Durant suffers right leg injury in Warriors' Game 5 win vs Rockets

LOS ANGELES – Golden State pulled out a 104-99 victory over the Houston Rockets on Wednesday (Thursday Manila time) as the Warriors survived the loss of superstar Kevin Durant to grab a 3-2 lead in their second round NBA playoff series.

Draymond Green and Klay Thompson nailed clutch 3-pointers late in the fourth quarter for the Warriors but the buzz after the game was not about the win but rather the health of Durant.

The Warriors said he had suffered a right calf strain but Durant is expected to undergo an MRI scan to Thursday to determine the full extent of the damage.

Warriors coach Steve Kerr sounded cautiously optimistic — hoping for the best but also preparing for something worse if it does turn out to be more serious like a ruptured Achilles.

"We are all disappointed for him. Excited about the win but concern for Kevin. He had been on this incredible playoff run. I am proud of the guys and the way they pulled out this win and we will see about Kevin tomorrow," said Kerr.

Durant's injury occurred innocently enough after he hit a jumper from the right side with just over two minutes left in the third quarter.

He took a step forward then grimaced in pain and looked down at his lower right leg.

"He's done a lot for us. We got to have his back — that is what tonight was about," said Warriors Stephen Curry.

Thompson finished with 27 points, Curry 25 and Durant 22 for the Warriors, who continued a run of home wins by the teams in the series.

James Harden was the game's leading scorer with 31 points for the Rockets, who were outshot by the Warriors from the field 46 percent to 42 percent.

source: philstar.com

Stealing home; Durant sparks Warriors over host Rockets in opener

MANILA, Philippines — Season wins leader Houston battled an entire campaign to seize a home-court edge throughout the NBA playoffs, but defending champion Golden State stole it away with a 119-106 victory Monday.

Kevin Durant scored 37 points and Klay Thompson added 28 for the Warriors to capture the best-of seven Western Conference final opener in a rare series start on the road for a team seeking its third NBA crown in four seasons.

“We’re just trying to win every game we play,” Warriors forward Draymond Green said. “It ends up being ‘stealing home court’ but we don’t look at it that way. We won one game on the road. Let’s try to win two.”

Stephen Curry added 18 points, six rebounds and eight assists while Green contributed nine rebounds and nine assists for the Warriors.


“It’s a great start. We played well,” said Thompson, who scored 11 points in the fourth quarter. “We’re not going to relax. We’re still not where we want to be. We still have a long way to go.”

NBA scoring champion James Harden netted 41 points to lead the Rockets, who host game two on Wednesday.

“We’ve got to do a better job of taking better shots, not turning the ball over and getting back on D,” Harden said. “We’ve got to make them rotate and take tougher shots.

“They do a really good job if you take bad shots or turn the ball over. That’s what they thrive on. Those mistakes can’t happen.”

Durant scored 17 first-half points and sparked Golden State after the Rockets played aggressively at the start, using two big runs to jump ahead only to have the Warriors overtake them by the middle of the second quarter.

“You know they are going to come out with a lot of energy,” Durant said. “We just tried to take their best punch and keep fighting.”
“To withstand that run says a lot about our team,” Green said. “The further you get along in the playoffs, the more intensity you need to bring.”

source: philstar.com

Warriors use big second quarter to pull away, rout Pelicans

OAKLAND, Calif. — Kevin Durant and Draymond Green ignited a brilliant second quarter with their defense and all-out hustle plays, then Golden State got rolling in transition and Oracle Arena started rocking the way it does this time of year.

The defending champions are dominating again, and now Stephen Curry is ready to rejoin the mix and make them that much better.

Durant had 26 points and 13 rebounds, Green dazzled all over the floor with his fourth career postseason triple-double, and the Golden State Warriors thoroughly overmatched the New Orleans Pelicans for a 123-101 win in Game 1 of their Western Conference semifinals Saturday night (Sunday in Manila).

Green finished with 16 points, 15 rebounds, 11 assists, three steals and two blocks and just with his hustle and energy helped the defending champions pull away with a superb, decisive second quarter.


“If we can push the tempo and try to get stuff in transition that’s big for us, so that was key and obviously that starts with stops,” Green said.

Now, they likely get Curry back for Game 2 on Tuesday night and all that he brings — even if in a limited role initially.

Anthony Davis had 21points and 10 rebounds, scoring 10 in the first quarter before having a tougher time generating shots the rest of the way to finish 9 for 20. Jrue Holiday was held to 4-for-14 shooting and 11 points.

Golden State again played without two-time MVP Curry, who has been sidelined since March 23 with a sprained left knee. Coach Steve Kerr called it “very likely” Curry would play Game 2 in the best-of-seven series.

“We’ve adjusted to life without him. Hopefully he comes back Tuesday but we still have to have the same mindset if he isn’t,” Klay Thompson said. “Even if he does come back, it’s natural human emotion to be kind of relaxed because we have so much production coming back in our lineup but that’s going to be a test for us just to put that away in our minds and just focus on the task at hand and not depend on Steph to save the day. He’s done it plenty of times but we have a very deep team, playmakers all around.”
Thompson, who led Golden State with 27 points, hit back-to-back 3-pointers late in the first half that made it 76-48. But New Orleans ended the second on a 7-0 run and Darius Miller’s 73-foot heave at the halftime buzzer counted, getting the Pelicans within 76-55 at the break. They hit another buzzer-beater to end the third but by then it was way too late.

Rajon Rondo had nine points and dished out 11 assists for New Orleans.

“Well, that didn’t go as planned ,” Pelicans coach Alvin Gentry said.

Once Golden State got going in transition, the crowd became deafening and the Pelicans couldn’t keep pace — with tempo being something the Warriors know is key this series.

“It was probably the loudest I’ve heard Oracle all year,” Kerr said.

Davis, who averaged 33 points, 12 rebounds and 2.8 blocks in a first-round sweep of Portland, made 5 of 7 shots in the opening period. The weeklong layoff hurt, Gentry said.

Green has been brilliant on the boards as Golden State keeps taking its defense up a level, and the Warriors improved to 26-0 when he has a triple-double, 4-0 in the postseason. He had games of 19 and 18 rebounds in the final two matchups of a five-game series with San Antonio in the first round.

“The bottom line is he almost had a triple-double by halftime. That’s not a good situation for us,” Gentry said.

Nick Young started at forward for the Warriors while 2015 NBA Finals MVP Andre Iguodala remained in the starting lineup in place of Curry as Golden State won a franchise-record 13th straight postseason home game.

The Warriors swept the Pelicans in the only other playoff meeting between the franchises in the 2015 first round as Golden State went on to capture its first championship in 40 years.

HIGH-FLYING W’S

Golden State had its highest scoring postseason first half as well as second quarter. The 76 points topped 73 against Phoenix on May 4, 1994, while 41 in the second bested 40 scored against Utah on May 11, 2007.

Golden State shot 13 for 20 in the second, making four 3s and 11 of 14 free throws.

CURRY OUT

As usual, Curry insisted he “feels great and he’s ready to go,” said Kerr, who is encouraged his superstar point guard feels so good.

“Just made the decision based on giving him the extra few days and the fact he only scrimmaged yesterday,” Kerr said. “You’ve been out five weeks and we’re playing in the playoffs, I don’t think one scrimmage is enough, even though he feels great, he wants to play and pleaded his case. ”

Curry returned to full practice with contact Thursday and only scrimmaged 5 on 5 for the first time Friday, and Kerr prefers that Curry get additional on-court time at full speed Sunday.

source: philstar.com

Warriors avoid upset axe against lowly Sixers on Barnes’ game-winner

Golden State’s Harrison Barnes drained a three-pointer with two-tenths of a second left as the mighty Warriors held on for a 108-105 victory over the 76ers in a duel of the NBA’s best and worst in Philadelphia.

Up by 24 midway through the third period and by 15 with 5:42 remaining, the reigning champion Warriors appeared headed for a predictable win over the lowly 76ers.

But they had to fight to the wire to improve to 43-4, matching the 1966-67 76ers for best 47-game start in NBA history while the current Sixers fell to 7-41.

A 20-5 late 76ers scoring run included seven points from guard Ish Smith.

Smith’s steal and breakaway dunk with 22.3 seconds left knotted the score at 105-105.

On the final Warriors’ possession, guard Stephen Curry fired a pass from the right wing to forward Draymond Green at the top of the circle.

He found Barnes in the right corner for the winning three-pointer.

“He always shoots a tremendous percentage from the corner,” Green said of Barnes. “It’s like a layup for him.”

Guard Klay Thompson led the Warriors with 32 points. Curry finished with 23 points, while Green contributed 10 points, 13 rebounds and nine assists. Barnes, who had made just three of 10 shots until his game-winner, finished with 11 points.

Guard Isaiah Canaan scored 18 points off the bench for Philadelphia, including a four-point play with 38.6 seconds left.

Thompson, who notched a season-high 45 points in a victory over Dallas on Wednesday night, had 21 in Saturday’s first half, staking the Warriors to a 73-54 lead.

Despite a welter of turnovers that totalled 23 for the game, Golden State were up 100-85 after Thompson made a layup with 5:42 to play before Philadelphia stormed back, electrifying a sell-out crowd — many of whom had turned out to cheer the Warriors.

Cavs rout Spurs

LeBron James scored 29 points and the Cleveland Cavaliers dominated San Antonio 117-103 to consolidate their spot atop the Eastern Conference with 34 victories in 46 games.

They have now won four straight since dropping their first game under new head coach Tyronn Lue, who took over a week ago after the surprise dismissal of David Blatt.

Going into the game, Cleveland were 0-3 against the top two teams in the West, having fallen at San Antonio earlier this month and lost twice to Golden State.

But they took full advantage of the absence of Spurs star Tim Duncan and the fact that San Antonio forward LaMarcus Aldridge was in foul trouble much of the night.

With their new-look offense firing, the Cavaliers shot 64 percent in the second quarter and led 66-49 at halftime.

San Antonio opened the third with an 8-0 scoring run, but their rally was quickly squelched by the Cavs, who had 21 points apiece from Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving.

Irving and backup point guard Matthew Dellavedova combined for the first 18 points of the fourth quarter as Cleveland powered to the win.

“We’re just pushing the pace, pushing it every single night,” said James, whose Cavs have scored at least 114 points in four straight games.

“Coach Lue is getting on us every single day to keep the tempo going and we’ve been able to do that and not turn the ball over. So that’s resulting in us playing some really good basketball so far.”

Pelicans swoop late

Pelicans guard Jrue Holiday drained a three-pointer from the left wing with 9.3 seconds remaining, then made a game-winning 15-foot jump shot with 1.3 seconds left to lift New Orleans to a 105-103 home win over the Brooklyn Nets.

The Pelicans notched their seventh win in nine games.

In Indianapolis it went to overtime, with Pacers guard Monta Ellis scoring a season-high 32 points in a 109-105 overtime triumph over the Denver Nuggets.

The Pacers led 106-105 when Ellis drove for a layup with 20.4 seconds left, drawing a foul and making the free throw to complete the three-point play that sealed the win.

source: interaksyon.com