Victor Wembanyama starred on his NBA play-off debut as the San Antonio Spurs beat the Portland Trail Blazers 111-98.

Wembanyama, one of three contenders for the Most Valuable Player award, scored a game-high 35 points, including 21 in the first half, as the Spurs won game one of the best-of-seven series.

"It's good to get this one out of the way," the Frenchman said. "We just tried to do the things we've been doing all year and stay solid.

"There was pressure on us to win the first game, but it wasn't that much pressure if we just stayed to the plan."

Elsewhere, defending champions Oklahoma City Thunder and the Boston Celtics both made dominant starts to the post-season.

The Thunder - the number one seeds in the Western Conference - thrashed the Phoenix Suns 119-84, led by last year's Finals MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander who had 25 points, seven assists and four rebounds.

Jayson Tatum scored 25 points with 11 rebounds and seven assists - and Jaylen Brown added 26 points - as the second-seeded Celtics beat the Philadelphia 76ers 123-91.

Meanwhile, the Orlando Magic stunned Eastern Conference top seeds Detroit Pistons 112-101 to take a 1-0 lead in their seven-game series.

Victory for the eighth-seeded Magic, who qualified for the play-offs via the play-in tournament, extends an unwelcome NBA record for the Pistons, who have not won a post-season game at home for 11 matches dating back to 2008.

Forward Paolo Banchero starred with 23 points, nine rebounds and four assists, to help the Magic overshadow Pistons point guard Cade Cunningham's play-off best haul of 39 points.

"[We] didn't come out with the right energy, gave them life early on," said Cunningham. "Then we had to deal with that for the rest of the game.

"There's no confidence drop from us. It's going to be a long, fun series."

If the lights felt brighter in San Antonio on Sunday night, it’s because they were. For the first time since 2019, playoff basketball returned to the Frost Bank Center, and the San Antonio Spurs didn’t just show up. They made a statement.

Behind a historic night from Victor Wembanyama and his supporting cast, the Spurs pulled away from the Portland Trail Blazers for a 111-98 Game 1 win of their first-round playoff series — a game that was closer than the final score suggests, but never truly out of San Antonio’s control.

“I thought we did a good job. I thought we had multiple efforts in transition and got organized,” Spurs Head Coach Mitch Johnson said of the Spurs’ defense. “I thought we had some great stretches defensively.”

This was supposed to be Wembanyama’s moment. It turned into something bigger. The 7-foot-4 phenom poured in 35 points, the most ever by a Spur in a playoff debut, setting the tone early and never letting it slip. He stretched the floor, protected the paint, and, most impressively, looked completely unfazed by the stage.

San Antonio didn’t need him to do everything. But when the game tilted, he made sure it didn’t fall.

The Spurs wasted little time asserting control. A quick surge, fueled by ball movement and Portland’s cold shooting, built an early double-digit cushion. But this is the NBA Playoffs, where leads are rarely kept, and teams don’t stay comfortable.

Portland punched back in the third quarter, trimming what had been a sizable deficit down to just two points, on an 8-0 run, briefly shifting the energy inside the arena. That’s when San Antonio showed something it’s been building all season: composure. Instead of unraveling, the Spurs responded with defense, timely shooting, and contributions across the roster: stretching the lead back to double digits heading into the fourth.

Wembanyama was the headline. The rest of the Spurs made sure it was a full story. Stephon Castle and De’Aaron Fox combined for 34 points while Devin Vassell and Luke Kornet brought energy and minutes to maintain momentum.

“During that stretch, Devin, Luke Kornet, and Julian all had plays,” Johnson said. “Those are the plays that are going to be needed in games like this. A lot more than the shot making, especially when teams are making runs and can dictate the circumstances of the game. I thought we responded great.”

The Trail Blazers didn’t go quietly. Deni Avdija delivered a standout performance with 30 points and 10 rebounds, while Scoot Henderson added 18. Apart from those two, Portland struggled to find consistency, especially from deep, and couldn’t sustain the pressure needed to flip the game.

Every time they threatened, San Antonio had an answer. Game 1 didn’t decide the series. But it clarified something. The Spurs aren’t just back in the playoffs, they look built for this stage. They have a generational centerpiece playing beyond his years, a backcourt that controls tempo, and a system that doesn’t crack under pressure.

“We’ve been really good in the regular season,” Wembanyama said. “So we have no reason to prepare or do anything differently. We obviously prepare for the series, and we have to beat them four times.”

Game 2 looms quickly, again in San Antonio on Tuesday. While there will be things to correct and tape to review, And now, the question shifts: Not whether the Spurs can win.

But how far this version of them can go.

Game Notes

• If this is the version of Luke Kornet the Spurs will get in these playoffs (10 points, 6 rebounds), the non-Wemby minute will not be much of an issue for this Spurs team.
• Mitch Johnson got a technical foul in the second half and he was (along with the crowd) were upset at the inconsistency of the calls. That will happen in the postseason and Johnson was smart enough to not let his team get in their heads about it.
• So happy the Spurs fans wore the free T-shirts. “You should absolutely wear your shirt if you’re coming to the game,” Wembanyama said.

Houston Rockets (52-30, fifth in the Western Conference) vs. Los Angeles Lakers (53-29, fourth in the Western Conference)

Los Angeles; Tuesday, 10:30 p.m. EDT

LINE: Rockets -4.5; over/under is 205.5

WESTERN CONFERENCE FIRST ROUND: Lakers lead series 1-0

BOTTOM LINE: The Los Angeles Lakers host the Houston Rockets in the Western Conference first round with a 1-0 lead in the series. The Lakers won the last meeting 107-98 on Sunday, led by 27 points from Luke Kennard. Alperen Sengun led the Rockets with 19.

The Lakers are 33-19 in conference play. Los Angeles has an 8-3 record in games decided by 3 points or fewer.

The Rockets are 29-23 against Western Conference opponents. Houston ranks second in the Western Conference allowing only 110.0 points while holding opponents to 46.0% shooting.

The Lakers' 11.8 made 3-pointers per game this season are only 0.6 fewer made shots on average than the 12.4 per game the Rockets allow. The Rockets are shooting 47.9% from the field, 0.4% lower than the 48.3% the Lakers' opponents have shot this season.

TOP PERFORMERS: Deandre Ayton is averaging 12.5 points and eight rebounds for the Lakers. LeBron James is averaging 18.3 points over the last 10 games.

Kevin Durant is averaging 26 points, 5.5 rebounds and 4.8 assists for the Rockets. Amen Thompson is averaging 18.7 points, 6.3 rebounds, 5.6 assists and 1.9 steals over the past 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Lakers: 7-3, averaging 113.2 points, 41.0 rebounds, 28.5 assists, 9.6 steals and 4.9 blocks per game while shooting 53.0% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 109.0 points per game.

Rockets: 8-2, averaging 121.5 points, 47.8 rebounds, 28.1 assists, 8.1 steals and 5.3 blocks per game while shooting 48.9% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 108.2 points.

INJURIES: Lakers: Austin Reaves: out (rib), Luka Doncic: out (hamstring).

Rockets: Kevin Durant: day to day (knee), Fred VanVleet: out for season (acl), Steven Adams: out for season (ankle).

___

The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.

In his lone season at the University of Alabama, Noah Clowney shot 28.3% from deep on 7.2 attempts per 100 possessions. Through three NBA seasons (135 appearances), Clowney is shooting 33.2% on 10.7 3-pointers per 100 possessions. In 2025-26, Clowney played more NBA minutes than in his first two seasons combined, shooting 32.9% from deep on just under 11 attempts per 100 possessions.

You’d expect increased efficiency from a teenager with sudden access to NBA-level shooting instruction, but Clowney also takes a ton of threes, a skill by itself. Though he is 6’10”, Clowney doesn’t have the quickest release, bulked up before this past season, has to work through frequent slumps, and is entirely reliant on his teammates to set him up with catch-and-shoot opportunities. And he still gets ‘em up.

I think this Clowney quote from December is mostly alluding to that skill, a skill that, not coincidentally, Jordi Fernández often praises: “I think my problem was at a time where I would be too worried about how I looked from the outside. I don’t really care no more, because I had to realize the only people whose opinion I really care about and how I’m playing is my teammates and coaching staff that have seen me the whole summer.”

That perspective from the 21-year-old is easy to understand. There are plenty of 2-of-8 nights, who hopefully doesn’t see his mentions on social media, full of irate fans demanding he stops hoisting them up. But he has to keep shooting. Through two seasons as the Nets’ head coach, Fernández’s biggest pet peeve seems to be when players turn down open looks.

So clearly, Clowney has gotten better as a 3-point shooter since Brooklyn drafted him in June 2023. Not every young player can make the statistical shooting leap Egor Dëmin made from NCAA -> NBA, but Clowney’s improvement is commendable. Is it enough?

Noah Clowney is no longer a mysterious prospect. Two years ago, he was exceptionally young, wiry, and possessed a few tools that didn’t add up to a clear player archetype. After spending most of his rookie season with Long Island, he played a few games for Brooklyn at the end of an otherwise miserable 2023-24 season and had bunch of fun flashes, including a game with seven blocks!

The mystery is no longer. After some trial-and-error while surveying the wider NBA landscape, Brooklyn has landed on a preferred role for Clowney. He is a wing, expected to launch catch-and-shoot threes and accept a variety of defensive assignments, aided by a 7’2” wingspan that now exceeds the norm for his position.

I feel rotten typing such a cliché, but outside shooting truly is his swing skill, and low 30s percentages aren’t good enough. Per Synergy Sports, about 43% of his usage comes from spot-up situations, which includes opportunities where he drives to the basket. That’s an 88th percentile mark league-wide. Nearly 58% of his total field-goal attempts are catch-and-shoot jumpers, an 82nd percentile mark.

Clowney made noticeable strength + physicality improvements over last summer. He drew plenty of free-throws and had a couple wow moments on drives this season…

Still, Clowney is not going to be a dribble-handoff hub, nor a rim-rolling big. He also doesn’t have the handle to initiate much offense by himself. And that’s okay — not every 6’10” player, even in 2026, has to be a ball-handler…

But what does he excel at?. He’s made a couple nice drive-and-kick passes, but there’s not a ton of playmaking potential to write home about. He is a below-average offensive rebounder, grabbing 4.1% of available misses in his career and 3.2% this season. Per Stathead, 86 players at least 6’9” tall played at least 800 minutes this season; Clowney ranked 79th in offensive rebounding.

Can that be blamed partly on Brooklyn’s scheme, over-emphasizing transition defense? Is it because Clowney is always stationed at the 3-point line (though many teams crash hard from the corners and wings)? One league decision-maker views it as a motor issue, calling him “so soft defensively” before adding, “I just hate his casual demeanor. No intensity to him. Even though I like his game.”

I don’t really buy that. It’s more of a frame issue. Again, the 21-year-old only put on any real muscle before this 2025-26 season, and he has a high center-of-gravity without much burst to begin with. That being said, if Noah is the third-biggest Net on the court, he’s a fine defensive rebounder. This is fairly arbitrary, but judging by Cleaning The Glass’ positional designations, he would have been a 90th percentile defensive rebounder among “wings” this season, in the 60th percentile among “forwards,” and in the 25th percentile among “bigs.”

It helps explain Brooklyn’s evolving philosophy under Jordi Fernández. Recall that Clowney only entered the starting lineup in November once Cam Thomas, of all players, went down with injury. Fernández then assigned Clowney plenty of tough perimeter matchups; in one three-game stretch, his primary assignments were Kevin Porter Jr., then LaMelo Ball, then Josh Giddey. If nothing else, Brooklyn has done a great job of stress-testing Clowney’s abilities since drafting him.

It could be the many ankle injuries he suffered last season, it could be the extra muscle he added, but I found Noah to be a bit less explosive this season, both laterally and vertically. You see it on this closeout vs. KAT…

Despite shot-blocking wizardry in a small rookie sample, Clowney has been an unremarkable defender since then. He has a big help-side block every couple games, but it’s tough to say he’s a difference-maker either down low or on the perimeter, even if he is passable in most regular-season games.

In his third NBA season — his first with a full workload — Brooklyn greatly benefitted from Clowney’s insertion into the lineup. Per Cleaning the Glass, the Nets were 3.5 points per 100 possessions better with Clowney on the court, largely due to better 3-point shooting, better defensive rebounding, and fouling less. Some luck? Proof of concept that Clowney is a real, if unorthodox, wing prospect? It’s not nothing.

Which brings us back to the shooting. He’s made improvements, but there has to be another leap in there. By the end of the season, far more opponents were daring Clowney to shoot, particularly on above-the-break attempts.

“I shot pretty well from the corners, above the break not as much,” said Clowney at his exit interview. “It was some other stats that I found interesting, but for the most part, it boiled down to my shot selection. When I shot good shots, a lot of the time they went in. But a lot of times I make one, I might shoot something crazy, because I feel like I’m going.”

I worry that the effectiveness of his drives is going to dip if defenders respect him less, but clearly, Brooklyn’s line between good and bad 3-point shots is thin. This quote signals to me that Fernández & co. want Clowney to keep driving hard, even if defenders sag off. The third-year pro shot under 60% at the rim this season, like last season, but that doesn’t tell half of the story.

Clowney posted a .355 free-throw rate (meaning he took .355 free-throws for every field-goal attempt) in 2025-26 a preposterous rate for someone with his offensive duties…

Said Clowney: “I worked on it, and I kind of did it a whole lot more, so I was bound to get better at it. With that being said, I drew fouls, I was good at that, but when they didn’t foul me, sometimes I struggled to finish. Sometimes I get caught on one foot … things like that, I can get better at.”

The native South Carolinian has always been honest about his game. Here’s how he describes his season as a whole: “I progressed this year, maybe not as much as I wanted to, but I got better at some different things, and I got more experience. So I take that for what it is. You know, I got to gel more with the group that’s probably going to be around for a while.”

Outside of the five first-round picks, he was the youngest player on the youngest team in the NBA. But it’s already time to talk extension for Clowney; the deadline is just before next season tips off. It’s worth noting that the Nets did not extend sign former first-round picks Day’Ron Sharpe and Ziaire Williams to rookie extensions in the summer/fall of 2024, but signed both of them to two-year deals (with a team option) the following summer. Could Clowney be in for a similar fate?

It’s still a bit early for those talks, but the lanky wing is an interesting case. For a #21 overall pick, he’s progressed nicely through three years … but enough?

The Nets want to win some games next season without gutting their long-term assets. If another front office likes Clowney, I wouldn’t hesitate to include him in a trade for a player that helps Brooklyn reach relevancy in 2026-27. But assuming he’s back in the borough, it’ll be a prove-it season for Clowney. If Jordi Fernández doesn’t trust him to help the Nets compete, there’s far less incentive to play him 27 minutes per game, as he did this season.

In other words, Noah Clowney is already at an inflection point in his career. Time flies, doesn’t it?

Despite being ruled eligible for the award through the Extraordinary Circumstances Challenge, Luka Dončić was not named a finalist on Sunday for the NBA’s Most Valuable Player Award.

The three finalists for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Nikola Jokić and Victor Wembanyama.

While we’ll get to SGA and Jokić, the most legitimate complaint is Wemby’s inclusion over Luka. While Wemby is a generational superstar on the cusp of taking over the league, he’s also someone who played 400 fewer minutes than Luka, who needed an exception to even be ruled eligible for consideration.

At a certain point, minutes played has to matter.

The Spurs were extra careful with Wemby throughout the season, which they’re entitled to do. However, it should also come with consequences, especially compared to players who took on heavier burdens for their teams and performed as well or better.

To that point, there is not a player more valuable to their team than either Luka or Jokić. This becomes a semantic debate about the name of the award being Most Valuable Player and not something like Most Outstanding Player. By definition, Luka is more valuable to the Lakers than SGA is to the Thunder or Wemby is to the Spurs.

However, that also isn’t how voters have treated the award basically ever, so that point is more moot and not really worth arguing.

At the end of the day, Luka was one of the three most valuable players to his team. He had a fantastic season. He actually played heavy minutes. He carried a team. That should warrant him finishing in the top three in voting at the very least.

But I guess he needed to campaign his way into being a finalist like other players.

You can follow Jacob on Twitter at @JacobRude or on Bluesky at @jacobrude.bsky.social.

Jalen Brunson and the Knicks took the high road and opted against adding more fuel to the fire.

Given a chance to react to CJ McCollum’s accusation that Brunson faked an injury in order to get him a technical foul, Brunson was tight-lipped.

“I have no reaction,” Brunson said after practice Sunday. “No comment.”

During the second quarter of the Knicks’ 113-102 Game 1 win over the Hawks on Saturday night at Madison Square Garden, McCollum received a technical for kicking Brunson in the midsection while taking a jump shot. (He was also called for a travel on the play.) Brunson stayed down on the ground in pain for a few moments before getting back to his feet.

McCollum believed Brunson milked it.

“I shot a jumper and Jalen thought we were at a Broadway show,” McCollum said after the game. “He acted it out until they reviewed it. It’s a normal jump shot. Nothing there. Unnecessary and I look forward to getting my $2,500 [fine] back.”

Brunson after the game said he didn’t think it was purposeful. On Sunday, coach Mike Brown said he didn’t even see McCollum’s comments.

“A lot of guys are gonna say a lot of things throughout the course of the playoffs,” Brown said. “So whatever people want to say, that’s up to them. But I didn’t see it.”

OG Anunoby (left ankle sprain) is listed as probable for Game 2 on Monday at MSG. He briefly exited after rolling his left ankle in Game 1 — the same one that forced him to exit the penultimate regular-season game.

He practiced Sunday, Brown said.

Onyeka Okongwu (right knee inflammation) is questionable for the Hawks.

Brunson will not repeat as the NBA’s Clutch Player of the Year. He was not named one of the three finalists Sunday.

Anunoby was not one of the three finalists for Defensive Player of the Year. Earlier this month, he shared his belief that he should win it, a rare bit of expression from the normally quiet Anunoby.

BOSTON — With the first quarter clock winding down, Jordan Walsh sprinted as fast as he could down the court. In perfect harmony, Jayson Tatum found him for a transition layup to beat the buzzer, and the Celtics extended their lead over the Philadelphia 76ers to 15 in the opening game of the playoffs.

In the grand scheme of things — a 32-point Celtics victory — the sequence wasn’t particularly consequential, though it did amp up the TD Garden crowd.

For Walsh, however, it was the very first time he’d tallied a basket in the NBA playoffs.

As such, he turned to the Celtics bench, emphatic: after two years of riding the Celtics bench during the playoffs, the 22-year-old was a part of the postseason action. And, he was far from the only guy on the roster getting that first taste of the playoffs.

On Sunday, in a 123-91, wire-to-wire Celtics win over the 76ers, Neemias Queta, Jordan Walsh, Luka Garza, and Baylor Scheierman all saw their first meaningful playoff action.

Before Game 1, the foursome had combined for a total of 31 playoff points. And, in one raucous afternoon at TD Garden, they nearly matched that number; Queta (13 points), Garza (7 points), Walsh (5 points), and Scheierman (5 points) combined for 30 in the victory.

“I know the coaches have been talking to them,” said Sam Hauser, who started his first-ever NBA playoff game on Sunday. “Just saying, like, ‘Be ready. Might be five minutes, could be 20. Just never really know. But, [you] just got to make your minutes count.’”

In their own way, they each did just that.

And, even Sam Hauser, a relative vet compared to some of the younger guys, played his most-ever playoff minutes (28), and recorded a playoff-career-high 7 rebounds. Hauser also made the second-most threes (4) of his playoff career.

“There’s definitely some anxiety, to just kind of get stuff going,” Hauser said. “You’re just anxious; you want to get out there and get the ball tipped off.”

Each of the playoff newcomers found a different way to make their impact

Mazzulla, from the jump, stressed to the less experienced guys on the roster that the playoffs are not actually all that different from the regular season.

“I mean, you have to offensive rebound in the regular season, you have to sprint to get a transition layup, you have to defend without fouling, and you have to know your personnel,” Mazzulla said. “You have to do all the things that you can control. And it’s a credit to those guys being ready to do that.”

Queta, in his first playoff career start, made all five of his field goal attempts in his 15 minutes, while battling early foul trouble (he finished the night with 5 fouls, clearing the way for Nikola Vucevic and Luka Garza to both see substantial action).

Walsh came in with four minutes left in the first quarter and took on the Tyrese Maxey defensive assignment with fervor. Mazzulla went out of his way to point out the importance of his end-of-first-quarter transition layup.

Garza and Scheierman started the second quarter together, and each immediately made a big-time play; Garza grabbed an offensive rebound and converted two free throws. Scheierman sank a floater and swatted a Paul George layup on the next possession — plays his head coach recounted after the game.

None of them put together their biggest game of the year, but all of them did just enough to impact the Celtics positively.

“We just need guys to be ready to make plays,” Mazzulla said. “And they did that tonight.”

For Jaylen Brown, the message to the young guys was simple

Ultimately, it was Tatum (25 points, 11 rebounds, 7 assists) and Jaylen Brown (25 points (26 points, 3 assists) who headlined the Celtics, as they’ve done countless times before. The veteran duo has made it to five Eastern Conference Finals and two NBA Finals.

Tatum and Brown have now played in a whopping 116 playoff games together. On Sunday, they looked like the two best players on the floor, just as they have dozens of times through their playoff journeys — even with Tatum just 11 months removed from his Achilles rupture.

Before the game, Brown had a message for his less-experienced teammates: “Just breathe. Manage your emotions. They might go on a run. They might not go on a run, but just stay together. Win the fight. Be the harder-playing team and guard. Don’t save yourself for offense. Offense is going to be fine if we defend.”

In Game 1, the 76ers never really made a run.

And, like Brown implored, the Celtics defended, holding the 76ers to 91 points on 38.9% shooting.

It’s just one game.

In the weeks ahead, they’re going to have to do it 15 more times to accomplish their ultimate goal.