Both No. 1 seeds won their series opener in the second round of the NBA Playoffs on Tuesday night. The Boston Celtics defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers 120-95, and the young Oklahoma City Thunder team defeated the experienced Dallas Mavericks by a final score of 117-95, just three points fewer than Boston.
The Celts and Cavs are both missing key players in Kristaps Porzisis and Jarrett Allen, which is clearly a bigger problem for Cleveland than it is for Boston. Meanwhile, the Mavericks are dealing with Luka Doncic, who is less than 100 percent. His performance and Kyrie Irving's lack of big action in Game 1 are cause for concern.
Here's Thursday's NBA Playoff games with staff picks, odds, and previews.
All odds are from BetMGM. Find great ticket deals on StubHub.
4th place Cleveland Cavaliers vs. 1st place Boston Celtics
How to watch: 7pm ET on ESPN
Series odds: Celtics -5000, Cavaliers +1600
Boston leads the series 1-0.
Before Game 1 of this series, there was one burning question. Can Cleveland revitalize its offense and score against Boston? Cleveland is good on defense, but Boston was the most efficient offensive team in NBA history during the regular season. and They are great in D. For now, the answer is: Not really.
But that doesn't mean the Cavs weren't trying. They were down by 21 points from the 3-point line, but at least they were making more 3-pointers than usual. He had 42 attempts, but only 11 were hits, compared to an average of 29.9 per game in the first round. Woof.
The Celtics won in a blowout on a night when their best scorer, Jayson Tatum, was lackluster. Tatum still had a double-double with 18 points and 11 rebounds, but finished 7-of-19 shooting and 0-of-5 from 3-point range. Jaylen Brown was the big scorer, scoring 32 points on 12-of-18 shooting.
Donovan Mitchell was huge for the Cavs in Game 7 against the Magic, being the top scorer in the game with 33 points. However, four Celtics players scored 15 or more points, while only one Cavalier player (Evan Mobley) scored 15 or more points. Mobley thrived in Allen's absence, recording 17 points and 13 rebounds. Cleveland needs shooters Max Strus and Sam Merrill to get into better shape to counter Boston's firepower.
according to athletic Joe Vardon, the Cavs seemed intent on learning from this matchup instead of slumping and losing. Despite the odds against them, the Cavs could win at home and make it a series. But we're not holding our breath for a Cleveland win at TD Garden.
Cavs vs. Celtics expert picks
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5th place Dallas Mavericks vs. 1st place Oklahoma City Thunder
How to watch: ESPN 9:30pm ET
Series odds: Thunder -225, Mavericks +180
Oklahoma City leads the series 1-0.
In a game that had two MVP finalists on opposite sides of the court, one showed up Tuesday night and the other didn't. In Game 1 of the Mavs-Thunder series, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had 29 points, nine assists, and nine rebounds. Meanwhile, Doncic was clearly still suffering from a sprained knee. He scored 19 points on 6-of-19 shooting, far worse than his regular season average of 33.9 points per game, and had five turnovers. This was the lowest total score since mid-March.
The game started slowly, with both teams looking a little shaky. Jaylen Williams missed his first six shots and was 1-of-9 before a fourth-quarter surge. The Thunder were in control throughout the game, but they really started to pull away in the fourth quarter, opening up a 10-point lead to a 22-point victory.
The game marked the NBA's youngest team's third win in five playoff games by a margin of 20 points or more.as athletic Zach Harper noted in the NBA Newsletter that the Thunder have a plus-85 point differential through five games.
The Mavericks, on the other hand, looked nothing like themselves. Doncic and Irving combined for 39 points and nine turnovers. Overall, the Mavericks shot 39.3 percent from the field and 34.4 percent from three, while the Thunder shot 44.9 percent and 45.7 percent, respectively. If the Mavs can't get their star players to play, they'll be in trouble against this young team.
Mavs expert picks on the Thunder
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(Photo of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander: Joe Murphy/NBAE via Getty Images)
