Kevin Durant drove coast-to-coast just before halftime for a monster two-handed slam.
Klay Thompson swished a turnaround fadeaway as the halftime buzzer sounded and scurried for the tunnel hands raised high in triumph. Stephen Curry
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Draymond Green pounded the glass at every chance for another spectacular rebounding night.
The defending champions are back, all right. They are rolling. And Curry could be close to putting on a uniform again.
”I hope, but I’m not going to expect it because I don’t want to get my hopes up and not have them fulfilled,” Thompson said. ”If he doesn’t play, we’re prepared. If he does play, hallelujah.”
Golden State has endured barely a blip so far, losing only Game 4 of its first-round series against San Antonio before closing out the Spurs with Tuesday night’s 99-91 victory.
They will open the best-of-seven Western Conference semifinals against New Orleans in Saturday’s Game 1 at Oracle Arena. Former Warriors top assistant Alvin Gentry coaches the Pelicans.
”Well, fortunately, Alvin Gentry really doesn’t know what he’s doing,” coach Steve Kerr cracked. ”That’s a joke.”
For weeks ahead of the playoffs, the Warriors hardly looked like the super team that dominated through last year’s postseason. Yet Kerr and his players insisted all along they would find another level and groove when the stage got bigger in April – and they were spot on in those sentiments.
The defense has been stellar.
And the Warriors could be at full strength again soon
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The three other All-Stars and a cast of reliable role players have handled things beautifully without him.
”We’re a championship team. We know what type of defense we need to play,” Green said. ”I think throughout the regular season, you want to get there every night, but it’s just not realistic, especially coming off a championship.”
Sure, Golden State might not make another remarkable, record-setting 16-1 run through the postseason again, but Kerr’s pass-happy bunch sure looks to be back in top form going into the next round.
And Green is leading the way by doing everything on both ends as usual. He grabbed a playoff-career high 19 rebounds in Game 5 after getting 18 his previous outing.
”We expect him to continue to play with this edge because when he does and he’s played with great emotion and passion, that’s when he’s at his best,” Thompson said.
Curry will be re-evaluated later this week as he continues to do more on-court work recovering from a sprained medial collateral ligament in his left knee.
He got hurt March 23 on the very night he returned from a six-game absence with his latest ankle injury. It was bad luck, too, as center JaVale McGee fell into him.
Soon
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”Steph has been coming into the gym every day working and he’s doing his thing and we are doing ours,” Kerr said. ”We are just hoping for the best. Not making any predictions.”
Golden State has won a franchise-record 12 consecutive postseason home games and 20 of the last 22 in the playoffs overall.
Kerr will push his players to keep the momentum from this series and build off all of the things the Warriors did so well.
”We played hard. We played really hard,” he said. ”We played together and stayed with it. We held them to 37 percent shooting tonight which is great. Our defensive effort for the five games was fantastic. It’s obviously going to get more difficult now as we go, so we’ve got to just keep going.”
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Despite his decision to not attend Saturday’s Pro Football Hall of Fame induction ceremonies, Terrell Owens will be ”honored” by the hall for his NFL career.
Hall President David Baker tells The Associated Press on Monday that the Canton, Ohio, shrine’s mission statement begins with the goal ”to honor the heroes of the game.”
So Owens, who instead will be making an appearance at the University of Chattanooga , where he played college football, will be part of the 2018 class exhibit that includes a glass locker for each new member; their pictures on the light standards of Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium; a role in opening videos shown within the stadium; and mention in any reference to the 2018 class.
Baker said NFL Network and ESPN, which both televise the inductions
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”It’s difficult he will not be here to put on the jacket, unveil his bust, make a speech, and attend the parade,” Baker says. ”For those things, there’s nothing we can do.”
Owens has cited the fact it took three years of eligibility for him to make the hall, claiming there were false representations of him as a teammate during the voting process. He also noted that no former players vote, ignoring that Hall of Famers James Lofton and Dan Fouts are among those on the committee.
The 44-year-old Owens had a mostly sensational 15-year career playing for San Francisco, Philadelphia, Dallas, Buffalo and Cincinnati. He is second to Jerry Rice in receiving yards and third in touchdown catches behind Rice and Randy Moss, who is entering the hall this week and will attend the festivities.
But he also eventually wore out his welcome in those cities
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Though he will always be received properly at the hall, Baker says.
”I told him I am very disappointed, it is unprecedented, and we’ve certainly been trying to persuade him to come,” Baker says. ”He has a whole city here, with 4,800 volunteers who do everything to honor these guys. For him, this could be the opportunity to be honored the way I believe he always felt he should be honored.
”We respect he has strong feelings of his own and I respect his right to make that decision. I invited him to the hall, even at the last moment he would be welcomed, and he is welcomed every day the rest of his life. Even though he is not here, we will honor him to the best of our ability.”
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