Spring’s up and down weather patterns could not compare to the chaos which has engulfed the NBA postseason this year as the first round matchups started Saturday with a bang.
The Clippers, Rockets, Grizzlies, Bulls and Cavaliers all won the first game of their respective matchups by double digits, certifying an essential 1-0 lead in their series’.
Headlining the first-round games was the surprising game-one outcome of the Clippers and Spurs series. San Antonio, the reigning NBA champions, were crushed by the Clippers 107-92 in Los Angeles.
“Their defense was better than our offense,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said in a postgame press conference on TNT.
The Spurs, who enter the playoffs as the fifth seed in the much tougher western conference will be down in a series for the first time in two years.
Sadly for the Spurs, many other opponents appear as major threats even if they were to advance past Los Angeles.
The Memphis Grizzlies, led by surprise star Beno Udrih, stomped the Trail Blazers 100-86 in Memphis by dominating Portland in the first half.
Udrih scored 20 points for the Grizzlies, and Marc Gasol pulled down 11 rebounds in the game-one upset.
“It was a rough night all around,” said Portland head coach Terry Stotts.
Portland joins San Antonio, New Orleans and Dallas as the four Western Conference teams who are down 1-0 in their playoff series.
As for the other half of the league, the top teams in the Eastern conference reigned supreme in their first games.
The Cavaliers routed the Boston Celtics 113-100 in Cleveland behind an impressive 30-point night from young superstar Kyrie Irving.
Washington, Atlanta and Chicago all won their first games as well, putting a tremendous amount of pressure for those who lost.