Klay Thompson scored 23 points as the Golden State Warriors set an NBA playoff record with 21 three-pointers to overcome another injury to Stephen Curry and beat the Houston Rockets 121-94 on Sunday for a 3-1 series lead.
Curry returned after missing two games with a sprained right ankle, but did not play in the second half after spraining his right knee.
He slid awkwardly to the court while defending on the last play before halftime and immediately grabbed his knee. He got up and looked to have trouble putting weight on it, before jogging with a limp to the locker room. He came out with the team after halftime, but after talking with coaches, he returned to the locker room.
Photo: EPA
Golden State were just fine without him thanks to three-point shooting that led to a 41-point third quarter. The Warriors beat the NBA record they shared for threes in a playoff game when Brandon Rush made one from the top of the key with about 2 minutes, 30 seconds left.
“When you have a team that is as together as ours is and cares about each other like ours does, you tend to pick up the fight a little bit,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. “Our guys sensed that we needed to come together.”
Dwight Howard led Houston with 19 points and 15 rebounds, while James Harden had 18 points, 10 assists and seven steals. Golden State host Game 5 tomorrow.
“When the moment called for us to raise our intensity level, we dropped our guard,” Houston coach J.B. Bickerstaff said. “When their guy went down, you could see the intent in their guys’ eyes.”
Kyrie Irving scored 20 of his 31 points in the second half as Cleveland held on to win 100-98 and finish off a sweep of the Detroit Pistons.
The Cavs advance to the second round to play either the Atlanta Hawks or the Boston Celtics.
LeBron James had 22 points for Cleveland, but it was Irving who made the biggest shots all night. His midcourt buzzer beater put the Cavs up 81-78 after the third quarter and with Cleveland clinging to a one-point lead in the final minute, he calmly sank a three-pointer from the right wing with 42 seconds remaining.
Isaiah Thomas scored 28 points, hitting a corner three-pointer with 30 seconds left in overtime and then adding a pair of clinching free throws as the Boston Celtics sent their playoff series back to Atlanta tied at 2-2 after a 104-95 win.
Paul Millsap scored 45 for the Hawks — a career playoff high and one off his all-time best — and added 13 rebounds.
Kawhi Leonard scored 21 points as the San Antonio Spurs easily beat the injury-depleted Memphis Grizzlies 116-95 to sweep the best-of-seven series and advance to the Western Conference semi-finals.
The Spurs finished off their ninth sweep of a post-season series and await the winners of the Oklahoma City Thunder-Dallas Mavericks series that the Thunder lead 3-1.
“It wasn’t a fair fight,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said of playing a team that set an NBA record with 28 Grizzlies playing this season. “Whoever was available came out and played, and they executed to the best of their ability. They played with a lot of heart and a lot of fortitude.”
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