted for 28 points in 26 minutes and 17 seconds. It was efficiency encapsulated. Jerome attacked mismatches when Tyler Herro was guarding him and went 10-of-15 (66.7%) from the field and 5-of-8 (62.5%) from beyond the arc. Jerome’s 28 points was fourth-most since 1971 for a bench player making his postseason debut, four off of Malik Monk’s 32.
Warriors close behind Jimmy Butler and Stephen Curry
It wasn’t just Stephen Curry’s improbable 3-pointers or Jimmy Butler’s mastery in the mid-range — the Warriors stole Game 1 on the road in large part because of the veteran savvy of their closers. In Butler’s case, don’t focus on his 25 points in the box score; look at his game-high five steals, seven boards and six assists. In Curry’s case, it was his slashes to the rim that opened up the spacing for Butler and others to execute. You might as well throw in Draymond Green, whose defensive pressure and intensity often forced the Rockets into mistakes.
David Adelman
Interim Nuggets coach David Adelman got his first playoff victory in a 112-110 Game 1 overtime victory against the Los Angeles Clippers. Of course, he relied on Nikola Jokic, but he also put Russell Westbrook in in opportunities to be effective, and Jamal Murray (21 points, nine rebounds, seven assists) and Aaron Gordon (25 points, eight rebounds) know what to do in the playoffs. It’s a good start for Adelman who could end up with the full-time job in Denver.
The Knicks’ Big 3
Jalen Brunson (34 points), Karl-Anthony Towns (23 points) and OG Anunoby (23 points) combined for 80 points and shot 50.8% from the field. But it just wasn’t their scoring. Brunson had eight assists, Towns added 11 rebounds, five assists, four steals and two blocks and Anunoby contributed seven rebounds, five steals and two blocks. New York’s experience took over the in fourth. That’s exactly what the Knicks needed to start the playoffs, and that’s what they need for a long playoff run.
Timberwolves’ 3-point shooting
The Timberwolves made a playoff franchise-record 21 3-pointers in their victory against the Lakers and shot 50% from that range. At one point in the third quarter, they were 16-for-27 on 3s and owned an 80-54 lead. Four players (Jaden McDaniels, Julius Randle, Anthony Edwards and Naz Reid) made at least three 3s, led by Reid’s 6-for-9, Randle’s 4-for-6 and Edwards’ 4-for-9. The Timberwolves were one of the best 3-point shooting teams this season – fifth in 3s made per game (15) and fourth in 3-point shooting percentage (.377). Edwards led the league in made 3s (320).
* Special mention for McDaniels. He had 25 points on 11-for-13 shooting (3-for-3) on 3s and delivered nine rebounds and outstanding defense.
NBA playoffs Game 1 losers
Houston’s brutal second quarter
Frankly, the whole first half was an offensive struggle for the young Rockets, who had three starters — Alperen Şengün, Jalen Green and Amen Thompson — making their playoff debuts. Houston posted its lowest-scoring half (34) of the season and scored just 13 points in the second quarter. Şengün showed up and was the lone bright spot in Houston, leading the team with 26. But Green (seven points on 3-of-15 shooting) appeared to play rushed and out of rhythm. Houston, whose 85 points was also a season low, will need Green and its young players to learn from this early setback.
Milwaukee’s starting five
The Bucks’ starters scored 50 points – 36 by Giannis Antetokounmpo and two starters (Kyle Kuzma and Taurean Prince did not score). The Bucks had some ugly stats, including 9-for-37 on 3-pointers and just one 3-pointeer from the starters, and Kuzma was 0-for-5 from the field with no rebounds, no assists, no blocks and no steals in 21 minutes, 34 seconds on the court. Plus-minus in one game isn’t always a definitive measure, but the Bucks were outscored by 24 points in Kuzman’s plus-21 minutes The Bucks need Damian Lillard, who is recovering from deep vein thrombosis in his right calf, back in the lineup, and he could return in either Game 2 or Game 3.
Pistons’ fourth-quarter performance
The Pistons were outscored 40-21 in the fourth quarter, including a 21-0 stretch in which the Pistons’ 98-90 lead evaporated and turned into a 111-98 Knicks lead. The Pistons shot 31.8% from the field and 25% on 3s and committed eight of their 19 turnovers in the final quarter. Cade Cunningham had three of his six turnovers in the fourth, including two on back-to-back possessions. Detroit made strides this season in closing out games in the fourth quarter. But the young Pistons players received a lesson in what’s required to close out a game in the fourth quarter of a playoff game.
Luka Doncic and LeBron James
If Luka Doncic and LeBron James combine for 56 points, you probably think the Los Angeles Lakers were in the game. That wasn’t the case in the Lakers’ 117-95 Game 1 loss with Doncic scoring 37 points and James just 19. They combined for just four assists – three for James, one for Doncic – and that’s just not the offensive production that can get the Lakers a victory. First-time NBA head coach JJ Redick needs to help those two and help those two help their teammates. Giving up nearly 120 points isn’t great but scoring 95 isn’t getting it done in today’s NBA.
Memphis Grizzlies
You don’t need many stats to illustrate how bad the game was for the Grizzlies in a 131-80 loss to Oklahoma City. Struggling to score and defend, Memphis trailed by as many as 56, and the 51-point loss was the fifth-largest deficit in a playoff game.
Miami needs more from Andrew Wiggins
Heat All-Star Tyler Herro has carried Miami’s offense since Jimmy Butler was traded in February. Herro scored 21 on Sunday night, but had a quiet second half. When Cleveland focused on halting Herro, Bam Adebayo picked up his production and finished with a team-high 24 points. But Andrew Wiggins, the team’s third option, was far too passive, relegated to standing in the corner late in the game; Wiggins scored just four of his 14 points and took 4 of his 11 attempts in the second half. Going up against Cleveland, the NBA’s No. 1 rated offense, one that averaged 121.9 points per game, the Heat cannot afford to have Wiggins — who posted a game-low plus-minus of -22 — be a bystander in the second half.
Magic’s offense
Eighty-six points won’t win many games in the NBA, and it definitely won’t win many, if any, against the Boston Celtics in a seven-game series. It’s known the Magic aren’t great offensively (fourth-worst in the regular season), but three quarters with 19 or fewer points isn’t close to good enough against the Celtics – even if the Celtics finished fourth defensively. A short series is on its way if Orlando doesn’t find some answers.