5 surprises from the first weekend of the NBA playoffs

5. LeBron James lost a first-round game

Heading into the 2018 playoffs, LeBron James had won 21 straight first-round games. His last Round 1 loss came all the way back in 2012 against the New York Knicks, when he was suiting up alongside Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh with the Miami Heat. He also had never lost a Game 1 in the opening round before.

On Sunday, the Indiana Pacers unceremoniously snapped both of those streaks. Led by Victor Oladipo’s 32-point, six-rebound, four-assist, four-steal night, the Pacers walloped the Cavaliers on the road, 98-80, sending Cleveland fans streaming for the exits with two minutes remaining.

While James recorded his 20th career playoff triple-double (24 points, 12 assists, 10 rebounds)—a feat exceeded only by Magic Johnson since 1964—the rest of his teammates went largely missing in action. Oladipo, meanwhile, received plenty of help from Myles Turner (16 points, eight rebounds, one block), Bojan Bogdanovic (15 points, six rebounds, three steals) and Lance Stephenson (12 points, five rebounds), who’s long been a thorn in James’ side.

“We’ve been playing like this all year,” Oladipo told reporters after the game. “We’ve been playing hard at both ends all year, but it’s been magnified. Now it’s the playoffs and everyone’s seeing it and it’s kind of shocking to everybody, I guess you could say.”

It’s only one game, and the Cavs can quell concerns by coming out Wednesday night and routing the Pacers to even the series at one game apiece. But for a Cleveland team already on shaky ground heading into the playoffs, losing Game 1 by nearly 20 points doesn’t seem to bode well for a lengthy postseason run.

Next: 4. The Raptors won a Game 1