We're set to take on three more Game 2's on Tuesday with two higher-seeded teams aiming for their first victory of the postseason.
The Denver Nuggets will look to avenge their Game 1 loss at home while the Portland Trail Blazers will try to keep the Oklahoma City Thunder out of the win column, defending their home court advantage.
Here are some things to watch for each of Tuesday's games.
Derrick White
This is a name you need to be familiar with, incase his Game 1 performance didn't already give you that idea.
Derrick White has been fantastic for the Spurs this season and we saw more of the same in their win over Denver this past weekend. The second-year guard scored 16 points, the second-most on the team, while filling up the box score with five assists, three rebounds and a steal.
His two biggest plays in the game came from a thunderous dunk on Paul Millsap that sent NBA Twitter into a frenzy:
Welcome home, @Dwhite921.#GoSpursGo | #NBAPlayoffs pic.twitter.com/zDQB5Fjqp0
— San Antonio Spurs (@spurs) April 14, 2019
And his one steal that came at the most opportune time, ripping Jamal Murray at halfcourt to seal the game for San Antonio.
This was more of the same theme from the entire night – according to NBA.com, White guarded Murray on 35 possessions, more than any other player on the Spurs. Murray's stat line on those 35 possessions: 6-for-17 shooting from the field (35.3%), 0-for-5 on 3-point attempts and one turnover.
White is a player whose name has been thrown around for All-Defensive selections and he put that type of talent on display in Game 1.
Born and raised in Colorado, playing at the University of Colorado, White is playing these road games right in his backyard and it's seemed to pack an extra punch to his game.
Jokic on the attack
This one is plain and simple.
Nikola Jokic notched a triple-double in Game 1, but Denver flat out needs him to be more aggressive.
He's their star player and he only took nine shots. He was an efficient 4-for-9 from the field but was 0-for-3 from 3-point range, and that still shouldn't stop him from attacking.
The Nuggets are a better team when Jokic plays aggressively – they were 25-11 this season when he took more than his average of 15 shots a game. In contests where the All-Star centre scored more than 25 points, the Nuggets were 14-2.
If Denver is going to pick up a home win in Game 2 and send this series to San Antonio tied, they're going to need Jokic to play on the attack.
Denver's 3-point shooting
The Nuggets didn't have it from beyond the arc in Game 1 and in a game decided by five points, it made all the difference.
They shot 6-for-28 (21.4%) from 3-point range, which was their fourth-worst shooting performance this season. Murray was 0-for-6 and Jokic shot 0-for-3. Will Barton and Paul Millsap went a combined 2-for-10, Gary Harris was a modest 1-for-3 with their bench shooting a solid 3-for-6.
Against a team like the Spurs, who finished dead last in 3-point attempts but had the highest 3-point percentage in the league, you have to be efficient with your perimeter shooting.
San Antonio was 7-for-15 from three in Game 1 – they had one more make than the Nuggets on 13 less attempts.
If the Nuggets are going to use their outside shooting to make a difference in this series, they're going to have to convert them at a higher clip to overcome Spurs' efficiency.
Needing more from Schroder
Dennis Schroder struggled all of Game 1 and it's one of the reasons the Thunder were handed a loss.
He went 5-for-17 (29.4%) from the field while missing all seven of his 3-point attempts. He scored 11 points off the bench, shy of his season average of 15.5 points per game, and with OKC's struggles offensively they cannot afford for one of their top scorers to have a game like Schroder did.
Schroder's efficiency is key to the Thunder. He shot 41.4 percent from the field this season but the games where he eclipses that mark is when OKC is most successful.
In games that Schroder shot 46.0 percent or better, the Thunder were 23-4. In the 37 games that he shot worse than his season average, OKC went 16-21.
Schroder isn't going to shoot 0-for-7 from three every game, he just had an off night. But with the necessity of his scoring, the Thunder need him to get back on track as soon as possible to bring that third scoring option to life.
Keeping Kanter off the offensive glass
It's no secret that Enes Kanter is one of the best offensive rebounders in the NBA.
His 3.8 offensive rebounds per game ranked him in the top-five this season for the second consecutive year.
He had seven offensive boards in Game 1, including two huge offensive rebounds in the final minute and a half of the fourth quarter to kill the clock and eventually help decide the outcome of the game.
The Thunder outrebounded the Trail Blazers both overall and on the offensive glass, creating more second chance points than Portland, but it's still key to box out Kanter on that end of the floor.
His seven offensive rebounds only turned into six second chance points for the Blazers but it should remain a major focus to keep him off of the offensive glass to prevent Portland from using that as another advantage over OKC in Game 2.