The Raptors' sluggish performance in Monday's Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinals was nothing new, but at least it was better than the effort the Spurs displayed in a home rout to the Rockets. 

Toronto dropped to 1-12 in playoff openers after falling 116-105 in Cleveland as they failed to stop LeBron James (35 points) and Kyrie Irving (24). The Raptors pulled within seven points in the third quarter before James knocked down a 3-pointer, converted a three-point play, then hit another jumper and considered washing it down with a beer. 

The Raptors were seemingly out for revenge after losing to the Cavs last year in the playoffs, but trailed by double digits for most of the game en route to being blown out for the fourth straight time in Cleveland.

Also blown out were the Spurs, who trailed the Rockets 69-39 at halftime in the first game of their Western Conference semifinal series. The 30-point halftime deficit was the Spurs' largest in franchise history and they failed to make much ground in the second half, dropping Game 1 126-99, the worst playoff loss under Gregg Popovich. 

Trevor Ariza led the Rockets with 23 points as he knocked down five of the team's 22 3-pointers (postseason franchise-record) and was one of six Houston players in double figures. Clint Capela (20 points, 13 rebounds) and James Harden (20 points, 14 assists) added double-doubles for Houston. 

Frustrations were high for San Antonio at the end of the third quarter as Dewayne Dedmon was involved in a scuffle with Harden along with Nene, who intervened by grabbing Dedmon’s neck. Nene was ejected for the grab while Dedmon and Harden received technical fouls.

"We lost and they won and they played better," a frustrated and succinct Popovich told reporters after the game. "We disobeyed a lot of basic basketball rules."

Expect Wednesday's Raptors-Cavaliers and Rockets-Spurs games to be a lot closer than Monday. 

Stud of the night

In addition to his 35 points, James added 10 rebounds and four assists in the win, showing no rust after a long layoff since the Cavs swept the Pacers on April 23 in the opening series. James will be on record watch for Game 2 Wednesday. He needs 25 points to pass Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (5,762 points) for second place on the league's postseason scoring list and two 3-pointers to join Ray Allen, Reggie Miller and Manu Ginobili as the only players to connect on 300 postseason 3-pointers. 

Dud of the night

Spurs big man and second-leading scorer LaMarcus Aldridge made just 2 of 7 shots and looked sluggish on defense as San Antonio benched its starters for most of the fourth quarter. Aldridge was a dismal minus-31 in the first half and was even worst in the second as he finished a minus-36 in 25 minutes.

Highlight

Irving and James combined for the type of dunk that's usually reserved for the fourth quarter of blowouts, not the opening minutes of the first quarter in Game 1.

What's next

Jazz (51-31) at Warriors (67-15), 10:30 p.m. ET — After topping the Clippers in seven games of the opening series of the playoffs, the Jazz stay in California to face the Warriors in the opening game of the Western Conference semifinals. Utah is the only team to beat the Warriors in the last seven weeks (20 games).