Warriors rally after Green ejected; Bucks handle Celtics
MEMPHIS, TENN. » Klay Thompson hit a go-ahead 3-pointer with 36 seconds left, and the Golden State Warriors overcame Draymond Green’s first-half ejection to edge the Memphis Grizzlies 117-116 on Sunday in Game 1 of the Western Conference semifinals.
Jordan Poole led the Warriors with 31 points off the bench, hitting 5 of 10 3-pointers. Stephen Curry added 24 points, Andrew Wiggins had 17 and Thompson finished with 15.
Green was ejected for a flagrant foul just before halftime.
Thompson missed both free throws with 6.7 seconds left, then Memphis won a jump ball before taking a timeout with 3.6 seconds remaining to set up the final play. The Grizzlies ran a play similar to Ja Morant’s last-second layup to win Game 5 in the first round, but Morant’s layup went over the rim.
Morant finished with 34 points and 10 assists, and Jaren Jackson Jr. matched his season high with six 3-pointers and had a career-high 33 points as Memphis’ first pair of teammates to score at least 30 in a playoff game. D’anthony Melton added 14, and Brandon Clarke had 12.
The Grizzlies finished their first-round series by coming back from doubledigit deficits in their final three wins — the first team in NBA history to do that more than once in a postseason, let alone a series. They came in leading the NBA in the fourth with an average of 33 points and
outscoring opponents by 10.3 points a game.
This time, they could only match the Warriors point for point in the period.
Memphis edged the Warriors out for the No. 2 seed
in the West by tying the franchise record with 56 wins, and the Grizzlies also took three of four in their season series. Thompson only played one and Green two of those games and Curry three.
Bucks 101, Celtics 98
In Boston, Giannis Antetokounmpo had already picked up his dribble and spent half of a Eurostep when he realized he had nowhere to go with the ball.
Instead of attempting an off-balance shot or passing the ball to a well-guarded teammate, the two-time NBA MVP flicked the ball high off the backboard, then followed it to the rim for a slam dunk.
Antetokounmpo had 24 points, 13 rebounds and 12 assists as Milwaukee quickly grabbed homecourt advantage in the second-round series. Jrue Holiday had 25 points and 10 rebounds and Bobby Portis had 15 points and 11 boards for the defending NBA champions.
Game 2 is Tuesday night in Boston.
Jayson Tatum scored 21 and Jaylen Brown had 12 points, but the two Boston stars combined to shoot 10 for 31 in the game. Al Horford added 12 points and 10 rebounds for the Celtics, who fired up 50 3-pointers, making 18, and shot 33% from the floor as a team.
After shutting down Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving in a four-game sweep of the Brooklyn Nets, Boston couldn’t stop Antetokounmpo -- even with greenhaired Defensive Player of the Year Marcus Smart shaking off a shoulder injury. The Celtics led by as many as eight before Milwaukee scored the last 10 points of the first quarter. Antetokounmpo scored the last six of the half to give the Bucks a 56-46 lead at the break.