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Warriors take Game 1 from Houston on road

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2 daysBasketball

Stephen Curry scored 31 points in his latest big-game postseason performance as the Golden State Warriors struck first blood in their opening-round series against the Houston Rockets with a 95-85 road victory.

With Curry going 5 of 9 from 3-point range and 12 of 19 from the field to lead the way, the seventh-seeded Warriors took a 1-0 lead in this best-of-seven series and negated the second-seeded Rockets' home-court advantage. Golden State also gave head coach Steve Kerr his 100th career playoff victory, making him the seventh in league history to reach the milestone.

Golden State also got a lift from Jimmy Butler, who tallied 25 points, seven rebounds and six assists in the in-season addition's first playoff game as a Warrior.

Houston, on the other hand, struggled offensively in its first postseason outing since 2020. The Rockets shot 39.1 per cent overall and made just six of 29 attempts from beyond the arc.

Alperen Sengun delivered 26 points and nine rebounds in his playoff debut, but most of the Rockets' other key players were off the mark. Fred VanVleet missed 11 of 13 shots from 3-point range, while Jalen Green was 3 of 15 from the field while held to seven points.

Houston will attempt to rebound when it hosts a pivotal Game 2 on Wednesday.

Down 21-18 after one quarter, the Warriors assumed control in the second by outscoring the cold-shooting Rockets by a 29-13 margin for the period. Golden State was 10 of 16 from the field for the quarter, while Houston shot just 33 per cent and committed seven turnovers that helped the Warriors move ahead to stay.

Curry poured in 10 points in the second quarter and sparked an 18-3 run that turned a five-point deficit into a 36-26 lead midway through the period. The two-time NBA MVP later drained a pair of 3-pointers near the end of the half to help send Golden State into the break holding a 47-34 advantage.

The Warriors stretched their lead to as many as 23 points in the third before Houston finally found some momentum, as it closed out the quarter on a 17-3 surge to pull to within 69-60 entering the fourth.

Houston continued to close the gap in the final period, getting to within 84-80 on VanVleet's 3-pointer with 2:38 remaining. Golden State's Moses Moody answered with a 3-pointer on the ensuing possession, however, and Butler followed with a pair of baskets to push the margin back to double digits entering the final minute.

Top seeds Thunder, Cavaliers win play-off openers

Both No. 1 seeds in their respective conferences were also in action on Sunday, and both got their title quests off to desired starts. The Oklahoma City Thunder rolled to a 131-80 Game 1 rout of the Memphis Grizzlies, while the Cleveland Cavaliers pulled away late to hand the Miami Heat a 121-100 defeat.

Aaron Wiggins led Oklahoma City with 21 points as the Thunder recorded the most lopsided victory in Game 1 of a playoff series in NBA history. The 51-point differential was the largest in any postseason game since the Chicago Bulls' 120-66 win at Milwaukee in Game 6 of a 2015 Eastern Conference quarter-final matchup.

The Western Conference regular-season champion Thunder also received 20 points from Jalen Williams and a 19-point, 10-rebound effort from Chet Holmgren.

Memphis, which earned the West's No. 8 seed with Friday's win over the Dallas Mavericks in the play-in tournament, got 17 points each from Ja Morant and Marvin Bagley. Two of the Grizzlies' other stars were held firmly in check, however, with Jaren Jackson Jr. limited to four points on 2-of-13 shooting and Desmond Bane managing nine points while going 3 of 12 from the field.

The outcome was never in doubt after the Thunder closed out the first quarter on a 13-5 run to take a 32-20 lead into the second. The Grizzlies shot just 28.6 per cent while being outscored by a 36-16 margin in the next period as Oklahoma City sailed into the break owning a commanding 68-36 advantage.

The East front-running Cavs received a tougher challenge from the Heat, the first team to advance to a conference quarter-final through the play-in tournament as a No. 10 seed.

Miami cut a 16-point first-half deficit down to seven in the fourth quarter when Bam Adebayo's 3-pointer trimmed Cleveland's lead to 95-88 with eight minutes left. Ty Jerome answered with a 3-pointer shortly afterward, though, to ignite a 16-6 run he capped with another triple that pushed the Cavaliers' advantage to 111-94 with 4:29 to go.

Jerome scored 16 of his 28 points in the fourth quarter, while Donovan Mitchell tallied 30 points on 11-of-19 shooting in a dominant showing for Cleveland's starting backcourt. Mitchell's running mate, Darius Garland, chipped in 27 points while finishing 10 of 17 from the field.

Adebayo led the Heat with 24 points and nine rebounds, while Tyler Herro added 21 points and Davion Mitchell had 18 off the bench on 8-of-12 shooting.

Miami will attempt to even the best-of-seven series in Wednesday's Game 2, which will again take place in Cleveland. The Thunder and Grizzlies will clash again in Oklahoma City in Tuesday's Game 2. 

Celtics start title defence by downing Magic

Derrick White scored 30 points to lead the Boston Celtics as the defending NBA champions tipped off their repeat bid with a 103-86 win over the Orlando Magic in Game 1 of another Eastern Conference quarter-final series.

The second-seeded Celtics dominated the second half behind the sharp shooting of White and top reserve Payton Pritchard, as the pair combined for 11 of Boston's 16 makes from 3-point range. Pritchard finished 6 of 8 from the field while producing 19 points, while White was 7 of 12 from beyond the arc and 10 of 18 overall.

Boston also withstood an injury scare to All-Star Jayson Tatum, who was on the receiving end of a hard foul from Orlando's Kentavious Caldwell-Pope in the fourth quarter but remained in the game. Tatum ended with 17 points and 14 rebounds.

The seventh-seeded Magic fell behind in the best-of-seven series despite a 36-point, 11-rebound performance from Paolo Banchero. Franz Wagner added 23 points for Orlando, but no other Magic player recorded more than seven points.

Game 2 will take place Wednesday in Boston. 

Orlando's top duo were both on point in the first half, however, as the Magic held a 49-48 edge at the intermission. Banchero had 19 points over the first two quarters and Wagner netted 15, and the pair helped Orlando outscore the Celtics by a 25-12 margin over the final 8:18 of the second quarter after Boston had built a 36-24 lead.

The Magic came out cold to start the second half, though, as Boston began the third quarter on a 15-4 run. Jrue Holiday capped the flurry with a 3-pointer with 7:30 left in the period to stake the Celtics to a 63-53 lead.

Boston maintained a double-digit advantage for much of the game's remaining stages behind its defence and White, who put up 14 second-half points. The Celtics held the Magic to 37 points and a 38.9 per cent field goal percentage after the break.