NBA Playoffs 2019: Top Scores and Highlights from Round 1 Bracket

Brilliant performers in all walks of life have a certain arrogance that is apparent every time they do their job. Damian Lillard reached that level Tuesday night for the Portland Trail Blazers.

Lillard is Portland's star point guard, and he was at his best in Game 5 of the Trail Blazers' first-round series against the Oklahoma City Thunder in the NBA playoffs. After carrying the Trail Blazers throughout the game, he made the difference in the final seconds.

The 28-year-old dribbled the ball midway between halfcourt and the three-point line and was determined to take the last shot of regulation with the score tied at 115-115. Lillard had assuredly earned that right, as he had lit up the Thunder for 47 points.

However, instead of making a move and driving to the hole or looking for a screen from one of his teammates, Lillard simply launched the ball as time disappeared from the clock. He was 37 feet away from the rim, but the shot went through, and the Trail Blazers had a 118-115 victory.

Portland, who were swept in their last two playoff appearances, defeated Oklahoma City in the first-round series 4-1. Lillard finished the game with a postseason team-record of 50 points, and he teamed with fellow guard C.J. McCollum to get the best of Russell Westbrook and Paul George in the one-sided series.

Two other first-round series also came to an end Tuesday night, as the Philadelphia 76ers whipped the Brooklyn Nets 122-100 to win that series by a 4-1 margin, and the Toronto Raptors also won their series by the same 4-1 edge when they punished the Orlando Magic 115-96.

Joel Embiid was too much for the Nets as he scored 23 points and added 13 rebounds in just 20 minutes of action, while Kawhi Leonard ended the Magic's season as he had 27 points and seven rebounds. Leonard received plenty of help from Pascal Siakam, who added 24 points and six rebounds.

The Denver Nuggets took a 3-2 series lead over the San Antonio Spurs as Jamal Murray scored 23 points and Nikola Jokic added 16 points and 11 rebounds in a 108-90 Denver triumph.

Updated NBA Postseason Bracket

Eastern Conference

No. 1 Milwaukee Bucks 4, No. 8 Detroit Pistons 0 (Bucks advance to second round)

No. 2 Toronto Raptors 4, No. 7 Orlando Magic 1 (Raptors advance to second round)

No. 3 Philadelphia 76ers 4, No. 6 Brooklyn Nets 1 (76ers advance to second round)

No. 4 Boston Celtics 4, No. 5 Indiana Pacers 0, (Celtics advance to second round)               

Western Conference

No. 1 Golden State Warriors 3, No. 8 Los Angeles Clippers 1

No. 2 Denver Nuggets 3, No. 7 San Antonio Spurs 2

No. 3 Portland Trail Blazers 4 No. 6 Oklahoma City Thunder 1 (Trail Blazers advance to second round)

No. 4 Houston Rockets 3, No. 5 Utah Jazz 1

(First-round NBA playoff schedule)

The four Eastern Conference postseason series all concluded in decisive fashion. 

The Celtics swept the Pacers, and the Bucks did the same to the Pistons. The other two series were won in five games by the favored teams. The fourth-seeded Celtics will meet the top-seeded Bucks in the second round, while the Raptors will have the home-court edge when they meet the third-seeded 76ers.

Boston was led by Kyrie Irving and Jayson Tatum in the first round, as Irving averaged 22.5 points and 7.8 assists per game and Tatum contributed 19.3 points and 5.5 rebounds. In addition to those two, Boston got excellent contributions from Gordon Hayward, Al Horford and Jaylen Brown.

Their depth was the highlight of the series, as it allowed the Celtics to execute well down the stretch in each game. 

The Bucks rebuffed the Pistons in their four-game sweep, as Milwaukee was clearly the superior team. It was no surprise that MVP candidate Giannis Antetokounmpo led the way with his 26.3 points and 12.0 rebounds per game, and he received plenty of support from Khris Middleton, who added 19.0 points and 5.5 rebounds per night.

The Bucks showed off their explosiveness against Detroit, with the closest game in the series being Milwaukee's 119-103 triumph in Game 3 at Detroit.

The play of Embiid was the highlight of the Sixers' one-sided triumph over the Nets. Despite playing with a sore knee that limited him to 24.3 minutes per game, he scored a team-best 24.8 points and 13.5 rebounds per game and was nearly unstoppable every time he was on the floor.

Toronto's five-game was keyed by Leonard and Siakam. Leonard is scoring 27.8 points and connecting on 55.6 percent of his shots in the postseason, and Siakam has also been magnificent with 22.6 points per game while connecting on 53.3 percent of his shots.

Siakam provided the biggest highlight of the series with his 30-point effort in Game 2, when Leonard was battling an illness and was held to 16 points in Toronto's 98-93 victory.

The Trail Blazers are the only Western Conference to advance to the second round, but they could be joined by the Houston Rockets and the Golden State Warriors Wednesday night.

James Harden is leading the way for the Rockets with an average of 28.3 points per game in the postseason, but one of the highlights has been the depth contributions of Eric Gordon (15.3 ppg), PJ Tucker (13.0 ppg, 6.0 rpg) and Clint Capela (9.5 ppg, 10.8 rpg).

That trio was especially effective in Game 3 of the series when Harden missed his first 15 shots in a 104-101 Houston triumph.

While the Clippers trail 3-1 to the Warriors, Los Angeles pulled off the shocker of the series with its 135-131 triumph in Game 2 in Oakland.

The Warriors built a 31-point lead in that game, but the Clippers came all the way back to pick up the road win. Lou Williams had 36 points in the NBA's greatest postseason comeback of all-time.

That loss has apparently refocused the Warriors, who bounced back with road triumphs in Games 3 and 4.