15 to 13! One player's free throws outscore the entire Suns! The most lopsided matchup in the playoffs

Did Paolo Banchero intentionally underperform in the regular season and play-in games, just to ambush the Pistons in the playoffs?

The 2022 draft's top pick, Paolo Banchero, shot 8 for 15, scoring 23 points, grabbing 9 rebounds, and dishing out 4 assists, leading the eighth-seeded Magic to a 112-101 road victory over the top-seeded Pistons.The opposing 2021 top pick, Cade Cunningham, had a futile 39 points, 5 rebounds, and 4 assists, while the "Little Beast" Jalen Duren only managed 8 points and 7 rebounds.

Such a crazy upset by the lower seed...

The top-seeded Thunder in the West were nervous, but fortunately their star player Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led the charge, shooting 5 for 18 from the field and making 15 of 17 free throws to contribute 25 points plus 4 rebounds and 7 assists, leading the team to a dominant 119-84 home victory over the eighth-seeded Suns.

It is particularly noteworthy thatAlexander made 15 free throws in this game, more than the entire Suns team who made 13 out of 18 attempts.

The second-seeded Spurs in the West also secured a comfortable 111-98 home victory over the seventh-seeded Trail Blazers.

As a playoff rookie, Victor Wembanyama, in his debut lasting about 32 minutes, shot 13 for 21, including 5 for 6 from three-point range, and made 4 of 5 free throws, exploding for 35 points, 5 rebounds, 1 assist, and 2 blocks. His 35 points broke the Spurs' franchise record for points in a playoff debut (Tim Duncan had 32).

Shaolin Kung Fu is great, really great~

Since the foreign "Shaolin monk" performed so explosively, how about the authentic one?

Our Yang Hansen also got on the court, but only for 52 seconds of running back and forth, with no stats recorded.

Thus, Yang Hansen became the fifth Chinese player to appear in an NBA playoff game, following Wang Zhizhi, Yao Ming, Yi Jianlian, and Zhou Qi.

Regardless, having the opportunity to personally experience the intensity of the NBA playoffs is a good thing.

All Game 1 matches of the first round of this year's playoffs have concluded, as follows:

West: Lakers 107-98 Rockets, Nuggets 116-105 Timberwolves, Spurs 111-98 Trail Blazers, Thunder 119-84 Suns;

East: Knicks 113-102 Hawks, Cavaliers 126-113 Raptors, Pistons 101-112 Magic, Celtics 123-91 Philadelphia.

Clearly, except for the Magic's upset over the Pistons, all other Game 1 matchups were won by the higher-seeded teams, with the smallest margin of victory being at least 9 points.