The Warriors, fortunately, are playing the Houston Rockets, who aren’t so much bad as sort of spaced-out, and went on to stomp ’em but good.
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The sprained knee, which buckled when Curry slid on the court, appeared to be more serious and would be devastating to the Warriors if it keeps him out of the postseason for extended time. Shaun Livingston started the second half.
The Warriors won 121-94 on Sunday at Houston’s Toyota Center to take a commanding 3-1 lead in their first round NBA Western Conference series.
“I was trying to raise our level of intensity”, said Thompson, who finished with 23 points.
Then Draymond Green walked over to Curry.
Curry scored just six points on two-of-nine shooting in the first half, missing six of seven three-shot attempts while turning the ball over five times. And as Klay Thompson and Draymond Green started connecting on threes – Thompson was 4-5 in the quarter, Green 3-5 – the avalanche-like sense of doom that comes from watching theWarriors at their best finally returned. Warriors coach Steve Kerr is the charmed individual with the most mind-bending of roles in it all: “sharpshooting reserve on the Michael Jordan/Scottie Pippen-led Bulls team that was so legendary, and second-year coach who has had such an impactful influence on the Warriors” impressive process.Green, the team’s triple-double specialist and spiritual leader, made it known that he and his teammates were all in.
Late in the third quarter Dellavedova used a hesitation step to get around Baynes for a lay-up and shortly after Baynes grabbed an offensive rebound and put it in the basket while Dellavedova was hanging off his arm. Between the Warriors’ energy and the Rockets’ complete breakdown in the second half, this series is likely already over, regardless of Curry’s condition for Game 5. San Antonio also swept Memphis in the 2004 first round and the 2013 Western Conference final. Beasley responded with seven quick points, and when Harden drilled a 3-pointer at the buzzer, the Rockets had erased that 10-point deficit. Atlanta Hawks Dennis Schroder guards against Celtics Isaiah Thomas during the first half in Game 4 of a first-round NBA basketball playoff series in Boston on Sunday, April 24, 2016.
“With Steph going out, obviously you’ve got to step everything up”, he said.
“There’s a reason why those guys are champions”, Bickerstaff said.
The only thing that delayed the Spurs advancing was a power surge that knocked out the lights, stopping the game for about 20 minutes in the second quarter. He finished with 18 points. Whether Curry brought his absolute best stuff to the post-practice contest, we’ll never know. He briefly warmed up and said he could play before a team doctor, team trainer and Kerr intervened.
Thompson hit another 3-pointer soon after that and the Warriors scored the last eight points of the quarter to lead 97-76 entering the fourth. Harden spent a portion of the quarter lying on his back with his head propped up, looking as if he was getting in his Sunday afternoon nap.
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The Rockets also lost their starting point guard, as Patrick Beverley exited in the second with a right leg strain and did not return.
