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.”
Photo: EPA
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, with 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 their post-season losing streak at seven games with a 98-87 win over the Pacers to level their series 1-1.
Photo: AFP
In Oakland, California, Curry cut short his pregame warmup routine after appearing to be in discomfort as he was shooting while putting little pressure on the tender 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 three-pointers, while Green had 12 points, 14 rebounds and eight assists. He did not 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 are not going to push it.
“We want to make sure Steph is right and that his foot is fine and healthy,” coach Steve Kerr said.
James Harden had 28 points and 11 assists to lead the Rockets, losers of six straight and 14 of 15 to Golden State. He made 13 of 15 free throws after not attempting one in the opener.
Harden considered it a missed opportunity.
“Yeah, for sure. We just didn’t do enough to get a win,” he said.
Dallas recovered after being embarrassed 108-70 in their 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 game’s first five minutes.
Kevin Durant scored 21 points for Oklahoma City, but he made just seven of 33 shots in one of the worst post-season shooting performances of his career. Game 3 is tomorrow in Dallas, Texas.
In Toronto, Jonas Valanciunas had 23 points and 15 rebounds, while 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.
Corey Joseph scored 16 points, Patrick Patterson added 14, while DeMar DeRozan had 10.
Paul George scored 28 points and Monta Ellis had 15 for the Pacers, who host Game 3.
Lowry and DeRozan both struggled with their shooting in Saturday’s Game 1 loss, combining to make eight of 32 attempts. Neither was particularly sharp in this one, with Lowry making four of 13 and DeRozan making five of 18.
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