Lakers bow to Trail Blazers
It was a night of upsets as No. 8 seeds the Portland Trailblazers and Orlando Magic stunned the No. 1 seeds Los Angeles Lakers and Milwaukee Bucks in Game 1 of their playoff series Tuesday in Orlando.
This is the first time since 2003 that the No. 1 seeds in the Western and Eastern Conference have been defeated by the No. 8 seeds to start their postseasons.
LeBron James had a triple-double -- 23 points, 17 rebounds, and 16 assists -- but these were not enough to lead the Lakers to victory.
Damian "Dame Dolla" Lillard scored 34 points to power Portland to a 100-93 victory, spoiling James' first playoff appearance for the Lakers.
However, James became the first player to have 20 plus points, 15 plus rebounds and 15 plus assists in the playoffs. He also had his 24th postseason triple-double and career playoff high in assists.
Jusuf Nurkic had 16 points and 15 rebounds for the Blazers. Anthony Davis had 28 points and 11 rebounds for the Lakers who is making their first post season apperance in seven years.
The Lakers fired bricks as they shot 15.6 percent (5 for 32) from downtown.
Bucks yield to Magic
The Magic tightened their defense on Giannis Antetokounmpo to post a 122-110 win over the Bucks.
Giannis had 31 points, 17 rebounds and seven assists but was held without a field goal by a stingy Magic defense in the final 11 minutes.
The Bucks is known for their defense and holding opponents to 41.4 percent shooting. But their vaunted 'D' was not around this time and they yielded three 30-point quarters in the game, and the Magic's own defense forced the Bucks into 16 turnovers.
Nikola Vucevic had a playoff career-high 35 points and 14 rebounds, Terrence Ross scored 18 points, Gary Clark added 15 and D.J. Augustin had 11 points and 11 assists for Orlando.
Orlando led most the game and they had an answer for every Bucks' run.
Harden powers Rockets past Thunder
James Harden scored 37 points and grabbed 11 rebounds to power the Houston Rockets past the Oklahoma City Thunder 108-123 in Game 1 of their Western Conference playoff series.
Shooting was not a problem for Houston who was without Russell Westbrook with an injury.
The Rockets made 20 3-pointers and shot 48 percent from the field.
Harden was complemented by Jeff Green and Eric Gordon who scored 22 and 21 points respectively.
Danilo Gallinari matched a playoff career high with 29 points, Chris Paul had 20 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists, and Steven Adams added 17 points and 12 rebounds for Oklahoma.
Butler lifts Heat vs Pacers
Jimmy Butler made two triples late in the fourth quarter to lead the Miami Heat past the Indiana Pacers 113-101 in Game 1 of their first round Eastern Conference playoff matchup.
Butler scored 28 and Goran Dragic had 24 for the Heat. Bam Adebayo had 17 points, 10 rebounds and six assists for the Heat.
T.J. Warren and Malcolm Brogdon had 22 points apiece for the Pacers.
Indiana's Victor Oladipo was scratched in the left eye. He was taken to the NBA clinic for evaluation and will be monitored in the next few days. (Compiled by Tristan Lozano)