Unfortunately for him, the New York Knicks rallied from 20 points down to beat the Celtics in Boston, 91-90.
The Oklahoma City Thunder lost a 13-point fourth-quarter lead in their Game 1 loss to the Denver Nuggets. Wednesday night, they decided to build an insurmountable lead right away.
Here are three stars from Wednesday's slate of NBA second-round games.
In the Celtics' series against the Knicks, they've missed 75 threes, and they're on the verge of missing their chance to repeat as champions.
The New York Knicks traded five first-round picks to acquire Mikal Bridges last summer. The deal has paid off with two game-ending defensive plays from Bridges to give the Knicks a shocking 2-0 series lead over the Boston Celtics.
An anonymous survey of NBA players voted Haliburton the NBA's "Most Overrated" player. After the last three weeks of the playoffs, no one is calling him overrated anymore.
When Stephen Curry headed to the locker room with a hamstring injury in the second quarter, the Golden State Warriors could have panicked. Instead, they locked down the Minnesota Timberwolves in a 99-88 win.
Road teams remained undefeated in the second round of the NBA playoffs Tuesday, as the Pacers shocked the top-seeded Cavaliers and the Warriors downed the Timberwolves in Minneapolis. Here are four stars from Tuesday night's second-round action.
Can the Warriors stay afloat while Curry is out?
The Cleveland Cavaliers had a seven-point lead in the final minute of Game 2 against the Indiana Pacers. The Milwaukee Bucks could have told them that lead wasn't safe.
The Oklahoma City Thunder led by 11 points late in the fourth quarter of Monday's Game 1, but big shots by Nikola Jokic, two missed free throws and a huge three-pointer from Aaron Gordon gave the Denver Nuggets an improbable 121-119 win.
The New York Knicks stunned the defending-champion Boston Celtics on the road in overtime while the Denver Nuggets shocked the Oklahoma City Thunder on the road.
On a night when Mikal Bridges played phenomenal defense and the Boston Celtics missed a record 45 three-pointers, it was appropriate that the final play of game featured Bridges clamping Jaylen Brown behind the arc as time expired.
The Cleveland Cavaliers were one of the NBA's deepest teams this season. They may have to rely heavily on that depth in Game 2.
It was a familiar end for some Rockets players, coaches and the city of Houston itself, as Steph Curry and Draymond Green won a series over the Rockets for the fifth time in their careers.
Going into Sunday's Game 7, Stephen Curry had beaten the Houston Rockets in four previous playoff series. He notched another win, though it was a different Golden State Warriors sharpshooter leading the way.
The second round of the NBA playoffs began Sunday in Cleveland, mere hours before the first round of the playoffs ended in Houston.
The Cleveland Cavaliers rode winning streaks of 16 and 15 games to a 64-18 record that gave them home-court advantage through the Eastern Conference playoffs.
Here are three stars from Friday night's NBA action.
In a tight Game 6 against the Warriors, the youthful Rockets looked like the more experienced team.
LeBron James struggled in the fourth quarter of the Los Angeles Lakers' Game 5 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves.
As the franchise moves away from its rebuild, Johnson won't enjoy the job security of his predecessor.
James Harden had a huge first half to help the Los Angeles Clippers hang with the Denver Nuggets in Game 6. He and the Clippers avoided elimination with second-half help from Norman Powell, Kawhi Leonard — and Russell Westbrook.
Facing elimination, the Detroit Pistons made a furious fourth-quarter comeback. Then the Knicks made a furious comeback of their own to eliminate them.