Warriors eliminate Trail Blazers
Golden State ties a record with 45 points in the first quarter of 128-103 romp
PORTLAND, Ore. — Stephen Curry had 37 points before sitting out the final quarter and the Golden State Warriors welcomed back teammate Kevin Durant with a 128-103 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers on Monday night to sweep their first-round playoff series.
The Warriors advanced to the conference semifinals, where they’ll face the winner of the series between the Utah Jazz and the Los Angeles Clippers, which is tied at 2.
The Warriors tied an NBA record with 45 points in the first quarter.
Golden State played for the second straight game without coach Steve Kerr, who has been experiencing a flare-up of symptoms stemming from back surgery a couple of years ago. Assistant Mike Brown has served as head coach in Kerr’s absence.
Durant hadn’t played since Game 1 because of a strained left calf. He started and the Warriors built a 72-48 lead by the end of the opening half. He scored 10 points in 20 minutes.
RAPTORS 118, BUCKS 93: In Toronto, Norm Powell scored a career playoff-high 25 points,
Kyle Lowry had 16 points and 10 assists and the Toronto Raptors beat the Milwaukee Bucks 118-93 in Game 5 of their first-round playoff series on Monday night.
Serge Ibaka scored 19 points and DeMar DeRozan had 18 for the Raptors, who can advance to face defending champion Cleveland in the second round with a victory in Game 6 at Milwaukee on Thursday night.
Many in the sellout crowd of 20,251 rose to their feet and chanted “Raps in six” in the final minute of the game.
Toronto lost Game 6 on the road at Indiana in the first round and at Miami in the second round last year, rebounding to win Game 7 at home each time. They were eliminated in six games in the Eastern Conference Final against the Cavs, losing at home in the clincher.
DeMarre Carroll scored 12 points as all five Raptors starters reached double figures. Cory Joseph had 10 points off the bench for Toronto.
Giannis Antetokounmpo led the Bucks with 30 points and nine rebounds while Malcolm Brogdon scored 19 points and Greg Monroe had 11. Milwaukee has lost back-toback games after routing Toronto 104-77 in Game 3.
Making his second straight start, Powell connected on all four of his 3-point attempts and went 5 for 5 at the free-throw line. He brought the crowd to its feet with a baseline dunk over Antetokounmpo and Thon Maker in the fourth quarter.
Ibaka and Powell each scored nine points in the first and the Raptors used a 17-0 run to open a 31-20 lead after the opening quarter. Milwaukee committed five turnovers in the first, leading to 10 points for Toronto.
HAWKS 111, WIZARDS 101: In Atlanta, Paul Millsap bounced back from a sluggish start to score 19 points, Dwight Howard had his best game of the postseason and the Hawks pulled away to even the opening-round playoff series at 2-2.
Howard, who was a non-factor through the first three games, had a double-double by halftime and finished with 16 points and 15 rebounds. The Hawks got doublefigure scoring from seven players, including huge contributions off the bench from Kent Bazemore and Jose Calderon.
Bradley Beal scored 32 points, bouncing back from a dismal performance in Game 3, and John Wall had another stellar performance with 22 points and 10 assists. But those two, as good as they were, couldn’t match a more balanced approach by the Hawks.
Now, the series is down to a bestof-three. Game 5 is Wednesday night in Washington.
Bazemore scored 16 points and doled out seven assists, while the 35-year-old Calderon, picked up on waivers late in the regular season, chipped in with 10 points and five assists.
Calderon came up with a huge play as the Hawks began to stretch their lead. Leading a fast break after a Wizards turnover, he passed off to Tim Hardaway Jr. on the wing for a drive to the hoop.
Hardaway’s shot spun out, but the 6-foot-3 Calderon tipped it in for an 89-81 lead. The Spaniard pumped his fist and took off back the other way, screaming in delight.
Millsap and Dennis Schroder stretched the margin on back-toback possessions.
Millsap grabbed an offensive rebound and managed to get the shot off while falling on his backside. The ball dropped in and he added the free throw for a 3-point play. Schroder followed with a 3-pointer, giving the Hawks a 10393 lead with 4½ minutes to go.