Durant, Warriors cruise to 3-0 lead
Kevin Durant had 33 points and 10 rebounds and the Golden State Warriors beat the injury-riddled Spurs 120-108 last night in San Antonio to take a 3-0 lead in the Western Conference finals.
Golden State has a chance to complete its third straight series sweep in Game 4 tomorrow night. The Warriors are the third team in NBA history to win their first 11 playoff games. Cleveland is 10-0, with a 2-0 lead on the Celtics in the Eastern Conference finals.
Stephen Curry added 21 points and became the franchise leader in postseason points, passing Hall of Famer Rick Barry.
Already without leading scorer Kawhi Leonard and starting point guard Tony Parker, the Spurs lost David Lee to a left knee injury in the opening quarter.
Lee left with 2:57 remaining in the first, unable to put any weight on his left leg after Draymond Green kneed him in the back of the leg on a drive. Joel Anthony had to take a free throw in place of Lee, who was taken to the locker room in a wheelchair. Lee’s status is unknown.
San Antonio still managed to match a postseason high with 33 points in the opening quarter and lead by as many as six points in the first half.
The Spurs played on emotion but eventually succumbed to the Warriors’ firepower.
Durant had 19 points in the third quarter. Elsewhere in the NBA — Oklahoma City Thunder center Enes Kanter is returning to the United States after being detained in a Romanian airport.
Romanian Border Police spokesman Fabian Badila confirmed that the player left Romania for the United States via London.
Kanter, who is Turkish, said in a video yesterday morning on his Twitter account that the Turkish embassy canceled his passport and he’d been detained for several hours at a Romanian airport.
He later tweeted “All good baby!” and said he’d hold a news conference in New York on Sunday.
Kanter said he believed he was held because of his political views. He’s been a critic of Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Kanter supports Turkish cleric Fethullah Gulen, who opposes Erdogan.