There’s an old saying in professional basketball: A series doesn’t start until the road team wins a game. Three games into the Conference Semifinals, we have three fully functional series.
Both the (4) Denver Nuggets and (3) New York Knicks upset their higher-seeded opponents in Game 1s on Monday night — and both came in highly dramatic fashion. The Nuggets took advantage of some poor late-game coaching from the (1) Oklahoma City Thunder in the Western Conference Semis, winning 121-119 thanks to a three-pointer from Aaron Gordon in the closing seconds. Hours before, the Knicks battled back from a 20-point second-half deficit to steal Game 1 from the (2) Boston Celtics, 108-105 in overtime of the Eastern Conference Semis.
There were upsets, drama, and fierce competition — it was a perfect night of Playoff basketball.
Knicks overcome slow night from Karl-Anthony Towns
We’ll start with the first game of the night. It was a back-and-forth affair through the first quarter and a half until the Celtics jumped ahead before halftime. That momentum carried over into the second half as Boston led by as many as 20 points and was still ahead by nine points going into the fourth quarter. But Jalen Brunson, who poured in 29 points, took over down the stretch for the Knicks,w leading into overtime. Several mistakes from Boston’s stars in the closing minutes of the fourth quarter and overtime sealed their Game 1 fate.
The Celtics, which beat New York in all four regular season games, finished with a 15-60 shooting mark from deep. 45 missed three-pointers set a new NBA Playoff record. The Knicks’ swarming defense, particualry in the second half and into overtime, had Boston in a chokehold.
This was always going to be an important series for Karl-Anthony Towns in terms of his national perception. Can he perform like the player we think he is? Or will he shrink in front of the moment? While Towns wasn’t necessarily great in Game 1, his teammates helped pick up the slack. KAT went for 14 points and 13 rebounds on 6-13 shooting in 31 minutes. Foul trouble in the first half severely limited his playing time, and he was being picked on a bit on defense. But none of that will matter for the narratives when the Knicks come out on top.
Game 2 in Boston is scheduled for Wednesday at 7:00 p.m. ET on TNT.
SGA, Thunder blow late lead vs. Nuggets
This loss could come back to bite the Oklahoma City Thunder in the rear end. After trailing for most of the first quarter, OKC hit a groove and looked to be on the verge of a blowout win. The Thunder led by as many as 14 points in the second half, and were in front for nearly all of the final three quarters. But it was the final two seconds of the game that saw them take an ugly defeat.
With roughly 15 seconds left, OKC began to start fouling up three. The flow of the game was cut as a free-throw fest ensued. There was no reason to bust out this strategy so early in the game. All it would take was one missed free throw from OKC to give the Nuggets a chance. That’s exactly what happened when Chet Holmgren missed a pair of freebies that led to a game-breaking three-pointer from Aaron Gordon (his second heroic play of the postseason) with just 2.8 seconds on the clock. A once rowdy Thunder crowd was suddenly stunned. OKC’s heave at the buzzer was no good.
Just two games removed from winning a Game 7, Denver guard Jamal Murray went for 21 points, six rebounds, and six assists in his 44 minutes of action. He was aided by an unreal night from Nikola Jokic: 42 points, 22 rebounds, and six assists on 15-29 shooting. Meanwhile, OKC’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had a good all-around performance with 33 points, 10 rebounds, and eight assists. Cason Wallace chipped in three points, three assists, two rebounds, and one steal for the Thunder in his 21 minutes.
Game 2 in Oklahoma City is set for Wednesday at 9:30 p.m. ET on TNT. We’re about to see what SGA and OKC are truly made of.
5/5/25 Statistics
| Player | Score | PTS | FG (3PT) | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO | +/- | MIN |
| Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (OKC) | 121-119 L vs. DEN | 33 | 12-26 (2-6) | 10 | 8 | 2 | 1 | 1 | -16 | 39 |
| Jamal Murray (DEN) | 121-119 W @ OKC | 21 | 6-16 (2-7) | 6 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 12 | 44 |
| Karl-Anthony Towns (NYK) | 108-105 (OT) W @ BOS | 14 | 6-13 (0-1) | 13 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 31 |
| Cason Wallace (OKC) | 121-119 L vs. DEN | 3 | 1-4 (0-1) | 2 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 21 |
Tonight in the NBA Playoffs
Eastern Conference Semifinals | Game 2 | IND leads 1-0
7:00 (TNT) | (4) Pacers (Jackson: out) @ (1) Cavaliers
Western Conference Semifinals | Game 1 | Tied 0-0
9:30 (TNT) | (7) Warriors (Knox) @ (6) Timberwolves (Dillingham, Randle)
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