For the first time since the 2003 playoffs, both the Eastern and Western Conference No. 1 seeds lost their first games of the NBA playoffs.
The Milwaukee Bucks were stunned by the Orlando Magic, losing 122-110, and the Los Angeles Lakers fell to the Portland Trail Blazers by a score of 100-93.
The Magic were led by Nikola Vucevic, who had 14 rebounds and scored 35 points, which is a playoff career-high for him. Two other big contributors for the eighth-seed Orlando team were Terrence Ross and Gary Clark, who scored 18 and 15 points respectively.
While Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo put up big numbers, finishing the game with 31 points, 17 rebounds, and seven assists, he failed to show up when it mattered most. The “Greek Freak” didn’t score a field goal in the last 11 minutes of the game.
Before the COVID-19 pandemic interrupted the season, the Bucks were the favorites to win a title this year. Since the restart of the season in the bubble, they have been sluggish and inconsistent, which continued to be the case on Tuesday.
In the Western Conference, Portland’s Damian Lillard continued his dominant play, spoiling Lebron James’ playoff debut with Los Angeles by leading the Trail Blazers to victory over the top-seeded Lakers with 34 points.
