Warriors show might sans Curry
Thompson topscores as defending champions start play-offs strongly
Defending champions Golden State opened the NBA play-offs by routing San Antonio 113-92, the Warriors serving notice on Saturday they will not be easily dethroned despite Stephen Curry’s knee injury.
Klay Thompson scored a game-high 27 points on 11-of13 shooting, including 5-of-6 from 3-point range, and Kevin Durant added 24 points, eight rebounds and seven assists to power Golden State. “We played well. We played hard. We need to do even better next time,” Durant said before praising Thompson’s long-range heroics. “Klay knocked down shots. He was really good. He was penetrating as well,” Durant said. “We won’t always make shots at that rate but we need to play good defence like that as well.”
In Saturday’s other games, Eastern Conference top seed Toronto outlasted Washington 114-106 while New Orleans met Portland and Philadelphia hosted Miami in later contests.
The host Warriors updated star guard Curry’s left knee sprain before playing, saying he was making progress and will be re-evaluated next Saturday, on the eve of game four of the best-of-seven first-round series at San Antonio.
Curry, who missed Golden State’s last 10 regular-season contests after the March 23 setback, will intensify his rehabilitation work in the next few days with more running and lateral movement, the team said in a statement.
At Toronto, the Raptors snapped a streak of losses in all nine prior play-off openers in club history. “It’s big for us. We got the job done,” said Raptors star Kyle Lowry.