All 16 teams have made their 2016 playoff debuts. We’re far from psychologists, but here’s what each team might be thinking after their respective Game 1s.
Warriors: “Let's score like hell the first half so we don’t have to over-extend Curry for the rest of this series.”
Rockets: “It can’t get much worse than Game 1. Right?”
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Thunder: “Man, those Mavericks are old.”
Mavericks: “Man, we’re old.”
Spurs: “That third quarter thing … we should keep doing that.”
Grizzlies: “Sure would be nice to have Marc Gasol and Mike Conley right about now."
Clippers: “Those young kids never knew what hit them.”
Trail Blazers: "Playoffs are tough."
Cavaliers: “So this is how this Big Three thing works, huh? Pretty cool.”
Pistons: “Well, we can’t beat the refs and LeBron James, can we?”
Raptors: “You know, it’d probably be easy to win a playoff series if we started ahead one of these days. We should try that."
Pacers: “We missed Paul George. It sure is good to have No. 13 back.”
Hornets: “If we keep playing like this, we’ll have to ride back to Charlotte in a plane with 'Crying Jordan' on it.”
Heat: “Who needs LeBron James when you’ve got Luol Deng dropping 31?”
Hawks: “Man, we were lucky to get away with one.”
Celtics: “They got lucky, with a lot of help from the refs.”
Tweet of the Night
Just another night at the office for Kawhi Leonard (20 points) and Co. as the Spurs cruised to a 106-74 win over the Grizzlies.
Kawhi (3 steals) runs the break and throws down! #SPURSvGRIZZLIES Game 1 in 2Q on TNT! #NBAVine https://t.co/fvox48Iz89
— NBA (@NBA) April 18, 2016
Studs of the Night
Kyrie Irving (31 points) and Kevin Love (28 points, 13 rebounds) came up big as the Cavaliers came away with a 106-101 win over the Pistons.
Chris Paul led by example Sunday night, scoring 28 points and dishing out 11 assists as his Clippers rolled to a 115-95 win over the Trail Blazers.
Dud of the Night
The Hornets looked lost from start to finish against the Heat, allowing Miami to jump out to a 41-22 first-quarter lead en route to a 123-91 blowout victory.
Monday's Games
Rockets at Warriors, (GS 1-0) 10:30 P.M., TNT: Will Stephen Curry play or won’t he? Curry and Patrick Beverley seem sure that the league’s reigning MVP will be back in the lineup in time for Monday’s game, despite Steve Kerr’s lack of a definitive answer.
Pacers at Raptors (Toronto 1-0) 7:00 P.M., NBA TV: The Raptors will look to rebound from a disappointing Game 1 performance by their high-powered backcourt.
Mavericks at Thunder (OKC 1-0) 8:00 P.M., TNT: The Mavs get another shot at slowing down Kevin Durant and Co.