Home Teams Go 8-0 in Game 1’s of Opening Round of 2024 NBA Playoffs

Homecourt advantage matters in the NBA Playoffs, and that effect was on full display for the NBA’s opening weekend of 2024 playoff games. All eight home teams won, giving themselves 1-0 series leads and an advantage moving forward. Furthermore, most of these games weren’t even all that close.

On Saturday, April 20, the action tipped off with Donovan Mithcell and the Cleveland Cavaliers steadily building a lead over the Orlando Magic and winning 97-83, giving up the fewest points of any team over the weekend by a nine-point margin.

In one of the most important and tightest first round matchups, the Phoenix Suns and Minnesota Timberwolves were locked in a close one early, but Minnesota won two separate quarters by 10 or more points, earning 120-95 win and scoring the most point of any team on opening weekend behind Anthony Edwards’ 33 points.

The Philadelphia 76ers and New York Knicks gave us our best battle of the first half, with Philadelphia dominating the first and third quarters but New York taking care of business in the second on fourth on their way to a 111-104 win.

In Saturday night’s highlight matchup, LeBron James, Anthony Davis, and the Los Angeles Lakers looked to end their eight-game skid against Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets. While Los Angeles actually led by three points at halftime, it still wasn’t their night, as the Nuggets came out on top 114-103 at Ball Arena.

One Down, Fifteen To Go: Nuggets Beat Lakers 114-103 in Game 1 to Begin Title Defense

On Sunday morning/afternoon, depending on your time zone, the Boston Celtics slaughtered a Jimmy Butler-less Miami Heat squad, winning 114-94 but holding a 32-point lead before a meaningless fourth quarter. Jayson Tatum had the only triple double of the opening slate of games, notching 23 points, 10 rebounds, and 10 assists.

Game Won ✅#DifferentHere pic.twitter.com/etdbqfmo7K
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) April 21, 2024

Kawhi Leonard was out for Game 1 for the Los Angeles Clippers, but it mattered not: the Clippers held the Dallas Mavericks to just 30 points in the first half including only 8 points in the first quarter. While Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving got some second half buckets to make the score look respectable (109-97), Dallas never really had a chance.

The Milwaukee Bucks, also down a star player in Giannis Antetokounmpo, got perhaps their most important performance of the season from Damian Lillard, as the former Trail Blazers guard was tasked with being the Bucks top scoring option for the night. Lillard delivered with 35 points and a 109-94 Bucks win over the Indiana Pacers.

The last of the eight opening round games was the closest, with the West’s top-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder taking on an “eighth-seeded” New Orleans Pelicans team that was locked in to the sixth seed for most of the season’s final stretch. Point being: this matchup is probably closer than you think. The Thunder warded off a fourth-quarter comeback attempt to win 94-92 behind 28 points from Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.

Looking forward, you know what they say: it’s a not a series until someone wins a road game. Every team that won on Saturday and Sunday played on their home court, and while that’s expected to a degree, the advantage was overwhelming: home teams went 8-0, with only two games decided by single digits.

Will home teams go 8-0 in Game 2’s as well, or will a couple of series start to get interesting on Monday and Tuesday? To join the conversation, be sure to connect with Sak Sports Blog on Twitter or on Facebook!