



The Thunder beat the Grizzlies 131-80 in Game 1 of their first-round Western Conference playoff series on Sunday, the fifth-biggest margin of victory in NBA postseason history.
The 51-point margin was seven shy of the record and was the largest Game 1 win in NBA playoff history.
Jalen Williams scored 20 points and Chet Holmgren had 19 points and 10 rebounds. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the league’s scoring champion with nearly 33 points per game, scored just 15. The Thunder still shot 50.5% from the field.
The Thunder, who finished the regular-season with a league-best 68-14 record, looked every bit the part of an overall No. 1 seed.
There have been two 58-point playoff margins in NBA history: the Nuggets beating the New Hornets 121-63 in 2009 and the Minneapolis Lakers beating the St. Louis Hawks 133-75 in 1956.
Ja Morant had 17 points for the visiting Grizzlies on just 6-for-17 shooting. Jaren Jackson Jr., who averaged just over 22 points in the regular season, scored four points on 2-for-13 shooting. Marvin Bagley III also scored 17, but the Grizzlies shot just 34.4% overall.
This was the Grizzlies’ first playoff game under interim coach Tuomas Iisalo.
The Los Angeles Lakers beat the Warriors by 56 (126-70) in 1973 and the Bulls beat the Bucks by 54 (120-66) in 2015.
White leads Celtics: Derrick White scored 30 points, Jayson Tatum had 17 points and finished the game after a scary late fall, and the Celtics rallied in the second half to beat the visiting Magic 103-86 in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference first-round series on Sunday.
Payton Pritchard added 19 points off the bench for the second-seeded Celtics. Jaylen Brown played 31 minutes and had 16 points on 6 of 14 shooting after missing the final three games of the regular season due to a lingering knee issue.
Paolo Banchero led the seventh-seeded Magic with 36 points and 11 rebounds. The Magic haven’t made out of the first round of the playoffs since the 2009-10 season.
T-wolves cruise: Jaden McDaniels scored 25 points, Naz Reid added 23 with six 3-pointers, and the Timberwolves overcame Luka Doncic’s 37-point Lakers playoff debut for a 117-95 road win on Saturday night.
Anthony Edwards had 22 points, nine assists and eight rebounds in the West series opener for the sixth-seeded Wolves, who weathered Doncic’s 16-point first quarter in front of a roaring LA crowd. LeBron James had 19 points to begin his 18th NBA postseason, but the third-seeded Lakers were overwhelmed.
The T-wolves made a franchise playoff-record 21 3-pointers in the victory.
Knicks rally with 21-0 run: Jalen Brunson scored 34 points, Cam Payne had 11 of his 14 in the fourth quarter and the third-seeded Knicks stunned the visiting Pistons with a 21-0 run in the final period to rally for a 123-112 win on Saturday night in Game 1 of their East series.
It was the first playoff game since 2019 for the sixth-seeded Pistons.