All Game 1s blowouts
- Every NBA first-round Game 1 was decided by at least nine points, an unprecedented pattern across opening weekend. - The specific stat: all opening Game 1s had margins of nine points or more, the first time that's happened in NBA history. - The play-in ran April 14–17 and the playoffs moved into Round 1 on April 18, with Finals slated to begin June 3 and coverage split across ABC, ESPN, NBC and Prime Video (cbssports.com) (espn.com) (pcmag.com).
Every first-round NBA playoff opener this weekend ended as a blowout, with all eight Game 1s decided by at least nine points for the first time in league history. (espn.com) The margins ran from nine points to 35: Lakers 107-98 over the Rockets, Knicks 113-102 over the Hawks, Nuggets 116-105 over the Timberwolves, Cavaliers 126-113 over the Raptors, Spurs 111-98 over the Trail Blazers, Magic 112-101 over the Pistons, Celtics 123-91 over the 76ers, and Thunder 119-84 over the Suns. (landofbasketball.com) Those games were played April 18 and April 19, after the play-in tournament filled the final four spots from April 14 through April 17. Orlando and Phoenix grabbed the No. 8 seeds on April 17, while Philadelphia and Portland had already secured No. 7 on April 15 and April 14. (olympics.com) The pattern cut across both conferences and both seed lines. Four lower seeds lost on the road, but two lower seeds won outright: Orlando beat No. 1 Detroit by 11, and the Lakers, seeded fifth, beat No. 4 Houston by nine. (espn.com) Game 1 is usually the round’s first read on whether a series looks tight or lopsided, and this opening weekend offered almost no late-game suspense. The closest result was that Lakers-Rockets game at nine points; Boston’s 32-point win over Philadelphia and Oklahoma City’s 35-point win over Phoenix were the widest. (landofbasketball.com) The results did not hold into every series. Atlanta answered New York’s 11-point Game 1 loss with a 107-106 Game 2 win on April 20, Cleveland pushed ahead 2-0 against Toronto, and Minnesota evened its series with Denver by winning Game 2 on the road. (olympics.com) The bracket still has a long runway. The first round began April 18, the NBA Finals are scheduled to start June 3, and national coverage is split among ABC, ESPN, NBC and Peacock, with additional streaming on Prime Video for some viewers. (cbssports.com) So the weekend’s clean sweep of non-close openers stands as a snapshot, not a verdict. By Monday night, the playoffs had already produced their first one-point game. (olympics.com)
