The Cleveland Cavaliers and the San Antonio Spurs each won the first game in their series on Sunday. The New Jersey Nets and the Phoenix Suns each lost. Each Series is now 1-0.

In the Nets vs. Cavaliers game the breakout performances went to Lebron James and Vince Carter. they each scored 21 points. James had 11 rebounds, and seven assists. Carter had 13 rebounds and six assists. Head coach of the Cavs said the victory was in thanks to stellar defense.

“Our defense was the thing that carried us.”

James turned in a remarkable performance considering he was playing with a head cold. He was said to be coughing and sniffing throughout the entire post-game interview, but during a playoff game he had to play through it.

“It’s the playoffs, you have to battle through it,” said king James. “No matter what it took I was going to be out there.”

In the fourth quarter Nets guard Jason Kidd made a steal, and was on his way to making an easy layup before Cavalier Sasha Pavolic came up behind Kidd and swatted the ball away from him. This could have been a turning point in the game for the Nets. However Nets coach Lawrence Frank doesn’t seem to upset over the game one loss.

“It’s one game, you don’t overreact.”

In the Suns Vs. Spurs game the top performers were Steve Nash and Tim Duncan. Duncan scored 33 points, and nabbed 33 rebounds while Nash scored 31 points and had just 8 assists, a far cry from his 23 assists against the Los Angeles Lakers on the 29th. Nash did leave early though, because of a head on collision he had with tony Parker late in the game. Nash was dissapointed at the outcome of the game.

“Very surprising, very frustrating,” he said. “How many times can you talk about it? We just have to have a bigger heart and continue to push through these invisible barriers that seem to pop up. I don’t know what they are, but sometimes we just don’t play as hard as we should.”

The two teams will tangle again on Tuesday at the US Airways Center, and the Nets and the Cavs will play on Tuesday as well.