Recapping all Game 1’s in the 2022 NBA playoffs
By: Tres T
The first weekend of the NBA Playoffs has passed us. Eight Game 1’s have concluded to embark the run towards the NBA Finals. Here’s everything that happened in the last 48 hours.
To start off, the Utah Jazz defeated a Luka Doncic-less Mavs team on the road, 99-93, to take the series lead by one. In the following slate of games set for Saturday, the Minnesota Timberwolves took down the Memphis Grizzlies in a heated performance by Karl Anthony-Towns by 13 points, 130-117. Later that night, the Toronto Raptors traveled to Philly in hopes of beating the Sixers, and I hate to ruin anyones weekend, but that plan didn’t exactly happen as Tyrese Maxey scored the most points (38) ever by a Sixer rookie in the playoffs, after entering the arena in an Allen Iverson jersey, setting the tone of how the night was going to go. Philly of course won, by twenty, 131-111. Lastly, the primetime Golden State Warriors club hosted the Denver Nuggets and took care of their home turf, winning 123-107. I can easily say, all four games provided some type of interest the whole way through, each to their own, and the storylines look to continue throughout the individual series.
Now, onto Sunday’s round of games. This day owned three Eastern Conference matchups and one Western, as the day before was opposite. As they looked to continue to showcase how the NBA is dominating in viewership, they started off with the Atlanta Hawks heading south to face the Miami Heat. After some face-to-face altercations between Jimmy Butler and Trae Young – both of the franchises stars – the Heat managed to say hot and win Game 1, 115-91. The second game of day, arguably the most entertaining one, we got to see Kyrie Irving make his way back to Boston and face the raging crowd and hope to get a win. A lot of opinions were voiced by the Celtic crowd, but ultimately the Brooklyn Nets fell just short as Jayson Tatum hit a game-winning lay-up to take Game 1, 115-114. Third, but not last, the Milwaukee Bucks cruised past the Chicago Bulls to win by seven points, led by Antetokounmpo’s 27 and 16 performance, finishing 93-86. And lastly, the final Game 1 of the playoffs, the Phoenix Suns versus the Pelicans. The long awaited matchup was quite worth it as the game went down to the final minutes, in which the Pelicans put up more of a fight than many people thought they would have against the No. 1 overall seed, but once reality set in, Chris Paul decided to pull away the game with his 30 points, 10 assists and 7 rebounds as the Suns took Game 1, 110-98.
RECAP:
Saturday
Utah Jazz take 1-0 lead over Dallas Mavericks
Minnesota Timberwolves take 1-0 lead over the Memphis Grizzlies
Philadelphia 76ers take 1-0 lead over the Toronto Raptors
Golden State Warriors take 1-0 lead over the Denver Nuggets
Sunday
Miami Heat take 1-0 lead over the Atlanta Hawks
Boston Celtics take 1-0 lead over the Brooklyn Nets
Milwaukee Bucks take 1-0 lead over the Chicago Bulls
Phoenix Suns take 1-0 lead over the New Orleans Pelicans
The NBA Playoffs will continue Monday night (April 18th), for Game 2 between the Raptors and the 76ers (7:30 p.m. ET), the Jazz and the Mavericks (8:30 p.m. ET) and the Warriors vs. the Nuggets (10:00 p.m. ET).
