LOS ANGELES (AP) — Chris Paul scored 32 points, Blake Griffin added 26 points and 12 rebounds, and Los Angeles surged in the second half to beat San Antonio 107-92 in their first-round playoff series opener.
Jamal Crawford added 17 points for the Clippers, who met the defending NBA champions’ challenge in a difficult postseason-opening matchup for two powers. Griffin threw down his usual array of roof-raising dunks, while Paul quarterbacked Los Angeles to an 18-point lead in the third quarter.
Kawhi Leonard scored 18 points for the Spurs, who had won the opening game in their previous 11 playoff series.
HAWKS 99, NETS 92
ATLANTA (AP) — Kyle Korver scored 21 points, including five 3-pointers, and the top-seeded Atlanta Hawks held off the Brooklyn Nets 99-92 in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference playoff series Sunday night.
The Hawks led nearly the entire game and pushed the margin as high as 16 points, but the Nets kept coming back. Finally, Jeff Teague dropped in a floater coming off the left wing, giving Atlanta a 95-89 lead. Joe Johnson missed a 3-pointer from the corner for Brooklyn, and Teague made a pair of free throws with just under a minute remaining to essentially seal it.
GRIZZLIES 100, TRAIL BLAZERS 86
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — Reserve Beno Udrih scored 20 points and Memphis never trailed in routing Portland in Game 1 of the Western Conference first-round series.
Zach Randolph had 16 points and 11 rebounds, and Marc Gasol added 15 points and 11 rebounds. Mike Conley finished with 16 points and didn’t play the fourth quarter.
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