Wall leads Wiz past Hawks
Washington draws first blood after big third quarter
John Wall scored 32 points — his most ever in the playoffs and Markieff Morris added 21 in his NBA post-season debut as the Washington Wizards beat the Atlanta Hawks 114-107 Sunday in Game 1 of their first-round series.
Wall scored 15 points in the third quarter and finished with 14 assists in the best playoff performance of his young career.
Morris, in his first taste of the post-season after 448 regular season games, caught fire early in the second half to push Washington ahead, and the Wizards held on to take an early series lead.
Wall’s outburst in the third was part of a flurry of offence that saw Washington outscore Atlanta 3828 and reclaim the lead.
Bradley Beal had 22 points for the Wizards, who got enough from their top players to offset 25 points from Atlanta’s Dennis Schroder and 19 from Paul Millsap. Centre Dwight Howard had 14 rebounds but just seven points for the Hawks, who dominated inside and on the boards early but couldn’t contain Wall, Beal and Morris.
DURANT SOLID FOR WARRIORS IN GAME 1
Kevin Durant had 32 points and 10 rebounds in his Golden State playoff debut, Stephen Curry scored 29 points, and the Warriors withstood a sensational day by Portland duo C.J. McCollum and Damian Lillard to beat the Trail Blazers 121-109 on Sunday in Oakland, Calif., in Game 1 of their first-round series.
McCollum had the best playoff game of his career with 41 points, and Lillard had 34. Golden State’s Draymond Green contributed 19 points, 12 rebounds, nine assists and five blocked shots.
Durant shot 12 for 20, showing no issues with a recent left knee injury that sidelined him 19 games before he returned for the final three regular season contests.
Game 2 is Wednesday at Oracle Arena in Oakland.
HARDEN HAS 37 POINTS AS ROCKETS ROUT THUNDER
James Harden scored 37 points to outshine Russell Westbrook and the Houston Rockets coasted to a 118-87 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Sunday in Game 1 of their first-round playoff series.
The best-of-seven Western Conference series continues Wednesday night in Houston.
The third-seeded Rockets were up by 20 when Harden came off the bench with about seven minutes remaining.
He went right to work, making two three-pointers to power a 10-0 run and push the lead to 110-80 with four and a half minutes left.
Westbrook had 22 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists.
BUTLER, BULLS RALLY TO BEAT CELTICS
Jimmy Butler had 30 points and nine rebounds and the Chicago Bulls outlasted the Boston Celtics 106-102 in Game 1 on Sunday on an emotional night for grieving Celtics star Isaiah Thomas.
Playing in Boston a day after 22-year-old sister Chyna Thomas was killed in a car accident in their home state of Washington, Thomas led the top-seeded Celtics with 33 points.
Game 2 is on Tuesday in Boston.