Four more first-round series in the 2024 NBA playoffs got started on Sunday, and it was another day of higher seeds defending their home courts. The Celtics, Clippers, Bucks and Thunder were all victorious on Sunday after home teams went 4-0 on Saturday. The Celtics, Clippers and Bucks all won by double-digits, and the Thunder clawed out a victory over the Pelicans in the night cap.
Damian Lillard was one of the stars of the day, scoring 35 points (all in the first half) as the Bucks got off to a strong start against the Pacers with Giannis Antetokounmpo sidelined. The Clippers also won without one of their stars, using a monster first half and strong game from James Harden to beat the Mavericks as Kawhi Leonard missed the game due to a knee injury.
The Celtics -- the East's top seed -- hit 22 3-pointers and cruised to a win over the Heat. But the closest game of the night came in Oklahoma City, where the Thunder beat the Pelicans thanks to a clutch late bucket from MVP finalist Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. CJ McCollum then missed a potential game-winner in the final seconds for eighth-seeded New Orleans.
Below is a recap of the day's scores, along with a few winners and losers from each game.
NBA playoffs scores: Sunday, April 21
- Celtics 114, Heat 94 (Celtics lead 1-0) -- Box score
- Clippers 109, Mavericks 97 (Clippers lead 1-0) -- Box score
- Bucks 109, Pacers 94 (Bucks lead 1-0) -- Box score
- Thunder 94, Pelicans 92 (Thunder lead 1-0) -- Box score
Winner: Basketball curmudgeons
Remember a couple months ago when the outrage du jour was about NBA scoring being WAY TOO HIGH. Well, the vocal minority can put down their pitchforks because the Thunder and Pelicans just finished a playoff game in which neither team hit the century mark. The defense and physicality was some of the best we've seen in the postseason thus far, with Lu Dort's work on Brandon Ingram -- who went 5-for-17 from the field -- the prime example.
The Thunder and Pelicans finished the regular season fourth and sixth, respectively, in defensive efficiency, so we can reasonably expect to see more slugfests as the series progresses -- much to grandpa's delight. - Colin Ward-Henninger
Loser: Alpha Pelicans
In addition to Ingram's rough night, CJ McCollum could never find a groove on Sunday, going 9 for 22 from the field. Overall, the Pelicans' two top scorers (with Zion Williamson out) combined to go 14 for 39 from the field and 2 for 11 from 3-point range with seven turnovers. The clunky series opener was cemented by McCollum getting the ball poked away from him by rookie Cason Wallace on the final possession of the game, followed by a missed runner from beyond the arc that would have given New Orleans the lead.
Credit goes to the aforementioned lock-down OKC defense, but that kind of inefficiency from Ingram and McCollum simply isn't going to get it done this series. - Colin Ward-Henninger
Winner: Front office high fives
As Damian Lillard poured in 35 first-half points -- a Bucks playoff record -- and Pascal Siakam was going off for 36 points and 14 rebounds, you could clearly envision two groups of individuals in logo-emblazoned 3/4 zip pullovers slapping high fives in their respective front-office suites.
Lillard was brought in just before the season to do exactly what he did on Sunday, ripping the hearts out of the Pacers before they even had a chance to get their footing.
Lillard didn't score in the second half, but the increased defensive attention led to great looks for the rest of the Bucks roster.
Meanwhile on the other side, Siakam -- acquired from the Toronto Raptors in January -- was seemingly the only Pacer who could create his own shot in Game 1, lighting up the Bucks with an array of midrange jumpers and forays to the basket. If he can continue that level of performance while the rest of his team catches up, Indiana should have a shot at an upset in the series. - Colin Ward-Henninger
Loser: Tyrese Haliburton
One number from Haliburton's playoff debut stands out like a swollen, jammed finger: seven shot attempts. That's less than half his per-game average from the regular season, and is a recipe for disaster for the Pacers. Haliburton led the league in assists and is one of the best in the world at setting up teammates, but he needs to leverage his shot to keep the defense honest.
Give credit to Doc Rivers and the Bucks for coming up with a solid game plan to take the ball out of his hands, but sometimes a superstar needs to take matters into their own hands. Utah Jazz coach Will Hardy talked about an 85/15 ratio that he outlined for Lauri Markkanen, meaning that 85% of the time it's fine for him to play within the system, but the remaining 15% of the time he needs to forget about the system and just make a play for himself or a teammate. The same applies to Haliburton, who will need to figure out how to get up more shots if the Pacers are going to have a chance. - Colin Ward-Henninger
Winner: James Harden
It looked like we were well on our way through another spin on the James Harden cycle. Harden gets traded? Check. Harden plays great with his new team? Check. Troubling signs emerge down the stretch? Check. Harden collapses in the playoffs?
Well, that may still eventually happen, but it certainly didn't on Sunday. Harden's time as a star appeared to be over in the regular season's final months. He averaged just 15.6 points on below 40% shooting from Feb. 1 on, and with Kawhi Leonard out, it just didn't seem realistic for him at that level to lead the Clippers on a playoff run. Fortunately, Harden didn't play at that level on Sunday. Physically, he looked great. His burst was back. His jumper was in top form. His 28 points and eight assists don't do his performance justice. Harden fully controlled the game offensively for most of the first three quarters.
This is the version of Harden the Clippers need. Some nights will have better individual numbers than others, but Harden's ability to dictate pace, organize an offense and ensure everyone gets the shots they want is what makes the Clippers so dangerous. At his best, he's the counterbalance to their mid-range heavy, isolation offense, and he played that role well in Game 1. - Sam Quinn
Loser: Jason Kidd
Sunday was a golden opportunity for the Mavericks. With Kawhi Leonard out, they were in perfect position to steal home-court advantage. Leonard might be out for Game 2. He might be back at 100%. With Kawhi, we never really know. But once he was ruled out for Game 1, the onus was on Dallas: have your best game now, because you might not have a better chance to win a road game in this series.
The Mavericks looked poorly prepared from the opening tip. They had no answer for the aggressive pick-and-roll defense the Clippers sent at Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving. Their own defense felt completely out of flux early, sending too much help in the wrong directions and leaving others, most notably Ivica Zubac near the rim, too many easy points and rebounds. He couldn't manufacture any easy offense for his own big men. Daniel Gafford and Dereck Lively both shot better than 74% from the field this season because of the easy buckets they got in pick-and-roll. They shot 2-of-7 from the floor in this one.
Coming into this series, coaching was viewed as one of the bigger mismatches in favor of the Clippers. Ty Lue has an excellent playoff track record. Jason Kidd, aside from his 2022 run to the Western Conference Finals, does not. Lue won the Game 1 battle, and if Kidd doesn't make major adjustments, he'll win the war too. - Sam Quinn
Winner: Kristaps Porzingis
You could pick a handful of Celtics. Jayson Tatum picked up his first playoff triple-double, for example, but the most significant performance of the day came from Kristaps Porzingis. Boston acquired him largely because of its offensive woes against Miami, specifically. The idea was that a 7-foot-2 three-level scorer would not only increase the space for everyone else to work with, but would also lead to easy buckets for Porzingis himself simply because nobody is big enough to contest him at that size. Bam Adebayo, Miami's star defensive big man, is only 6-9.
Porzingis delivered proof of concept in Game 1. He made four of his eight 3-point attempts in the win, and in the process, helped get the Celtics rolling on their way to a team playoff-record 22 made 3-pointers. As predicted, Adebayo just wasn't much of a deterrent to Porzingis from deep, and his height poses problems against just about anyone. Put your center on Porzingis and suddenly your primary rim-protector is away from the rim. Put a smaller player on him and he has a mismatch to attack. If there is a good answer to that problem, Miami didn't find it in Game 1. If nobody does this postseason, the Celtics will probably be champions in June. - Sam Quinn
Loser: Tyler Herro
The idea that Tyler Herro either is a star, or perhaps more importantly, could be traded for a star, is basically on life support at this point. His first year as a starter more or less ended with the Heat going on a Finals run without him. The absence of Jimmy Butler this postseason has given him a chance to prove that he can be a primary ball-handler on a playoff offense.
He shot 9-of-27 against the 76ers in the first Play-In game, rebounded nicely against the Bulls in the second, but fell back down to 4-of-13 against Boston on Sunday. Herro is now in his fifth season. He's playing on an expensive contract. And at this stage, it's looking likelier and likelier that he is merely a good role player as opposed to someone who can help lead Miami over that last hurdle it needs to make in order to win a championship. It's not easy to score on Jrue Holiday and Derrick White, but that's what stars do. If Herro can't, well, that might be the final nail in that coffin. - Sam Quinn