It was a big event for Sacramento, as it has been playing in the playoffs for 17 years. And it immediately claimed the scalp of the reigning champions. Especially De’Aaron Fox, who scored 38 points, was responsible for this. After the game, he had the honor of pressing a button that turned on a laser above the concourse that sent purple light into the sky, letting the entire city know that the Kings had won.
The match was very balanced, the teams took turns in the lead twelve times and in the last minute the difference in the score was only one point. However, the Warriors did not convert their last two shots and Sacramento defended the win. The return of Andrew Wiggins after a more than two-month break, who scored 17 points, did not help Golden State. Stephen Curry gave 30 points and Klay Thompson 21 points.
Just like Fox, Cleveland’s Donovan Mitchell also scored 38 points, but it wasn’t enough for the Cavaliers to win. New York showed a good team performance supported by the shooting of Jalen Brunson. He had a foul problem in the first half, but scored 21 of his 27 points in the second half.
Cleveland still led with two minutes left. But then Josh Hart made a key three-pointer, on the other hand, Mitchell missed the three-pointer and Brunson gave New York a four-point lead with a basket, which the Knicks already secured in the last 70 seconds.
“It’s not the end of the world, we just lost the first game. We can’t sit here and feel sorry for ourselves. It’s just one game and we’ll respond to that in the next,” Mitchell said.
The next two fights had a clear course. Krejčí only watched from the bench as his teammates from Atlanta were not enough for the favored Boston and already in the first half they were losing up to 32 points. Jaylen Brown led Boston with 29 points, Jayson Tatum added 25 points and Derrick White 24 points. He gave Dejounte Murray for Atlanta anyway.
Philadelphia also led Brooklyn by as many as 25 points throughout the game. Mikal Bridges tried to do something about it and scored 30 points for the Nets, but the Sixers showed more weapons. Season’s leading scorer Joel Embiid scored 26 points, James Harden had 23 points and 13 assists, and Tobias Harris had 21 points. Additionally, Philadelphia set a club playoff record with 21 3-pointers.
| Play off NBA – 1. kolo: |
|---|
| Eastern Conference: |
| Philadelphia – Brooklyn 121:101 |
| Boston – Atlanta 112:99 |
| Cleveland – New York 97:101 |
| Western Conference: |
| Sacramento – Golden State 126:123 |