The NBA Playoffs has the Cleveland Cavaliers and Atlanta Hawks leading their first round series 1-0 after wins against the Boston Celtics and Brooklyn Nets on Sunday and the matchups will continue this week with Game 2 on Monday.
The Cavaliers won 113-100 against the Celtics to win Game 1 of their series, while the Atlanta Hawks won over the Brooklyn Nets by the score of 99-92. The Cavaliers come into the postseason as the favorites in the eastern conference along with the Hawks and the team now is up 1-0 in their first round matchup against the Celtics.
Kyrie Irving scored 30 points in the first playoff game for his career, while Kevin Love had 12 rebounds his postseason debut. LeBron James had seven assists in the game and the team pushed ahead with a strong fourth quarter to win after coming into the second quarter with a four point deficit. Isaiah Thomas gave the Celtics a chance with 22 points and 10 assists, while Evan Turner had seven rebounds.
The Brooklyn Nets put up a fight against the top seeded Hawks and they lost 99-92 to fall down 1-0 in the series. The Hawks looked strong throughout the game and they held the Nets to 17 points in the third quarter to help win the game. Kyle Korver was hard to stop and he had 21 points in the game, while Al Horford led the way with 10 rebounds.
Brook Lopez showed why he has been one of the hottest players in the NBA over the last two months, putting up 17 points and 14 rebounds in the losing effort. Joe Johnson previously was with the Hawks for a number of years and he led the way with six assists for the Nets.