LOS ANGELES — The San Antonio Spurs and Los Angeles Clippers both romped to easy home victories in a pair of NBA Western Conference playoff openers Sunday.
Kawhi Leonard tallied 20 points as the Spurs routed the Memphis Grizzlies 106-74 to take a 1-0 lead in their best-of-seven series.
The Spurs dominated the middle two quarters but were especially effective in the final eight minutes of the third against the Grizzlies, who were led by 39-year-old journeyman Vince Carter.
In the night game, Chris Paul finished with 28 points and 11 assists as the Clippers pounded the Portland Trail Blazers 115-95.
LaMarcus Aldridge collected 17 points, Tony Parker and Patty Mills scored 15 points each for the Spurs and Kevin Martin added 10 points, all in the fourth quarter.
Tim Duncan had seven points and 11 rebounds as San Antonio hit on 42 of its 81 shots (52 percent), outrebounded the Grizzlies 44-35 and had nine blocked shots to Memphis’ three.
Carter, who has played for six teams in his NBA career, led the Grizzlies with 16 points while Lance Stephenson scored all but two of his 14 points in the second half in front of the crowd of 18,600 at AT&T Center arena.
In Los Angeles, Paul also had 11 assists and six rebounds for Los Angeles who, like the Spurs, blew the game open with a dominating third quarter.
Game two of the best-of-seven series is Wednesday at Staples Center.
Cavs edge Pistons
In Washington, Cleveland’s top trio of LeBron James, Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love combined for 81 points Sunday as the Cavaliers battled to a 106-101 victory over determined Detroit in their NBA playoff opener.
The Pistons, back in the playoffs for the first time in seven seasons, did all they could to steal an away win, draining 15 three-pointers as they shot 52 percent from long range.
James denied that the Pistons caught the top-seeded Cavaliers off-guard.
“We did it to ourselves,” James said. “We were a step slow on some of our coverages and they made us pay for it.
“In the second half we knew we had to play a little bit more close attention, a little bit more close to our details that our coaching staff told us to do.”
Detroit led at halftime and entering the fourth quarter. A three-pointer from Reggie Bullock with 11:03 left in the final period saw the Pistons match their largest lead of the contest at 83-76.
The Cavs called a timeout to get James back in the game and less than two minutes later it was tied at 83-83 and Cleveland was on its way to a win.
James finished with 22 points, 11 rebounds and six assists.
Heat overpower Hornets
Luol Deng will have pleasant memories of his first playoff game with the Miami Heat.
Deng scored 31 points as the Heat routed the Charlotte Hornets 123-91 in Game 1 of the teams’ first-round Eastern Conference playoff series.
Deng shot 11-for-13 from the field and 5-for-7 from 3-point range in his first postseason appearance for the Heat, who never trailed and built a double-digit lead midway through the first quarter.
Dwyane Wade scored 16 points and Goran Dragic had nine points and 10 assists in his Miami playoff debut. Amar’e Stoudemire and Joe Johnson were Miami’s other double-figure scorers with 11 points each.
Nicolas Batum scored 24 points and Kemba Walker finished with 19 points for the Hornets. — Agencies
