Tyrese Maxey had the breakout game of his young career, scoring 21 of his playoff career-high 38 points in the third quarter to lead the host Philadelphia 76ers to a 131-111 victory over the Toronto Raptors in Game 1 of their first-round Eastern Conference series on Saturday night.
James Harden had 22 points and 14 assists in his first Eastern Conference playoff game as a Sixer. Joel Embiid, the NBA scoring champion, had 19 points and 15 rebounds. They combined to only make 11 of 32 shots from the floor.
Tobias Harris scored 26 points for the Sixers, trying to get past the second round for the first time since 2001.
The opener belonged to Maxey. The 21-year-old Maxey is the youngest Sixer ever to score at least 30 points in a playoff game.
Sixers fans roared for “Maxey! Maxey! Maxey!’’ after each electrifying play -- and he crammed a season’s worth into the third as he dismantled the Raptors. He swished a 32-footer late in the period for a 20-point lead and sent his teammates on the bench into a frenzy. The Raptors were stunned and had no answer for him: Maxey made 7 of 8 shots overall, both 3s and all five free throws in 12 minutes.
Warriors roll
Jordan Poole shined in his long-awaited playoff debut with 30 points, staying in the starting lineup as Stephen Curry returned from a foot injury by coming off the bench, and the Golden State Warriors smothered Nikola Jokic to beat the Denver Nuggets, 123-107, in the opener of their first-round playoff series in San Francisco.
Healthy at last, Klay Thompson returned to the playoff stage for the first time in nearly three years and scored 19 points with five 3-pointers, and the perimeter combination of Curry, Poole and Thompson was too much for the Nuggets.
Jokic had 25 points and 10 rebounds for Denver. Curry came off the bench to contribute 16 points in 21 minutes after missing exactly a month with a sprained ligament in his left foot.
Timberwolves upset Grizzlies
Anthony Edwards scored 36 points in his postseason debut, and the seventh-seeded Minnesota Timberwolves stunned the No. 2 seed Grizzlies, 130-117, on Saturday in Memphis, Tenn., to grab home-court advantage in the opener of their first-round Western Conference series.
Karl-Anthony Towns added 29 and 13 rebounds. Malik Beasley had 23 points, and Jaden McDaniels 15. Patrick Beverley and D’Angelo Russell had 10 apiece.
The Timberwolves, fresh off beating the Los Angeles Clippers in the play-in game, won their first playoff opener since 2004. That’s when they beat Sacramento in the first round on their way to the Western Conference finals.
Ja Morant led Memphis with 32 points and eight assists, and Dillon Brooks added 24 points. Brandon Clarke had 13 points and 12 rebounds off the bench. Desmond Bane scored 17 points and Jaren Jackson Jr. had 12.
Memphis tied the franchise record by winning 56 games in the regular season and earning its highest seed ever. The Grizzlies had a packed FedExForum for only their third Game 1 in Memphis. But they struggled early after a week off and led only twice by 2 points, the last midway through the second quarter.
In this matchup of the NBA’s top-scoring offenses and two of the league’s youngest teams this season, the Timberwolves set franchise records for points in both the first quarter and the game. They also stymied Memphis with their 3-point shooting, rebounding and defense.
The Timberwolves looked like a team that played Tuesday night needing a win to clinch its seeding. They opened with a 9-2 run and led by as much as 13 before a 41-33 lead for the franchise’s highest-scoring first quarter in the playoffs.
Minnesota led, 65-62, at halftime, then outscored Memphis, 32-30, in the third for a 97-92 lead going into the fourth quarter.
Jazz top Mavericks
Donovan Mitchell scored 30 of his 32 points after halftime, Bojan Bogdanovic finished with 26 and the Utah Jazz opened the playoffs with a 99-93 victory over the host Dallas Mavericks, who were without injured All-Star guard Luka Doncic.
Bogdanovic had Utah’s only two 3-pointers before halftime, in a 13-2 run over the final 3½ minutes that put the Jazz ahead to stay. Mitchell, who always seems to step up in the postseason, came alive after the break.
The fourth-seeded Mavericks, starting the playoffs at home for the first time since their NBA title season 11 years ago, sorely missed their 23-year-old superstar. Doncic strained his left calf six days earlier in the regular-season finale. Coach Jason Kidd has said only that he is day to day.
Jalen Brunson, the starting point guard with Doncic out, had 24 points on 9-of-24 shooting with seven rebounds. Spencer Dinwiddie scored 22 points, Reggie Bullock added 15 and Dorian Finney-Smith 14.
With Doncic in a black hoodie on the bench, the Mavericks cut an 11-point deficit midway through the fourth quarter to 92-91 on a 3-pointer by Maxi Kleber with 2:12 left. After Mitchell missed, the Mavs had the chance to take their first lead in the second half, but Kleber missed badly on another long-range shot.
Royce O’Neale then scored his only basket for the Jazz, a 3-pointer from the corner after he had first missed inside and then got a pass from Mitchell. Utah finished with a 20-7 edge in second-chance points.
Rudy Gobert had 17 rebounds for the Jazz.
Pelicans reach playoffs
Brandon Ingram scored 30 points and the New Orleans Pelicans overcame a 13-point deficit in the fourth quarter to beat the depleted Clippers in Los Angeles, 105-101, in a play-in Friday night and earn the No. 8 seed in the Western Conference playoffs.
CJ McCollum added 19 points for New Orleans, which will play No. 1 seed Phoenix in the first round.
The Pelicans made the playoffs for the first time since 2017-18, guided by first-year coach Willie Green, a former Clipper. They’ve been without Zion Williamson all season because of a foot injury.
The Clippers were dealt a huge blow earlier in the day when Paul George entered the league’s health and safety protocols. They’d already been without Kawhi Leonard all season while he rehabbed an ACL injury. He watched from the bench early in the game.
Marcus Morris and Reggie Jackson each had 27 points for the Clippers.