Kennard scores 27, LeBron leads Lakers to surprising 107-98 win over Rockets in playoff opener
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Luke Kennard scored a career playoff-high 27 points, LeBron James had 19 points and 13 assists, and the short-handed Los Angeles Lakers capitalized on Kevin Durant’s injury absence for a 107-98 victory over the Houston Rockets in the opener of their first-round playoff series. Deandre Ayton had 19 points and 11 rebounds for the fourth-seeded Lakers, who pulled off an impressive win without their top two scorers. Alperen Sengun scored 19 points and Jabari Smith Jr. had 16 points and 12 rebounds for the fifth-seeded Rockets, who finished one game behind Los Angeles in the regular season. Amen Thompson added 17 points.
Brunson and Towns lead the Knicks past the Hawks 113-102 in Game 1 of their series
NEW YORK (AP) — Jalen Brunson scored 28 points, Karl-Anthony Towns had 19 of his 25 in the second half and the New York Knicks beat the Atlanta Hawks 113-102 in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference playoff series. OG Anunoby added 18 points and Josh Hart had 11 points and 14 rebounds for the Knicks in their first postseason game under Mike Brown after making four trips in five years under Tom Thibodeau, capped by their first trip to the Eastern Conference finals since 2000 last year. The No. 3 seed in the East again this season hosts Game 2 on Monday night.
Cavaliers’ Mitchell extends NBA-record streak of 30-point games to 9 in series openers
CLEVELAND (AP) — Donovan Mitchell has more support on the Cleveland Cavaliers roster going into this year’s postseason run. But even with the deeper roster, Mitchell still has the mentality of delivering the statement in the first game of a series. The All-Star guard did that again Saturday with a game-high 32 points in the Cavaliers’ 126-113 victory over the Toronto Raptors in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference first-round series. It is an NBA-record nine straight games in which Mitchell has scored at least 30 points in a series opener. Mitchell is 5-4 during this run in series openers, including 3-3 with Cleveland since coming over in a trade from Utah in September 2022.