Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 28 points to lead the host Oklahoma City Thunder to a thrilling 94-92 victory over the New Orleans Pelicans in Game 1 of the first round of the Western Conference playoff series on Sunday. .
In the fourth quarter, Oklahoma City went more than five minutes without a field goal as the Pelicans went up 90-88. But Gilgeous-Alexander turned things around.
First, he hit a pull-up jumper with 1:36 left to tie the game, then made a floater through traffic and fouls, followed by a free throw to give the Thunder a 93-90 lead with 32.5 seconds left. To play.
Trailing 94-92 with 14 seconds left, the Pelicans had the ball with a chance to tie or take the lead, but Cason Wallace defended CJ McCollum, first reaching for the deflection and then hitting him. The clean was prevented. look. McCollum's likely winner missed the mark with 1.3 seconds left.
Trey Murphy III led New Orleans with 21 points, McCollum had 20 points and Jonas Valanciunas had 13 points and 20 rebounds. Jaylen Williams added 19 points for Oklahoma City.
Bucks 109, Pacers 94
Damian Lillard scored all 35 points in the first half as host Milwaukee upset Indiana in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference playoff series.
Lillard made 11-of-24 shots from the floor and 6-of-11 from 3-point range. Khris Middleton had 23 points, 15 in the second half, for the Bucks, who host Game 2 on Tuesday night.
Pascal Siakam had 36 points and 13 rebounds for the Pacers, but the Pacers missed their first 14 3-pointers and made 8 of 38 from beyond the arc. Myles Turner added 17 points and eight rebounds.
Celtics 114, Heat 94
Jayson Tatum had 23 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists as Boston got off to a hot start, defeating visiting Miami in Game 1 of the first round of the Eastern Conference playoff series.
The top-seeded Celtics, who scored the first 14 points of the game, made 22 of 49 3-pointers (44.9 percent), while eighth-seeded Miami made 12 of 37 from distance (32.4 percent). ) was successful. Game 2 of the best-of-seven series will be played in Boston on Wednesday.
Derrick White added 20 points for the Celtics. Miami's Bam Adebayo led all scorers with 24 points, while substitute Delon Wright added 17 points and Jaime Jaquez Jr. added 16 points.
Clippers 109, Mavericks 97
Los Angeles defeated Dallas in Game 1 of the first round of the Western Conference series, with James Harden scoring 28 points and Ivica Zubac setting a playoff career high with 20 points and grabbing 15 rebounds.
The Clippers were playing without star Kawhi Leonard due to knee inflammation, but they got 22 points from Paul George and 13 points each from Terrence Mann and Russell Westbrook to get past the Mavericks. I had enough power to do it.
For Dallas, Luka Doncic had 33 points and 13 rebounds, and Kyrie Irving added 31 points. Los Angeles' high-level defense was strong from the start, holding the Mavericks to just eight points in the second quarter and 30 points in the first half.
—Field Level Media
