No Curry? No problem
Klay Thompson scored 37 points in another brilliant performance as fellow “Splash Brother” Stephen Curry watched injured, and the Golden State Warriors again dominated without their MVP to beat the Portland Trail Blazers 118-106 Sunday in the opener of the Western Conference semifinals.
Draymond Green had his second career postseason triple-double with 23 points, 13 rebounds and 11 assists for the defending champions.
With Curry sidelined because of a sprained right knee, Green and Thompson took charge again. Thompson hit seven more 3-pointers to become the first player in NBA history to make at least seven 3s in three straight playoff games.
Game 2 of the best-of-seven series is Tuesday night at Oracle Arena.
Golden State reserve Anderson Varejao and Portland’s Gerald Henderson were ejected late in the third quarter after receiving their second technical fouls. Both were hit with a technical at the 3:29 mark of the third when Varejao tripped Henderson after they collided and the Portland guard jumped up, pointing a finger at his opponent’s face. They kept jawing a few minutes later and were tossed with 15.1 seconds left in the period.
Thompson hit a Curry-esque 30-foot 3-pointer in the opening minutes followed by another jumper to put Golden State up 10-2, and the Warriors ran with it from there. Thompson scored 18 of his points in the first quarter on 7-for-10 shooting with four 3s as Golden State built a 37-17 lead.
Damian Lillard had another slow start back home in the Bay Area, missing 11 of his first 13 shots before finishing with 30 points 10 on free throws.
Shaun Livingston added 12 points and six assists after scoring 16 in each of his first-round starts in place of Curry.
The MVP injured his MCL when he slipped on a wet spot just before halftime of a Game 4 win at Houston in the first round last Sunday. He said Friday he hoped to do some shooting within a day or two, and that happened Saturday. He still will have to test the knee by putting pressure on it and planting on it when he shoots, then in some 5-on-5 scrimmages.
The Warriors had 38 and 30 assists their previous two games including six quarters without Curry by generating the kind of snappy ball movement coach Steve Kerr called for without Curry’s playmaking. Then 27 more assists Sunday.
Curry, dressed in a dark blue blazer and black shirt, emerged on the bench midway through the second quarter and received big cheers during a timeout. He was far less animated on purpose after picking up teammate Ian Clark during Wednesday’s elimination of the Rockets. His knee told him that was a bad idea, but he did resume light shooting Saturday in hopes of playing Game 3.
The Blazers’ two latest visits to Oracle were forgettable. Golden State routed them 128-112 on March 11 to avenge an embarrassing 32-point defeat in Portland last month coming out of the All-Star break. As Lillard scored 51 points, Golden State lost 137-105 at Portland on Feb. 19 its largest margin of defeat since a 39-point setback to Denver in 2012 before an impressive seven-game winning streak.
And on April 3, Golden State beat the Blazers here again in lopsided fashion.
Miami 106, Charlotte 73: Goran Dragic scored 25 points, Gerald Green added 16 and the Miami Heat emphatically ended Charlotte’s season Sunday, beating the Hornets 106-73 in Game 7 of their Eastern Conference first-round series.
The Heat will play either Toronto or Indiana in the second round starting Tuesday.
Luol Deng scored 15 points, Dwyane Wade added 12 and Hassan Whiteside had a 10-point, 12-rebound, five-block clincher for the Heat, who have won their last four Game 7s each of the previous three coming along the way to winning NBA championships.
Frank Kaminsky scored 12 for Charlotte, which got 11 from Courtney Lee and 10 from Nic Batum. The Hornets’ two biggest stars, Kemba Walker and Al Jefferson, never got going Walker shot 3 for 16 and scored only nine points, while Jefferson put up a mere four points and two rebounds.