NBA Playoffs schedule and results: Cavaliers survive Pistons; Heat, Spurs & Clippers dominate

Sure, Detroit blew what may their only realistic chance to win a game this series. When you look at this season’s body of work, you know that the Pistons’ 51 percent shooting from the floor and 15 made threes isn’t sustainable for an entire series. But for 1/8 series, we really couldn’t have asked for more than this.

The Grizzlies will have plenty of opportunities over the next three games to get just as frustrated as Stephenson.

Good morning. Playoffs! Let’s basketball.

ICYMI: Paul Flannery wrote about East competitiveness and more in Sunday Shootaround. Yes, Playoff Sunday Shootaround! Check it out.

The Clippers kept pushing in the second half, extending their lead to 21 at one point in the third quarter behind superb play from Paul and some thunderous dunks from Griffin. The Blazers tried to make it interesting, but failed to climb within single digits as the Clippers made run after run and held on for an easy win even with Hack-A-DeAndre Jordan taking over down the stretch.

Lillard had 21 points in the loss. Game 2 is on Wednesday.

Paul is trying to get into Dame’s head by letting him know ahead of time that he’s taking a shot. He’s not even joking about it; he’s going to throw it up. It’s just on Lillard to figure out when that shot is going down.

And unfortunately, he didn’t time it right.

Let’s hope it gets better for Plumlee throughout the series.

Well, he looks healthy now.

Parker, who had 15 points and six assists, drove the Spurs in the third as they blew the game wide open. San Antonio led 81-51 at the end of three and coasted to an easy win in the fourth. The Spurs defense was too much for an overmatched Grizzlies team that is going to need a miracle to grab even one win in this series.

Here’s three things we learned in the Spurs’ Game 1 victory:

C’mon Dragic. At least take a dessert or something. Store-bought snack cakes aren’t even that hard to get.

Maybe Dragic can’t eat solid foods after having a tooth knocked out a few days ago?

Charlotte bounced back and actually won the second quarter, 28-26. But the first quarter had set the tempo and Miami didn’t let up in the second half. They maintained a 20-point lead even through the very end, when the final minutes were played by each team’s end-of-the-bench reserves.

Alternate History: What if the Hornets never traded Kobe to LA?

Some teams bring in famous and talented people to sing the national anthem. The Cavs had a different (and cooler) idea.

That’s more than 20,000 people singing the national anthem while holding lights that make the arena appear to be draped in a flag. Really great idea from Cleveland.

He’s 40-7 in the first round all-time (!) and has won 13 straight first-round games. Thirteen!!! (via AP)

Good luck, Detroit!

The San Antonio Spurs start their 2016 playoff run against the Memphis Grizzlies on Sunday, in a two-versus-seven Western Conference matchup between two teams with history.

This will be the Spurs and Grizzlies’ third playoff meeting since 2011. They’ve split the last two, although San Antonio is a heavy favorite this time around. The Spurs had a monumentally and historically great season, and while the Golden State Warriors have typically overshadowed them, the conventional wisdom is that the Spurs will at least win the two series required to catch up with the Warriors in the Western Conference Finals.

Charlotte has a slight upper hand in this series, especially with Miami’s loss of Bosh. But all the Hornets and the Heat need is a couple very strong games and perhaps a few lucky bounces, and it could easily go to either of them.

Place: American Airlines Arena

Still, bad losses and weird headlines aside, the Cavaliers are very good, while Detroit is still learning to be average. LeBron James lost his jump shot sometime last year and by refocusing himself as an attack the basket player, has put up a season worthy of an MVP trophy if not for the impossible Stephen Curry. The Cavaliers may run into trouble this postseason, but it probably won’t happen as early as the first round.

Place: Quicken Loans Arena

The 2015-16 Cleveland Cavaliers are a complicated bunch. Despite making it to the NBA Finals last season, they fired head coach David Blatt in favor of Tyronn Lue. And all throughout the regular season, they were their own worst critics, which constantly became an internal issue.

At times, Kevin Love seemed to be outside of the inner circle, but he joked about it mostly via Instagram photos. And then there was the small event when LeBron unfollowed the Cavs on Twitter and it blew up in an almost-biblical proportion.