The Golden State Warriors defeated the visiting Houston Rockets 104-93 to take a 2-1 lead in their first-round playoff series in San Francisco despite the absence of Jimmy Butler III as a player.
The majority of Buddy Hield’s 17 points came from five 3-pointers, which included Gary Payton II, who saved nine of his postseason career-high 16 points for a late run. The seventh-seeded Warriors, who can lead 3-1 in the Western Conference best-of-seven series with another home-court victory on Monday, scored a game-high 12 rebounds for the rookie Quinten Post, who made his first postseason start.
No game in this series is going to be ugly, Curry said on Saturday night after the ABC broadcast. You just kind of have to work it out, they say. At the halfway point of the [second quarter] we had 22 points. How will we be able to win? You simply stick to it and “make the right plays”
After the pregame warmup, the Warriors learned that Butler would miss the game due to a glute contusion that he sustained in Game 2’s loss to Houston.
“Everyone just stood up and played for Jimmy,” Curry said. “Hopefully, he’ll return soon,” he said.
Golden State scored the final nine points of the second quarter to pull the Warriors within 49-46 at the break, setting up a fiercely contested second half. The Rockets held the Warriors to 18 points in the first quarter.
The Rockets took over the game after Dillon Brooks’ 3-pointer with 5:47 remaining in regulation, but Payton, who had already scored in the Warriors’ Game 2, unexpectedly took over.
With 5:27 to go, Payton opened a 92-86 lead with 3:42 to go with a layup followed by his Hall of Fame father, who was watching from the stands. He then added a layup, a 3-pointer, and a dunk in a personal 9-point run.
Everyone is confident, they say. That is the team’s beauty, Curry said. Gary “was unbelievable,” exploiting the double-teams that were present in the top, entering the paint, finishing at the rim, the big three in the corner, and obviously the defense, and being present. In 2022, he was a member of the championship team. He is aware of what is required.
Curry made his fifth 3-pointer of the night before Payton added a dunk to keep Golden State from dominating.
Curry’s postseason tally of 30 points was his 60th. He also collected a game-high nine assists and seven rebounds.
Every time we play him, we won’t let him score more than three points. Fred VanVleet, a journalist in Houston, said, “We have to understand that. One of the greatest people of all time is him. Tonight, I thought our coverages were a little slow. Some of the switching and physicality were slightly different from what we had before the last game.
Golden State outscored the Rockets 42-33 from beyond the arc with five 3-pointers each from Curry and Hield.
Brandin Podziemski added 10 points, Brandin Podziemski added 8 rebounds, 4 assists, two steals, and three blocks for the team, while Draymond Green added 8 and Brandin Green added 8 more.
Alperen Sengun added 15 points and 11 rebounds, while VanVleet led the second-seeded Rockets with 17 points. Jabari Smith Jr., Amen Thompson, and Brooks each scored 11 points. With nine points, six rebounds, and five assists, Jalene Green led the team.
Clippers slam dunk at the buzzer with nuggets
The Oklahoma City Thunder won their first playoff game 4-0 against the Memphis Grizzlies 117-115 in their NBA Western Conference playoff series, going on to become the first team to advance to the second round thanks to 38 points scored by Shai Gilgeous-Alexander in the previous game.
With a 124-87 victory over the Miami Heat, the Cleveland Cavaliers are on the verge of advancing and are now 3-0 in the Eastern Conference standings.
The Denver Nuggets won the Western Conference opener 102-99 over the Los Angeles Clippers, which was sealed by Aaron Gordon’s put-back dunk at the final buzzer.
As the clock ran out, Nikola Jokic airballed a 3-pointer, and Gordon leaped to the side of the court to release his dunk just before the backboard’s red light arrived. The best-of-seven Western Conference series could only be matched once again thanks to a replay review that upheld the decision.
Although Aaron is a big athletic man, you could say it was a lucky play, according to interim Nuggets coach David Adelman. He “met the ball early,” he said. I had no idea whether it was good or bad. I was getting ready for overtime…
I’m happy we won the game because that will eventually be on NBA TV. I’m pleased that it will be celebrated on Nuggets Day rather than Clippers Day.
The fourth-seeded Nuggets rallied from a 117-83 crushing defeat in Game 3 on the road to recover from Jokic’s 36 points, 21 rebounds, and eight assists.
For the fifth-seeded Clippers, Kawhi Leonard recorded 24 points and nine rebounds, and Norman Powell added 22.
Gordon said, “This was really big for us.” We returned home-court advantage as a result of what we did when we arrived.
In Denver, on Tuesday, Game 5.
Source: Aljazeera
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