Home Teams Struggle as an 8 Upsets a 1

The 2014 NBA Playoffs are officially underway! After just one day, predictions are being questioned and changed.

No one saw this coming.

In what can only be described as one of the most bizarre opening days in recent postseason history, the higher seeds struggled against their respective competitors. A No. 1 seed lost to a No. 8 seed, a clash between budding rivals was marred by excessive foul calls and another No. 8 came back from 25 points down to nearly stun another No. 1.

Here’s everything that you need to know about last night’s action.

1. In what was easily the most shocking result of the day, the 38-44 Atlanta Hawks upset the No. 1 seed Indiana Pacers 101-93. Jeff Teague shined with 28 points and Paul Millsap added 25 as the Hawks emerged with a victory that was far more lopsided than the final score suggest.

The Pacers are the third No. 1 seed to lose the opening game to a No. 8 seed since 2007. The No. 1 seed lost the series in each of the previous two instances.

2. In a game with 38 combined turnovers and 51 personal fouls, the Golden State Warriors outlasted the Los Angeles Clippers 109-105 at Staples Center. Blake Griffin and Andre Iguodala saw very limited action before fouling out, and David Lee put up 20 points and 13 rebounds to overcome a postseason career-high five 3-point field goals from Chris Paul.

Prior to this game, the Clippers were 33-0 at home when leading at any point during the fourth quarter. So much for that.

3. The Clippers have lost Game 1 of a postseason series six times since moving to Los Angeles. They lost the series in every single one of those previous five attempts.

4. Joe Johnson and Deron Williams both scored 24 points and Paul Pierce had nine in the final 2:58 as the Brooklyn Nets went on the road and took down the Atlantic Division champion Toronto Raptors 94-87. The loss was disappointing, but Jonas Valanciunas had 17 points, 18 rebounds and two blocks for Toronto.

Valanciunas joins Ben Wallace and Shaquille O’Neal as the only players to post at least 15 points, 15 rebounds and two blocks in their postseason debut in the past 25 seasons.

5. Kevin Durant went off for 33 points and Russell Westbrook posted 23 as the Oklahoma City Thunder earned a hard-fought 100-86 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies. Memphis cut a 25-point deficit to just three points, but Durant took over late and OKC pulled away.

Memphis shot a franchise-low 25 percent from the field in the first half and trailed by a postseason franchise-record 22 points at halftime. Unfortunately, it couldn’t close out.