Duke in NBA Update: Jayson Tatum Scores 32 in Playoff Opener

The Boston Celtics opened their series against the Philadelphia 76ers with a 109-101 win. Jayson Tatum led the way for Boston with 32 points on 10-of-21 shooting. He also pulled down 13 rebounds. It was career playoff bests for scoring and rebounding for Tatum. The performance helped move Tatum past Elton Brand into ninth place on Duke’s NBA Playoff scoring list.

He also passed Christian Laettner into 10 place on Duke’s NBA Playoffs made shots list, Grant Hill for ninth on the made free throws list and tied Rodney Hood for eighth in made three-pointers. Tatum’s three blocked shots jumped him over Grant Hill into ninth on that list as well.

Tatum’s Boston teammate, Semi Ojeleye, a Duke transfer, didn’t play in the series opener.

The Denver Nuggets opened their playoff run with a 135-125 win over Quin Snyder’s Utah Jazz. Mason Plumlee played 11 minutes for Denver in the win, hitting his only shot for two points. He also added six rebounds. Plumlee also had two assists which moved him past Art Heyman into 10 place on Duke’s NBA Playoffs list for that category.

Dallas opened its playoff run with a 118-110 loss to the Clippers. Seth Curry had 33 minutes off the bench for the Mavericks. He hit 5-of-11 from the field, 4-of-8 from three for a total of 14 points. He moved past Chris Duhon into 10 place on the made three-pointer list for Duke’s NBA Playoffs leaders.

The Brooklyn Nets opened the playoffs with a 134-110 loss to the Toronto Raptors, and Brooklyn’s Lance Thomas made his playoffs debut in his ninth NBA season. Thomas played four minutes and missed his only shot attempt to go scoreless, but after 399 regular season games, he finally got his first taste of the postseason.