Damian Lillard couldn’t be stopped in the first half and couldn’t score a point in the second. It all added up to one of the most unusual dominant performances in recent playoff history. Lillard scored all 35 of his points before halftime in the Bucks’ 109-94 victory over the Indiana Pacers on Sunday to open their Eastern Conference first-round playoff series. Lillard set a Bucks record for points in either half of a postseason game.
hai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 28 points, including the go-ahead basket in the final minute, and the top-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder defeated the New Orleans Pelicans 94-92 in Game 1 of their first-round Western Conference playoff series. New Orleans’ CJ McCollum missed an off-balance 3-pointer in the closing seconds and the Thunder held on to win their first home playoff game since 2019. Jalen Williams scored 19 points and Chet Holmgren added 15 points, 11 rebounds and five blocks for the Thunder. Trey Murphy III scored 21 points and McCollum added 20 for the Pelicans.
Jayson Tatum notched his first career playoff triple-double with 23 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists to lead the Boston Celtics past the Miami Heat 114-94 to open their first-round playoff series. Derrick White added 20 points and four assists for Boston, which finished with six players in double-figures.
James Harden scored 28 points in his playoff debut for the Clippers, Zubac had a playoff-career high 20 points to go with 15 rebounds, and Los Angeles defeated Luka Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks 109-97 Sunday.