The 2022 NBA playoffs are here. Twenty teams made the postseason, but that number has been trimmed to 16 with the conclusion of the play-in tournament. The playoffs got underway Saturday afternoon, beginning with the Utah Jazz edging the Dallas Mavericks to open the first round of action. In the second game of the day, the Minnesota Timberwolves scored the first big upset of the playoffs by taking down Memphis. After a season full of surprises, the title fight appears to be wide open in both conferences, and there will be plenty of tasty first-round matchups. Rounding out the opening night of playoff action, the Philadelphia 76ers and Golden State Warriors defended their respective home courts in impressive fashion as both teams ran away from their opponents over the course of the final 24 minutes of play.
Capping off the Day 2 action was the top-seeded Phoenix Suns hosting the No. 8 New Orleans Pelicans. On paper, the Suns were a heavy favorite but, as we have seen this weekend, anything can happen in the playoffs and the Pelicans knocked off two teams this past week to earn this opportunity. New Orleans made their run to make this game interesting in the second half, cutting the deficit to six points, but Chris Paul and the Suns were not going to drop Game 1 as the defending Western Conference champs clamped down and came away with a 110-99 win.
Earlier, the Miami Heat made easy work of the Atlanta Hawks, 115-91 to take a 1-0 series lead. Next, the Celtics defeated the Nets, 115-114, thanks to Jayson Tatum’s incredible buzzer-beating layup. In the third game of the day, the Bucks and Bulls played a thriller that ended in a 93-86 win for Milwaukee.
The full 2022 NBA playoff bracket and this week’s schedule can be found below. Every game on NBATV, ESPN, ESPN2 or ABC can be streamed via fuboTV (Try for free).
This week’s playoff schedule
(All times U.S./Eastern)
Saturday, April 16
Game 1: Jazz 99, Mavericks…
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