NBA
The Sacramento Kings made a perfect return to the National Basketball Association (NBA) playoffs on Saturday night (local time). The Californian capital, who last made the knockout rounds in 2006, toppled defending champions Golden State Warriors 126-123 on home soil and went 1st in the best of seven series :0 in the lead. The New York Knicks, Boston Celtics and Philadelphia 76ers also took a first small step towards the next round.
Philadelphia, led by Joel Embiid and James Harden, clearly prevailed at home against the Brooklyn Nets with 121:101, and the Celtics also didn’t miss a beat with a 112:99 win at home against the Atlanta Hawks. In Cleveland, on the other hand, the fans of the Cavaliers experienced an unpleasant surprise, because the Knicks got the first away win of this year’s play-off with a 101:97 and now have “home advantage” on their side.
While the New Yorkers last celebrated a win in a knockout round game two years ago, fans in Sacramento had reason to celebrate for the first time in 17 years. Fathers of the success were De’Aaron Fox with 38 points and Malik Monk with 32 points. For the Warriors, 30 points from superstar Steph Curry and 21 points from Klay Thompson were not enough that evening, mainly because Curry missed the equalizer with a three-point attempt in the last action of the game.
Fox made an almost historic play-off debut with his 38 points, only Slovenian Dallas star Luka Doncic topping that with 42 in his first knockout game three years ago. The 25-year-old and Malik are also only the second team-mates in league history to each score more than 30 points in their first play-off game. Before that, only Alonzo Mourning and Kendall Gill had done so for the Charlotte Hornets in 1993. The second game in the series will again take place in Sacramento during the night from Monday to Tuesday.
Favorites with clear home wins
In Boston and Philadelphia, the home teams did not show any weakness at the start of the playoffs. Led by Jaylen Brown, who had 29 points and 12 rebounds, the 17-time NBA champion gave the guests from Atlanta no chance. The 76ers had no problems with the Brooklyn Nets thanks to 26 points from Embiid and 23 points from Harden, who also had 13 assists to his credit. With 21 successful three-pointers, Philadelphia even set a new club record in a play-off game.
In Cleveland, the Knicks controlled the game for long stretches and led by up to twelve points before the hosts turned the game around and took a 93-92 lead themselves. The visitors from New York turned the tide in their favor in the last two minutes of the game and now have an advantage in the series thanks to the away win. The top scorer for the guests was Jalen Brunson with 27 points, 21 of which the 27-year-old scored in the second half. Donovan Mitchell’s 38 points weren’t enough for the Cavaliers either.