The series of opening games of the first round of the NBA playoffs has been completed, and all the favorites have started with a victory. The last time all eight local teams had won the opening match was in 2013.
This Sunday, in the Eastern Conference, the Boston Celtics easily surpassed the Miami Heat with the first triple-double in the playoffs of Jayson Tatum’s career, and the Milwaukee Bucks, without Giannis Antetokounmpo but with a great Damian Lillard, beat the Indiana Pacers. In the Western Conference, the Los Angeles Clippers beat the Dallas Mavericks and the Oklahoma City Thunder achieved a narrow victory against the New Orleans Pelicans.
Celtics 114 – Heat 94
Boston Celtics, led by Jayson Tatum, comfortably beat the Miami Heat with three-pointers and rebounds in the initial meeting between both teams in the first round of the playoffs.
At the start of a postseason journey with the ring as the only objective of Joe Mazzulla’s men, the Celtics hit 22 triples compared to 12 for the visitors, who achieved the majority in the last segment, and took 51 rebounds compared to 37 of Miami.
Tatum recorded a triple-double of 23 points, 10 rebounds, 10 assists, as well as 2 steals. Derrick White scored 20 points, Kristaps Porzingis scored 18 and Jaylen Brown scored 17.
Dominican Al Horford played as a substitute for 25:40 minutes and contributed 10 points and 7 rebounds.
The Heat’s standout was Bam Adebayo with 24 points, 6 rebounds and 2 assists, while Delon Wright added 17 points, Jaime Jaquez scored 16 and Tyler Herro scored 11.
Miami concluded the regular season in eighth position in the Eastern Conference, the same as last year when it reached the final against the Nuggets, beating the Celtics in the semifinals, the team with the most victories this championship by reaching the playoffs with 64.
The Boston team beat the Miami team in the three games they faced each other this season and won 37 of 41 games at home.
The best of seven games will face the winner of the series between the Cleveland Cavaliers and Orlando Magic in the semifinals.
Miami was without Jimmy Butler, who injured a ligament on Wednesday, or Terry Rozier, who has been absent since April 7 due to neck problems. Additionally, he played two qualifying games this week while the Celtics rested.
Bucks 109 – Pacers 94
Damian Lillard stood out this Sunday for the Milwaukee Bucks, who did not have the Greek Giannis Antetokounmpo, and led with 35 points, all scored in an extraordinary first half, the 109-94 victory in the first game of the first round series of the playoffs against the Indiana Pacers.
Lillard shined with 11 of 24 field goals and six three-pointers, as well as 6 rebounds and 3 assists. He was followed by Khris Middleton with a double-double of 23 points and 10 rebounds and Bobby Portis, with another double-double of 15 points and 11 rebounds.
The Bucks won the first half by a wide margin of 69-42. The Pacers responded with a 29-12 lead in the third quarter that allowed them to get within 12 points, but they were unable to complete the comeback.
Tyrese Haliburton was nullified by the Bucks’ fierce defense and only contributed 9 points, 7 rebounds and 8 assists. The best of the Pacers was Pascal Siakam with 36 points and 13 rebounds.
Clippers 109 – Mavericks 97
The Los Angeles Clippers earned a 109-97 victory against the Dallas Mavericks and took a 1-0 lead in the first-round playoff series.
In his return to the playoffs after last year’s absence, Doncic recorded a double-double of 33 points and 13 rebounds and Irving contributed 31, but the Mavs, a team that reached the postseason after a brilliant period of form, were surpassed for the Clippers in which team play prevailed, in the absence of Kawhi Leonard due to knee problems.
The Mavs only scored 30 points in the first half and 8 in the second quarter with 2 of 22 field goals. Too little to match the Clippers who took a quick lead of 27 points and were able to manage it until the end, despite a slow closing game.
James Harden, in his fifteenth consecutive year competing in the playoffs, a current NBA record, was the best of the Clippers with 28 points and 8 assists. Paul George contributed 22 points and Ivica Zubac contributed a valuable double-double of 20 points and 15 rebounds.
Additionally, Terance Mann contributed 13 points and 9 rebounds and Norman Powell scored 13 as a reserve.
In Dallas, beyond Doncic and Irving, the third best scorer was PJ Washington with 11 points.
Thunder 94 – Pelicans 92
Oklahoma City Thunder struck first this Sunday by beating the New Orleans Pelicans 94-92 to take advantage in the first round series of the West playoffs.
A total of 18 lead changes and eleven ties marked the first game of the series between the Thunder, first placed, and the Pelicans, who had to go through the play-in against the Los Angeles Lakers and Sacramento Kings to reach the postseason as eighth favorites.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was the leader of the victory with 28 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists on a night in which the Pelicans, despite Zion Williamson’s absence due to injury, had the last shot to take the victory thanks to CJ McCollum.
Gilgeous-Alexander is among the finalists for this season’s NBA MVP along with the Slovenian Luka Doncic, of the Dallas Mavericks, and the Serbian Nikola Jokic, of the Denver Nuggets.
The Thunder star averaged 30.1 points, 5.5 rebounds and 6.2 assists per game in the regular season.
The OKC team had accelerated in the fourth quarter, when they took a ten-point lead (82-72), but they got completely stuck and went five minutes without scoring field goals.
Gilgeous-Alexander broke that drought with an acrobatic basket and Chet Holmgren (15 points and 11 rebounds) protected the lead from the foul line to give the Thunder the victory.
With this victory, all eight local teams won their games in this first weekend of the playoffs.
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