Page 20 - aruba-today-20190429

A20 SPORTS
Monday 29 april 2019
Durant's 35 points carry Warriors past Rockets in Game 1

By JANIE McCAULEY sists. son had been listed as
AP Sports Writer Durant, who had combined questionable nursing ten-
OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — for 95 points the previous der right ankles after they
Kevin Durant scored 35 two games against the each sprained them in
points in outdueling James Clippers, shot 11 for 25 and Game 6 against the Clip-
Harden and the Golden made 12 of 15 free throws pers on Friday night. Curry
State Warriors held off the in his fifth straight 30-point was cleared beforehand
Houston Rockets 104-100 playoff performance — but Thompson had to go
on Sunday in the opener of matching his career-best through warmups before
what is shaping up to be a streak accomplished from Golden State's medical
sensational best-of-seven June 1-12, 2017. staff determined he was
Western Conference semi- Technical fouls on Paul fine to play.
final. and Rockets coach Mike Coach Steve Kerr went with
Houston's Chris Paul was Associated Press D'Antoni 2.1 seconds apart Andre Iguodala over 7-foot
ejected with 4.4 seconds in the final minute of the center Andrew Bogut in the
left for a second techni- the Rockets in the postsea- long range and were with- third allowed the Warriors starting five to go smaller
cal. He had rebounded a son for the fourth time in out reserve guard Austin to take an 83-76 lead into out of the gates against the
missed 3-pointer by Harden five years and with Houston Rivers because of an illness. the final 12 minutes after Rockets — the group Kerr
that could have tied the having never been victori- Harden's three-point play Durant converted the free has called his best lineup.
game with 9 seconds left ous. with 40 seconds left pulled throws. Iguodala picked up two
and was arguing for a foul. Harden scored 35 points Houston within 100-98. Ste- Game 2 is Tuesday night quick fouls and Kevon Loo-
Draymond Green added and Eric Gordon 27 after phen Curry knocked down back at Oracle Arena. ney entered and made his
14 points, nine assists and both struggled early find- a 3 on the other end over Klay Thompson scored 13 first three shots.
nine rebounds for the two- ing their shooting strokes Nene moments later and points on a sprained right These West powerhouses
time defending champion for the cold-shooting Rock- finished with 18 points, sev- ankle. fought through a seven-
Warriors, who are meeting ets. They shot 14 for 47 from en rebounds and four as- Both Curry and Thomp- game series in last year's
Western Conference fi-
nals, when Golden State
rallied from a 3-2 deficit to
win Game 7 on Houston's
home floor.
Paul is on a mission after he
sat out the final two games
because of an injured right
hamstring he hurt in Game
5. He had 17 points Sunday.
The Rockets missed their
final 27 3-pointers in the
deciding 2018 game and
came out cold again.
When Houston missed a
3 on its initial shot of the
game, Golden State fan
Jones Castro yelled "O for
28!" He added an "O for
29!" moments later and the
Rockets missed their first
eight from deep overall be-
fore Harden connected at
the 4:35 mark of the first.
Houston was 1 for 14 from
deep in the first and fell be-
hind 28-19. Gordon missed
his first six 3s.
Green picked up his third
technical of the postsea-
son 3:13 before halftime
and would receive an au-
tomatic suspension if he
reaches seven.
FAMILIAR FOE
With the Warriors having
such a quick turnaround
from winning Game 6 on
the road, it's nice to know
Houston so well.
Aside from last year's West
final, Golden State beat
the Rockets in 2015 on the
way to the finals and their
first championship in 40
years.q