The NBA postseason kicked off Monday by ESPN’s Wide World of Sports in Orlando, Florida. It’s a whole day of first round action that is updated here all day.
Denver Nuggets 135, Utah Jazz 125
Brooklyn Nets Vs. Toronto Raptors, 4 pm ET
Philadelphia 76ers vs. Boston Celtics, 6:30 p.m. ET
Dalla Mavericks vs. Los Angeles Clippers, 9 pm ET
Jazz Nuggets Game 1: Murray Raises Nuggets in OT
Utah Jazz guard Donovan Mitchell scored 57 points, but it was the Denver Nuggets who took game 1, 133-125, in overtime to begin the NBA playoffs.
Jamal Murray scored 20 of his 36 points in the fourth quarter and overtime for the Nuggets. He was 3 of 6 from 3-point range, adding nine assists and three rebounds. They won overpowered, 20-10.
Murray and Mitchell hardened mandrels in the final minutes of the fourth quarter. A Rudy Gobert block forced overtime on the final game at 115-115.
Mitchell nearly led the Jazz to a win, scoring the third-most points in NBA playoff history. He is the youngest person to score at least 50 points in a playoff game since Michael Jordan dropped 63 against the Boston Celtics. The third-year guard was 19 of 33, including 6 of 15 from 3-point range, adding nine rebounds and seven assists
“He killed us and we could not get a stop,” Murray said in the broadcast interview. “We had to find some crime.”
The Jazz sat without Mike Conley, who left the bubble on Sunday to be home for the birth of his son. Conley announced the arrival of Elijah Michael Conley later in the day. He will have to quarantine four days after his return to the bubble. He will definitely miss the second game and will probably miss a third.
Raptors-Nets Game 1: Toronto takes it 134-110
Toronto jumped out to an enormous lead over Brooklyn in the first half in an easy 134-110 win.
The No. 2 seeded Raptors had seven players scoring 11 or more points. Fred VanVleet had 30 and 11 assists and Pascal Siakam had 18 points and 11 rebounds.
The Raptors led the rest 73-51 and the Nets gave the game a modicum of interest in the second half. Brooklyn took the lead from Toronto to nine at the end of the third quarter, but a three by VanVleet with 10:41 left gave Toronto a 102-90 lead and Brooklyn was never within 10 again.
Timothe Luwawu-Caborrot continued his bubble excellence for the Nets with 26 points on 9-of-13 shots from the field. Luwawu-Caborrot made six of his nine attempts from three points and was the only Nets player with more than 20 points.
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