Stephen Curry scored 29 points as the Golden State Warriors thrashed the San Antonio Spurs 136-100 to take a 2-0 lead in their Western Conference finals series on Tuesday.
Curry’s points haul included six three-pointers as the Warriors all-round offensive power crushed a San Antonio Spurs line-up missing the injured Kawhi Leonard and Tony Parker.
Curry also contributed seven assists and seven rebounds to put the Warriors just two wins away from reaching a third consecutive NBA Finals in the best-of-seven series.
No fewer than seven Warriors cracked double figures as the home side led from start to finish before their home fans at the Oracle Arena.
The Warriors were quickly into their familiar scoring groove, sprinting into a 33-16 lead by the end of the first quarter and never letting up.
They led by 28 points — 72-44 — by half-time and accelerated still further in the third quarter to lead 106-75.
“You always try to build momentum and sustain it, for sure,” Curry told reporters.
“We had a point of emphasis of starting the game with a lot more energy and focus on the defensive end so that we could just feel a little bit better about ourselves than we did last game in the first quarter.”
San Antonio’s depleted offense was led by Jonathon Simmons with 22 points. Only one other Spurs player made double figures — Davis Bertans with 13 — while LaMarcus Aldridge was restricted to just eight points.
San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich gave a typically forthright assessment of his team’s obliteration.
“It’s not what I expected. Disappointed,” Popovich said.
The blowout capped a miserable few days for San Antonio, who on Sunday had squandered a 25-point third quarter lead before Leonard suffered his ankle injury that left him sidelined on Tuesday.
Game 3 takes place at San Antonio on Saturday and Brown has already warned the Warriors to expect a response in Texas.
