Warriors take Curry’s return; Jazz, Sixers win playoff openers
Golden State's Stephen Curry made a triumphant return from a left foot sprain on Saturday (Sunday, Phl time) as the Warriors, led by Jordan Poole's 30 points, routed Denver 123107 in an NBA playoff opener.
All-Star guard Curry, sidelined since March 16 with the injury, had 16 points on 5-of-13 shooting from the floor (3-of-6 from 3-point range) with three rebounds, four assists and a steal over 22 minutes off the bench as the host Warriors took a 1-0 lead in the best-of-seven first-round series.
Klay Thompson added 19 points for the Warriors, who closed the first half on an 18-4 run for a 58-47 edge and pulled away in the third quarter.
Serbian big man Nikola Jokic, last year's NBA Most Valuable Player, led Denver with 25 points.
Other NBA playoff openers saw the Utah Jazz outlast Dallas 99-93, Philadelphia defeat Toronto 131-111 and Minnesota upset Memphis 130-117.
Utah's Donovan Mitchell scored 30 of his 32 points in the second half and the visiting Jazz beat the Mavericks, who were without injured All-Star guard Luka Doncic due to a left calf strain.
Bojan Bogdanovic added 26 points while Rudy Gobert grabbed 17 rebounds.
Jalen Brunson led Dallas with 24 points. Tyrese Maxey scored a playoff career-high 38 points and Tobias Harris added 26 to power the 76ers.
Cameroonian center Joel Embiid, the NBA scoring champion, added 19 points and 15 rebounds while James Harden contributed 22 points and a game-high 14 assists. Pascal Siakam led Toronto with 24 points. At Memphis, Minnesota's Anthony Edwards scored a game-high 36 points in his playoff debut and Karl-Anthony Towns added 29 points and 13 rebounds in a matchup of the NBA's two top-scoring clubs.
Malik Beasley added 23 points off the bench for the T-Wolves. Ja Morant led Memphis with 32 points.