Cleveland Cavaliers forward Evan Mobley (4) left, dunks over Miami Heat forward Haywood Highsmith (24) in the first half in Game 1 of an NBA first-round playoff series, Sunday, April 20, 2025, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)

The Associated Press

NEW YORK — The Detroit Pistons could have sounded shaken, after a few miserable minutes against the New York Knicks ruined an otherwise solid return to the postseason.

Same with the Los Angeles Clippers, who played beautiful basketball down the stretch of the regular season but not in their series opener against Denver.

Yet whether it’s a team filled with playoff newcomers such as the Pistons, or a group of tested veterans such as the Clippers, everyone knows the rules at this time of the year. There’s no time for hanging heads or dwelling on disappointments.

The next game comes quickly and all that matters is being ready when it arrives.

“It’s even keel,” Clippers All-Star said James Harden said. “We will come back in Game 2 and be even better.”

That comes tonight in Denver, after the Knicks try to take a 2-0 lead over the Pistons in the opener of the doubleheader.

Harden and Kawhi Leonard, the Clippers’ leaders, along with coach Tyronn Lue, have been part of many deep playoff runs. So they were not going to let their 112-110 overtime loss on Saturday linger. They just figure they will clean up the 20 turnovers they committed and be fine.

Most of the Pistons don’t have that kind of experience to lean on. Detroit is in the playoffs for the first time since 2019, but the 21-0 run the Knicks hit them with in the fourth quarter of their 123-112 victory didn’t have anyone fearing they weren’t ready for the moment.

Instead, the Pistons focused on the way they played in building an eight-point lead before then and said their confidence had only grown.

“All-time high. We’re in the playoffs, we know what time it is,” forward Tobias Harris said. “We don’t have anybody in there pouting or holding their head down. We know what we’re made of, we know we work so hard for every single day of the year of this season. We’re ready for Game 2.”

Cavaliers 121, Heat 100

CLEVELAND — Donovan Mitchell scored 30 points, Ty Jerome had 16 of his 28 points in the fourth quarter and the Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Miami Heat 121-100 on Sunday night in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference first-round playoff series.

It was the seventh straight series where Mitchell has scored at least 30 points in Game 1, tying Michael Jordan, who had two streaks of seven games.

Celtics 103, Magic 86

BOSTON — As the Celtics were taking control of their playoff opener against the Orlando Magic, Boston’s best player was on his back in pain and tugging at his wrist.

As chants of “MVP!” rained down on him, Jayson Tatum eventually rose to his feet and was loudly cheered as he paced toward the bench.

“I just landed on it. It was throbbing for a second,” Tatum said. “It kind of went away.”

And brought a sigh of relief for a Boston team just starting its quest to repeat as NBA champions.

Derrick White scored 30 points, Tatum had 17 points and finished the game after a scary late fall, and the Celtics beat the Magic 103-86 in Game 1 of their first-round playoff series Sunday.

Thunder 131, Grizzlies 80

OKLAHOMA CITY — The Oklahoma City Thunder beat the Memphis Grizzlies 131-80 in Game 1 of their first-round Western Conference playoff series on Sunday, the fifth-biggest margin of victory in NBA postseason history.

The 51-point margin was seven points shy of the record and was the largest Game 1 win in NBA playoff history.

Aaron Wiggins scored 21 points, Jalen Williams scored 20 points and Chet Holmgren had 19 points.