Klay Thompson hit a go-ahead 3-pointer with 36 seconds left, and the Golden State Warriors overcame Draymond Green’s first-half ejection to beat the Memphis Grizzlies 117-116 in Game 1 of the Conference semifinals on Sunday. West.
Jordan Poole led the Warriors with 31 points off the bench, shooting 5 of 10 from 3-point range. Stephen Curry added 24 points, Andrew Wiggins had 17 and Thompson finished with 15.
Green was ejected for a flagrant foul just before halftime.
Thompson missed both free throws with 6.7 seconds remaining, then Memphis won a jump ball before taking a timeout with 3.6 seconds remaining to set up the final play. The Grizzlies made a play similar to Ja Morant’s last-second layup to win Game 5 in the first round, but Morant’s layup went through the rim.
Morant finished with 34 points and 10 assists, and Jaren Jackson Jr. matched his season high with six 3-pointers and had a career-high 33 points as the first pair of Memphis teammates to score at least 30 in a game. playoff game. D’Anthony Melton added 14 and Brandon Clarke had 12.
The Grizzlies finished their first-round series by coming back from double-digit deficits in their last three wins, the first team in NBA history to do that more than once in a postseason, let alone in a series. They came in leading the NBA in the quarter averaging 33 points and outscoring opponents by 10.3 points per game.
This time, they were only able to match the Warriors point-for-point in the period.
Memphis edged out the Warriors for the No. 2 seed in the West by tying the franchise record with 56 wins, and the Grizzlies also took three of four in their season series. Thompson only played one and Green two of those games and Curry three.
This was a role-reversal rematch of the 2015 semifinal that the Warriors won as the youngest team with Memphis led by seasoned veterans. This was also only the first time the Warriors had started a conference semifinal on the road and Golden State’s third playoff series did not start at home with Steve Kerr as coach.
Bucks beat Celtics
Giannis Antetokounmpo had the second postseason triple-double of his career, scoring 24 points with 13 rebounds and 12 assists on Sunday to lead the Milwaukee Bucks to a 101-89 victory over the Boston Celtics in Game 1 of their second-round playoff series.
Jrue Holiday had 25 points and 10 rebounds for the defending NBA champions, and Bobby Portis had 15 points and 11 rebounds to help the Bucks steal home-court advantage in the best-of-seven series.
The second game is Tuesday night in Boston.
After defeating Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving in a four-game sweep of the Brooklyn Nets, Boston couldn’t stop Antetokounmpo, even with Defensive Player of the Year Marcus Smart reeling from a shoulder injury.
The two-time NBA MVP scored eight straight Milwaukee points late in the first half to take a double-digit lead into halftime. Boston went within seven in the final minute of the third quarter before going without a basket for more than four minutes, while the Bucks scored 11 of the next 14 points to open a 17-point lead.
Boston won 26 of its last 32 games in the regular season and was the only team to sweep its first-round playoff series. Milwaukee advanced by beating the Bulls in five games.
Smart ran off the court with 1:12 left in the first half, in obvious pain, his right arm hanging limply at his side, after taking a hit from Jevon Carter in the lane.
The team said at halftime that Smart had a “stinger” in his shoulder and a bruise on his right quadriceps. He received a standing ovation as he came out of the tunnel to start the second half and finished with 10 points and six assists in 33 minutes.
Midway through the third quarter, Robert Williams III went down at midcourt after taking a hit to the groin. He went into the tunnel but came back after the timeout.
Reference-www.cbc.ca