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Curry-less Warriors top Rockets
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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 most valuable player.
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 as 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.
The Mavericks leveled their Western Conference playoff series 1-1 by edging the Thunder 85-84, after a putback at the buzzer by Oklahoma City’s Steven Adams that would have won the game was disallowed upon review.
In the Eastern Conference playoffs, Toronto ended its postseason losing streak at seven games with a 98-87 win over the Pacers to level their series 1-1.
In Oakland, Curry cut short his pregame warmup routine after appearing to be in discomfort as he was shooting while putting little pressure on the ankle.
“Ahh, it’s so much easier without him out there,” Thompson said. “I think we showed it’s hard to fill that void. No one’s going to do it by themselves.”
Andre Iguodala, last year’s Finals MVP, added 18 points with four 3-pointers and Green had 12 points, 14 rebounds and eight assists. He didn’t commit a turnover in 39 minutes, his longest stretch without one in the regular season or playoffs.
Now, Curry has until tomorrow’s Game 3 in Houston to get healthy. But the Warriors aren’t going to push it.
James Harden had 28 points and 11 assists to lead the Rockets, losers of six straight and 14 of 15 to Golden State.
Dallas recovered after being embarrassed 70-108 in its opener against the Thunder, holding Oklahoma City to 33.7 percent shooting on Monday.
Raymond Felton scored 21 points and Dirk Nowitzki added 17 for the Mavericks. Deron Williams, declared doubtful on Sunday with a left abdominal strain, scored 13 points, 11 in the first 5 minutes.
Kevin Durant scored 21 points for Oklahoma City, but he made just 7 of 33 shots in one of the worst postseason shooting performances of his career. Game 3 is tomorrow in Dallas.
In Toronto, Jonas Valanciunas had 23 points and 15 rebounds and Kyle Lowry had 18 points, nine assists and seven rebounds for the Raptors, who had not won a playoff game since a 115-113 home victory over Brooklyn on April 30, 2014.
Paul George scored 28 points and Monta Ellis had 15 for the Pacers, who host Game 3.
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