Curry leads Warriors’ sweep into West finals
Green also stars with triple-double in win over Jazz.
Stephen Curry scored 30 points as the Golden State Warriors completed a secondround sweep of the Utah Jazz with a 121-95 victory Monday night in Salt Lake City.
The defending Western Conference champions have won both their series in four games and now await the winner of the Rockets-Spurs series that is tied at 2-2.
The Warriors kept pace with defending champion C l e v e l a n d i n w h a t h a s appeared like an inevitable third straight NBA Finals matchup. Both teams are 8-0 thus far.
Interim Warriors head c o a c h Mi k e B r o wn s a i d before the game he hoped his team would get out to a fast start and the Warriors did exactly that. Golden State led 39-17 at the end of the first quarter after an onslaught from Klay Thompson and Curry. They combined to shoot 6-for-8 in the opening period. Curry finished 9-for15.
Thompson finished with 21, Kevin Durant scored 18 and Draymond Green posted his third career postseason triple-double with 17 points, 10 rebounds and 11 assists.
Gordon Hayward led the Jazz with 25 points and Shelvin Mack chipped in 18.
Curry entered the game averaging 26.7 points in the playoffs, but Thompson had struggled against the Jazz. That ended Monday.
Thompson rebounded from a six-point effor t in Game 3 with back-to-back jumpers out of the gate.
Rockets: The team said backup center Nene will miss the rest of the postseason after tearing a muscle in his left thigh.
Nene was injured in the first quarter of Houston’s 125104 win over San Antonio in the West semifinals Sunday night and didn’t return. The team said it was reviewing treatment options for the torn adductor muscle.
Nene, a 15-year NBA veteran in his first season with the Rockets, averaged 10 points and 4.7 rebounds in nine postseason games this year. The 6-foot-11 player was the star of Game 4 against Oklahoma City, making all 12 of his shots in a 113-109 win.
Raptors: Point guard Kyle Lowry will opt out of the final year of his contract and test free agency this summer.
The three-time All-Star has one year and $12 million remaining on the four-year, $48 million deal he signed in July 2014.