James Harden scored 28 points to help the Los Angeles Clippers overcome Kawhi Leonard's absence and come through with a 109-97 victory over the cold-shooting Dallas Mavericks in Sunday's Game 1 of a Western Conference quarter-finals series.
Harden and Ivica Zubac each stepped up with the fourth-seeded Clippers missing Leonard due to inflammation in his surgically repaired right knee. Zubac set a play-off career high with 20 points while grabbing 15 rebounds, while Harden went 6 of 11 from 3-point range in addition to dishing out eight assists.
Los Angeles also used a strong defensive effort to gain the upper hand in this best-of-seven series. Fifth-seeded Dallas shot just 38.8 per cent for the game and especially struggled in the
second quarter, missing 19 of 21 field goal attempts while being outscored by a 22-8 margin for the period.
The Clippers took a commanding 56-30 half-time lead behind their dominant second quarter, as they held the Mavericks' star duo of Luka Dončić and Kyrie Irving to a combined 17 points on 5-of-19 shooting over the first two periods.
Irving regrouped in the second half to finish with 31 points. Doncic compiled 33 points, 13 rebounds and six assists, but the NBA MVP finalist ended 11 of 26 from the field and 4 of 12 from 3-point range.
Paul George added 22 points for Los Angeles, which shot 50 per cent (18 of 36) from 3-point range compared to 30.3 per cent for Dallas.
Game 2 will take place Tuesday in Los Angeles.
Lillard carries Bucks past Pacers with Antetokounmpo still unavailable
The Milwaukee Bucks were also able to withstand the loss of a superstar in their series opener, as Damian Lillard set a franchise play-off record with 35 first-half points to lead the way in a 109-94 Game 1 win over the Indiana Pacers.
Lillard didn't score after half-time, though his prolific performance through two quarters was more than enough to give Milwaukee, the Eastern Conference's No. 3 seed, a 1-0 series lead despite Giannis Antetokounmpo still recovering from a strained left calf he sustained late in the regular season.
The two-time league MVP's absence wasn't a major factor thanks in large part to Lillard, who tallied 19 first-quarter points as the Bucks opened up a 30-21 lead after 12 minutes before breaking the game open in the second.
Lillard put up 16 more points in the second quarter as Milwaukee outscored the Pacers by a 39-21 margin for the period to build a sizeable 69-42 lead at the break.
Khris Middleton scored 15 of his 23 points after half-time to keep the Bucks ahead by double digits the entire second half.
Middleton added 10 rebounds and Bobby Portis also notched a double-double with 15 points and 11 boards.
Sixth-seeded Indiana received 36 points and 13 rebounds from Pascal Siakam, but the Pacers shot just 20.5 per cent (8 of 39) from 3-point range and never led after the game's initial stages.
Indiana will attempt to bounce back in Tuesday's Game 2, which will again be held in Milwaukee.
Celtics cruise past Butler-less Heat in series opener
The Miami Heat, on the other hand, had a far more difficult time dealing with two key players missing as the defending Eastern Conference champions were dealt a 114-94 loss by the top-seeded Boston Celtics in Game 1 of the teams' quarter-finals series.
Jayson Tatum registered his first career play-off triple-double with 23 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists to lead Boston, which lost in seven games to Miami in last season's East finals.
Derrick White added 20 points and Kristaps Porzingis had 18 as Boston never trailed against an eighth-seeded Miami team playing without six-time All-Star Jimmy Butler and starting guard Terry Rozier.
Butler is likely out for the series after injuring his right knee during the play-in round, while Rozier has missed the Heat's last seven games with a neck strain.
Boston set the tone right from the start by opening the game on a 17-2 run. Miami later countered with a 9-0 spurt to cut its deficit to 26-23 early in the second quarter, but that was as close as the Heat would get the rest of the day.
The Celtics answered with an 11-2 run to go back ahead by double digits, and their lead swelled to 60-45 at half-time as Tatum scored 10 points in the second quarter and reserve Sam Hauser drained four 3-pointers during the period.
Boston kept pouring it on after the break, as it built a 91-59 advantage after three quarters.
Bam Adebayo led Miami with 24 points, while Delon Wright hit all five of his 3-point attempts in a 17-point effort off the bench.
The series resumes Wednesday in Boston.
Top-seeded Thunder hold off Pelicans in series opener
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 28 points and converted a tie-breaking three-point play with 32.5 seconds left to play as the top-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder held on for a 94-92 win over the New Orleans Pelicans in the opener of another Western Conference quarter-final series.
Playing their first post-season game since 2020, the Thunder prevailed despite eighth-seeded New Orleans rallying from a 10-point deficit early in the fourth quarter to tie the contest with under four minutes remaining.
The Pelicans, who were without star forward Zion Williamson due to a left hamstring strain, had a chance to pull out the victory but CJ McCollum missed a 3-point try shortly before the buzzer.
Oklahoma City appeared to have seized control after ending the third quarter on a 9-2 run to take a 74-68 lead entering the fourth. The margin later grew when Chet Holmgren buried a 3-pointer with 10:25 remaining that gave the Thunder an 82-72 advantage.
New Orleans answered with a 9-2 spurt to get back in it and later pulled even when Herb Jones' 3-pointer created an 88-88 tie with 3:58 left.
The game remained deadlocked at 90-90 until Gilgeous-Alexander was fouled while knocking down a short floater with 32.5 seconds on the clock. The NBA MVP finalist made the ensuing free throw for a three-point Oklahoma City edge.
McCollum, who finished with 20 points, hit a jumper on the subsequent possession, and the Thunder gave New Orleans a chance at the lead when Holmgren made just 1 of 2 free throws after being fouled with 14 seconds left.
The Pelicans got the ball to McCollum with time winding down, but the veteran misfired on a contested 30-foot shot as Oklahoma City hung on.
Jalen Williams added 19 points for the Thunder, who will host Game 2 on Wednesday, while Holmgren posted 15 points and 11 rebounds.
New Orleans was led by Trey Murphy's 21 points, while Jonas Valanciunas pulled down 20 rebounds to go along with 13 points.
Lillard left frustrated by injuries after Bucks eliminated by Pacers
Damian Lillard lamented the Milwaukee Bucks’ injury troubles after their playoff exit at the hands of the Indiana Pacers.
The Bucks lost the series 4-2 after suffering a heavy 120-98 defeat in Game 6 on Thursday, condemning them to their second consecutive first-round exit to a lower seed.
Two-time MVP, Giannis Antetokounmpo was one of the key players missing for the Bucks as he missed the entire playoff series due to a left calf strain, while Lillard returned after missing the last two games with an Achilles injury.
Lillard, who finished with 28 points, admitted it was frustrating to have so many injuries, but he wanted to try to make an impact.
"I don't think I would've went into the summer feeling good about much if I felt like I let the team go out there and me not at least try," he said.
"It's definitely disappointing because you know how much better of a team we are when he's [Antetokounmpo] on the floor and how much things change when he's on the floor.
"You play an entire 82-game season. You go through training camp, you go through all the ups and downs of an NBA regular season, and you get to the point where, all right, now we're going to play for everything. And you're not whole.
"You don't have the best opportunity to reach where you want reach. So it is frustrating, it's disappointing, but it's part of the game."
Meanwhile, T.J. McConnell says he is proud to be part of the Pacers team that ended their long wait to reach the semifinals.
McConnell had 20 points and nine assists off the bench, while Obi Toppin finished with a playoff career-high 21 points for the Pacers, who had lost their last six playoff series since 2014.
McConnell said: "It means a lot. Not getting into the playoffs since the bubble, not being able to advance since 2014, we take great pride in being able to advance and extend our season.
"Milwaukee has a great team and, if I can be honest with you, I think our bench has taken a couple steps back competitive wise and I think tonight all of us went out there with the mentality we’re going to take it to another level."
The Pacers will face New York in the next round after the Knicks eliminated the Philadelphia 76ers.
NBA: Knicks survive 76ers to advance, Pacers eliminate Bucks with rout
Jalen Brunson scored 14 of his 41 points in the fourth quarter and Josh Hart made a tiebreaking 3-pointer with 24.4 seconds left as the New York Knicks advanced to the Eastern Conference semifinals with a 118-115 win over the Philadelphia 76ers on Thursday.
Donte DiVincenzo added 23 points, OG Anunoby had 19 and Hart finished with 16 points, 14 rebounds and seven assists as the Knicks reached the second round for the second consecutive season.
New York will face Indiana in the East semis after the Pacers eliminated the Bucks in six games. Game 1 is Monday at Madison Square Garden.
Brunson became the first player to score 40 or more points to close out a series since Michael Jordan for Chicago against Cleveland in 1989.
Joel Embiid had 39 points and 13 rebounds but was held to six points in the fourth quarter. Buddy Hield scored 20 points off the bench and Tyrese Maxey was a non-factor in the first half and finished with 17 points on 6-of-18 shooting as the 76ers failed to win a playoff round for the first time since 2019-20.
The Knicks led 109-101 with 2 ½ minutes remaining in the back-and-forth game, but Kelly Oubre Jr. hit a 3 and a layup sandwiched around Maxey’s layup to make it a one-point game.
After Brunson’s layup put New York up 111-108 with under a minute to play, Maxey converted a three-point play with 35 seconds left to tie it.
Hart drilled a 3 from the top of the key before Embiid’s layup four seconds later made it 114-113. DiVincenzo and Brunson each sank two free throws to seal it.
Pacers advance with rout of Bucks
Obi Toppin led six players in double figures with a playoff career-high 21 points and the Indiana Pacers won a playoff series for the first time in a decade with a 120-98 rout of the Milwaukee Bucks.
T.J. McConnell had 20 points and nine assists off the bench, Pascal Siakam added 19 points and Tyrese Haliburton contributed 17 points and 10 rebounds for the Pacers, who had lost their last six playoff series since 2014.
Indiana will face New York in the next round after the Knicks eliminated Philadelphia.
The Pacers went 8-3 against the Bucks this season and handed Milwaukee its second straight first-round exit.
Damian Lillard returned from a right Achilles injury with 28 points and Bobby Portis added 20 and 15 rebounds for the Bucks, who shot just 42.2 percent (35 for 83) from the field and 25.9 percent (7 for 27) from 3-point range.
Two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo missed the entire series after straining his left calf on April 9.
The Pacers used a 15-3 run in the first quarter for a 29-19 lead and never trailed again.
Milwaukee cut the deficit to 85-78 with 6:05 left in the third, but McConnell capped an 11-0 run with consecutive 3s to make it 96-78 early in the fourth.
'We'll be better for Game 6' - Lue backs Clippers to make big improvement
Tyronn Lue insisted that the Los Angeles Clippers will be "better for Game 6" after their worst game of the series against the Dallas Mavericks.
The Clippers lost 123-93 in Game 5 on Wednesday, giving the Mavericks a 3-2 series lead as they prepare for the next meeting in Dallas.
Los Angeles struggled against the Mavericks' defence, and at one point, missed 16 straight 3-point attempts.
Asked what went wrong for the Clippers on Wednesday, Lue said: "We just didn’t play well, all round. Offensively, defensively, we just didn’t play a good game. We know that.
"Playoffs, you have to win four games. We didn’t play our best game; we understand that and we all understand that collectively – we’ll be better for Game 6.
"Not making shots, not defending, had some gambles that really cost us early in the game. It was a two-point game, we gave up three gambles, and it became eight points, that got them going.
"We weren’t good on both sides of the basketball, we had a bad game and, to give them credit, they played well.
"We understand how we need to play. We got into our stuff a little slow. We didn’t shoot the ball well; we didn’t play well either – it kind of goes hand in hand. We didn’t play the style of basketball we need."
The Clippers have been in this position against the Mavericks before, going down 3-2 during the first round in 2021.
On that occasion, they won to force a Game 7 and went on to advance to the semifinals.
Shaquille O’Neal, however, does not think the Clippers are consistent enough to beat the Mavericks.
"They tried to play hero ball at the end by shooting those threes. Paul [George] had a surge of scoring late, but too late by then,” he said to NBA on TNT Sports.
"That's why I've never really been on the Clippers bandwagon because those two guys [George and James Harden] are too inconsistent for me. You can't go from 33 to seven."
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