Golden State Warriors upset third seeded Houston to steal house court docket benefit from Rockets in opening recreation of their Western Convention playoff collection.
Stephen Curry scored a game-high 31 factors and Jimmy Butler III added 25 because the Golden State Warriors held off the Houston Rockets 95-85 in Sport 1 of their Western Convention first-round collection.
Curry, who shot 1-for-10 and scored three factors in a house loss to the Rockets on April 6, was sensible on Sunday. He completed 12-for-19 general, drilled 5 three-pointers and grabbed six rebounds. Butler added seven rebounds and 6 assists to his ledger because the visiting Warriors grabbed a 1-0 collection lead with Sport 2 set for Wednesday in Houston.
Houston diminished a 23-point deficit to 76-73 on an Amen Thompson floater with 6 minutes and 49 seconds left to play. However Curry prolonged that benefit again to 82-75 with a three-pointer with 5 minutes and 11 seconds remaining. Butler and Brandin Podziemski (14 factors, eight rebounds, 5 assists) saved the Rockets at bay within the closing levels.
The Rockets shot simply 39.1 % and dedicated 17 turnovers that the Warriors transformed into 25 factors. Alperen Sengun posted 26 factors and 9 rebounds, however Jabari Smith Jr was the primary teammate to hitch him in double figures with 11 factors, doing so by way of a nook three-pointer with 7:34 minutes left.
Jalen Inexperienced and Fred VanVleet shot a mixed 7-for-34 and totalled 17 factors for Houston.
The Rockets had been energised early behind Sengun, who had eight factors and 6 rebounds within the first quarter. Houston led 19-12 when Tari Eason transformed a steal right into a fast-break dunk with 3:20 minutes left, however Curry engineered a short run to shut that hole.
Curry adopted his help to Butler with a pair of drives that pulled the Warriors to inside 21-18 coming into the second quarter. Butler then provided the Warriors with their first lead at 24-23 with a free throw on the 9:16 mark of the second quarter, and Golden State later seized its first double-digit benefit with an 11-0 run capped by a Curry reverse layup with 6:08 minutes remaining within the first half.
The Rockets briefly stemmed the tide and pulled to inside 4 factors, just for the Warriors to shut the half with a 9-0 burst that featured two Curry three-pointers and three factors from Butler. In the meantime, the Rockets missed their last 5 pictures and dedicated two turnovers throughout that stretch, coming into the intermission trailing 47-34 after capturing 6-of-18 within the second interval.
In earlier first-round matches performed on Sunday, the Oklahoma Metropolis Thunder destroyed the Memphis Grizzlies 131-80 in probably the most lopsided Sport 1 win in NBA playoff historical past.
Within the Jap Convention, NBA reigning champions Boston, fuelled by 30 factors from Derrick White, defeated Orlando Magic 103-86, and the Cleveland Cavaliers, who beat out the Celtics for high seed within the Jap Convention, downed Miami Warmth 121-100.
