Earlier, the Miami Heat made it easy for the Atlanta Hawks, 115-91 to take a 1-0 lead. The Celtics then beat the Nets 115-114, thanks to an incredible layup by Jason Tatum. In the third game of the day, the Bucks and the Bulls played a thriller that ended in a 93-86 victory for Milwaukee.

NBA playoff schedule, score

Miami Heat 115, Atlanta Hawks 91 Boston Celtics 115, Brooklyn Nets 114 Milwaukee Bucks 93, Chicago Bulls 86 Phoenix Suns 110, New Orleans Pelicans 99

Following is the full schedule of the playoffs and the weekly TV program. Here are three key points from what turned out to be the final game of the opening weekend of the playoffs.

1. Kneel before God Point

As we grow older, we tend to reduce our professional responsibilities. In a perfect world, we have found enough success in our golden years to hire the right young people to lift the load so that we can only intervene when necessary. This is the stage of Chris Paul’s career right now. He has grown such a deep pool of youngsters in such a well-tuned machine that he can walk himself through most of a game, but when he needs to turn it on, he has more than enough gas in the tank to do so. This is what happened in this game. The Suns drove most of the way due to their stellar defense. His teammates did most of the scoring. But when New Orleans reduced its deficit to six in the fourth quarter, Paul returned to the point god. Here is this series of successive occupations of the fourth quarter: With the Suns up seven, we got the following:

Chris Paul 3. Assisted by Chris Paul. Chris Paul 3. Chris Paul 3. Chris Paul layup. Jumber Chris Paul.

That pushed the lead back to 14. The race was over. This is, in essence, what makes the Suns so special this season. In the first three quarters, their net ratings are ranked sixth, seventh and third, respectively. In the fourth? Bounces to the first by a country mile. They played 130 minutes of clutch this season and won a total of 107 points. When Chris Paul gets things done, the Suns go from great to historians. Select the checkbox to confirm that you want to sign up.

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2. Ghost Defenders

Here’s a great stat, via ESPN’s Andrew Lopez: The Pelicans made it 4-of-18 on unmistakable shots in the first half. These are the shots that the defenses can not affect… or can? The Pelicans obviously missed most of the shots that Phoenix was affected by, but their defensive strategy was so aggressive that it changed the way New Orleans worked even when the possessions were going well. The Pelicans play an unusual number of free-kick threats for a playoff team. Herb Jones and Jaxson Hayes can largely be left alone from the depths. The same goes for Jonas Valanciunas and Naji Marshall, who can both make 3s, but not often enough to affect the defense. The Suns took advantage of this by sending as many defenders as possible to the ball. Brandon Ingram and CJ McCollum barely found an open look throughout the half. When they found them, they rushed. This happens when a defense plays an extremely aggressive style for which an attack is not appropriate. Even when they had space in their head, they knew it was elusive and affected their shots. The Pelicans naturally adjusted and had a strong attacking midfield. A similar story unfolded in their play-in victory over the Clippers. But the Suns are a different level of defense. They are so good that they can compete with shots that are not really competitive.

3. Dance with Nance

New Orleans does not have a good choice to use in the center against Phoenix. There are only a few big men in basketball who check every defensive box you need to control against them. Jonas Valanciunas is very slow. Jaxson Hayes is very raw. Larry Nance Jr. is very young. Each has its drawbacks. All three will play essentially minutes. Hayes and Valanciounas lost their minutes with 11 points each. Nance lost his own by just three points. It’s a small sample, but the Clippers game was somewhat similar. The Pelicans came to life aggressively only after they were young. Nance is not Valencia’s scorer, but he can cover as much as Hayes and allow better scorers to play elsewhere. His playmaking is just as valuable. His 14 points and three assists are not enough to show how effective he can be offensively. Nance played only 20 minutes in this game. Valanciunas got 31. As the series progresses, we will probably see these two numbers change. Nance sacrifices Valanciunas’s rebound advantage and is so small that DeAndre Ayton can get away with almost anything against him one on one offensively. But in these high-leverage games, it is just beginning to appear that the Pelicans need Nance flexibility on the floor as much as possible.