Golden State Warriors’ Klay Thompson, center, celebrates with fans after the team’s 114-81 win over the Houston Rockets in Game 5 of a first-round NBA basketball playoff series Wednesday, April 27, 2016, in Oakland, Calif.
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The next Warriors opponent was sent a message Wednesday night: This record-setting club can be awfully good without him.
Golden State sure can win without Curry, just as this group of confident, team-first players insisted all along. In the first quarter Harden had six field goals while not getting a single field goal from any of his teammates. “A guy goes down, we’ve got to step up for our teammates”.Be proactive – Use the “Flag as Inappropriate” link at the upper right corner of each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
Portland defeated the Clippers 108-98 to take a 3-2 lead in their best- of-seven series.
As for Dwight Howard, he’s all but expected to be out of Houston, as well as Bickerstaff and possibly Morey. Curry had six points on 2-of-9 shooting, including 1-of-7 from the 3-point line.
Miami had all of its five starters score in double figures led by 25 points from Dwyane Wade. The difference is that series was the Western Conference finals, and that Rockets team had deservedly earned the No. 2 seed in the West, with star James Harden proving a deserving runner-up to Curry for the NBA’s Most Valuable Player award.
Green, Andrew Bogut and Livingston each had assists on Thompson’s three first-quarter 3-pointers – the last of which gave the Warriors a 30-16 lead.
Draymond Green contributed 15 points and team highs in rebounds (nine) and assists (eight) to the win, which was Golden State’s 42nd in 44 home games this season.
And Brandon Rush – Brandon Rush! – led all bench scorers with 15 points, 10 of which came in the second half, which was essentially 24 minutes of extended garbage time. I hope to get back sooner.
More than anything, Game 5 was a reminder of how good Thompson can be when he’s on his game. We just didn’t have the chemistry this year. “When the body says it’s time, then we’ll push that button”.
As far as the work Curry is doing to get back on the court, he said he’s still working to get back his full range of motion: “Doing some things where I can keep my cardio up and my strength in the weight room”. “We’re going to get someone in here who is going to help turn this thing around”.
Howard dominated the backboards with a game-high 21 rebounds. The Warriors had three wins over the Blazers by at least 16 points, but Portland earned a 137-105 victory over Golden State on February 19. DeAndre Jordan collected 16 points and 17 rebounds for Los Angeles. Wednesday’s Game 5 took place exactly 11 months after the Warriors eliminated the Rockets in Game 5 of the Western Conference finals last season….
Despite missing 43 games during the regular season after recovery from complications from back surgery, Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr received the Red Auerbach Trophy for claiming the NBA Coach of the Year honors. Also, the Warriors would benefit from the Spurs-Thunder series going to 7 games, essentially giving Curry more time to heal up and prepare for the greatest challenge of his career.
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Notes: Top assistant Luke Walton attended practice but was granted permission to interview for the Lakers’ coaching vacancy during the break between series.
