Warriors capitalize after Spurs lose Kawhi

OAKLAND, California - Stephen Curry ignited the third-quarter rally that got Golden State going, so Kevin Durant was determined to do his part in the fourth.

The Warriors' two biggest stars delivered as the best player on the San Antonio Spurs could only sit and watch.

Curry scored 40 points and hit a tying 3-pointer with 1:48 remaining as the Warriors rallied from way behind after Kawhi Leonard was lost to an ankle injury to beat the Spurs 113-111 in Sunday's opening game of the NBA Western Conference final.

"It's the playoffs. You've got to expect everything," Curry said. "I wouldn't call it smooth sailing at all. We've actually had to execute and get to this point. They came out and challenged us heavy, put a nice little run together. It took us a minute to figure it out to get up to that game speed after this little break. It's definitely a nice way to win Game 1."

Draymond Green gave Golden State the lead for good on a three-point play after the Warriors trailed by as many as 25 points.

Leonard left in the third quarter after he reinjured his left ankle, and the Warriors capitalized with an 18-0 run.

Durant scored 10 straight points during a key fourth-quarter stretch on the way to 34 points, while Zaza Pachulia had 11 points and nine rebounds.

Leonard had 26 points and eight rebounds, while LaMarcus Aldridge produced another clutch playoff performance with 28 points and eight boards for the Spurs.

Somehow, these unusually careless, cold-shooting Warriors found a way to keep their unblemished postseason record alive at 9-0.

Leonard first went down after stepping on a teammate's foot along the bench after taking a shot. Pachulia later slid toward him as he came down from shooting and Leonard fell into the Spurs bench, grabbing his ankle.

Losing Leonard could be the story of this series, though coach Gregg Popovich had no update on his star, who shot 7 of 13 in 23 minutes to go with eight rebounds and three assists.

He made all 11 of his free throws.

Associated Press