LOS ANGELES, USA – Klay Thompson scored 37 points and Draymond Green posted his first post-season triple-double as the Golden State Warriors opened the second round of the NBA playoffs on Sunday, May 1 (Monday, May 2 in Manila) with a convincing 118-106 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers.
The absence of injured superstar Stephen Curry made no difference for the reigning champion Warriors, who connected on 47.3 percent of their shots against a Trail Blazers team that had wrapped up their first-round series against the injury depleted Los Angeles Clippers less than 48 hours earlier.
Thompson drained a 3-pointer 17 seconds into the contest and the Warriors rolled from there in front of their home fans in Oakland, California.
Thompson scored 18 of his 37 points in the first quarter – when Portland scored just 17 points total.
The Warriors led 37-17 after the first frame, and the Trail Blazers never got the gap under 9 points from there.
Australian big man Andrew Bogut delivered a double-double of 10 points and 12 rebounds, as did Harrison Barnes. Shaun Livingston, starting in place of Curry, chipped in 12 points and 6 assists.
"The way we got it done on the defensive end, we made it tough on them," said Green, who scored 23 points with 13 rebounds and 11 assists in 38 minutes.
"Listen, we know they're not going to have games like this every night," he added of a Blazers team whose five starters made just 23 of 75 attempts. "But if we can make them take tough shots ... we think they'll wear down throughout the course of the series."
Returning soon
The victory didn't dim Curry's desire to be back on the floor with his teammates soon.
"I want to get back as soon as possible, regardless of if we're 1-0, 2-0, down or whatever. That's all I'm focused on," Curry told ABC television in a courtside interview with his team well on the way to taking a 1-0 lead over the Trail Blazers in their Western Conference second-round series.
Curry sprained a ligament in his right knee in game 4 of the Warriors' first-round series against Houston on April 24.
Warriors coach Steve Kerr said Sunday that chances were "pretty slim" that Curry could play in game two on Tuesday.
But game 3 in the best-of-7 series isn't until Saturday in Portland, giving Curry a chance to progress further with his rehab.
"It just depends how his week goes," Kerr said. "We'll just monitor him and see how it goes and hopefully get him back at some point.
"Before he's going to play a game, he has to be on the floor in a five-on-five situation, which means it's pretty slim that he would be out there in game two," Kerr said.
Curry was expected to miss at least a fortnight, but has already begun stationary shooting drills.
He told ABC during Sunday's game that he still felt pain in the knee, but had full range of motion.
"For the most part, I can still get on my feet and try to do basketball activities that will get me back," he said.
Kerr said talk of a timeline for Curry's return was "all speculation."
"We don't really know, but that's the hope, is that by the middle of next week we'll get him back in more basketball-type movements."
In the meantime, Curry said, he's confident his teammates can keep the Warriors' bid for a second straight title – to cap a record-setting 73-win season – going.
"I only played 38 minutes in the first round and we finished it in 5 (games)," he said.
"Obviously I'd like to be out there with them and I feel like we're a better team when I'm out there, but the way that they play and the way they have that confidence and swagger about them, it's fun to watch." – Rappler.com