CLEVELAND - Kyrie Irving scored 31 points in his first playoff game since being injured last year in the NBA Finals and Kevin Love added 28, leading the Cleveland Cavaliers to a 106-101 victory over the Detroit Pistons on Sunday in Game 1 of their first-round playoff series.
LeBron James added 22 points and 11 assists for the top-seeded Cavs. They are favoured to win the Eastern Conference again but got all they could handle from the Pistons.
Love, knocked out of the playoffs with a shoulder injury in the first round a year ago, made two critical 3-pointers in the fourth quarter.
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope scored 21 points and Marcus Morris 20 - but just one after halftime - for the Pistons, making their first playoff appearance since 2009. Andre Drummond had 13 points and 11 rebounds.
Detroit made 15 3-pointers, but the Pistons' playoff inexperience showed in the final minutes.
Game 2 is Wednesday night in Cleveland.
SPURS 106, GRIZZLIES 74
SAN ANTONIO - Kawhi Leonard had 20 points and San Antonio beat Memphis in Game 1 of their Western Conference series, handing the Grizzlies their worst post-season loss.
LaMarcus Aldridge added 17 points, and Tony Parker had 15 points and six assists for San Antonio. The Spurs sat their starters in the fourth quarter to rest them for Game 2 on Tuesday night in San Antonio.
San Antonio shot 68 per cent in the third quarter, outscoring Memphis 33-14 to break open what had been a relatively close game against the short-handed Grizzlies.
Memphis matched a post-season low in the first quarter with 13 points, and only Xavier Munford's 15-foot jumper with 46.1 seconds remaining kept it from matching the worst output in any quarter.
Vince Carter had 16 points to lead Memphis. Zach Randolph was held to six points on 3-for-13 shooting.
Memphis' previous largest losing margin was 27 points against Oklahoma City on May 11, 2011.
HEAT 123, HORNETS 91
MIAMI - Luol Deng scored 31 points on 11-for-13 shooting, Hassan Whiteside added 21 points and 11 rebounds in his post-season debut, and Miami routed Charlotte in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference series.
Dwyane Wade scored 16 points in 26 minutes, Joe Johnson and Amare Stoudemire each had 11 points, and Goran Dragic finished with 10 assists.
Miami scored 41 points in the first quarter to tie one franchise playoff record, set another with the 123 points - topping the 121 in the 2012 NBA Finals clincher against Oklahoma City - and never trailed.
Nic Batum scored 24 points for the Hornets. Kemba Walker added 19.
Game 2 is Wednesday night in Miami.
CLIPPERS 115, TRAIL BLAZERS 95
LOS ANGELES - Chris Paul had 28 points and 11 assists as one of three Clippers with a double-double, leading Los Angeles over the Portland Trail Blazers in the opener of their first-round playoff series.
Blake Griffin had 19 points and 12 rebounds, DeAndre Jordan added 18 points and 12 rebounds and J.J. Redick had 17 points. The Clippers are 6-0 with Griffin in the lineup since he returned from a 45-game absence two weeks ago.
Damian Lillard led the Blazers with 21 points, while backcourt mate CJ McCollum was held to nine points.
Game 2 is Wednesday night at Staples Center.
