The Cavaliers and Pacers took the lead in the Eastern Conference showdown, and the Pacers played tenaciously, but James still outperformed Paul George in key moments, and the Cavaliers finally won the game 108-103.

On the same day, the Warriors also beat the Grizzlies 101-86.

After that, the semifinals of the Thunder vs. Clippers and Nets vs. Wizards also started one after another.

The Thunder swept the Lakers in the first round, while the Clippers and the Spurs played a tie-break, and the Thunder had an absolute advantage in terms of both strength and physical strength on paper.

After the game began, Harden's defense was exploited by Rivers, and the Clippers took a double-digit lead in the first half, which was a shock.

However, the Thunder's talent is indeed much stronger, in the second half, Stevens began to use joint defense tactics, Ibaka, Tucker, and Durant guarded the restricted area to death, and the Clippers did not open the outside firepower, and the situation was one-sided.

In the end, the Thunder won the Clippers 106-96 and also won the first game of the series.

So far, the three most promising favorites have won the opening game one after another, and the Nets and Wizards in the last group have not paid so much attention.

But for fans in New York and Washington, their much-anticipated games have just begun.

The Nets finished eighth in the regular season, which meant they had to start all of their series on the road, with the opening game of the second round being played at Verizon Center in Washington.

The Wizards are the team with the most name changes in the NBA, going through six changes, but the name is changing, and the fan support for the team has never changed.

Being located in Washington, the capital of the United States, makes this team the most special presence in the NBA.

Verizon Center is a new arena that only opened in '97, and it has a capacity of more than 20,000 people, making it one of the largest arenas in the NBA.

Tang Tian and the players of the Nets walked into this arena, and when they looked up, they could see the only championship flag hanging above the arena, which was still the 77~78 season, led by the "Big E" Elvin Hayes, and the Wizards at that time were still called the Bullets.

At the opening ceremony before the game, a close-up of the flag was also given in the clip on the large LED screen.

After sweeping the "King of the North" Raptors, the morale of this team is bursting, and many fans have already talked about the championship.

"We've got Paul Pearce, we've got John Wall, we've got Brad Beal, we've got the most favorable schedule, it's time to bring a new championship flag to Washington."

This was the most popular comment on social media before the game, with tens of thousands of likes.

After the opening ceremony, the starters of both sides appeared one after another.

The Wizards fielded a regular lineup with John Wall and Brad Beal on the outside, Paul Pierce and Nene on the front, and Gortat at center.

On the Nets' side, Tang Tian adjusted the starting lineup again, he put Joe Johnson in the starting lineup and Pierce opposite, and the other positions remained unchanged, with Deron and Bogdan Bogdanovic on the outside, and Yi Jianlian and Jokic on the inside.

Tang Tian and Wizards head coach Whitman shook hands in the midfield, and when the two walked back to the halfcourt, both starters came to the middle circle and began to jump the ball.

Gortat flicked the ball back into the Wizards half, and the home team had the opportunity to take the lead.

Blocking and dismantling of the two wings in the front court.

Whitman's coaching ability is very poor, he has been the head coach for 9 years, only in the two years of the Wizards, the team's winning rate is more than half, "no arrangement before the game, no response between the game, no summary after the game" is the fans' summary of his coaching ability, "immovable as a mountain" is a nickname given to him by some fans, but he has some ways in cultivating young players, which is why he stayed.

And it is true that Pierce's arrival has brought a lot of changes to this Wizards team, such as this blocking and pick-and-roll coordination, which is very simple, but because Pierce and Beal have the ability to catch and shoot and break through, the Nets' defense is very open.

Wall is a smart collegiate point guard, and after seeing this, he went straight to the middle to break through Delon and hit the basket.

However, he obviously underestimated DeLong's ability to get rid of synovitis, and DeLong is now a nimble little fat man, and when Wall made a low-handed layup, he directly covered him back.

Yi Jianlian flew to save the ball, and the Wizards' first offense was in vain.

Delon drove forward with the ball and handed the ball to Jokic from beyond the three-point line.

Gortat cowered at the free-throw line, and it looked like it was the Wizards' tactical choice.

Jokic saw it and shot a three-point attempt.

"Huh!"

Cast a direct hollow into the net.

Before the game, Jokic went to the arena to practice his three-point shot for two hours in advance, and he quickly got into the groove.

The Wizards' offense, the same tactics, but this time Wall passed the ball to Beal, who still didn't have an outside three-point shot.

In the previous life, the Raptors' DeRozan and Lowry were called "garbage brothers" by some fans because of their poor playoff performance, but in fact, before the Raptors, the Wizards' Wall and Beal played even worse, and their shooting rate was less than 40% last year, including this year's playoffs, which is why a Pierce can make such a big change.

Jokic grabbed the defensive rebound, and Delon dribbled to the frontcourt and gave the ball to Jokic.

Gortat also cowered at the free-throw line, which was strictly in accordance with the coach's arrangement in playing.

Jokic was stunned when he saw it, and then shot three points.

"Bang!"

This time the shot was a little heavier, but the arc was very positive, and after hitting the rebound, it rebounded and rolled into the net bag.

6-0, Jokic felt hot as soon as he came up, and he went straight to hi.

At the critical moment, it was Pierce who stepped up, and he received a pass from Wall in the front court and hit a layup, finally breaking the home team's scoring drought.

Looking back, Jokic fought back to the three-point line, this time Gortat had to pounce, Jokic played, a feint accelerated past Gortat to kill the basket, forced Nene to come over and then a beautiful hit to the basket Yi Jianlian, who scored directly with both hands.

There was a commotion among the fans at the scene, Jokic is a center, he is completely a guard!

The live camera shows Whitman, who is sitting firmly on the bench on the sidelines, who is unfazed, as if nothing happened.

Tang Tian was also a little stunned when he saw this, and he had a fierce confrontation with Budenholzer in the first round, and suddenly encountered such an opponent, which also caught him a little off guard.

Jokic didn't encounter a targeted defense, and it was completely open.

Three-pointers from the outside, playmaking, and even misplaced back-to-back shots and passes in the low post, for the first time since entering the playoffs, he completely redeemed his talent.

The Wizards struggled to bite the score under the leadership of Pierce, but they were never able to overtake the score.

In the end, the Nets defeated the Wizards 94-81 on the road to get the first win of the series.

Wall and Beal combined for 26 points on 9-of-33 shooting, compared to the veteran Pierce's 26 points and 5 rebounds on 11-of-15 shooting, which is really distressing.

Jokic played the best masterpiece of his career, shooting 12-of-20, 4-of-8 three-pointers, and 4-of-6 free throws, slashing 32 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists.

This is a standard "big ternary".