Boston’s Brown vows to bounce back
OAKLAND, United States— Stephen Curry silenced his critics with a 35-point display as the Golden State Warriors thrashed the Houston Rockets 126-85 to take a 2-1 series lead in the NBA Western Conference finals on Sunday.
Curry, targeted relentlessly by Houston as the Rockets levelled the series in game two, overcame a sluggish first-half display to lead a Warriors blowout in game three.
The two-time NBA Most Valuable Player exploded for 18 points alone in a devastating spurt of scoring in the third quarter that took the game away from Houston.
The reigning champion Warriors now have the opportunity to take a commanding 31 lead with a further victory in front of their home fans in game four on Tuesday as they chase a fourth straight NBA finals appearance.
Curry was relieved to have rediscovered his scoring touch, even if he had been unfazed by the criticism of his game two performance.
"That's what I expected to do," Curry said afterwards. "My approach to every game is the same – you don't get too high on the highs, or too low on the lows.
"I'm just thankful I managed to hit some shots tonight, eventually. But there's a long way to go. I'm just going to stay focused on that."
Warriors coach Steve Kerr meanwhile said he had never doubted Curry even after a shaky first half display.
"We've seen this so many times with Steph," Kerr said. "All it takes is one. I was never concerned. This guy's a two-time MVP and he bounces back from bad games as well as anybody I've ever seen. It didn't surprise me."
The win was a record 16th straight playoff victory at home for the Warriors at Oracle Arena. Perhaps more significantly, the 41-point margin of defeat was Houston's heaviest in a playoff game.
Rockets coach Mike D'Antoni admitted his team had been battered – but insisted they could recover.
"They gave us a haymaker and we went down," D'Antoni said. "We've got short memories, it's 2-1. We've got to get one up here and this next one we've got to go get it.
"We played soft, actually, and you can't do that with these guys."
As well as Curry, every other Warriors starter made double figures, with Kevin Durant finishing with 25 points and Klay Thompson 13.
Rockets star James Harden meanwhile was kept relatively quiet, with 20 points, while Chris Paul finished with 13.
The Warriors had edged into a nine-point lead in the first quarter, building momentum steadily to go 31-22 clear.
While Curry had a slow start to the night, making just one of seven three-point attempts in the first half, Durant gradually began to impose himself.
The towering forward had 15 points in the first half, and pushed the Warriors' lead to 54-41 with just under 30 seconds left in the half.
Durant was in the thick of the action early in the third quarter, as the Warriors stitched together a trademark burst of scoring.
Eight unanswered points suddenly saw the Warriors jump into a 21-point lead at 64-43.
LOS ANGELES — Boston forward Jaylen Brown says he'll use an "embarrassing" performance in the Celtics' 30-point NBA playoff loss at Cleveland as fuel to rebound on Monday against the Cavaliers.
"I thought it was embarrassing," the 21-yearold said Sunday as the Celtics practiced in preparation for game four on Monday.
"The way I played, the way I performed, how not aggressive I was in the first half, I look at that as fuel to come out and be excited about it and be ready to play and ready to fight." Brown had scored in double digits in the first quarters of the Celtics' game one and game two victories in Boston.
On Saturday, he finished with just 10 points as the Cavaliers tightened the defensive screws.
"We changed a couple things up," Cavaliers coach Tyronn Lue said. "We know Jaylen's a first-quarter player. I mean, he plays good throughout the game, but he really sets the tone throughout the first quarter. I thought we did a really good job on him."
Brown coughed up two turnovers and was whistled for two personal fouls as he was limited to one shot attempt in the opening period of game three.
Although the Celtics had taken a look at the video on Sunday -- and been unimpressed with themselves -- Brown said they would take steps to improve but wouldn't dwell on their lapses.
"The game is 90 percent mental," he said. "Everything we do affects our mindset.