Kevin Durant and the Nets’ star trio picked it up in the second half after a rough start to Game 1.
Celtics at Nets
7:30 p.m. ET, TNT
Brooklyn leads 1-0
• In their playoff debut, the Brooklyn Big Three of Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving and James Harden got off to a slow start but had a strong finish to lead the Nets to a Game 1 win over the Celtics. In the first half, Durant, Irving and Harden combined for 33 points on 11-32 (34.4%) shooting from the field and 0-11 from 3-point range. In the second half, they combined for 49 points on 15-26 (57.7%) shooting, including 5-13 from long distance.
• Jayson Tatum led the Celtics with 22 points in Game 1, but shot just 6-20 from the field and 1-4 from 3-point range, although he did earn 11 free throw attempts and made nine. Kevin Durant was the primary defender on Tatum for a game-high 6:44 (46.7% of Tatum’s matchup time) and held Tatum to six points on 1-3 shooting from the field (1-2 3P) and 3-3 from the free throw line. In his only regular season meeting with the Celtics, on Christmas Day, Durant defended Tatum for 6:29 and held him to two points on 1-3 shooting.
• The Nets shot just 8-34 (23.5%) from 3-point range – including the Big Three combining to shoot 5-24 – but still came away with the win. During the regular season, the Nets were just 1-4 when making eight 3-pointers or less. The Celtics didn’t light the nets ablaze with their 3-point shooting either as they finished 11-30 (36.7%) in Game 1. During the regular season, the Celtics were just 4-19 when making 11 3-pointers or less.
• Robert Williams III set a Celtics franchise record with nine blocks in Game 1 as he flirted with a triple-double (11 points, nine rebounds) in 23 minutes off the Boston bench. It must be noted that blocks did not become an official stat until the 1973-74, after Bill Russell’s storied career. Since 1984, only 14 players have recorded nine blocks or more in a playoff game, the most recent before Williams was Andrew Bynum with 10 on April 29, 2012. This season, Williams finished seventh in blocks (1.8 per game) despite averaging only 18.9 minutes. The last player to average at least 1.8 blocks while playing fewer than 19 minutes was Milwaukee’s John Henson in 2014-15 (2.0 bpg, 18.3 mpg).
• Kevin Durant’s 29.11 playoff scoring average is the fourth-highest in league history among players that have played at least 10 career playoff games; he trails only Michael Jordan (33.4), Allen Iverson (29.7) and Jerry West (29.13). LeBron James (28.8) ranks fifth all-time as Durant leads all active players in playoff points per game.
Devin Booker scored a game-high 34 points in his playoff debut on Sunday.
Lakers at Suns
10 p.m. ET, TNT
Phoenix leads 1-0
• The Suns got impressive playoff debuts from Devin Booker (34 points, seven rebounds, eight assists) and Deandre Ayton (21 points, 16 rebounds, 10-11 FG). Booker opened and closed the game with nine-point quarters, with a pair of eight-point quarters sandwiched in between, as he was a consistent scoring threat all game. Ayton became the first player since Drew Gooden in 2006 to shooting 90% or better on at least 10 shot attempts in a playoff game while also grabbing at least 15 rebounds.
• Booker scored at least four points against seven different Lakers defenders in Game 1. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope drew the defensive assignment on Booker for a team-high eight minutes (47.7% of Booker’s matchup time) and held Booker to five points (14.7% of his game-high 34 points) on 2-5 shooting from the field and 1-2 from 3-point range.
• LeBron James (18 points, 10 assists, seven rebounds, three steals) and Anthony Davis (13 points, seven rebounds, three blocks) combined for just 31 points in the loss. That is the fewest points the two have combined to score in a playoff game; during last year’s championship run the fewest points James and Davis combined to score was 40 in a loss to Miami in The Finals. They averaged 55.3 points per game in 21 playoff games prior to Game 1 vs. Phoenix.
• One of the biggest questions heading into Game 2 is the status of Chris Paul, who suffered a shoulder injury early in the second quarter of Game 1, but returned to the game to help the Suns earn a win. Paul has vowed to play in Game 2, but how will the injury affect his play? In Game 1, Paul had three points, four rebounds, five assists and shot 1-2 from the field and 1-1 from 3-point range in just over 10 minutes on court prior to going down with 9:25 left in the second quarter. He would play just under 26 minutes after the injury, scoring four points, dishing out three assists and shooting 2-6 from the field.
• Both teams struggled with the 3-point shot during Game 1 as the Suns shot 9-28 (32.1%) from long distance, while the Lakers shot 7-26 (26.9%). During the regular season, 3-point shots accounted for 34.0% of Phoenix’s points (16th-highest mark in NBA) compared to just 30.3% (24th) for the Lakers.
Luka Doncic recorded his third career playoff triple-double in Dallas’ Game 1 win over LA.
Mavericks at Clippers
10:30 p.m. ET, NBA TV
Dallas leads 1-0
• Luka Doncic finished with 31 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds in Dallas’ Game 1 win over the LA Clippers on Saturday. It was Doncic’s third career playoff triple-double in only seven games – topping Magic Johnson (eight games) and Oscar Robertson (nine games) as the fewest games needed to reach three playoff triple-doubles in league history. Between the regular season (36) and playoffs (3) combined, Doncic has 39 career triple-doubles and the Mavericks have gone 24-15 in those games.
• Doncic attempted only six shots against the four Clippers that defended him for the most time – Nicolas Batum (3:05), Patrick Beverley (2:04), Paul George (2:02) and Kawhi Leonard (1:43). Against those four defenders, which accounted for 63.5% of Doncic’s matchup time, Doncic had just six points on 2-6 shooting from the field, 2-3 from the free throw line and did not attempt a 3-pointer. Instead, Doncic took advantage of mismatches as he scored 16 points on 6-9 shooting from the field and 3-6 from 3-point range in just 1:35 (11.3%) against Ivica Zubac.
• On the other hand, Kawhi Leonard scored 16 of his team-high 26 points against his primary defensive matchup, Maxi Kleber, who guarded Kawhi for a team-high 7:47 and allowed 5-10 shooting from the field and 5-6 from the free throw line as he committed two shooting fouls.
• Can the Mavericks get off to another fast start and play with the lead again in Game 2? In Game 1, Dallas built a 12-point lead in the game’s first six minutes and led 33-30 at the end of the first quarter. This season, the Mavericks are undefeated (28-0) when leading at the end of the first quarter. Following Game 1, the Clippers are now 14-14 when trailing after the opening quarter.
• The Mavericks matched their third-highest 3-pointers made in a playoff game with 17 triples in 36 attempts in their Game 1 win. The trio of Dorian Finney Smith (4-5), Tim Hardaway (5-9) and Luka Doncic (5-11) combined for 14 of those 3-pointers and shot a combined 56% (14-25) from beyond the arc. The Mavs outshot the NBA’s leading 3-point shooting team during the regular season; LA finished 11-40 (27.5%) from 3-point range in Game 1 after leading the NBA at 41.1% during the regular season.
