OAKLAND, Calif. — Stephen Curry dazzled from long range and drove to the hoop with flair and fire until a tweaked ankle finally slowed him down.
Once he sat for good after three firm requests to Coach Steve Kerr about returning, his supporting cast handled the rest.
“Like a kid in timeout over there on the bench,” Curry said of his mood.
He still did plenty, scoring 24 points as the Golden State Warriors beat the Houston Rockets 104-78 on Saturday in their playoff opener.
The reigning MVP’s status for the next game is uncertain.
“Right now I don’t see a scenario I would be out,” Curry said, noting that could change if it gets worse or there’s risk of further trouble. “Pain tolerance, all that stuff, I kind of know what I can deal with on the court.”
Draymond Green added 12 points and 10 rebounds as top-seeded Golden State carried momentum from setting the all-time wins record Wednesday night with No. 73 into a testy playoff opener some 60 hours later.
Game 2 in the best-of-seven series is Monday night at Oracle Arena, and Kerr said Curry is questionable for that one. He will be re-evaluated today.
“You lose the MVP of the NBA, it definitely changes your team,” Green said. “There’s some concern.”
James Harden scored 17 points and didn’t have a freethrow attempt for cold-shooting Houston. Dwight Howard had 14 points and 11 rebounds.
Curry utterly flustered defensive menace Patrick Beverley. Then, when Jason Terry took a turn at stopping the reigning MVP, Curry pulled up for long threes and drove the baseline for reverse layups on the left side. He dribbled right through traffic in the paint late in the first half before double-pumping and beautifully spinning the ball off the glass.
Curry went 8 for 13 with five threes while playing all of about 20 minutes. Thompson scored 16, Marreese Speights had 12 points, while Andre Iguodala dished out seven assists.
PACERS 100, RAPTORS 90
TORONTO — Paul George scored 33 points, Monta Ellis had 15 and the Indiana Pacers beat the Toronto Raptors in Game 1 of their first round playoff series. Jonas Valanciunas fouled out after scoring 12 points and setting a Raptors’ playoff record with 19 rebounds.
All-Star guards Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan both struggled for the Raptors. Lowry made 3 of 13 field goal attempts while DeRozan made 5 of 19. The pair went 1 for 10 from three-point range and 8 for 15 at the free-throw line.
DeRozan finished with 14 points and Lowry had 11. Corey Joseph scored 18. Toronto dropped to 0-8 in the first game of an opening round playoff series.
HAWKS 102, CELTICS 101
ATLANTA — Jeff Teague stymied another big Boston comeback, taking matters into his own hands in the closing minutes to lead the Atlanta Hawks to a victory over the Celtics in Game 1 of the opening-round playoff series.
Teague scored 23 points and doled out 12 assists, making sure Atlanta maintained the home-court edge after the gritty Celtics rallied from a 19-point deficit. With the game tied at 88, Teague worked the pick-and-roll to set up a layup for Al Horford. The Celtics missed and the Hawks again got the ball to Teague, who found Paul Millsap alone under the basket for a dunk that pushed Atlanta to a 92-88 lead with 2:56 remaining.
The Celtics had a chance to tie in the final minute, but Evan Turner missed an open three-pointer.
THUNDER 108, MAVERICKS 70
OKLAHOMA CITY — Russell Westbrook had 24 points and 11 assists, and Kevin Durant added 23 points to help the Oklahoma City Thunder beat the Dallas Mavericks in Game 1 of their first-round Western Conference playoff series.
Serge Ibaka had 17 points and nine rebounds, and Enes Kanter added 16 points and 13 rebounds for the Thunder. Dallas scored its fewest points ever in a playoff game, and its .298 fieldgoal percentage was the worst ever in a postseason game for a franchise that has existed since 1980.
Sports on 04/17/2016