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NBA Playoffs: Takeaways After LeBron James Lifts Lakers to Game 1 Win, Knicks Make Statement Against Hawks

By Dan Lyons & Blake Silverman Sports Illustrated

Updated April 18, 2026 9:08 PM

The NBA playoffs are off and running with a full slate of first-round action on Saturday.

After a thrilling play-in tournament that saw the likes of Steph Curry, Kawhi Leonard and the red-hot Hornets head home, it's time for the remaining teams to chase a title. We saw a chalky first day of playoff action as the home team and higher seed took care of business in each game, but we still had some surprises.

Kevin Durant was surprisingly ruled out of the Rockets' Game 1 battle against the Lakers after he bumped knees with a teammate in practice. LeBron James has to carry the weight of the Lakers' offense while Luka Dončić and Austin Reaves remain on the shelf and he was able to keep things flowing for Los Angeles to secure the victory without its top two scorers. Durant's injury doesn't appear to be serious, so we'll see if he's back for Game 2 on Tuesday.

With the first bit of playoff action in the rearview, here's one takeaway from each Game 1 that took place on Saturday:

The Raptors miss Immanuel Quickley's three-point shooting

The Cavaliers made easy work of the Raptors to open their first-round series | Ken Blaze-Imagn Images

The Cavaliers beat the Raptors 126–113 and had a considerable lead for the majority of the game. Cleveland's scoring duo of Donovan Mitchell and James Harden is difficult to overcome and Toronto needs to make shots at a high pace to keep up with the Cavs' offense.

Immanuel Quickley missed Game 1 due to a hamstring strain and the Raptors offense sorely missed his shooting ability. Over the regular season, he shot 37.4% from deep on just under seven three-point attempts per game. Brandon Ingram struggled to get looks for Toronto, partly because Quickley wasn't available to help space the floor. Jamal Shead did a great job in Quickley's absence, knocking down five of his six shots from three. Still, however, Quickley's 16.4 points per game are needed against a high-powered offense like Cleveland's.

Mitchell and Harden combined for 54 points themselves in the Game 1 win Saturday. The Raptors need to score at a higher rate if they want to make this series somewhat interesting.

Nuggets and Timberwolves may give us another classic series

The rivalry between the Nuggets and Timberwolves continues | Christopher Hanewinckel-Imagn Images

Denver and Minnesota have found each other once again in the postseason. The Nuggets and Wolves had a seven-game classic of a series two years ago which resulted in a huge comeback for Minnesota to clinch a trip to the Western Conference finals.

This year, Nikola Jokić and Anthony Edwards square off in the first round and we may be in for another classic. Denver claimed Game 1 at home Saturday with a 116–108 win where Jamal Murray shined, getting to the foul line 16 times and going perfect from the charity stripe. Jokić had a 25-point triple-double, which is relatively a given at this point.

Edwards led the Wolves with 22 points, but he was inefficient overall as he went 7-for-19 from the floor and 2-for-9 from three-point range. Rudy Gobert had a solid game in the loss with 17 points and 10 assists. The star defender is tasked with minimizing Jokić's output as much as possible. You can never fully neutralize the three-time MVP, but Gobert has to continue to perform if the Wolves have any shot at beating the Nuggets.

The Knicks make a statement against the popular underdog

Karl-Anthony Towns helped close out New York's win over Atlanta | Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

Atlanta was one of the best teams in the NBA after the All-Star break, which brought them some buzz as a potential upset candidate against the Knicks. New York came out hot in Game 1 with a great performance from Jalen Brunson and an incredible fourth quarter from Karl-Anthony Towns, silencing the noise at least for the interim.

Josh Hart quietly had a great game as he's proved time and time again that he's a winning player when it comes time for the postseason. He had 11 points, 14 rebounds, five assists and three steals to help the Knicks maintain home court. Towns's fourth quarter had the Knicks blow up their lead to 19 points, but Atlanta went on an 11–0 run to make things slightly interesting before New York ultimately held on.

Jalen Johnson, CJ McCollum, Onyeka Okongwu and Nickeil Alexander-Walker combined for 85 of Atlanta's 102 points. The Hawks will need some additional scoring from the supporting cast in Game 2 on Monday night.

LeBron James can still win in many which ways

LeBron James and the Lakers took care of business in Game 1 | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

Luke Kennard's 27-point night and three-point flurry helped the Lakers close the door on the Rockets in Game 1, but it was LeBron James who continued to steer the ship. He had eight assists in the first quarter and finished the night with 19 points, 13 assists, eight rebounds, two steals and a block.

The 41-year-old star must continue to be the guy for the Lakers as Luka Dončić and Austin Reaves work their way back from injury. Houston didn't have Kevin Durant, who was suddenly ruled out for Game 1 after he bumped knees with a teammate in practice, but James proved he still gives the Lakers a shot in this series either way. Los Angeles won't shoot 61% from the floor and 53% from three-point range as a unit each game, but James looked to get his supporting cast involved right out of the gate to take control. That will be important moving forward as James can't do everything himself. We'll see if the Lakers can stay hot in Game 2 on Tuesday when Durant likely returns.

If you want to experience the first day playoff action as it happened, below you'll find Sports Illustrated's live blog that covered each Game 1 on Saturday.

Saturday NBA playoffs results, game recaps

A showdown between legendary forwards LeBron James and Kevin Durant highlights the primetime game between the Lakers and Rockets. | Troy Taormina-Imagn Images

Cavaliers 126, Raptors 113 (Game 1)

In a matchup of Cleveland's impressive offense vs. Toronto's elite defense, something has to give. On Saturday, it was the Cavs who had the upper hand, as Mitchell scored 32, Harden went for 22 and 10 assists, Evan Mobley dropped 17 and Max Strus erupted off the bench for 24 points. Cleveland's well-rounded scoring proved to be too much for the Raptors to match.

Nuggets 116, Timberwolves 105 (Game 1)

These two recent playoff rivals are back at it for the third postseason matchup in four years. As was the case in three of their four regular season games this year, Denver came out on top to open the series. The start of the game was all Minnesota, as Edwards did not seem to be dealing with any lingering issues from the knee injury that had him questionable entering Saturday. He and the T'Wolves couldn't keep up with Murray, however, giving up 30 to the Nuggets guard and a 25/13/11 triple-double for Jokić, who was quiet early on but still managed to fill the stat sheet.

Knicks 113, Hawks 102 (Game 1)

These two teams don't like each other, even though New York villain Trae Young was traded from Atlanta to Washington during the season. The Hawks were one of the NBA's best teams after the All-Star break and had some buzz around them entering the playoffs. The Knicks were able to use their home-court advantage to silence the chatter in Game 1 off awesome performances from Brunson, Towns and Hart. Atlanta needs its supporting cast outside of Johnson, Alexander-Walker, McCollum and Okongwu to step up as the Hawks only had 17 points from everyone else on Saturday.

Lakers 107, Rockets 98 (Game 1)

The Rockets suddenly had to manage Game 1 without Durant as he was ruled out after bumping knees with a teammate in practice. The injury doesn't appear to be too serious, which Houston has to hope for as it didn't have enough to topple James and the Lakers in Game 1. The Lakers couldn't miss, while the Rockets struggled from the floor as a group. Kennard was the hero for L.A. with 27 points and a perfect 5-for-5 from three. James took control of the game early with eight assists in the first quarter, finishing with 19 points, 13 assists and eight rebounds as he takes the lead without Dončić and Reaves.

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This article was originally published on www.si.com as NBA Playoffs: Takeaways After LeBron James Lifts Lakers to Game 1 Win, Knicks Make Statement Against Hawks.

This story was originally published April 18, 2026 at 9:02 PM.