Warriors win Game 1 in Houston

HOUSTON Kevin Durant scored 37 points and Klay Thompson added 28 to lead Golden State to a 119-106 win in the longawaited showdown with the Houston Rockets in Game 1 of the Western Conference finals on Monday night.

Starting a playoff series on the road for the first time since 2014, the Warriors trailed by as many as nine early, but had evened it up by halftime and used a big run at the beginning of the fourth quarter to pull away.

“We’re in the Western Conference Finals they are going to come out with a lot of energy,” Durant said. “We’re going to take that first punch and keep punching.”

Game 2 is Wednesday night in Houston.

Eric Gordon opened the final period with a 3-pointer to get the top-seeded Rockets within 4, but Thompson scored the first eight points of a 13-4 run to make it 100-87 with about eight minutes left.

Houston used a 9-3 spurt, where James Harden scored five, to cut the lead to 103-96 with less than five minutes to go. But Thompson struck again, hitting a wide open 3 to leave the Warriors ahead by 10 with four minutes left.

Harden scored 41 to lead the Rockets, who lost at home for the second time this postseason.

Steph Curry added 18 for the Warriors, who are in the conference finals for a franchise-record fourth straight time. It’s Houston’s first trip since 2015 when Golden State won the series in five games.

The Warriors, who are the second seed in the West, opened a playoff series away from Oracle Arena for the first time since 2014 when they lost to the Los Angeles Clippers 4-3 in the opening round.