Australian Dyson Daniels and his Atlanta Hawks teammates will need to bounce back after the New York Knicks claimed the opening game of their NBA playoff series.
Daniels - who is playing again after a recent toe injury - was quiet offensively by his lofty standards.
He finished with just four points, but also chipped in with nine rebounds, 11 assists and three steals in New York on Saturday night (Sunday AEST) in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference match-up.
Jalen Brunson scored 28 points and Karl-Anthony Towns had 19 of his 25 in the second half as the Knicks secured a 113-102 home win.
OG Anunoby added 19 points and Josh Hart had 10 points and 14 rebounds for the third-seeded Knicks.
CJ McCollum had 26 points and Jalen Johnson added 23 for the Hawks, who went 20-6 after the All-Star break to earn the No.6 seed.
Brunson, who already owns the Knicks' record with eight 40-point games in the post-season, was almost halfway to another in the first quarter. He made his first six shots and had 19 points as the Knicks led 30-24.
Brunson didn't do as much in the second half, but Towns took over after he was just 1-for-6 for six points at the break.
In the final quarter, with the Knicks up by eight, Towns hit a three-pointer, and after Gabe Vincent's basket, Jordan Clarkson had two buckets and Towns had a three-point play and a three-pointer for a 10-0 burst that made it 106-87 with about four minutes remaining.
Atlanta ran off 11 straight to cut it to 106-98, but Towns scored to restore the double-digit lead.
In Cleveland, Donovan Mitchell scored 32 points and Max Strus helped himself to 24 off the bench as the Cavaliers defeated the Toronto Raptors 126-113 in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference first-round playoff series.
James Harden had 22 points and 10 assists while Evan Mobley had 17 and seven rebounds for fourth-seeded Cleveland, who host Game 2 on Monday night (Tuesday AEST).
RJ Barrett scored 24 points and Scottie Barnes had 21 for the Raptors.
In Denver, Jamal Murray scored 30 points, going 16-of-16 from the free-throw line, and Nikola Jokic had a triple-double as the Nuggets beat the Minnesota Timberwolves 116-105 in the opener of their first-round playoff series.
Jokic had 25 points, 13 rebounds, 11 assists and a bloody nose in a physical game between the Northwest Division foes. There were 42 fouls called, along with an unsportsmanlike technical on Jaden McDaniels for pushing Jokic in the back, and a technical on Nuggets coach David Adelman.
Anthony Edwards led the Timberwolves with 22 points while playing on a sore right knee.
The Lakers won the final playoffs game on Saturday night, beating Houston 107-98.
Luke Kennard scored a career playoff-high 27 points, LeBron James had 19 points and 13 assists, and the short-handed Los Angeles capitalised on Kevin Durant's injury absence to open their first-round series.
Both teams played without their most important player. Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves have been out indefinitely with injuries since April 2, while Durant was a late scratch with a bruised right knee.
