Warriors cruising in playoffs
The Golden State Warriors are four wins from their third consecutive trip to the NBA Finals — and likely a third straight showdown with the Cleveland Cavaliers.
The Warriors eliminated the Utah Jazz in a sweep Monday night and are 8-0 in the postseason for the first time in franchise history. Only one victory, Game 3 against the Portland Trail Blazers, was decided by fewer than 11 points, and the Warriors never trailed in three of the four games against Utah.
The trio of Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant and Draymond Green has been dominant, and Golden State’s elite length and athleticism on defense have been stifling.
“We are mostly impressed with how we are playing our brand of basketball,” Green said. “We really imposed our will on the other team. That’s big. In the playoffs, you let a team get in a groove and it’s hard to win games like that.”
In the Western Conference finals, Golden State will face the winner of the Spurs and Rockets.
The Warriors are averaging a playoffhigh 115.3 points per game, ahead of the Cavaliers’ 114.5. Golden State is allowing 98.8 points in the postseason to lead all teams still alive.
“We feel like have good shooters, good scorers and we would rather take a bad shot than us trying to make a hero play,” interim coach Mike Brown said. “And we have a tendency, at times, to try to make hero plays with the basketball because these guys all appreciate each other. For the most part, they want to make the pass to somebody as opposed to making the shot. They get some sort of satisfaction out of it.”
Ex-Pacers coach Irvine dies at 69
George Irvine, who coached nearly 200 games for the Indiana Pacers in the 1980s before working in the front office, has died after battling cancer. He was 69.
The Pacers announced the death after speaking with Irvine’s family. Irvine had been living near his hometown of Seattle, where he was a standout player for the University of Washington.
Irvine became Indiana’s coach in 1984. He went 48-116 in two seasons and later returned as interim coach in 1988-89. Irvine got a second chance with Detroit in 19992000 and stuck around for one more season. He finished his head coaching career with a record of 100-190.