Paolo Banchero collected 23 points and nine rebounds as the visiting Orlando Magic never trailed in upsetting the top-seeded Detroit Pistons 112-101 in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference first-round series on Sunday.

Every Magic starter scored at least 16 points. Franz Wagner supplied 19 points, five rebounds and four assists while Wendell Carter Jr. and Desmond Bane each contributed 17 points and five assists. Jalen Suggs had 16 points, four assists and three steals.

The Pistons have lost 11 straight playoff home games dating back to the 2008 Eastern Conference finals.

Cade Cunningham carried Detroit with 39 points. Tobias Harris was the only other Piston in double figures with 17 points. All-Star center Jalen Duren attempted only four shots in 33 minutes while being held to eight points and seven rebounds. Orlando shot 48.9% from the field while limiting Detroit to 40.3% shooting.

Thunder 119, Suns 84

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 25 points to pace Oklahoma City to a blowout of visiting Phoenix in Game 1 of their Western Conference first-round series.

Gilgeous-Alexander was just 5 of 18 from the field but went 15 of 17 from the free-throw line and had a game-high seven assists. Jalen Williams added 22 points, seven rebounds and six assists in just 29 minutes while Chet Holmgren contributed 16 points.

The Suns, who shot just 34.9% from the field, were led by Devin Booker’s 23 points. Dillon Brooks added 18 and Jalen Green 17. The Thunder scored 34 points off 19 Phoenix turnovers.

Celtics 123, 76ers 91

Jaylen Brown scored a game-high 26 points and Jayson Tatum added 25 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists to lead Boston over visiting Philadelphia in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference first-round playoff series.

Sam Hauser made 4 of 6 attempts from 3-point range to add 12 points for the second-seeded Celtics, who never trailed. Neemias Queta was in foul trouble for much of the game but scored 13 points in 15 minutes of playing time.

Seventh-seeded Philadelphia received 21 points with eight assists from Tyrese Maxey and 17 from Paul George. The 76ers shot 38.9% from the floor, including 4 of 23 (17.4%) from 3-point territory. Philadelphia also committed 15 turnovers, which helped Boston hold a 22-3 edge in points off turnovers.

Spurs 111, Trail Blazers 98

Victor Wembanyama hit for 35 points in his postseason debut as host San Antonio Spurs outlasted Portland in Game 1 of their Western Conference first-round playoff series.

Wembanyama broke Tim Duncan’s franchise record (32 in 1998) for points in a playoff debut. He led all first-half scorers with 21 points — a league record for most in the first half of an NBA playoff debut going back to 1997, the start of the play-by-play era. Stephon Castle and De’Aaron Fox added 17 points apiece for the Spurs, with Devin Vassell scoring 15 and Luke Kornet hitting for 10.

Deni Avdija racked up 30 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Trail Blazers. Scoot Henderson scored 18, Robert Williams III had 11, Shaedon Sharpe hit for 10 and Jrue Holiday distributed 11 assists along with nine points.

–Field Level Media

Victor Wembanyama hit for 35 points in his postseason debut as the host San Antonio Spurs used a fourth-quarter run to create separation in a 111-98 win over the Portland Trail Blazers on Sunday in Game 1 of their Western Conference first-round playoff series.

The Spurs took a 1-0 lead in the best-of-seven series with Game 2 on Tuesday in the Alamo City before switching to Portland for Games 3 and 4.

Wembanyama broke Tim Duncan’s franchise record (32 in 1998) for points in a playoff debut. He led all first-half scorers with 21 points — a league record for most in the first half of an NBA playoff debut going back to 1997, the start of the play-by-play era.

“It’s good to get this one out of the way,” Wembanyama said. “We just tried to do the things we’ve been doing all year and stay solid. There was pressure on us to win the first game, but it wasn’t that much pressure if we just stayed to the plan.”

San Antonio, the second seed in the West, led by 10 at halftime and by 15 after three quarters before all but cementing the win by scoring the first six points of the fourth quarter to go up 93-72.

The seventh-seeded Trail Blazers clawed their way back to within 11 via a 13-3 run capped by Deni Avdija’s dunk with 4:27 to play, but San Antonio held strong down the stretch.

“Something that we learned is that every possession matters,” Scoot Henderson said. “Next game I think we are all gonna be more aggressive defensively. I feel like I could be more aggressive. Defensively I think there could be something more in the tank.”

Stephon Castle and De’Aaron Fox added 17 points apiece for the Spurs, with Devin Vassell scoring 15 and Luke Kornet hitting for 10.

Avdija racked up 30 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Trail Blazers. Henderson scored 18, Robert Williams III had 11, Shaedon Sharpe hit for 10 and Jrue Holiday distributed 11 assists along with nine points.

The Spurs jumped to the front in the game’s early moments, building a nine-point lead on Fox’s stepback 3-pointer at the 2:35 mark of the first quarter and jumping out to a 30-21 advantage after 12 minutes of play.

San Antonio stoked the margin to 50-34 when Kornet threw down an alley-oop dunk from Castle with 5:24 to play in the second quarter. Avdija’s three-point play with 2:28 left culled the deficit to seven points before Wembanyama poured in a layup and then a 3-pointer on back-to-back possessions to push the lead back to a dozen points. The Spurs led 59-49 at the break.

“(Wembanyama) has lofty expectations and goals for himself, and being in the playoffs is squarely a part of a lot of that,” Spurs coach Mitch Johnson said. “So it’s good to get the first one and kind of get that experience under your belt.”

Avdija paced the Trail Blazers with 19 points over the opening two periods.

The Trail Blazers reeled off the first eight points of the third quarter and had four chances to tie the game or go in front but committed three turnovers and missed a shot over that stretch.

“It’s hard to say,” said Portland coach Tiago Splitter when asked if the team’s lack of playoff experience played a role in the loss. “It’s the first time we’ve played against Wemby this season so there’s a lot to learn. It wasn’t our best night. It’s really hard to take him out of the paint. Those five threes really hurt us.”

San Antonio regained its stride and built the lead to a game-high 17 points on Julian Champagnie’s 3-pointer with 53 seconds to play in the period before settling for an 87-72 lead heading into the final 12 minutes.

“Our first timeout, in the first quarter, I think it took everybody a minute to kind of settle in,” Vassell said. “Even in the second half, it took a minute when (Portland) went on a run. Basketball is a game of runs, so if we can withstand that, get some stops and start getting some good looks we knew we’d be all right.”

–Field Level Media

Third-year San Antonio Spurs star Victor Wembanyama is a first-time NBA Most Valuable Player candidate along with Nikola Jokic of the Denver Nuggets and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of the Oklahoma City Thunder, the league announced Sunday.

The league announced the MVP finalists, along with the finalists for the rest of its 2025-26 season awards, during the broadcast of the opening game of the Orlando Magic versus Detroit Pistons playoff series on NBC.

Wembanyama, who is also a finalist for Defensive Player of the Year, averaged a career-best 25.0 points and 11.5 rebounds and led the league with 3.1 blocks per game. He would be the youngest MVP in league history at 22 years old, a few months younger than Derrick Rose was in 2010-11.

To do so, he’ll have to beat out the last two league MVPs in Gilgeous-Alexander (31.1 ppg, 6.6 assists per game, 4.3 rpg), who won his first MVP last season, and Jokic (27.7 ppg, 12.9 rpg, 10.7 apg), who won his third in 2023-24.

Detroit’s Ausar Thompson and Oklahoma City’s Chet Holmgren are the other two finalists for DPOY, which Wembanyama is heavily favored to win.

Three of the first four picks in last year’s draft are the finalists for Rookie of the Year. No. 1 pick Cooper Flagg of Dallas (21.0 ppg, 6.7 rpg, 4.5 apg, 1.2 steals per game), No. 3 pick VJ Edgecombe of Philadelphia (16.0 ppg, 5.6 rpg, 4.2 apg, 1.4 spg) and No. 4 pick Kon Knueppel of Charlotte (18.5 ppg, 5.3 rpg, 3.4 apg, league-high 273 made 3-pointers) earned the recognition.

Atlanta’s Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Portland’s Deni Avdija and Detroit’s Jalen Duren are the three finalists for Most Improved Player. In his first season in Atlanta, Alexander-Walker averaged 20.8 points — 9.8 more than in any of his first six seasons. Avdija averaged a career-high 24.2 points, and Duren — like Avdija a first-time All-Star — averaged 19.5 points, far exceeding the 11.8 he averaged last season.

The Nuggets’ Tim Hardaway Jr., Miami’s Jaime Jaquez Jr. and San Antonio’s Keldon Johnson are the finalists for Sixth Man of the Year.

Minnesota’s Anthony Edwards, Denver’s Jamal Murray and Gilgeous-Alexander are finalists for Clutch Player of the Year. Any of them would be a first-time winner of the award, which will be given out for the fourth time this year.

Three coaches of top-two seeded teams were named finalists for Coach of the Year in Detroit’s J.B. Bickerstaff, San Antonio’s Mitch Johnson and Boston’s Joe Mazzulla. Whoever wins will be a first-time COTY.

The award winners will start being announced this coming week during playoff broadcasts, starting Monday with Defensive Player of the Year, Clutch Player on Tuesday, Sixth Man on Wednesday and Most Improved Player on Friday.

NBA award finalists

Most Valuable Player
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (Oklahoma City)
Nikola Jokic (Denver)
Victor Wembanyama (San Antonio)

Rookie of the Year
VJ Edgecombe (Philadelphia)
Cooper Flagg (Dallas)
Kon Knueppel (Charlotte)

Defensive Player of the Year
Chet Holmgren (Oklahoma City)
Ausar Thompson (Detroit)
Victor Wembanyama (San Antonio)

Most Improved Player
Nickeil Alexander-Walker (Atlanta)
Deni Avdija (Portland)
Jalen Duren (Detroit)

Sixth Man of the Year
Tim Hardaway Jr. (Denver)
Jaime Jaquez Jr. (Miami)
Keldon Johnson (San Antonio)

Clutch Player of the Year
Anthony Edwards (Minnesota)
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (Oklahoma City)
Jamal Murray (Denver)

Coach of the Year
J.B. Bickerstaff (Detroit)
Mitch Johnson (San Antonio)
Joe Mazzulla (Boston)

–Field Level Media

Paolo Banchero collected 23 points and nine rebounds as the visiting Orlando Magic upset the top-seeded Detroit Pistons, 112-101, in Game 1 of their first-round Eastern Conference series on Sunday.

The visiting Magic never trailed as every starter scored at least 16 points. Franz Wagner supplied 19 points, five rebounds and four assists while Wendell Carter Jr. and Desmond Bane each contributed 17 points and five assists. Jalen Suggs had 16 points, four assists and three steals.

“I’ll say it’s a step in the right direction for the team, for this group, obviously, with our past track record on the road in the playoffs,” Banchero said. “We just have to get ready for Wednesday. See what we did well, what we can clean up. Obviously, we expect them to come out with a lot of energy and we just have to be ready for that.”

The Pistons have lost 11 straight playoff home games dating back to the 2008 Eastern Conference finals.

Cade Cunningham carried Detroit with 39 points. Tobias Harris was the only other Piston in double figures with 17 points. All-Star center Jalen Duren attempted only four shots in 33 minutes while being held to eight points and seven rebounds. The Magic shot 48.9% from the field while limiting the Pistons to 40.3% shooting.

“(The Pistons have) been off. We found a little bit of rhythm playing so many games, so that always plays a part in it,” Magic coach Jamahl Mosley said. “But I’m still just happy that our guys came out and defended the right way. We were intentional in how we executed our offense. I think those are the things that we talked about being able to do against a great team like this. How they turn you over, how they defend, how they rebound the basketball — all those small things within the game. I was happy that we accomplished that with this group.”

Orlando reached the first round by defeating Charlotte in the play-in tournament on Friday and came out on fire.

The Magic built an 18-5 lead less than five minutes into the game. Detroit closed the gap to two late in the quarter, but Orlando responded with a 6-0 spurt. The Magic held the lead throughout the second quarter and clung to a 55-51 advantage at halftime.

“I thought we were a little rusty to start,” Detroit coach J.B. Bickerstaff said. “Coming out, giving up a 35-point (first) quarter; that’s not typical for us. It felt like we were just chasing them all night. We made some runs to get ourselves back in the ball game. Defensively, I didn’t think we were our best. Critical errors, mistakes that they made us pay for. Getting back used to playing at NBA speed, I think got a little bit.”

Orlando opened the second half with an 8-1 run. Detroit responded with a 13-2 run, capped by a Cunningham 3-pointer, to make it 65-65 at the 7:04 mark.

The Magic never allowed the Pistons to pull even again. Orlando answered with a 14-3 run sparked by reserve guard Anthony Black, who had five points and two assists during that stretch. Detroit was down by seven, 81-74, entering the fourth.

The Magic made their first seven field-goal attempts in the quarter but still couldn’t quite pull away. The lead was still seven with 3:45 remaining.

Wagner then made a layup and a free throw to make it 106-96. Suggs scored on an alley-oop with 2:13 remaining and the Pistons never got closer than seven the rest of the way.

“Just not coming out ready to play,” Pistons forward Ausar Thompson said. “They came out and they hit us first. So, we have to do a better job of coming out and hitting them first and executing our coverages better.”

–Field Level Media

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 25 points to lead the Oklahoma City Thunder to a 119-84 blowout of the visiting Phoenix Suns on Sunday in Game 1 of their Western Conference first-round series.

Gilgeous-Alexander was just 5 of 18 from the field but went 15 of 17 from the free-throw line. He also finished with a game-high seven assists to go with two blocks and no turnovers.

Jalen Williams added 22 points, seven rebounds and six assists in just 29 minutes while Chet Holmgren contributed 16 points.

“We’re the best version of ourselves when he’s the best version of himself,” Gilgeous-Alexander said of Williams.

The Suns, who shot just 34.9% from the field, were led by Devin Booker’s 23 points. Dillon Brooks added 18 and Jalen Green 17.

After a week off between games, the Thunder showed some rust offensively – shooting just 30.4% from 3-point range — but their defense did more than enough to pick up the slack.

The Thunder scored 34 points off 19 Phoenix turnovers as they swiped a script from the Suns, who used defense to fuel their offense in Friday’s play-in tournament win over Golden State.

“They just keep coming,” said Suns coach Jordan Ott. “It doesn’t matter who they bring in games, you play their style of basketball. They continuously bring it in waves. It feels like even when they go without their two bigs (Holmgren and Isaiah Hartenstein), their activity and energy picks up.”

Oklahoma City grabbed control early with a 19-2 run to take a 26-14 lead late in the first quarter. Phoenix went nearly six minutes without a field goal during the stretch, missing eight consecutive shots.

Less than five minutes into the game, Brooks lost the ball and Holmgren grabbed it. Brooks swatted toward the ball but instead made contact with Holmgren’s face, drawing a flagrant foul.

The Suns lost Jordan Goodwin to a calf injury in the second quarter, limiting him to just five minutes.

The Thunder led by as many as 25 in the first half, but the Suns started the third quarter strong. They scored nine quick points coming out of halftime to cut the deficit to 15.

But Oklahoma City outscored Phoenix 29-13 over the final 10 minutes of the quarter to grab control and enable the Thunder to sit most of their starters for the fourth.

The Thunder finished with just eight turnovers.

Game 2 is Wednesday in Oklahoma City.

–Field Level Media

There was no secret to what the New York Knicks were going to do Saturday night in the opening game of the Eastern Conference quarterfinals.

Nor do the Atlanta Hawks expect there to be any mystery Monday night.

The Knicks will look to take a commanding lead in first-round clash Monday night, when they host the Hawks in Game 2 of the best-of-seven series.

The Knicks didn’t trail for the final three-plus quarters of Game 1 Saturday night, when they held off a late comeback by the visiting Hawks to earn a 113-102 victory.

Jalen Brunson scored 19 of his game-high 28 points in the first quarter for the Knicks, who improved to 6-2 in series openers over the last three years.

Brunson drained just one field goal over the final three quarters Saturday, but fellow starters OG Anunoby, Josh Hart, Karl-Anthony Towns and Mikal Bridges combined for 54 points on 17-of-32 shooting in the last 36 minutes.

The balanced attack is nothing new for the Knicks, whose starters combined to average 89.2 points per game during the regular season.

“We feel like the team is deep and anybody can get going at any time,” Knicks head coach Mike Brown said. “For us, it’s about sacrificing and not worrying about shots, minutes or anything like that.”

The Knicks, who allowed the fifth-fewest points in the league (110.1) while also limiting opponents to 46 percent shooting during the regular season, also recovered from a slow start to clamp down defensively upon the Hawks in the second half.

“I think coming into tonight, we kind of expected the Knicks to just play their style of basketball,” Hawks forward Jalen Johnson said. “I think we did a good job of coming out prepared for that. And then I think in the second half, we’ve just got to continue to play our brand of basketball, continue to play how we play.”

Atlanta, which ranked sixth in the NBA with 118.5 points per game and fifth in 3-point shooting at 37.1 percent, trailed 57-55 at halftime after shooting 45.5%, including 50% (8 of 16) from long distance.

But the Hawks had just 19 points in the third quarter and shot 28.6% (6-of-21) from 3-point land in the second half. The 102 points were tied for the sixth-fewest Atlanta has scored in the 43 games following the trade of Trae Young on Jan. 9.

“Our level of physicality without fouling was really good in the second half,” Brown said.

The Hawks didn’t heat up until the waning minutes of the fourth quarter, when they hit a trio of 3-pointers during an 11-0 run that cut a 19-point deficit to 106-98.

“The formula for us and our identity has been to run and move the ball,” Hawks head coach Quin Snyder said. “And it’s not like we didn’t do that, but we need to do more of it.”

–Field Level Media

The Denver Nuggets’ halftime adjustments in Game 1 on Saturday spurred them to a 116-105 win over Minnesota. Now, it’s the visiting Timberwolves’ turn to adjust for Game 2 of their Western Conference quarterfinal series on Monday night.

Minnesota missed 14 of its first 16 shots in the third quarter, when Denver built a 15-point lead. The Timberwolves cut it to 97-95 in the fourth quarter, but two turnovers contributed to a Nuggets’ run that put it away.

It is only one game, and No. 6 Minnesota has an opportunity to steal one from No. 3 Denver before heading home for Games 3 and 4.

“No one wants to have a moral victory, but we understand we had every opportunity to win that game and down the stretch, we cut it to two,” Ayo Dosunmu said. “We just have to be better.”

Composure and the ability to defend without fouling will be vital if the Timberwolves want to even the series. Jaden McDaniels hit a turnaround jumper that ended a Minnesota drought in the third quarter, and then drew a technical for pushing Nuggets star Nikola Jokic in the back after the bucket.

The Timberwolves had 25 personal fouls that led to 33 free-throw attempts for Denver, 16 by Jamal Murray. He didn’t miss from the line, and the Nuggets missed just three overall.

Minnesota’s chances to pull off the upset in the series hinge on star guard Anthony Edwards. He missed 11 of the final 14 games of the regular season due to a balky right knee, and Timberwolves head coach Chris Finch said Edwards looked “rusty” Saturday.

Edwards acknowledged he struggled.

“I haven’t played in like a month, month and a half, so, I was a little fatigued,” he said despite tallying 22 points, nine rebounds, seven assists and three blocks.

Denver is hoping to get fully healthy for the rest of the series if forward Peyton Watson can return from a right hamstring strain. Watson has not played since aggravating the hamstring injury on April 1. He initially sustained the injury Feb. 4 and missed more than six weeks.

The Nuggets do have Jokic and Murray healthy, and they were a force in Game 1. Jokic recorded the 22nd triple-double of his playoff career, and Murray scored 30 points despite going 7-for-22 from the field. He did most of his damage from the line and disputed Minnesota’s grumblings in the disparity of foul calls.

“I thought I got fouled on every single one of them. I don’t know what everybody is talking about,” Murray said. “They were real fouls.”

Denver has been on a roll since losing to Memphis on March 18. The Nuggets won their final 12 games of the regular season to overtake the Los Angeles Lakers for the third seed and secure a third playoff meeting in four years against the Timberwolves to build on a budding rivalry.

“I think some people say it’s the same teams. I don’t think it’s the same teams,” Jokic said. “People are more experienced, different players. One player can change the whole situation, the whole rotation, the whole momentum of the team.”

–Field Level Media