Warriors roll to victory, even series
Notice: Undefined variable: article_ad_placement3 in /usr/web/cs-washington.ogdennews.com/wp-content/themes/News_Core_2023_WashCluster/single.php on line 128
Stephen Curry made a career playoff-high seven 3-pointers and scored 33 points, leading the Golden State Warriors past the visiting Los Angeles Clippers 118-97 Sunday to even a first-round series that has been pulled into a race-related scandal involving the Clippers’ owner.
Clippers players made a silent protest against Donald Sterling by shedding their warm-up jerseys and going through pregame routine with their red shirts on inside out. They also wore black bands on their wrists or arms and black socks in a show of solidarity.
Curry and the Warriors made another kind of statement.
The All-Star guard made his first five 3s to give Golden State a 20-point lead in the first quarter that held up most of the way. Curry shot 10 for 20 from the floor, including 7 of 14 from beyond the arc, and had seven assists and seven rebounds to help the Warriors snap a two-game skid.
Golden State outshot Los Angeles 55.4 to 42.9 percent. The Clippers had 19 turnovers, while the Warriors had a series-low 15 turnovers.
Washington 98, Chicago 89: Trevor Ariza had a career playoff-high 30 points, and the Washington Wizards scored the first 14 points of the game and barely looked back in beating the Chicago Bulls 98-89 to take 3-1 lead in their Eastern Conference series.
John Wall added 15 points and 10 assists for the Wizards, who forced 16 turnovers and committed only six.
Washington played without forward Nene, who was suspended for grabbing Jimmy Butler by the head in Game 3.
The Wizards are looking to win a playoff series for only the third time since the 1970s. They can finish off the Bulls in Game 5 Tuesday in Chicago.
Taj Gibson scored a career-high 32 points on 13 for 16 shooting for Chicago, but his teammates combined to go 22 for 62 from the field.
Toronto 87, Brooklyn 79:
DeMar DeRozan scored 24 points, Kyle Lowry added 22, and the Toronto Nets beat the host Brooklyn Nets 87-79 to even their Eastern Conference first-round series at two games apiece.
Amir Johnson had 17 points for the Raptors, who started fast, gave up all of a 17-point lead, then shut the Nets down over the final 5 minutes to snap a 13-game road losing streak in the playoffs that went back 13 years.
Game 5 is Wednesday night in Toronto, with the series now guaranteed a return to Brooklyn Friday for Game 6.
Paul Pierce scored 22 points for the Nets, who were 3 for 17 in the fourth quarter and didn’t have a field goal after Pierce’s basket with 6:13 left gave them a 77-73 lead.