Oklahoma City Thunder defeated the Memphis Grizzlies 131-80 on Sunday in the first game of their Western Conference playoff series, the fifth-largest victory margin in NBA postseason history.
The Thunder won a lot of games in the regular season, setting an NBA record for the largest margin of victory while securing the top seed in the Western Conference. Additionally, they had defeated the Grizzlies by 13 points or more in each of their four matchups during the regular season. The 51-point victory by Oklahoma City was the most in the opening game of a postseason series and the fifth-largest in NBA playoff history.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of Oklahoma City completed the regular season with just 15 points on 4-of-13 shooting after scoring 20 points or more in each of his final 72 games. The Thunder beat Memphis 27-5 on fast-break points and scored 24 points off 24 Grizzlies’ turnovers, led by 19 points and 10 rebounds from Chet Holmgren and 14 points from Isaiah Hartenstein.
With 17 points apiece, Ja Morant and Marvin Bagley III paced Memphis. In addition to making a game-winning jumper from beyond halfcourt to close the third quarter, Bagley completed 8 of 8 from the field.
Celtics 103, Magic 86
BOSTON — Boston defeated Orlando in Game 1 of their first-round playoff series, with Derrick White scoring 30 points and Jayson Tatum finishing with 17 points following a terrifying late-fall.
Boston will host Game 2 on Wednesday night, and Payton Pritchard scored 19 points off the bench. After missing the last three games of the regular season because of a persistent knee injury, Jaylen Brown played 31 minutes and finished with 16 points on 6-of-14 shooting.
With 8:28 left and Boston ahead 89-73, Tatum attempted a dunk but was struck hard by Kentavious Caldwell-Pope as he blocked it. Tatum’s right side landed clumsily.
He remained on the ground for a moment, then sprang up, gripping his right hand tightly. Referees raised Caldwell-Pope’s foul to a flagrant foul following a video review. Tatum continued to play even though he missed the next two free shots.
The Magic were led by Paolo Banchero, who finished with 36 points and 11 rebounds. Orlando, which hasn’t advanced past the first round of the playoffs since the 2009–10 campaign, got 23 points from Franz Wagner.
Boston, who established an NBA record for 3-pointers this season, was held to 7 of 15 from beyond the arc in the first 24 minutes and 16 of 37 for the game, while Orlando led by a point at the half.
However, the Celtics led 78-65 going into the fourth quarter after the Magic committed six turnovers and were outscored 30-18. In the last period, the Celtics’ lead increased to 19 points.
Boston scored 24 points in the game as a result of Orlando’s 15 turnovers.
