Three Key Takeaways from Game 1 of the NBA Playoffs

Game 1 is now in the books after all 16 teams played between Saturday and Sunday. The opening game can be compared to dipping your toes in a pool before diving in to get your body wet. It is always interesting how the game is officiated in the regular season compared to the playoffs because the Referees swallow their whistles and allow greater physicality. I fully support this philosophy because we want to see the best players on the court in deciding games rather than being on the bench watching the demise of their season. One trend so far is the dominance of the higher-seeded home team that won 6 of the eight matchups. So should teams that won Game 1 feel confident of winning the series or teams that lost panicking after trailing in their series? In this article, we will look at three key takeaways from the 2025 Playoff opener.

1. Experience trumps youth in the playoffs- the interesting thing about the 2025 playoffs is that there are battles between youth and experience. On Saturday, the Detroit Pistons led the New York Knicks 98-90 entering the fourth quarter, sparked by hot 3-point shooting and a 22-point first-half from one of their few veterans, Tobias Harris. Yet, the Pistons crumbled under the pressure, with the Knicks going on a 21-0 run to move from down 8 to lead by 13 points. The credit should go to the Knicks for playing suffocating defense and feeding off their energy on the home crowd. However, this was Pistons’ core of Cade Cunningham, Jalen Duren, and Ausar Thompson’s first playoff game and it showed. In the end, the Pistons wilted in one of the most hostile NBA arenas, Madison Square Garden.

The two other young teams that struggled in Game 1 are the Orlando Magic and the Houston Rockets. The Magic led the Boston Celtics 49-48 at halftime, and fans anticipated a tense finish. Instead, the Celtics matched their opponents’ physicality by forcing 13 steals and 15 turnovers overall and outscoring them 55 to 37 points. Finally, the Houston Rockets struggled at home to land a blow against the veteran-savvy core of the Golden State Warriors. Houston restricted the Warriors to only 95 points, with Steph Curry and Jimmy Butler combining for 56 points. However, the Rockets could only muster 85 points, with Jalen Green scoring only 7 points in his first playoff game after averaging 21.0 points in the regular season.

2. Teams are better than the field- many fans dismiss the importance of the regular season because the feeling is that the playoff is the only thing that matters. However, in the 2024-25 season, we had three superlative teams above the field: the Oklahoma City Thunder, the Cleveland Cavaliers, and the Boston Celtics. All three teams won over 60 games, had multiple All-Stars, and atop in offense and defense rankings. If Game 1 was an indicator, these teams remain the cream of the crop. The Thunder destroyed the Memphis Grizzlies 131-80, marking a record winning margin for a Game 1 of the playoffs. The Cavaliers cruised to a 121-100 win over the Miami Heat, with Ty Jerome scoring 28 points in 26 minutes off the bench. The Celtics stamped their authority in a 17-point over the Magic. It means three teams won their Game 1’s by a combined 89 points and an average of 29 points. It would be a shock if one of these three teams did not win the Larry O’Brien trophy.

3. The potential for multiple classic first-round series- it will be interesting to see how the teams rebound after losing in Game 1. For instance, the Los Angeles Clippers lost a highly competitive 112-110 overtime road game against the Denver Nuggets. It feels like this series could go to 7 games with the brilliant coaching of Ty Lue to make adjustments and Nikola Jokic as the best player across the lines. Across the city of Los Angeles, the Lakers had a stunning 117-95 loss against the Minnesota Timberwolves. I expect the Lakers to give better defensive effort to limit the Timberwolves who shot a ridiculous 21 of 42 (50%) from three-pointers. The Pistons may have collapsed in Game 1 but they showed the Knicks will have to scratch and claw their way if they are to win this series. The Rockets just needed an average performance in Game 1 from Jalen Green to win and he will likely improve as the series progresses. Even the Milwaukee Bucks have a shot to make it interesting against the Indiana Pacers with the potential return of Damion Lillard from a potentially serious injury. The 2025 playoffs might produce the most exciting round 1 in recent memory.