Rockets stomp Thunder
Harden outshines Westbrook
James Houstonbrook118- 87 andin Hardenthe Rocketsthe opening Oklahomascored routed game37 RussellCity pointsof their Thunderas West-NBAthe playoff Harden series outclassedon Sunday. fellow MVP candidate Westbrook, also delivering nine assists and seven rebounds for the Rockets who take a 1- 0 lead into Game 2 on Wednesday. Westbrook tallied 22 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists but he also made nine turnovers and missed 17 of 23 shot attempts. Harden and Westbrook are considered the front- runners in the league MVP race. The Rockets held Westbrook to just seven points in the second half as they stretched a five-point halftime lead to 33 points. Harden also got plenty of help from a strong supporting cast. Patrick Beverley scored a postseason career- high 21 points while Nene chipped in 15 points of the bench for Houston. Beverley also shut down Westbrook defensively when it mattered the most. Elsewhere, the Golden State Warriors clamped down in the fourth quarter to pull away to a 121- 109 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers in Game 1 of their series. Golden State, aiming to get back to the NBA finals for a third straight year and regain the crown they surrendered last season to the Cleveland Cavaliers, had 32 points from Kevin Durant in his first playoff game as a Warrior. Stephen Curry added 29 points. Draymond Green was everywhere, finishing with 19 points, 12 rebounds, nine assists, five blocked shots and three steals for the Warriors. Golden State withstood 75 combined points from the Trail Blazers duo of Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum to triumph in a game that saw 22 lead changes. Sunday’s Eastern Conference action got under way in Washington, where John Wall scored 15 of his 32 points in a dominant third quarter to lead the Wizards to a 114107 victory over the Atlanta Hawks in their series opener. Wall also handed out 14 assists while teammate Bradley Beal scored 22 points and Markieff Morris added 21. German guard Dennis Schroder led the Hawks with 25 points. In Boston, Jimmy Butler scored 15 of his 30 points in the fourth quarter as the Chicago Bulls held on to beat the Boston Celtics 106- 102 in the opener of a firstround Eastern Conference series. Butler scored five points during an 8- 0 run midway through the final period that put the Bulls in control on an emotional night at the Boston Garden. Celtics point guard Isaiah Thomas played the day after his younger sister, Chyna, was killed in a car accident. Thomas led the Celtics with 33 points, hitting a layup with seven seconds left to cut Chicago’s lead to 104- 102. But Butler dribbled of a few seconds and sealed the victory with two free throws with just three seconds on the clock.