Sunday, April 17, 2016

NBA Playoff Capsules (April 17, 2016)

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) Stephen Curry dazzled from long range and drove to the hoop with fire and flair, scoring 24 points before tweaking his ankle as the Golden State Warriors beat the Houston Rockets 104-78 on Saturday in their playoff opener.

Draymond Green added 12 points and 10 rebounds as top-seeded Golden State carried momentum from setting the all-time wins record Wednesday night with No. 73 into a testy playoff opener some 60 hours later.

The Warriors topped the Michael Jordan-led Bulls of 1995-96, then immediately made one thing clear: That mark will mean nothing if they don't bring home back-to-back titles to the East Bay.

James Harden scored 17 points for cold-shooting Houston, held to six field goals in the first quarter of the rematch from last year's Western Conference finals, won by Golden State in five.

Game 2 in the best-of-seven series is Monday night at Oracle Arena, and Warriors coach Steve Kerr said Curry is questionable for that one. He will be re-evaluated Sunday.

PACERS 100, RAPTORS 90

TORONTO (AP) - Paul George scored 33 points, Monta Ellis had 15 and Indiana beatToronto in Game 1 of their first-round playoff series.

Jonas Valanciunas fouled out after scoring 12 points and setting a Raptors' playoff record with 19 rebounds.

All-Star guards Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan both struggled for the second-seeded Raptors. Lowry made 3 of 13 field goal attempts while DeRozan made 5 of 19. The pair went 1 for 10 from 3-point range and 8 for 15 at the free-throw line.

DeRozan finished with 14 points and Lowry had 11. Cory Joseph scored 18.

Toronto dropped to 0-8 in the first game of an opening-round playoff series.

THUNDER 108, MAVERICKS 70

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) - Russell Westbrook had 24 points and 11 assists, Kevin Durant added 23 points, and the Thunder opened the Western Conference series with their most dominant postseason performance since moving to Oklahoma City.

Serge Ibaka had 17 points and nine rebounds, and Enes Kanter added 16 points and 13 rebounds for the Thunder.

It was Oklahoma City's largest victory margin in a playoff game since moving from Seattle before the 2008-09 season, and the lowest point total the franchise has allowed in a postseason game, in Seattle or Oklahoma City.

Dallas scored its fewest points ever in a playoff game, and its .298 field-goal percentage was the worst ever in a postseason game for a franchise that has existed since 1980.

Dirk Nowitzki led the Mavericks with 18 points.

Game 2 will be Monday in Oklahoma City.

HAWKS 102, CELTICS 101

ATLANTA (AP) - Jeff Teague stymied another big Boston comeback, taking matters into his own hands in the closing minutes to lead Atlanta in Game 1 of the opening-round playoff series.

Teague scored 23 points and doled out 12 assists, making sure Atlanta maintained the home-court edge after the gritty Celtics rallied from a 19-point deficit.

With the game tied at 88, Teague worked the pick-and-roll to set up a layup for Al Horford. The Celtics missed and the Hawks again got the ball to Teague, who found Paul Millsap alone under the basket for a dunk that pushed Atlanta to a 92-88 lead with 2:56 remaining.

The Celtics had a chance to tie in the final minute, but Evan Turner missed an open 3-pointer.

Game 2 in the best-of-seven series is Tuesday night in Atlanta.

No comments:

Post a Comment