MAVS, RAPTORS LEVEL SERIES Curry-less Warriors repel Rockets, go 2-0
OAKLAND, California – As Stephen Curry emphatically waved his arms to ignite the crowd and coached from the bench when he could do little else, Klay Thompson and the Golden State Warriors’ supporting cast proved they can win on the playoff stage without their NBA MVP.
They would rather have him, of course, but the defending champions have believed in their depth all along. Golden State played short-handed down the stretch of the regular season on the way to a record 73 wins.
“We’ve relied on our depth all year, not just when Steph’s out,” Draymond Green said. “I think we’re the deepest team in the NBA.”
Thompson scored 34 points and dished out five assists and the Warriors held off the Houston Rockets 115-106 on Monday night to take a 2-0 lead in their playoff series despite no Curry, sidelined because of an injured right ankle.
“Ahh, it’s so much easier without him out there. When Steph’s out there, his man just sags in the paint, he doesn’t move the ball, he’s a very selfish teammate,” cracked Thompson. “I’m just kidding, man, he’s the exact opposite of that. I think we showed it’s hard to fill that void. No one’s going to do it by themselves.”
In Oklahoma City, Raymond Felton scored 21 points to lift Dallas to an 85-84 victory over the Thunder at the Chesapeake Energy Arena, evening the series at one game apiece.
After the Dallas Mavericks were blown out by 38 points in Game 1 of their first-round Western Conference playoff series against the Oklahoma City Thunder, the veteran point guard was couldn’t believe the display his team put on.
“We showed what type of fight we have,” Felton said. “It was difficult. You’re missing a lot of key guys. But we fought, kept going, kept grinding, and we got it done.”
Felton shot 8-for-16 from the field and grabbed 11 rebounds. Dirk Nowitzki added 17 points for Dallas, while Deron Williams scored 13.
Thunder forward Kevin Durant endured one of the worst shooting nights of his playoff career with a 7-for-33 outing for 21 points. Russell Westbrook posted 19 points, 14 rebounds and six assists.
Durant tied Michael Jordan for the NBA postseason record for most field-goal attempts missed in a game.
“Just a bad shooting night for me. I’m going to have nights like that,” Durant said. “That’s part of the game. I just have to keep staying confident. And my teammates and my coaches stay confident in me. They told me to keep shooting tonight, so I did. I didn’t make them, so that is a part of it. Get ready for Game 3.” Game 3 is Thursday in Dallas. In Toronto, center Jonas Valanciunas led the Raptors with 23 points and grabbed 15 rebounds as the hosts defeated the Indiana Pacers, 98-87, to even the series at one win each.
“I was really happy for Jonas,” Raptors coach Dwane Casey said. “He got in foul trouble on Saturday. He gave us what we wanted him to give us.... but again it was a team effort.”
The victory ended a string of seven straight playoff losses by the Raptors dating to the 2014 first round.