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Wednesday 16 May 2018

Durant's 37 lead Warriors over Rockets 119-106

By KRISTIE RIEKEN We need to do a better job ing drought of more than
HOUSTON (AP) — Kevin Du- of staying up mentally." two minutes with a dunk
rant continues to deliver Now the Rockets are left by Harden seconds later
in the postseason for the to regroup after losing their and the Warriors followed
Golden State Warriors. leg up in the homecourt with another run, scoring six
He scored 37 points on advantage they worked all straight points to extend it
Monday night to lead the season for. to 85-72 with just more than
Warriors to a 119-106 win "It's nice to have home two minutes left in the third.
in the long-awaited show- court," D'Antoni said. "(But) The Rockets rediscovered
down with the Houston we don't have it. Now their offense after that,
Rockets in Game 1 of the we've got to go get it." scoring the next eight
Western Conference finals. Steph Curry added 18 for points, powered by 3s from
But if it were up to him, he the Warriors, who are in the Gordon and Gerald Green,
would have done even conference finals for a fran- to get within 85-80 with
more. chise-record fourth straight about a minute left in the
Durant wasn't happy with time. It's Houston's first trip quarter.
coach Steve Kerr when he since 2015 when Golden Durant added two free
took him out in late in the State won the series in five throws to close out the
third quarter and loudly games. quarter and leave the War-
asked his coach why he "I think he's going to get riors up 87-80 entering the
was putting him on the even better as the series fourth.
bench. Durant, who played goes on, which is good for "Houston, they never stop,"
just more than 40 minutes, us," Kerr said of Curry. Durant said. "They are al-
was asked if he'd prefer to The Warriors, who are the ways in the game with
play the entire 48 minutes. second seed in the West, 3-point shots. We try to
"Probably so," Durant said. opened a playoff series get good shots every time
Kerr acknowledged that away from Oracle Arena down and defend on the
he should have left him in for the first time since 2014 other end."
at that point and raved when they lost to the Los TIP-INS
about his performance af- Angeles Clippers 4-3 in the Warriors: Curry extended his
ter his fourth 30-point game opening round. NBA playoff record by mak-
this postseason. Houston struggled to slow ing at least one 3-pointer
"This is why anybody would down Durant all night, in his 80th straight playoff
want him on their team ... I and things got even worse game. ... Draymond Green
don't know what you do to when Trevor Ariza picked received a technical early
guard him," Kerr said. "He up his fifth foul with about in the first quarter when
can get any shot he wants." 10 minutes left in the third he pushed Harden after a
Starting a playoff series on with Golden State up by 3. shot. ... Curry missed his first
the road for the first time Durant made two baskets free throw of the playoffs in
since 2014, the Warriors for the Warriors around one the third quarter after mak-
trailed by as many as 9 by Chris Paul that left the ing all 19 attempts in the
early, but had evened it up Warriors up 73-68 a couple first two rounds.
by halftime and used a big of minutes later. Rockets: Paul added 23
run at the beginning of the Houston Rockets guard James Harden (13) is stopped by Gold- "He's one of the best scor- points and 11 rebounds. ...
en State Warriors forward Kevin Durant (35) as he tires to score
fourth quarter to pull away. during the second half of Game 1 of the NBA basketball Western ers ever," D'Antoni said of Clint Capela had 12 points,
"We're in the Western Con- Conference Finals, Monday, May 14, 2018, in Houston. Durant. "I thought he was six rebounds and two
ference finals they are Associated Press extremely good. But we blocks. ... Gordon added
going to come out with can withstand that. We 15 points off the bench.
a lot of energy," Durant make it 100-87 with about the Rockets, who lost at can't withstand turning the THEY SAID IT
said. "We're going to take eight minutes left. home for the second time ball over and giving up so Draymond Green on get-
that first punch and keep Houston used a 9-3 spurt, this postseason. many wide open 3s." ting the technical so early:
punching." where James Harden "You're not going to come Gordon added a layup "I was a bit overzealous, a
Game 2 is Wednesday scored five, to cut the lead in and just knock them for Houston after that, bit amped up, but I'd rather
night in Houston. to 103-96 with less than five out," Houston coach Mike but Golden State scored that any day than coming
Eric Gordon opened the minutes to go. But Thomp- D'Antoni said. "There were the next six points, with a out flat."
final period with a 3-point- son struck again, hitting a too many times where 3-pointer from Thompson, UP NEXT
er to get the top-seed- wide open 3 to leave the we had mental lapses. to make it 79-70 with about After Game 2 the series
ed Rockets within 4, but Warriors ahead by 10 with We didn't switch properly, 4 1/2 minutes left in the moves to Oracle Arena for
Thompson scored the first four minutes left. turned the ball over and third. games 3 and 4 on Sunday
eight points of a 13-4 run to Harden scored 41 to lead missed too many layups. Houston ended a scor- and Tuesday.q