The Chicago Bulls took the home court advantage from Boston Celtics already in the first game of the series. That was the most important news of the night. In other games, James Harden and the Houston Rockets blew away Oklahoma City Thunder and Russell Westbrook, Washington Wizards were confident against Atlanta Hawks and the Golden State Warriors started playing when they needed the most and easily broke Portland's defiance.
We saw a very emotional night in TD Garden in Boston, because Isiah Thomas sister tragically lost her life earlier that day. The best player in Celtics cried during the match, but he didn't want to back out from the game, and eventually, he was the top scorer on the floor with 33 points. That didn't help the Celtics as they lost against very motivated Bulls 106-102. The star of the night was Jimmy Butler with 30 points, and he led the Bulls, but we have to mention the bench of the visiting team, which outscored their rivals 35-22 and made a huge contribution in rebounding domination of their team 53-36. Bobby Portis was a surprise and a primary support for Butler with 19 points and 9 rebounds. Rajon Rondo was versatile as always with 12 points, 7 rebounds, and 6 assists. Among the home team, only ones who were helping Thomas were Al Horford with 19 points, 8 assists and 7 rebounds and Avery Bradley with 14 points.
We saw a complete demolishing in Houston where the Rockets defeated OKC with 118-87, making a big statement considering their desires. In the most expected game of the playoffs, and the encounter between two main MVP contenders, James Harde and Russel Westbrook, first blood was drawn by Harden who completely outplayed his rival. The Beard had 37 points, 9 assists, and 7 rebounds, while Westbrook had 22 points 11 rebounds and 7 assists, along with 9 turnovers. The two teams were even until the middle of the third quarter when Houston made a decisive push and gained a double-digit lead. Patrick Beverly added 21 points for Houston. Victor Oladipo completely failed in this game, shooting 1 out of 12 from the field, and this is the main reason why OKC lost with this margin.
The Washington Wizards were led by John Wall who scored 32 points and added 14 assists, for their win against the Atlanta Hawks 114-107. The home team opened the match good, but the Hawks fired back and they were leading at the half time.
During the third quarter, Wall scored 15 points being unstoppable, and the Wizards were leading again, this time with 15 points. Bradley Beal had 22 points and Markieff Morris did an excellent job adding 21. This was his first playoff match in career, and he played 448 matches during the regular part of the season.
The German international Dennis Schroder delivered 25 points, while Paul Milsap had 19 for the visitors.
In the rematch of the last year's playoff matchup, the Golden State Warriors defeated Portland Trail Blazers 121-109. Until the last period, both teams were even, but the Draymond Green began his defensive performance. He started pressuring on Lillard and CJ McCollum and in no time, the Warriors made 15-2 run and they secured the win. He finished the match one assist shy from triple-double, 19 points, 12 rebounds and 9 assists. He added 5 blocks and 3 steals to that. Kevin Durant scored 32 points, while Steph Curry added 29.
CJ McCollum had 41 points, and he set the new franchise record, scoring 27 points in the first half. Lillard was following him with 34 points, but that didn't help Blazers to avoid being defeated.
