NBA: Victor Wembanyama stars for Spurs as Thunder and Celtics win

Victor Wembanyama played in his first game in the NBA play-offs as the San Antonio Spurs beat the Portland Trail Blazers 111-98.

Wembanyama, one of the three candidates for the Most Valuable Player award, scored 35 points, 21 of which were in the first half, as Spurs won the best-of-seven series.

“It’s good to get that out of the way,” the Frenchman said. “We just tried to do the same things we’ve been doing all year and stay solid.

“There was pressure on us to win the first game, but if we had stuck to the plan there wouldn’t have been that much pressure.”

On the other hand, the defending champions Oklahoma City Thunder and Boston Celtics made dominant starts to the postseason.

Thunder, the number one seed in the Western Conference, defeated the Phoenix Suns 119-84, led by last year’s Finals MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander with 25 points, 7 assists and 4 rebounds.

Jayson Tatum scored 25 points, 11 rebounds and 7 assists, Jaylen Brown also played with 26 points, and the second-ranked Celtics defeated the Philadelphia 76ers 123-91.

Meanwhile, Orlando Magic defeated the Eastern Conference’s top seed Detroit Pistons 112-101 and took a 1-0 lead in the seven-game series.

The victory for the eighth-seeded Magic, who qualified for the playoffs through the play-in tournament, further extended the Pistons’ unwanted NBA record, which has gone 11 straight without winning a postseason game at home since 2008.

Forward Paolo Banchero had 23 points, nine rebounds and four assists to help the Magic eclipse Pistons point guard Cade Cunningham’s playoff-best 39 points.

“[We] Cunningham said they didn’t bring out the right energy and gave them life too early. “Then we had to deal with it for the rest of the game.

“We have no loss of confidence. It will be a long and entertaining series.”