Durant scores 38 points, Warriors beat Jazz to take 3-0 lead
SALT LAKE CITY: Kevin Durant had 38 points and 13 rebounds and the Golden State Warriors beat the Utah Jazz 102-91 on Saturday night to take a 3-0 lead in the Western Conference semifinal series.
Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson were a combined 7 for 29 from the field and 3 for 15 from 3-point range, leaving Durant to lead the Warriors.
The Jazz led 75-74 early in the fourth quarter, but the Warriors went on a 10-4 run and never trailed again. Curry and Durant hit back to back 3ss to give Golden State a 92-84 lead with 3:04 left.
Curry finished with 23 points on 6-for-20 shooting.
Gordon Hayward led Utah with 29 points. Rudy Gobert added 21 points and 15 rebounds. Game 4 is Monday night in Utah. The Warriors got out to a quick start, again, and led by 10 after the first quarter.
Utah survived the first-half onslaught by Durant, who had 22 points and six rebounds at the break. There was not much the Jazz could do to contend a flurry of turnaround fadeaways, drives to the basket and a pair of 3s. Golden State, however, did not get much help otherwise and Draymond Green dealt with foul trouble.
The Jazz took a 50-49 lead into halftime after closing the second quarter on a 12-5 run highlighted by Rodney Hood’s 3-pointer triple that gave the Jazz their first lead of the series at 48-47.
Green picked up a technical arguing from the bench late in the second quarter after being whistled for his third foul of the half. As the crowd roared, he gave a 2-0 hand gesture to indicate the series record.
The Jazz led by nine in the third quarter, but Curry began to warm up and hit his first 3-pointer of the game on a pull-up in transition. Golden State closed the quarter on a 19-8 stretch to take a 72-70 lead. Oubre suspended for key
playoff game Washington Wizards forward Kelly Oubre Jr. was suspended by the NBA on Saturday for Sunday’s crucial playoff game against Boston after throwing Celtics center Kelly Olynyk to the court.
The violation, which brought Oubre a flagrant foul and ejection, took place with 2:48 into the second quarter of Washington’s 116-89 home victory over the Celtics on Thursday.
Oubre’s one-game ban without pay was handed down for “charging and making forceful and unwarranted contact” with Olynyk.
Oubre was upset about the illegal screen set by Canadian 7-foter Olynyk, prompting the angry act in a game that produced three ejections and eight technical fouls.
As a result, Oubre will miss Game 4 of Wizards’ second-round Eastern Conference best-of-seven series against the Celtics, who lead the matchup 2-1 entering the showdown at Washington.
The winner will meet either Cleveland or Toronto for a berth in next month’s NBA Finals.
Oubre, 21, averaged 6.3 points and 3.3 rebounds a game for the Wizards this season.