Aaron Wiggins scored 21 points off the bench and Jalen Williams added 20 as the Oklahoma City Thunder earned a 131-80 home rout of the Memphis Grizzlies in Game 1 of their Western Conference playoff series on Sunday.
The Thunder had plenty of blowout victories in the regular season, setting an NBA record for scoring margin in running away with the top seed in the West. They had also rolled past the Grizzlies in all four regular-season meetings by 13 or more points. Oklahoma City’s 51-point victory was the fifth largest in NBA playoff history, according to ESPN, and the largest in the first game of a playoff series.
After scoring 20 or more points in each of his final 72 games of the regular season, Oklahoma City’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander finished with just 15 points on 4-of-13 shooting. Chet Holmgren had 19 points and 10 rebounds and Isaiah Hartenstein added 14 points as the Thunder outscored Memphis 27-5 on fast-break points and delivered 24 points off 24 Grizzlies’ turnovers.
Ja Morant and Marvin Bagley III led Memphis with 17 points each. Bagley finished 8 of 8 from the field, including hitting a buzzer-beating shot from beyond halfcourt to end the third quarter.
Celtics 103, Magic 86
Derrick White made seven 3-point attempts and scored a team-high 30 points to lead Boston past visiting Orlando in Game 1 of their NBA Eastern Conference first-round playoff series.
Jayson Tatum added 17 points and 14 rebounds for second-seeded Boston, which received 19 points off the bench from Payton Pritchard. Jaylen Brown, who missed the final three regular-season games with posterior impingement in his right knee, finished with 16 points in 30 minutes.
Orlando’s Paulo Banchero led all scorers with 36 points. He also had 11 rebounds. Franz Wagner contributed 23 points and five assists, but no other Magic player scored more than Jonathan Isaac’s seven points. Orlando’s Wendell Carter Jr. grabbed 13 rebounds.
Cavaliers 121, Heat 100
Donovan Mitchell scored 30 points and Ty Jerome scored 16 of his 28 points in the fourth quarter as top-seeded Cleveland pulled away to defeat visiting Miami in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference first-round series.
Jerome, a backup point guard, was making his playoff debut in his sixth season. He also dished three assists in the final period after being named a finalist for the Sixth Man of the Year award earlier in the day. He made 10 of 15 field goal attempts, including 5 of 8 on 3-pointers. Mitchell, a six-time All-Star, posted his seventh straight 30-point performance in a series opener, tying Michael Jordan for the NBA record.
Bam Adebayo had 24 points and nine rebounds, and Tyler Herro scored 21 points for the Heat, who were playing their third game in five days. Miami needed play-in tournament wins at Chicago on Wednesday and Atlanta on Friday to become the first 10th seed to qualify.
Warriors 95, Rockets 85
Stephen Curry scored a game-high 31 points and Jimmy Butler III added 25 as Golden State held off host Houston in Game 1 of this Western Conference first-round series.
Curry, who shot 1-for-10 and scored three points in a home loss to the Rockets on April 6, was brilliant throughout. He finished 12-for-19 overall, drilled five 3-pointers and grabbed six rebounds. Butler added seven rebounds and six assists to his ledger as the visiting Warriors grabbed a 1-0 series lead with Game 2 set for Wednesday in Houston.
The Rockets shot just 39.1 percent and committed 17 turnovers that the Warriors converted into 25 points. Alperen Sengun posted 26 points and nine rebounds. Jalen Green and Fred VanVleet shot a combined 7-for-34 and totaled 17 points for Houston.
–Field Level Media
Comments