//NBA Playoffs: How the Game 1s Were Won (or Lost)

NBA Playoffs: How the Game 1s Were Won (or Lost)

The NBA postseason kicked off with 10 straight hours of hoops on Monday. The Crossover’s Rohan Nadkarni breaks down one key aspect of each game.

Postseason basketball is now underway in earnest after four Game 1s on Monday. The Nuggets, Raptors, Celtics, and Clippers all jumped out to 1–0 leads over the Jazz, Nets, Sixers, and Mavericks, respectively. It was a fun (and exhausting) day of hoops, with most games coming down to the final few minutes. Even the undermanned Nets briefly put up a spirited comeback in a 24-point loss. Let’s take a look at one key ingredient from each of the first four contests—and what those could mean moving forward.

The Jamal Murray-Nikola Jokic Two-Man Game

Toward the end of the fourth quarter and practically every possession in overtime, the Nuggets used really only one action to eventually topple the Jazz: the Murray-Jokic pick and pop (or roll!)