This time, Luka Doncic couldn’t do it all on his own. Three days after disintegrating Phoenix, the Slovenian Mavericks star found the Warriors an insurmountable wall in the opening game of the Western Conference Finals. Golden State won 112-87.
The Warriors started slow but pulled away decisively in the second half after leading 54-45 at halftime. Doncic appearing to be nursing a sore shoulder (but authored 20 points), the Warriors outscored the visitors 34-24 in the third quarter to lead by 19 points going into the final period. Steph Curry led his team with 21 points, 12 rebounds and 4 assists, while Jordan Poole and Andrew Wiggins had 19 points each.
Thompson, diesel shy
Klay Thompson failed to score a point in the first two quarters but got into the rhythm in the second half with 15 points. Seven Warriors players finished in double figures.
Game 2 of the series will once again take place in San Francisco on Friday. The winner of the Western Conference Finals will face the winner of the Eastern Conference, Boston or Miami, in the NBA Finals.