Thompson sparkles as resilient GSW take ‘commanding’ lead – Heat hold off Raptors in series opener

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OAKLAND, California, May 4, (AP): Klay Thompson scored 27 points and gave Golden State its first lead of the game on a 3-pointer with 5:33 left, helping the Warriors beat the Portland Trail Blazers 110-99 on Tuesday night for a 2-0 lead in their Western Conference semifinal series.

Draymond Green added 17 points, 14 rebounds, seven assists and four blocked shots in another win without injured MVP Stephen Curry, sidelined with an injured right knee.

Game 3 is Saturday in Portland, and the reigning MVP might be back for that one.

NBA Finals MVP Andre Iguodala’s two free throws at 7:25 trimmed the Blazers’ lead to 91-88 and Thompson’s 3 at 6:44 tied it, igniting the sellout crowd inside deafening Oracle Arena as the defending champions erased an early 17-point deficit.

Damian Lillard’s 3 to beat the third-quarter buzzer put Portland ahead 87-76 entering the final 12 minutes — Golden State’s largest deficit going into the fourth all playoffs.

For most of the night, the energized Blazers did everything the defending champions typically do on their impenetrable home court: making the zippy pass, setting the tone on the defensive end, crashing the boards, answering any threat with a big basket.

Lillard had 25 points and six assists, and CJ McCollum added 22 points as Portland hit 13 3-pointers.

Shaun Livingston scored 14 points for his fifth double-digit performance during these playoffs filling in for Curry. Little-used Festus Ezeli contributed eight points and six rebounds down the stretch.

Thompson, coming off a career playoff-high 37 points in Sunday’s 118-106 Game 1 win, shot 7 for 20 with five 3-pointers. Iguodala made all five of his first-half shots for 11 of his 15 points to go with five rebounds and four assists, helping Golden State get back within 59-51 at the break.

Ezeli’s alley-oop dunk with 10:11 to play pulled the Warriors within 87-82 and he scored again as Golden State stayed within 91-84. Green stuffed Mason Plumlee in the closing minutes before an emphatic two-handed slam moments later. The Blazers switched up defenders to swarm Thompson, from Allen Crabbe to Al-Farouq Aminu.

Portland made the extra pass and drove for three first-quarter dunks, all in the final 4:34. The Blazers shot 66.7 percent to take a 34-21 lead — quite the opposite of when they trailed 37-17 after the first period two days earlier in a 118-106 loss.

Blazers coach Terry Stotts called for a better start against the defending champions after falling behind 37-17 after the opening period Game 1, and the Blazers thoroughly dominated the first half.

So out of sync were the Warriors early that at one point Curry could be seen emphatically adding his input in the middle of the coaches’ huddle and again to teammates.

Lillard and McCollum, who combined to shoot 13 for 43 in Game 1, went 17 for 39. The Warriors won their sixth straight at home against Portland, all by double figures for a total margin of victory of 89 points.

Ian Clark gave Golden State a lift late in the first half.

The Blazers came out defending well from the tip unlike Game 1, as the Warriors missed eight of their first 10 shots and Portland took a 17-5 lead midway through the first quarter.

Andrew Bogut’s two blocks gave him 65 in the playoffs, most in Warriors franchise postseason history.

Meanwhile, Goran Dragic scored 26 points, Dwyane Wade had seven of his 24 in overtime after Kyle Lowry’s halfcourt shot tied it at the buzzer, helping the Miami Heat beat the Toronto Raptors 102-96 on Tuesday night in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference semifinal series.

Joe Johnson scored 16 points and Josh Richardson had 11. Hassan Whiteside had 17 rebounds for the Heat.

Game 2 is Thursday night in Toronto.

Lowry’s improbable 3-pointer from his own side of the halfcourt line capped Toronto’s six-point comeback in the final 20 seconds of regulation, but the Raptors couldn’t deliver in the extra session. Toronto went scoreless for the first 3:46 of overtime before DeMar DeRozan hit a jumper.

Dunks by DeMarre Carroll and Jonas Valanciunas made it 99-96 with just over 10 seconds to play. Toronto got the ball back after a Miami turnover on the inbounds play, but Wade stripped the ball from DeRozan and sealed it with a three-point play.

Wade (3,638) moved into 16th place on the NBA’s playoff scoring list, passing Elgin Baylor (3,623). Scottie Pippen (3,642) is in 15th place.

Valanciunas had 24 points and 14 rebounds, and DeRozan added 22 points for the Raptors, who dropped to 1-9 in the opening game of a postseason series. Five of those defeats have come at home.

DeRozan connected on his first three field goal attempts of the game, then made only six of 19 the rest of the way.

Lowry also struggled, going scoreless in the first half and finishing 3 of 13 for seven points.

Toronto’s Terrence Ross set a career playoff high with 19 points and Cory Joseph had 10.

Miami led 86-81 after a 3 by Dragic with 40 seconds left, but Toronto trimmed the deficit to 89-86 on a 3 by Ross with 6.5 seconds remaining.

Luol Deng threw the ball away on the inbounds play and Ross was fouled. He made the first but missed the second, and Whiteside was fouled as he grabbed the rebound. Whiteside missed the first but made the second, giving Miami a three-point edge with 3.3 seconds to go.

Lowry then was given time and space by the Heat to let go his long-range attempt and it went through for his first made 3 in six attempts, sparking a wild celebration in front of the Toronto bench.

Whiteside strained his right knee when he slipped and fell with 4:54 left in the first quarter. He limped to the bench and left for the locker room but returned at 9:01 of the second.

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