NBA Playoffs: Ranking the top five Game 1 performances from Wemby, Kennard, more

The first weekend of the 2026 NBA playoffs is in the books. According to seeds, there was only one upset — Orlando over Detroit — but the Lakers beating Houston without Luka Dončić and Austin Reaves felt like one, too (even though Kevin Durant didn’t play for the Rockets). 

There were a number of standout individual Game 1 performances, but we’re going to narrow it down to the top five. Starting with ….

1. Victor Wembanyama, Spurs

• 35 points (13-of-21 shooting, 5 of 6 from 3)

Wembanyama was magical in his first career playoff game. He went for 35 points (a Spurs record in a playoff debut, passing Tim Duncan’s 32 in 1998) on 13 of 21 shooting. He blocked a couple shots and, as always, changed or deterred a bunch of others. 

Look how high Deni Advija has to shoot this layup just to get it above Wemby’s reach. The thing damn near goes over the backboard before caroming off the rim. 

That’s not a blocked shot in the box score, but it might as well be. Here Wembanyama puts up a road block on Toumani Camara while hardly having to move, then spikes Jerami Grant’s shot without jumping. 

The dude looks like he’s playing with kids. Honest to god, making plays like this at 7-foot-4 is the peak of basketball evolution. I don’t know how it can ever get any crazier than this.

Wemby also made five of his six 3-pointers. That is the second-most 3s made in a playoff debut in league history (trailing, as you probably could’ve guessed, the great Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot and Voshon Lenard, each of whom cashed six triples in their playoff opener). Wembanyama hit a bunch of impressive 3s, but flow dribbling into a fading corner job is sick.

He also finished three alley-oop dunks, highlighting the outrageous gravity of his rim rolls. It’s the reason the Spurs led the league in corner 3-point attempts, because wing defenders are forced to sink down off of their shooters to at least marginally disrupt things like this. 

It’s a total pick-your-poison situation. Even when multiple defenders collapse into the paint, all you have to do is toss the ball to the moon and he’s the only one who can reach it.

Indeed, Wembanyama was the best player on the floor in San Antonio’s 111-98 Game 1 win. But it wasn’t the only playoff debut that went well for the Spurs, as second-year wing Stephon Castle finished with 17 points, seven rebounds and seven assists. Castle didn’t shoot it as efficiently, but he was everywhere in this game. The future is now for this Spurs team, and it is impossibly bright. 

2. Luke Kennard, Lakers

• 27 points (9-of-13 shooting, 5 for 5 from 3)

In terms of importance, you could argue no Game 1 performance ranks higher than Kennard’s effort against Houston. Missing the combined 57 PPG that Luka Dončić and Austin Reaves averaged this season, the Lakers needed not just a surprise scorer to step up but someone who could do so off some of his own creation. 

Kennard provided both. He’s always been a more creative scorer than you might realize, comfortable using his motion to get into dribble actions rather than just always catching and shooting. Here he curls around a screen and keeps going downhill for an off-hand scoop. 

Here, he comes off the pick and snake dribbles into a fading middy:

Here, he leverages a hard closeout to get into a soft-spot pull-up:

Here, his initial drive is cut off, so he calmly retreats and, when the Rockets screw up the switch, he flows right into one of his five 3-pointers:

LeBron James was terrific in this game as well, stuffing the box score to the tune of 19 points, 13 assists, eight rebounds, two steals and a block. He orchestrated offense from all over the floor, faced up from the elbow, worked out of the post, but give JJ Redick credit for making Kennard the focal point of a lot of actions. He could’ve asked James to redline his scoring engine and he would have burned out, if not in this game then surely down the line in what the Lakers hope is a long series. 

Asked what fueled his performance: “It’s everybody continuing to build confidence in me to be aggressive and look for my shot whenever I can,” Kennard said. “…When I see space and the rim, I’m going to look to get it up.”

3. Jayson Tatum, Celtics

• 25 points, 11 rebounds, 7 assists, 2 steals

Tatum shot out of the gate on Sunday with 10 points, seven rebounds and four assists in the first quarter. He scored or assisted on 19 points in that opening frame, more than the 76ers scored as a team. By the end of the second quarter, Tatum, had become the only Celtic player in the play-by-play era (which dates back to 1996-97) to record at least 20 points, eight rebounds and four assists in the first half of a playoff game. 

A little less than six weeks since making his season debut following a nine-month recovery from a ruptured Achilles, I think we can officially put to bed any concern about his ability to change direction and explode off the ground with full force.

Tatum did it all in Game 1. Scored from all three levels. Created for teammates. Defended. Ran the floor. At the time of year when everyone else is fighting the fatigue of a grueling season, Tatum is fresh and hitting his stride just in time for the Celtics to make a real run at a title. 

4. Donovan Mitchell, Cavaliers

• 32 points (11-of-20 shooting, 4 for 7 from 3)

Mitchell is one of the most electric playoff performers in history (his 28.3 PPG average in the playoffs is sixth all-time), and he’s especially awesome in series openers. With 32 points in Cleveland’s win over the Raptors, Mitchell has now scored at least 30 points in an NBA record nine consecutive Game 1s.

Mitchell’s pick-and-roll prowess is well chronicled (88th percentile as a scorer, per Synergy). He’s basically impossible to cover off the dribble with his array of options, from pulling up for 3 to attacking downhill with such shifty, low-leverage force you’d think you were watching Barry Sanders hit a cutback hole. 

The Cavs were way too much offensively for the Raptors, whose only chance of competing in this series is to defend. It doesn’t look like that’s going to happen. In addition to Mitchell’s 32, James Harden and Max Strus combined for 46 points on 8-of-13 from 3. The Raptors just can’t keep up with this kind of offense. If it continues, it’s going to be a short series. 

5. Cade Cunningham, Pistons

• 39 points (13-of-27 shooting, 3 of 8 from 3)

The only player to make this list in a loss, Cunningham, who is less than two weeks back from a collapsed lung, did all he could to will the Pistons past Orlando with 25 of his 39 points in the second half. 

He cut Detroit’s deficit to seven entering the fourth quarter with this middy.

And he cut it to four with this pull-up 3.

Problem was, every time Cunningham inched Detroit closer, the Magic had an answer. Within two possessions of this bucket, Orlando had the lead back to eight, only for Cunningham to come right back with another pull-up. 

A minute later, Cunningham sunk a pair of free throws to trim the deficit back to four, only for Tristan da Silva to bang a 3 on the other end as Orlando rattled off five straight to stretch the lead back to nine. Cunningham kept coming with two more bully-ball drives, but the deficit never got below seven the rest of the way.

For the Pistons to win this series, Cunningham cannot be the only source of offense. But that was indeed the case on Sunday. Other than Tobias Harris’ inefficient 17 points on 15 shots, no other Piston scored in double figures. Detroit’s other All-Star, Jalen Duren, finished with just eight points on four shots and was a game-low minus-21 in his 33 minutes. 

Honorable mentions

Deni Avdija, Paolo Banchero, Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray, Jalen Williams, LeBron James, James Harden, Max Strus, Jaylen Brown, Karl-Anthony Towns, Jalen Suggs, CJ McCollum