The NBA playoffs kicked off on Saturday with the Warriors dusting the Spurs, and from there things actually got interesting in the other three games with the Raptors, Sixers and Pelicans all taking 1-0 leads in their respective series. Here is one observation from each matchup, along with the game scores and a recap of our live updates from the day's action.
NBA playoff scores for Saturday, April 14
Warriors flip the switch
So much for worrying about Golden State as they limped down the stretch. Against the Spurs in Game 1, the Warriors were engaged on both ends from the jump, and they resisted the temptation to play solely through Kevin Durant, as they have too often done in Stephen Curry's absence. Instead, it was back to the crisp ball and player movement and offensive balance that has come to define this dominant three-year Warriors run.
Durant scored 24 points on just 17 shots and was completely under control the whole way, Draymond Green was back to himself as the do-it-all point forward, falling just two boards shy of a triple-double, and with Green distributing and Durant drawing his normal attention, Klay Thompson found the space to drill 11 of 13 shots, including five of six from downtown, for 27 points.
Steve Kerr shook up the starting lineup, inserting Andre Iguodala and JaVale McGee, who was incredible, stonewalling LaMarcus Aldridge on several possessions and forcing him into mid-rangers while also posting 15 points. This is such a versatile lineup for Golden State -- no true point guard, but Green, Thompson, Durant and Iggy can all defend four to five positions straight up, can switch anything, and offensively they can all handle the ball and distribute. When they're making shots and are as engaged as they were on Saturday, San Antonio just doesn't have the talent to keep up, plain and simple. Unless the Warriors decide to lay an egg along the way and get sloppy or go ice-cold for a game, don't be surprised if this one ends in a sweep.
Raptors same but different
Well, playoff DeMar DeRozan and Kyle Lowry showed up again in Game 1 (that's actually not fair to DeRozan, who maybe wasn't great but was at least solid and had a big stretch to open the second half), but whereas that was once enough to bury the Raps, now they have more to their team. This is exactly why they added the pieces they did and changed the way they play to a more inclusive, modernized, less pick-and-roll and more 3-point heavy system, so they wouldn't be so desperately dependent on their two All-Stars.
Because let's face it: You clearly can't depend on Lowry and DeRozan to dominate in the playoffs. With Lowry, you can't even really depend on him to be good, let alone great, on a consistent basis. They'll both be better as the playoffs go on, but it just takes off so much pressure that they don't have to be great.
Serge Ibaka was terrific on Saturday, Delon Wright and C.J. Miles combined for 30 points off the bench, and Dwane Casey made gutsy calls to ride Wright over Lowry for key stretches, keep DeRozan on the bench in the fourth quarter when Toronto was rolling, and not play Jonas Valanciunas for much of the second half. When your team has lost nine straight Game 1s in the first round, and you still have the guts to go away from your stars for pivotal parts of crunch time, that's hat-tip stuff. If you're Toronto, you have to be very happy that you outlasted a pretty good Washington team with pedestrian efforts from your two best players.
But let's be clear: Winning one game in the first round is a lot different than making actual noise as a contender, which is what the Raptors expect to be. DeRozan, and particularly Lowry, have to be better.
Sixers are flat-out scary
Coming into this 3-6 matchup with Miami, a lot of people were trying to say the Heat posed a lot of challenges for Philly, that they're smart and scrappy and Eric Spoelstra is a great coach and they shoot 3s and yada yada, but I'm not buying it. It's not that those things aren't true of the Heat. They are. It's just that this Sixers team is becoming a monster.
Ben Simmons was one rebound shy of a triple-double in his postseason debut, using the expanse of space defenders give him because of his lacking jumper to get a head of steam going to the basket and see passing lanes even more clearly -- as if he needs that. The Sixers shot over 64 percent from 3 as a team. JJ Redick, Marco Belinelli and Dario Saric combined for 73 points. And to think, Joel Embiid didn't even play. I see this a lot like the Spurs-Warriors series in that the Heat just don't have the horses to play with Philly if the Sixers are on their game, as they certainly were in Game 1.
Miami came in as the worst offensive unit of all 16 playoffs teams, and the Sixers have been a top-five defense pretty much all year. That showed in Game 1. When the Sixers dialed up the defense in the second half, the Heat just didn't have anyone to create any kind of consistent offense.
I'm not going to predict how many games this series will go, because Miami is scrappy as hell and can very easily get hot from 3 in a couple games and make this thing interesting. But Philly is going to win, barring something unforeseen.
The Brow gets first playoff win
The Pelicans thoroughly outplayed the Blazers all night and Damian Lillard had a nightmare game, but Portland still had a real chance to steal Game 1 at the end. I'm just going to leave this here: Terry Stotts drawing up a backdoor cut to the basket for Meyers Leonard when the Blazers were down by three with just over 10 seconds left was, shall we say, questionable. Then, on the ensuing inbound pass, to go for a basket cut for two again? Hey, Blazers, you're down three with 10 seconds left. You have Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum. Take your shot.
Now, aside from that, the Pelicans deserved to win this game. Anthony Davis, who finally has a playoff victory under his belt, was sensational with 35 points and 14 boards, Rondo was Playoff Rondo (which is to say he was great with 17 assists), and Jrue Holiday showed a lot of people who don't watch much of the Pelicans how good he really is. Holiday made giant defensive plays -- first a steal on McCollum, then a blocked shot on that aforementioned dumb inbound pass under the hoop -- down the stretch as the Blazers were threatening to pull off a wild comeback. Huge win for New Orleans. If they would have blown that game, it'd be hard to see them coming back to win the series. Now, can the Blazers come back? I say yes. Lillard is not going to shoot 6-for-23 very often.
Recap of live updates
The NBA playoffs kicked off on Saturday with the Warriors dusting the Spurs, and from there things actually got interesting in the other three games with the Raptors, Sixers and Pelicans all taking 1-0 leads in their respective series. Here is one observation from each matchup, along with the game scores and a recap of our live updates from the day's action.
NBA playoff scores for Saturday, April 14
Warriors flip the switch
So much for worrying about Golden State as they limped down the stretch. Against the Spurs in Game 1, the Warriors were engaged on both ends from the jump, and they resisted the temptation to play solely through Kevin Durant, as they have too often done in Stephen Curry's absence. Instead, it was back to the crisp ball and player movement and offensive balance that has come to define this dominant three-year Warriors run.
Durant scored 24 points on just 17 shots and was completely under control the whole way, Draymond Green was back to himself as the do-it-all point forward, falling just two boards shy of a triple-double, and with Green distributing and Durant drawing his normal attention, Klay Thompson found the space to drill 11 of 13 shots, including five of six from downtown, for 27 points.
Steve Kerr shook up the starting lineup, inserting Andre Iguodala and JaVale McGee, who was incredible, stonewalling LaMarcus Aldridge on several possessions and forcing him into mid-rangers while also posting 15 points. This is such a versatile lineup for Golden State -- no true point guard, but Green, Thompson, Durant and Iggy can all defend four to five positions straight up, can switch anything, and offensively they can all handle the ball and distribute. When they're making shots and are as engaged as they were on Saturday, San Antonio just doesn't have the talent to keep up, plain and simple. Unless the Warriors decide to lay an egg along the way and get sloppy or go ice-cold for a game, don't be surprised if this one ends in a sweep.
Raptors same but different
Well, playoff DeMar DeRozan and Kyle Lowry showed up again in Game 1 (that's actually not fair to DeRozan, who maybe wasn't great but was at least solid and had a big stretch to open the second half), but whereas that was once enough to bury the Raps, now they have more to their team. This is exactly why they added the pieces they did and changed the way they play to a more inclusive, modernized, less pick-and-roll and more 3-point heavy system, so they wouldn't be so desperately dependent on their two All-Stars.
Because let's face it: You clearly can't depend on Lowry and DeRozan to dominate in the playoffs. With Lowry, you can't even really depend on him to be good, let alone great, on a consistent basis. They'll both be better as the playoffs go on, but it just takes off so much pressure that they don't have to be great.
Serge Ibaka was terrific on Saturday, Delon Wright and C.J. Miles combined for 30 points off the bench, and Dwane Casey made gutsy calls to ride Wright over Lowry for key stretches, keep DeRozan on the bench in the fourth quarter when Toronto was rolling, and not play Jonas Valanciunas for much of the second half. When your team has lost nine straight Game 1s in the first round, and you still have the guts to go away from your stars for pivotal parts of crunch time, that's hat-tip stuff. If you're Toronto, you have to be very happy that you outlasted a pretty good Washington team with pedestrian efforts from your two best players.
But let's be clear: Winning one game in the first round is a lot different than making actual noise as a contender, which is what the Raptors expect to be. DeRozan, and particularly Lowry, have to be better.
Sixers are flat-out scary
Coming into this 3-6 matchup with Miami, a lot of people were trying to say the Heat posed a lot of challenges for Philly, that they're smart and scrappy and Eric Spoelstra is a great coach and they shoot 3s and yada yada, but I'm not buying it. It's not that those things aren't true of the Heat. They are. It's just that this Sixers team is becoming a monster.
Ben Simmons was one rebound shy of a triple-double in his postseason debut, using the expanse of space defenders give him because of his lacking jumper to get a head of steam going to the basket and see passing lanes even more clearly -- as if he needs that. The Sixers shot over 64 percent from 3 as a team. JJ Redick, Marco Belinelli and Dario Saric combined for 73 points. And to think, Joel Embiid didn't even play. I see this a lot like the Spurs-Warriors series in that the Heat just don't have the horses to play with Philly if the Sixers are on their game, as they certainly were in Game 1.
Miami came in as the worst offensive unit of all 16 playoffs teams, and the Sixers have been a top-five defense pretty much all year. That showed in Game 1. When the Sixers dialed up the defense in the second half, the Heat just didn't have anyone to create any kind of consistent offense.
I'm not going to predict how many games this series will go, because Miami is scrappy as hell and can very easily get hot from 3 in a couple games and make this thing interesting. But Philly is going to win, barring something unforeseen.
The Brow gets first playoff win
The Pelicans thoroughly outplayed the Blazers all night and Damian Lillard had a nightmare game, but Portland still had a real chance to steal Game 1 at the end. I'm just going to leave this here: Terry Stotts drawing up a backdoor cut to the basket for Meyers Leonard when the Blazers were down by three with just over 10 seconds left was, shall we say, questionable. Then, on the ensuing inbound pass, to go for a basket cut for two again? Hey, Blazers, you're down three with 10 seconds left. You have Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum. Take your shot.
Now, aside from that, the Pelicans deserved to win this game. Anthony Davis, who finally has a playoff victory under his belt, was sensational with 35 points and 14 boards, Rondo was Playoff Rondo (which is to say he was great with 17 assists), and Jrue Holiday showed a lot of people who don't watch much of the Pelicans how good he really is. Holiday made giant defensive plays -- first a steal on McCollum, then a blocked shot on that aforementioned dumb inbound pass under the hoop -- down the stretch as the Blazers were threatening to pull off a wild comeback. Huge win for New Orleans. If they would have blown that game, it'd be hard to see them coming back to win the series. Now, can the Blazers come back? I say yes. Lillard is not going to shoot 6-for-23 very often.
Recap of live updates
“We’ll have Danny [Green] grow 4-5 inches by Monday night, tell him to jump higher and move quicker. And we’ll tell Kevin, ‘Don’t be so good.’”
Gregg Popovich on how to stop Kevin Durant
The 2018 NBA playoffs tipped off Sunday with four series-opening games: Spurs at Warriors, Wizards at Raptors, Heat at 76ers and Pelicans at Trail Blazers.
MORE: Win a trip to NBA tip-off 2018/19 with NBA Australia's Bracket Challenge
Monday features four more Game 1s: Bucks at Celtics, Pacers at Cavs, Jazz at Thunder and Timberwolves at Rockets.
Today's NBA playoff games, scores and how to watch live (all times AEST).
Monday April 16 3:00am - Bucks @ Celtics - NBA League Pass 5:30am Pacers at Cavaliers - NBA League Pass 8:30am - Jazz at Thunder - NBA League Pass 11:00am - Wolves at Rockets - NBA League Pass Tuesday April 17 10:00am - Heat at Sixers - ESPN 12:30pm - Spurs at Warriors - ESPN Wednesday Aprill 18 9:00am - Wizards at Raptors - NBA League Pass 10:00am - BUcks at Celtics - NBA League Pass 12:30pm - Pelicans at Blazers - NBA League Pass Thursday April 19 9:00am - Pacers at Cavaliers - ESPN 10:00am - Jazz at Thunder . -NBA League Pass 11:30am - Wolves at Rockets - ESPN Friday April 20 9:00am - 76ers at Heat - ESPN 11:00am - Blazers at Pelicans - NBA League Pass 11:30am - Warriors at Spurs - ESPN Saturday April 21 9:00am - Cavaliers at Pacers - ESPN 10:00am - Raptors at Wizards - NBA League Pass 11:30am - Celtics at Bucks - ESPN Sunday April 22 4:30am - 76ers at Heat - NBA League Pass 7:00am - Blazers at Pelicans - NBA League Pass 9:30am - Rockets at Wolves - ESPN 12:00pm - Thunder at Jazz - NBA League Pass Monday April 23 3:00am - Celtics at Bucks - NBA League Pass 5:30am - Warriors at Spurs - NBA League Pass 8:00am - Raptors at Spurs - NBA League Pass 10:30am - Cavaliers at Pacers - NBA League Pass Tuesday April 24 10:00am - Rockets at Wolves - ESPN 12:30pm - Thunder at Jazz - ESPN Wednesday April 25 *TBD - Bucks at Celtics - *TBD - Heat at Sixers *TBD - Spurs at Warriors *TBD - Pelicans at Blazers - Thursday April 26 *TBD - Wizards at Raptors *TBD - Pacers at Cavaliers - *TBD - Jazz at Thunder - *TBD - Wolves at Rockets - Friday April 27 *TBD - Celtics at Bucks - *TBD - 76ers at Heat - *TBD - Warriors at Spurs - *TBD - Blazers at Pelicans - Saturday April 28 *TBD - Raptors at Wizards - *TBD - Cavaliers at Pacers - *TBD - Rockets at Wolves - *TBD - Thunder at Jazz - Sunday April 29 *TBD - Bucks at Celtics - *TBD - Heat at 76ers - *TBD - Spurs at Warriors - *TBD - Pelicans at Blazers -
Results:
Pelicans 97 Trail Blazers 95
The sixth-seed New Orleans Pelicans are the only road team to get a win on the opening day of the NBA playoffs, grabbing a 97-95 win over the Portland Trail Blazers.
Anthony Davis poured in 35 points, while Rajon Rondo dished out 17 assists as the Pelicans grabbed stole home court advantage.
Rajon Rondo hands out 1️⃣7️⃣ assists as the #Pelicans grab victory in Game 1 pic.twitter.com/qfd0Hilx04 — NBA Australia (@NBA_AU) April 15, 2018
76ers 130 Heat 103
The Philadelphia 76ers got their playoff campaign off to a solid start with an emphatic 130-103 win, after trailing at half-time.
Ben Simmons fell one rebound shy of a triple-double, while JJ Redick led all scorers with 28 points, one of three Sixers to score 20 + points. Dario Saric (20 pts) and Marco Belinelli (25 pts).
Raptors 114 Wizards 106
The Raptors end their 10-game losing streak in Game 1's, with a 114-106 win over the Washington Wizards.
Serge Ibaka led the way with 23 points and 12 rebounds, while five other Raptors scored in double figures on the night.
Serge Ibaka tallies 23 PTS, 12 REB to fuel the @Raptors Game 1 W up North! #WeTheNorth pic.twitter.com/Ubr5aHyeUX — NBA (@NBA) April 15, 2018
Warriors 113 Spurs 92
The Golden State Warriors started their playoff run on the right foot, notching a 113-92 victory over the Spurs in Game 1.
Klay Thompson led the way with 27 points, including 5-of-6 from the three-point line, while Kevin Durant added 24 on the night.
Klay Thompson pours in 27 points (5-of-6 3PT) as the #Warriors take Game 1 against the #Spurs pic.twitter.com/52aucGkOgw — NBA Australia (@NBA_AU) April 14, 2018
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