The Boston Celtics kicked off their NBA playoff campaign with a 114-94 victory over the Miami Heat.
Jayson Tatum’s triple-double helped the top seeds take the lead against last season’s losing finalists.
The Heat entered the play-offs as the eighth seed after defeating the Chicago Bulls in a play-in playoff.
But without injured star Jimmy Butler, the Heat found the Celtics too strong in the best-of-seven series opener.
Tatum scored 23 points, grabbed 10 rebounds and dished out 10 assists – and was one of six players to score in double figures for Boston, but warned his team they “can’t relax” against the team that knocked them out of the play-offs last year. .
“They’re not going to give up, they’re not going to give up,” he said.
There are 16 teams in the first round of the play-offs, playing best-of-seven series in a knockout format. The eight winners move on to the next round.
James Harden scored 28 points as the Los Angeles Clippers beat the Dallas Mavericks 109-97 in the first game of the series.
The home team was leading 56-30 at halftime and despite the comeback led by Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving, with 33 and 31 points respectively, the Mavericks had a lot to do.
Damian Lillard scored all 35 points in the first half as the Milwaukee Bucks defeated the Indiana Pacers 109-94 despite the absence of Giannis Antetokounmpo.
His 35 points were a record for any Bucks player in either half of a play-off game.
The Bucks defense held the prolific Pacers offense under 100 points for the second time this season.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 28 points for the Oklahoma City Thunder, helping them to a thrilling 94-92 victory against the New Orleans Pelicans.
In the Thunder’s first play-off game since 2020, Gilgeous-Alexander made two key baskets in the final two minutes to give Oklahoma City the series lead.
