CLEVELAND -- Their regular-season issues followed the Cleveland Cavaliers into the playoffs.
They didn't win their postseason opener as much as survive it.
LeBron James scored 32 points and the defending champions, looking to flip the switch after a shaky regular season, began the NBA playoffs by escaping with a 109-108 victory over the Indiana Pacers on Saturday.
NBA playoffs
FIRST ROUND
(Best-of-7) SATURDAY’S GAMES
Cleveland 109, Indiana 108,
Cleveland leads series 1-0
Milwaukee 97, Toronto 83,
Milwaukee leads series 1-0
San Antonio 111, Memphis 82,
San Antonio leads series 1-0
Utah at LA Clippers, (n),
First game of series TODAY’S GAMES All times Central
Atlanta at Washington, noon Portland at Golden State, 2:30 p.m. Chicago at Boston, 5:30 p.m. Oklahoma City at Houston, 8 p.m.
MONDAY’S GAMES
Indiana at Cleveland, 6 p.m. Memphis at San Antonio, 8:30 p.m.
Indiana could have won it in the final seconds, but C.J. Miles, who Cleveland's players and coaches call a "Cavs killer," missed a 14-foot jumper just before the horn.
"C.J. had a pretty decent look," Pacers Coach Nate McMillan said. "We have to make that shot."
Playing in his 200th playoff game, James added 13 assists and 6 rebounds while winning his 18th consecutive first-round game.
However, it was anything but easy as the Cavs, who had a 10-point lead in the fourth quarter, had to withstand a strong comeback by the Pacers, who had the ball and a chance to win with 20 seconds left. Indiana wanted star Paul George to take the last shot, but Cleveland double-teamed him and he was forced to pass it to Miles, whose shot was on line but short.
"I talked to C.J. about it," George said. "In situations like that, I gotta get the last shot. I was asking for it. C.J. took it upon himself."
Kyrie Irving added 23 points and Kevin Love had 17 for Cleveland, which has won 12 consecutive playoff games at home.
George scored 29 points and Lance Stephenson had 16 for the seventh-seeded Pacers, who will try to even the series Monday night.
Cleveland had several bad possessions down the stretch and the Cavs went only 14 of 27 from the free-throw line.
INDIANA (108)
George 9-19 5-7 29, T.Young 3-4 2-2 8, Turner 5-12 1-2 11, Teague 3-10 7-7 15, Ellis 4-8 2-2 11, Miles 2-6 0-0 5, Seraphin 4-6 0-0 8, Allen 0-0 0-0 0, Brooks 2-3 0-0 5, Stephenson 8-13 0-0 16. Totals 40-81 17-20 108.
CLEVELAND (109)
James 12-20 6-9 32, Love 5-9 5-8 17, Thompson 4-5 0-3 8, Irving 11-27 0-1 23, Smith 2-4 1-2 6, R.Jefferson 1-3 2-4 5, Frye 4-5 0-0 11, Dero.Williams 2-4 0-0 5, Korver 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 42-78 14-27 109.
Indiana 29 30 25 24 -- 108
Cleveland 34 32 26 17 -- 109
3-Point Goals--Indiana 11-24 (George 6-8, Teague 2-5, Brooks 1-2, Ellis 1-3, Miles 1-3, T.Young 0-1, Stephenson 0-2), Cleveland 11-28 (Frye 3-4, James 2-3, Love 2-6, R.Jefferson 1-1, Dero.Williams 1-2, Smith 1-3, Irving 1-9). Fouled Out--None. Rebounds--Indiana 41 (T.Young 9), Cleveland 34 (Thompson 13). Assists--Indiana 21 (George 7), Cleveland 26 (James 13). Total Fouls--Indiana 25, Cleveland 19. Attendance--20,562 (20,562).
BUCKS 97, RAPTORS 83
TORONTO -- Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 28 points, rookie Malcolm Brogdon had 16 and the Milwaukee Bucks beat the Toronto Raptors in Game 1 of their first-round playoff series.
Playing his second career playoff series, Antetekounmpo made 13 of 18 shots, and added 8 rebounds and 3 assists. Greg Monroe added 14 points, Tony Snell had 11, and Khris Middleton finished with 10 points and nine assists.
DeMar DeRozan led Toronto with 27 points, and Serge Ibaka had 19 points and 14 rebounds. The Raptors have lost the opening game in eight consecutive playoff series.
Toronto's Kyle Lowry made only 2 of 11 field-goal attempts, missing all 6 three-point efforts, and finished with 4 points. Jonas Valanciunas had nine points and nine rebounds.
Game 2 is Tuesday night in Toronto.
Antetekounmpo picked up his fourth foul with 4:33 left in the third and headed to the bench as Toronto's P.J. Tucker was making two free throws to break a 64-64 tie.
Without Antetokounmpo, Milwaukee closed the quarter on an 11-5 run to take a 75-70 lead into the fourth.
Milwaukee kept it going after Antetokounmpo returned for the final quarter. The Bucks scored eight consecutive points, including four from Khris Middleton, to make it 85-71 with 8:47 left.
Ibaka's jump shot at 7:49 was Toronto's first made field goal of the fourth. Toronto shot 7 for 35 in the second half, following up a 3 for 18 showing in the third by going 4 for 17 in the fourth. The Raptors went 27 for 75 overall.
Many in the sellout crowd headed for the exits throughout the final quarter as the Bucks stretched their lead to a game-high 19 points.
MILWAUKEE (97)
Snell 4-11 0-0 11, Antetokounmpo 13-18 2-5 28, Maker 2-2 0-0 4, Brogdon 6-13 0-0 16, Middleton 4-15 2-2 10, Beasley 0-0 0-0 0, Hawes 1-3 0-0 3, Teletovic 0-2 0-0 0, Monroe 5-11 4-4 14, Dellavedova 3-9 4-4 11, Terry 0-1 0-0 0, Vaughn 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 38-85 12-15 97.
TORONTO (83)
Carroll 2-3 1-3 5, Ibaka 8-14 2-4 19, Valanciunas 2-5 5-7 9, Lowry 2-11 0-1 4, DeRozan 7-21 13-14 27, Tucker 2-7 2-2 7, Patterson 1-3 0-0 3, Nogueira 0-1 1-2 1, Poeltl 0-0 0-0 0, Joseph 1-5 0-0 3, Wright 0-1 0-0 0, VanVleet 0-0 0-0 0, Powell 2-4 0-0 5. Totals 27-75 24-33 83.
Milwaukee 30 16 29 22 -- 97
Toronto 22 29 19 13 -- 83
3-Point Goals--Milwaukee 9-23 (Brogdon 4-7, Snell 3-7, Hawes 1-1, Dellavedova 1-3, Teletovic 0-1, Middleton 0-2, Antetokounmpo 0-2), Toronto 5-23 (Joseph 1-1, Powell 1-1, Patterson 1-3, Tucker 1-4, Ibaka 1-4, Carroll 0-1, Wright 0-1, DeRozan 0-2, Lowry 0-6). Fouled Out--None. Rebounds--Milwaukee 43 (Monroe 15), Toronto 47 (Ibaka 14). Assists--Milwaukee 22 (Middleton 9), Toronto 15 (Lowry 6). Total Fouls--Milwaukee 23, Toronto 21. Technicals--Antetokounmpo. Attendance--20,133 (19,800).
WESTERN CONFERENCE
SPURS 111, GRIZZLIES 82
SAN ANTONIO -- Kawhi Leonard matched his postseason high with 32 points and the San Antonio Spurs rolled to a victory over the Memphis Grizzlies in Game 1 of the first-round playoff series.
LaMarcus Aldridge had 20 points, and Tony Parker added 18 to help San Antonio win its ninth consecutive over Memphis in the postseason.
Marc Gasol had 32 points, but only seven in the second half as the Grizzlies fell behind by as many as 36 points. Mike Conley was the only other Grizzlies player in double figures, finishing with 13.
Memphis was without defensive lynchpin Tony Allen. He's out indefinitely with a calf injury, and Leonard took advantage for his fourth career playoff game of 30-plus points.
Game 2 is Monday night in San Antonio.
MEMPHIS (82)
J.Green 1-3 0-0 3, M.Gasol 11-18 7-7 32, Conley 5-14 1-2 13, Carter 2-6 0-0 4, Selden 2-8 1-2 5, Ennis 1-2 0-0 2, Randolph 3-13 0-0 6, Wright 0-1 0-0 0, Martin 0-1 0-0 0, Davis 3-3 1-2 7, Harrison 3-6 3-4 10, Baldwin 0-1 0-0 0, Daniels 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 31-79 13-17 82.
SAN ANTONIO (111)
Leonard 11-14 9-9 32, Aldridge 8-18 4-5 20, Dedmon 0-0 0-2 0, Parker 8-13 0-0 18, D.Green 0-2 2-2 2, Anderson 2-3 0-0 4, Bertans 1-1 1-2 4, Lee 2-5 1-2 5, P.Gasol 2-7 0-0 6, Mills 3-4 0-0 9, Forbes 2-3 0-0 5, Ginobili 0-4 0-0 0, Simmons 2-3 2-3 6. Totals 41-77 19-25 111.
Memphis 30 19 15 18 -- 82
San Antonio 25 27 32 27 -- 111
3-Point Goals--Memphis 7-20 (M.Gasol 3-3, Conley 2-4, Harrison 1-2, J.Green 1-2, Ennis 0-1, Carter 0-1, Randolph 0-1, Daniels 0-3, Selden 0-3), San Antonio 10-19 (Mills 3-3, Parker 2-2, P.Gasol 2-2, Bertans 1-1, Forbes 1-2, Leonard 1-3, Lee 0-1, Anderson 0-1, D.Green 0-2, Ginobili 0-2). Fouled Out--None. Rebounds--Memphis 35 (Conley, M.Gasol 5), San Antonio 43 (Dedmon 8). Assists--Memphis 17 (Conley 7), San Antonio 16 (Leonard 5). Total Fouls--Memphis 20, San Antonio 20. Attendance--18,418 (18,418).
Sports on 04/16/2017