Celtics, Cavs open NBA playoffs with wins
LOS ANGELES, United States — The reigning champions Boston Celtics and top seeds Cleveland Cavaliers opened the post-season with victories on Monday (Manila time).
The Celtics, fueled by 30 points from Derrick White, defeated the Orlando Magic, 103-86.
The Cavaliers, who beat out the Celtics for top seed in the Eastern Conference, downed the Miami Heat, 121-100.
In Boston, star forward Jayson Tatum scored 17 points and finished the game despite a frightening fall under the basket in the fourth quarter that left him nursing a sore right wrist.
Tatum rose for a dunk and crashed to the court after he was hit by Kentavious Caldwell-Pope — who was assessed a flagrant foul upon review.
Celtics faithful at the TD Garden were delighted to see Tatum make his first 3-pointer of the night soon after, but it was White who powered Boston's offense with seven of their 16 treys.
'Good response'
Jaylen Brown, back for the post-season after battling knee trouble, scored 16 points and Payton Pritchard added 19 off the bench for Boston, who trailed by one after a nip and tuck first half but pulled away relentlessly after the break.
"Just a good response there in the second half," White said.
Paolo Banchero scored 36 points and grabbed 11 rebounds for the Magic. Franz Wagner added 23 points but no other Orlando player scored in double figures.
In Cleveland, Donovan Mitchell scored 30 points and Ty Jerome added 16 of his 28 in the fourth quarter as the Cavaliers finally put away the determined Heat.
Miami, who advanced from the play-in tournament on Friday, trailed by 16 in the second quarter, but kept chipping away and were down by just eight midway through the fourth quarter.
Jerome, in his first playoff game, caught fire, making six of his seven shots in the final period to help Cleveland pull away for good.
"The thing that makes us special — it can be anybody any night," Mitchell said, but added that plenty of work remains.
"We didn't accomplish anything," Mitchell said. "We just took care of our first job at home."
- Latest
- Trending
