Cavs edge Pacers
Los Angeles, April 16: The NBA champion Cleveland Cavaliers escaped with a 109-108 victory over the Indiana Pacers on Saturday in the opening game of the 2017 playoffs.
Indiana’s C.J. Miles missed a wide-open jump shot at the buzzer after the Cavaliers, as they often did in the waning stages of the regular-season, let the game get complicated toward the end.
“It doesn’t matter how you get a win in the playoffs. We’re one-up,” said Cavs superstar LeBron James, who led all scorers with 32 points and also handed out 13 assists and pulled down six rebounds.
James has now won 18 playoff openers, but he and the Cavs cut it close in this one.
James missed a threepointer with 20 seconds left and the Pacers had the ball coming out of a timeout. Miles got loose, but his effort bounced off the rim.
Pacers star Paul George finished with 29 points. His three-pointer with four seconds left had cut the Cavs’ lead to one point, setting the stage for Miles’s attempt at a game-winner.
George complained after the game that he should have been the one to attempt the game winner.
“Situations like that, I gotta get the last shot,” George said.
Elsewhere on Saturday, Kawhi Leonard equalled his career playoff high with 32 points as the San Antonio Spurs seized control in the third quarter en route to a 111-82 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies in game one of their first-round Western Conference series.
The Spurs led 74-64 with just under two minutes to play in the third quarter but closed the quarter on a 10-0 run. The Spurs added the first nine points of the fourth quarter to compile 93-64 lead.
Leonard seized control in the third quarter, pumping in 15 points the same amount as the entire Memphis team before sitting out the fourth with the game already in hand.
The Spurs are making their 20th straight postseason appearance, tied for third all-time.
Game two of the bestof-seven series is Monday in San Antonio.
Bucks tame Raptors
In Toronto, Giannis Antetokounmpo tallied 28 points and eight rebounds as the Milwaukee Bucks manhandled the Toronto Raptors 9783 to open their Eastern Conference series.
Malcolm Brogdon delivered 16 points for the Bucks, while Greg Monroe finished with 14 points and 15 rebounds.
DeMar DeRozan led the Raptors with 27 points and grabbed nine rebounds.
The Raptors’ first-game woes continued as they fell to 0-9 in openers of first round playoff series. They are a dismal 1-10 overall in game ones.
In Los Angeles, Joe Johnson hit the clutch winner as time expired, lifting the Utah Jazz to a 97-95 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers at Staples Center.