Miles McBride drained the tiebreaking basket with 8:25 left on Saturday night for the host New York Knicks, who squandered all of a 14-point third-quarter lead before rallying to beat the Philadelphia 76ers 111-104 in Game 1 of an Eastern Conference first-round playoff series.
Game 2 is scheduled for Monday night, also in New York. Josh Hart finished with 22 points and 13 rebounds, while Jalen Brunson also scored 22 points to go with seven rebounds and seven assists for the second-seeded Knicks.
Tyrese Maxey scored 33 points and Joel Embiid had 29 points and eight rebounds for the seventh-seeded 76ers.
Embiid left the game with 2:37 remaining before halftime after making a thunderous dunk and collapsing to the floor after appearing to hurt his left knee. He returned to start the second half, however, and Philadelphia coach Nick Nurse said Embiid would be re-evaluated after the game.
Nuggets 114, Lakers 103
Nikola Jokic had 32 points and 12 rebounds and host Denver opened its NBA title defence with a win over Los Angeles in Game 1 of their Western Conference first-round playoff series.
Jamal Murray finished with 22 points and 10 assists to help Denver to its ninth straight win over Los Angeles, with five of those victories coming in the postseason.
Anthony Davis led the Lakers with 32 points, 14 rebounds and four blocked shots, and LeBron James finished with 27 points after a quiet fourth quarter. James didn’t attempt a shot in the final period until there was 1:20 left and had only four points in the final 12 minutes.
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Timberwolves 120, Suns 95
Anthony Edwards shook off first-half foul trouble to score a game-high 33 points as Minnesota beat Phoenix in Game 1 of a Western Conference first-round playoff series in Minneapolis.
With 3:18 left until intermission, Edwards was forced to go to the bench after picking up his third foul. But he erupted for 18 points in the third quarter, helping Minnesota turn a close game into a blowout. Game 2 is scheduled for Tuesday night, also in Minneapolis.
y Towns added 19 points, Nickeil Alexander-Walker chipped in 18 and Rudy Gobert went for 14 to go along with 16 rebounds for the Timberwolves. Kevin Durant supplied 31 points and seven boards for the Suns. Devin Booker added 18 points.
Cavaliers 97, Magic 83
Donovan Mitchell scored 30 points, Jarrett Allen posted 16 points and 18 rebounds and No. 4 seed Cleveland led wire-to-wire to take Game 1 of its Eastern Conference first-round playoff series against visiting Orlando.
Cleveland scored the first six points of the contest and jumped out to an 11-point lead early, with Evan Mobley scoring eight of his 16 points less than six minutes into the game. Game 2 will be Monday night in Cleveland.
Paolo Banchero led Orlando with 24 points, matching Shaquille O’Neal for the most by a Magic player in his first career playoff game. Banchero also had seven rebounds and five assists, but he committed nine turnovers.
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