NBA Playoffs Recap 2024: Celtics and Thunder Dominate Opening Games

Luka Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks, on the other hand, forced Oklahoma City to exert more effort before they were able to pull away and win their Western Conference semifinal series 117-95.

The Boston Celtics, who are vying for a record 18th NBA championship, won handily with 32 points from Jaylen Brown and 25 from Derrick White, including seven three-pointers.

Boston won handily at the TD Garden, dominating the game for the majority of it and maintaining a double-digit advantage throughout the second half.

The standout player from Boston, Jayson Tatum, added 18 points but shot poorly that evening, going only 7 of 19 from the field.

Donovan Mitchell scored 33 points to lead Cleveland, followed by Darius Garland’s 14 and Evan Mobley’s 17.
Brown claimed that the victory had been made possible by the Celtics’ defense.

Brown said to TNT television, “It starts with defense. We wanted to set the tone on defense and we kept them under 100 (points).”

“However, we play the game correctly, observe what they want to take away, and then we play again because we feel like we have the answer to everything.”

Boston got off to a fast start, leading 12-2 at the beginning of the first quarter. However, Cleveland rallied and Mitchell’s running three-pointer gave them a 23-21 advantage.

However, Boston reacted quickly, taking the lead back right away and never letting Cleveland move ahead again.

Boston pushed hard in the second half, building a 26-point lead in the fourth quarter as they cruised to an easy victory. Boston had led by 10 points at the break. The series’ second game is scheduled for this Thursday in Boston.

Also Read: Anthony Edwards Leads Timberwolves to Victory in Thrilling Game 1 Against Nuggets

Thunder Roll Past Mavericks

The Thunder and Mavericks engaged in a back-and-forth battle in Oklahoma City, with the top seeds pulling away convincingly in the fourth quarter.

Dallas, behind by nine points at the half, came back in the third quarter to cut the deficit to one point, 66-65.

However, the inexperienced Thunder lineup started to find their rhythm, with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scoring 10 points in the third quarter to help OKC take a 10-point lead into the fourth.

Jalen Williams added ten more points in the fourth quarter as Oklahoma City’s offensive frenzy continued. The Thunder defeated their opponents 28-16 to win by a 22-point margin.

Gilgeous-Alexander finished with 29 points, nine rebounds, and nine assists to lead OKC in scoring. Williams and Chet Holmgren both contributed 19 points and eight rebounds.

Dallas was led by Kyrie Irving, who scored 20 points, while Luka Doncic, who was dealing with a painful knee, only managed to score 19 points on six of his 19 field goal attempts.

After sweeping the New Orleans Pelicans in the first round, Oklahoma City—whose average age is just over 23—became the youngest team to win a postseason series and the youngest club to win a game in the second round of the playoffs.

Following the victory, Gilgeous-Alexander remarked, “We don’t worry about all the statistics and the stats, and how young we are.” “We concentrate on winning basketball games at a high level because that is all we want.”
“We made an effort to finish that tonight, and we succeeded.”

Doncic stated that the Mavericks would have to significantly improve for Thursday’s game two in Oklahoma City.
The Slovenian celebrity dismissed inquiries on his personal performance during filming.

Who gives a damn? We were defeated. All we can do is go on to the next one. We all need to improve, including me,” Doncic declared.
It won’t be simple at all because they have excellent offensive and defensive players. We will need to play excellent, concentrated basketball for forty-eight minutes.