Kevin Durant scored 38 points as Golden State Warriors made sure it didn't blow another big lead by routing Los Angeles Clippers 132-105 in game three of their playoff series on Thursday.
Warriors ensured there was no repeat of game two, where they squandered a 31-point lead in the second half, allowing Clippers to engineer the biggest comeback in NBA playoff history.
Huge lead
Warriors compiled another huge lead at almost the identical part of Thursday's game by taking an 88-57 lead with 7:10 left in the third quarter.
Durant made sure the outcome was different this time. He finished 14-for-23 from the floor and was just five points shy of his playoff career high despite playing only 29 minutes.
“He was aggressive from the start at both ends,” said Warriors coach Steve Kerr. “He attacked. He showed everybody who Kevin Durant is.”
After taking just 24 shots and totalling 44 points in the first two games, Durant came out blazing in game three, hitting his first six shots.
“The coach made some subtle changes. Other than that everybody stuck to the game plan,” said Durant.
Now down 2-1, Clippers also will host game four in the best-of-seven set on Sunday.
Stephen Curry, who battled foul trouble most of the night, supported Durant with 21 points.
Lou Williams, who led the Clippers’ greatest comeback in playoff history with 36 points in game two, was held to just 16 points.
Ben Simmons dominated on the inside and Tobias Harris fired away from the perimeter as Philadelphia 76ers defeated Brooklyn Nets 131-115 to take a 2-1 lead in playoff series.
Simmons scored an NBA career post-season high 31 points and Harris tallied 29 and 16 rebounds for Sixers.
Philadelphia won despite missing all-star Joel Embiid, who took part in the warm-up but was unable to play because of a sore knee. Greg Monroe started in his place and finished with 13 rebounds and nine points.
Simmons shot 11 of 13 from the field and added nine assists while Harris was a perfect six-for-six from beyond the arc.
Elsewhere, Derrick White scored a career-high 36 points as San Antonio Spurs seized a 2-1 series lead with a 118-108 victory over Denver Nuggets.
White shot 15-of-21 from the field as the seventh-seeded Spurs can take a stranglehold lead in the best-of-seven series with a win in game four on Saturday at home. The results: Brooklyn Nets 115 (D’Angelo Russell 26, Caris LeVert 26) lost to Philadelphia 76ers 131 (Tobias Harris 29, Ben Simmons 31, J.J. Redick 26). 76ers lead 2-1 .
Los Angeles Clippers 105 lost to Golden State Warriors 132 (Kevin Durant 38, Stephen Curry 21). Warriors lead 2-1 .
San Antonio Spurs 118 (DeMar DeRozan 25, Derrick White 36) bt Denver Nuggets 108 (Nikola Jokic 22, Malik Beasley 20). Spurs lead 2-1 .
