The NBA Conference semifinals produced the first surprise, after the San Antonio Spurs, seen as one of the favourites for the title alongside Oklahoma City Thunder, lost 102-104 in their first match at home against Minnesota Timberwolves, aided by the return of Minnesota's Anthony Edwards, who made his return from the bench despite sustaining an injury on April 25, a bone bruise in his left knee that was supposed to keep him out for multiple weeks, but still scored 11 of the Timberwolves' first 19 points of the fourth quarter.
San Antonio still has home court advantage and will play Game 2 at home on Wednesday, before going to Minneapolis on Games 3 and 4 on Friday and Sunday. The Conference Semifinals are also a series of best of seven games, and the winner of the duel between Spurs and Timberwolves would face Los Angeles Lakers or Oklahoma City Thunder, who begin their series tonight (Tuesday at 2:30 CEST in European time).
Monday night also saw the first match of the East semifinal between New York Knicks and Philadelphia 76ers, with the Knicks thrashing the 76ers 137-98, with the Philly team showing signs of exhaustion after stunning their longtime rivals Boston Celtics in the play-offs last weekend on Game 7.