National Basketball Association

NBA playoffs: Paul, Clippers too much for Spurs in opener

Published Apr. 20, 2015 3:42 a.m. ET

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Best game: LA Clippers 107, San Antonio 92

This is the best first-round series regardless of how it ultimately turns out and in how many games.

The defending champion Spurs as a No. 6 seed at the Clippers in the first round? Yes, please.

Sunday's Game 1 was close for a half before the Clippers pulled away late in the third quarter. But there was plenty to be interested in — from Blake Griffin's dunks to Matt Barnes throwing his hands up with his best, "Who Me?" impression, you just know there's going to be a lot more of the same, physical, chippy play the rest of the series.

Los Angeles guard Chris Paul was good, Griffin was, too. Meanwhile, Spurs' guard Tony Parker left the first half with an ankle injury. He did return in the second half. 

Paul had 32 points, Griffin had 26 and Jamal Crawford had 17 points off the bench in just 22-plus minutes.

The teams don't play again until Wednesday, which means more talk about Barnes, more concern about Parker and more talk about if the Spurs are getting too old for all this.

Best blowout game: Memphis 100, Portland 86

There were no great finishes Sunday, in fact, the first three games were all out of reach before Boston kept it close with Cleveland and Brooklyn rallied late at Atlanta, but give it up to Memphis for doing everything possible to make us want to watch the Academy of Country Music Awards.

Portland isn't at full strength and it showed. The Trail Blazers had just 15 points after one quarter, 39 at half and trailed by 24 points at the end of three. Basically, it was a great game right up until tipoff. Portland shot 33.7 percent and LaMarcus Aldridge attempted a career-high 34 attempts (he made 13). Memphis has now won 10 of the past 11 games between the two teams.

Best stat line: Paul, G, LA Clippers: 32 points, seven rebounds, six assists

Paul said the playoffs have made him a bit jittery and nervous. It didn't look that way against the defending champs.

Paul came out motivated and engaged. He was good from the start, went 13-of-20 shooting and turned it over just three times in 38 minutes of action. He dominated the Spurs' Parker and also hit 3 of 5 3-pointers.

"We just played hard and our crowd got behind us. It's go-time now," Paul said on TNT after the game. 

Honorable mention: Beno Udrih, G: Memphis: 20 points (9-of-14 shooting), seven rebounds, seven assists, zero turnovers.

Best debut playoff stat line: Kyrie Irving, G, Cleveland: 30 points, three rebounds, two assists vs. Boston

He's not a rookie, and Irving played like a star, but the Cavs guard was playing in his first playoff game in his fourth NBA season. Cleveland will ultimately live or die on what LeBron James does or doesn't do, but when Irving can go out and score 30, it takes a lot of the pressure off of James. Irving played 40½ minutes, made 11 of 21 shots and had just one turnover.

"It exceeded expectations," Irving said after the Cavs took a 1-0 lead over the Celtics. "Whatever my teammates needed me to do, I was willing to do. Big games you get up for. You dream of this as a kid.

Irving probably dreamed of this, too, as he made a 3-pointer at the end of the first half. It was one of his five 3's on the day.

Best visual: Griffin, LA Clippers

Griffin has done this before. He dunks with the intensity of 1,000 suns and whoever is in the way gets destroyed. This time it was Aron Baynes of the Spurs who got the business end. Twice. Here's the first:

Here's the second:

It was nice knowing you Aron Baynes. We will speak well of you.

Best at being worst: Paul Milsap, Atlanta: six points (2-of-11 shooting)

It's a good thing the Hawks beat the Nets, or else we might be piling on Milsap a bit more. He did have seven rebounds, but six points in 33 minutes is invisible for Milsap, considering he's averaging 16-plus points per game.

Milsap needs to get it figured out, as he is recovering from a shoulder injury, because it appears Al Horford is injured, too, after dislocating his right pinkie finger early in the fourth quarter. Horford did return and finish the game, but his shooting hand was heavily taped.

Best quote: "We are the Big 3. We have really great players on this team, but we set the tone." — Irving, Cavs, via The Associated Press after Cleveland's win over Boston.

Best flop: Paul, G, LA Clippers

Remember earlier this season when Paul was quick to criticize the officiating? Well, Paul might get taken more seriously if he didn't intentionally try to deceive referees by flopping. Watch Paul here (as he falls down before San Antonio's Kawhi Leonard comes into the picture):

It wasn't Paul's best work, though. Anyone can flop in the middle of the game, but not just anyone can flop against a referee like Paul did earlier in his career.

The NBA: Where Amazing Happens. 

Best homecoming: Joe Johnson, G, Atlanta

Despite the fact Johnson helped the Hawks for seven seasons, the Nets forward was booed every time he touched the ball by the Atlanta crowd. Johnson wound up with 17 points, six rebounds and six assists, but Hawks fans showed they can hold a grudge. How quickly they forget. After all, Johnson only played in 47 playoff games for the Hawks, averaging 18 points per game. He probably should have done more, right?

Best pass you didn't see: Kyle Korver, Atlanta

Rare is it you see a spot-up shooter make an amazing pass. But before stopping in sheer wonderment of the court vision of Korver, ask yourself one thing: Would Dion Waiters ever make this pass?

Best thing to look forward to Monday: More stars

There are only two games Monday, but getting a doubleheader with Chicago's Derrick Rose vs. Milwaukee followed by New Orleans' Anthony Davis vs. Golden State sounds pretty good. The Bulls and the Warriors are each up 1-0. 

Follow Andrew Gilman on Twitter: @andrewgilmanOK

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