The Los Angeles Clippers have beaten defending league champions San Antonio Spurs 107-92 to take a 1-0 lead in their Western Conference series in the opening round of the NBA playoffs on Monday (AEST).
Blake Griffin was in inspired form, twice jamming powerfully over Australian Spurs centre Aron Baynes on his way to 26 points, complemented by 12 rebounds and six assists.
Chris Paul had 32 points, seven boards and six assists for the Clippers, who entered the postseason having won 14 of 15. DeAndre Jordan grabbed 14 rebounds and had four blocks.
Baynes scored five points and collected five rebounds in 20 minutes of court time and countryman Patty Mills added nine points in 10 minutes of court time.
Kawhi Leonard top scored for the Spurs with 18 points and Tim Duncan tallied 11 points and 11 rebounds for the Spurs.
San Antonio are looking to repeat as champions for the first time in franchise history. They went 14-2 to finish the regular season.
In Cleveland, Kyrie Irving made the most of his playoff debut scoring 30 points as the Cleveland Cavaliers defeated the Boston Celtics 113-100 in the opening game of their first round series.
Guard Irving played with the poise of an NBA veteran as he drained his first five shots from beyond the arc. He was backed up by LeBron James's 20 points, seven assists and six rebounds and Kevin Love's 19 point and 12 rebound performance as Cleveland took the ascendancy in the best-of-seven Eastern Conference series.
"Having four days of preparation and being with my brothers in the war room going over film, going into the game, you feel prepared," Irving said.
"I'm just glad I got game one out of the way."
In other playoff action on Monday, Kyle Korver finished with a game-high 21 points to lift the Atlanta Hawks to a 99-92 win over the Brooklyn Nets in game one of their East series.
In the West, the Memphis Grizzlies defeated the Portland Trail Blazers 100-86 to open their series.
Irving scored 20 of his 30 points in the first half. He had 12 in the second quarter, including a buzzer-beater to give the second-seeded Cavs a 62-54 halftime lead after they trailed by eight.
"He's our floor general," James said. "He set the tone early with his ability to shoot the ball and to get in the lane."
Love also got his first taste of the postseason, following 439 regular season games with the Minnesota Timberwolves and Cleveland.
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