Warriors win West by sweeping Spurs
Steph Curry and Kevin Durant combined for 65 points as Golden State downed San Antonio 129-115 to win their Western Conference finals series 4-0 and advance to the NBA Finals.
Stephen Curry scored 36 points and the Golden State Warriors closed out the Western Conference Final against the injury-ravaged San Antonio Spurs with a 129-115 victory Monday night, becoming the first team in league history to start the playoffs 12-0.
Golden State led by as many as 22 points in cruising to its third straight NBA Finals. The Warriors await a possible third straight championship matchup with Cleveland, which leads Boston 2-1 in the East finals.
San Antonio’s only lead came on the opening possession when Manu Ginobili tossed in a left-handed scoop shot. The Spurs started Ginobili in what could be his final game with the team. The 39-year-old had maintained he will not ponder whether to retire or return until after the season.
Kyle Anderson scored 20 points to lead the Spurs, who were without Kawhi Leonard, Tony Parker and David Lee.
Cavs expect better LeBron: LeBron James was nowhere to be seen, staying behind the scenes, keeping a low profile. Just as he did in Game 3. James did not address the media Monday, hours after one of the worst postseason games of his career, an 11-point, six-turnover, head-scratching atrocity in a 111-108 loss to the Celtics that — for the time being — has made the Eastern Conference finals interesting.
As is always the case with the Cavaliers superstar, the poor performance prompted the usual speculation and suspicion: Is he hurt? Was he sending a message to his teammates? What in the name of Red Auerbach happened?
“It was a weird game,” Cavs coach Tyronn Lue said. “A weird-feeling game.”
The series resumes tonight at Quicken Loans Arena before returning to Boston on Thursday for a Game 5 that didn’t appear necessary until the Celtics stormed back from 21 down and won when Avery Bradley’s 3-pointer danced an Irish jig on the rim before falling fell with 0.01 seconds left remaining.
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