Timberwolves howl at Suns
Anthony Edwards scored 18 of his 33 points in the third quarter and had nine rebounds to carry the Timberwolves in a tone-setting 120-95 victory over the Suns to start the first round of the NBA playoffs on Saturday.
Karl-Anthony Towns added 19 points, Nickeil Alexander-Walker scored 18 points on 7-for-12 shooting and Rudy Gobert locked down the lane with 14 points, 16 rebounds and constant shot-altering defense to lead the Wolves to their first Game 1 home win in the playoffs in 20 years. The sixth-seeded Suns won all three regular-season matchups in which the third-seeded Wolves trailed by double digits for the entirety of the second halves.
“We just wanted to show we were the desperate team,” Edwards said.
Kevin Durant scored 31 points on 11-for-17 shooting to lead the Suns, whose disadvantages in depth and size were exploited. Devin Booker had 18 points on 5-for-16 shooting and Bradley Beal added 15 points, but the Suns were outrebounded 52-28 and outscored 52-34 in the paint by the Wolves.
Game 2 is in Minneapolis on Tuesday.
“It’s going to be hard to beat these guys,” said Edwards, who shot 14 for 24. “It’s just one game. They’re going to be ready to go the next time we play them.”
Edwards led a 19-4 run to close the third quarter, stretching his arms wide to connect with the crowd after a couple of his biggest shots down that stretch. He stared and barked at Durant, who could only grin at the 22-year-old’s bravado. With 3:37 left, Edwards put the bow on this performance by stealing the ball from Durant and finishing with a slam on the other end.
Mitchell, Cavaliers open the playoffs with win:
Donovan Mitchell and the Cavaliers spent the week insisting they were better prepared for this year’s playoffs.
On Saturday, they looked it.
Mitchell scored 30 points, Jarrett Allen had 18 rebounds and the Cavs looked tougher — mentally and physically — than in last year’s first-round flop, beating the Magic 97-83 in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference playoff series.
“Last year is over with,” Mitchell said. “We flushed that. This is who we are, and this is who we expect to be.”
Evan Mobley added 16 points and Darius Garland had 14 for the Cavs, who got bullied and bounced in just five games by the Knicks in the 2023 postseason. That experience scarred the Cavs, who entered these playoffs more confident, deeper and relatively healthy.
Knicks hang on to beat 76ers in Game 1:
Jalen Brunson and Josh Hart each scored 22 points, Deuce McBride led a huge effort by the Knicks’ backups with 21 and the Knicks beat the 76ers 111-104 on Saturday night in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference first-round series.
McBride outscored the 76ers by himself with 13 points in the second, when Joel Embiid had to leave after appearing to reinjure his surgically repaired left knee on a dunk. He returned and rallied the 76ers into the lead in the second half, but Josh Hart hit a couple big 3-pointers in the fourth quarter to help the Knicks pull it out.