Redhawks

WASHINGTON (AP) &mdash; Steph Curry scored 41 points and Jordan Poole added 32 points to help the wobbling Golden State Warriors to a 127-118 win over the Washington Wizards on Monday.
Golden State had lost four of five coming into the game.
Draymond Green had 17 points, 10 assists and six rebounds.
Kristaps Porzingis led Washington with 32 points. Kyle Kuzma added 16 points, 11 rebounds and five assists, but struggled from the field, where he was only 5 for 20.
The Warriors trailed 106-105 when Curry made a fallaway 3-pointer against a double team. He made another basket, assisted on the next, and hit a 3-pointer to put the Warriors in front, 115-111 with 3:58 to play. Curry made another stepback 3-pointer with 2:01 to play and Poole hit one with 1:29 to play to vault Golden State in front 123-114.
The Wizards reached their biggest lead of the night 89-80, following a Deni Avdija layup with 4:33 to play in the third quarter. But the Warriors quickly closed back to within two points at 93-91 on a Curry 3-pointer, then tied the game on an Anthony Lamb layup. Neither team maintained a lead for more than a spurt through the first three quarters, which had 12 ties, 12 lead changes, and finished tied, 93-93.
Three players dominated the first half. Poole scored 26 points on 10 for 13 shooting, Curry added 21, and Porzingis scored 25 points, his most for a game in January, in the first two quarters. Only Porzingis reached double figures for the Wizards in the first half.
Washington led by six at one point, Golden State by seven, before the first half ended with the Warriors ahead, 69-64.
COACHES FLATTERED TO PLAY ON MLK DAY
Both coaches were reverent when asked pregame about playing on the Martin Luther King holiday.
&ldquo;Think about a guy, 35 years old, it really puts things in perspective from where I sit,&rdquo; said 47-year-old Wizards coach Wes Unseld Jr. &ldquo;His ability to command a movement, to change things socially, around the world, not just in this country. Those things take time. Still a work in progress.
&ldquo;But dramatically different than it was one generation ago. Things that I take for granted, my parents couldn&rsquo;t do. Not only because it wasn&rsquo;t safe to do, it wasn&rsquo;t legal. To put that in perspective is really mind-blowing.&rdquo;
Steve Kerr said he is always excited to see &ldquo;American history&rdquo; right in front of him during visits to the nation&rsquo;s capital. This trip included playing on Martin Luther King Day and visiting the White House in succession.
&ldquo;We try to preach perspective a lot with our players, but we all get wrapped up in the season and the results of every game, sometimes they seem so important,&rdquo; Kerr said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s good to have a couple days like this where you&rsquo;re reminded of what&rsquo;s really important and how lucky we all are to be doing what we&rsquo;re doing.&rdquo;
TIP-INS
Warriors: SG Klay Thompson (Right Achilles tendon injury management) sat out the second game of a back-to-back Monday. &hellip; The defending champions will visit the White House on Tuesday.
Wizards: SG Bradley Beal (left hamstring) missed his fifth consecutive game. Unseld said Beal still needs more &ldquo;exposure&rdquo; to contact before returning. &hellip; Martin Luther King III, Arndrea Waters King, his wife, and Yolanda Renee King, Dr King&rsquo;s granddaughter, were honored at midcourt after the first quarter. They received Wizards and Warriors jerseys in addition to a standing ovation.
&nbsp;

Steph Curry scored 41 points and Jordan Poole added 32 points to help the Warriors to a 127-118 win over the Wizards.

Curry, Poole lead Warriors to 127-118 win against Wizards

Opening night in Hollywood went well for three quarters for Los Angeles Lakers superstars LeBron James and Anthony Davis against Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors.
But it was a flop for their new supporting cast, including L.A. native and former league MVP Russell Westbrook.
Curry, a two-time MVP, had 21 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists for the Warriors, who rallied from 10 points down to stun the Lakers 121-114 in a season opener Tuesday night.
The Lakers went cold in the fourth quarter, and surrendered the lead halfway through the period.
James had 34 points and 11 rebounds, while Davis had 33 points and 11 rebounds. No other Lakers scored in double figures.
&ldquo;Those two guys were spectacular," coach Frank Vogel said. &ldquo;We're going to be pretty good if we get those type of performances. We just have to be better defensively. This is a team that is all new to each other, so everybody's finding their way a little bit.&rdquo;
Wesbrook shot just 4 for 13 for eight points in his Lakers debut.
&ldquo;Him more than anybody, it's going to be an adjustment period," Vogel said. &ldquo;He's coming into our culture, our system, he's the new guy, he's got to find his way. It's difficult, when you're used to being the guy that has the ball most nights, to be able to play off others like LeBron and A.D. It's just a little bit different for him. He's going to be great for us but it's going to be an adjustment period."
James and Davis said they helped console Westbrook afterward.
&ldquo;I told Russ to go home and watch a comedy,&rdquo; James said. &ldquo;Put a smile on his face. Don&rsquo;t be so hard on himself.&rdquo;
The Lakers had an 84-74 lead late in the third quarter after a jumper by Kent Bazemore, but the Warriors slowly closed the gap.
&ldquo;We didn't finish quarters well the whole night," Vogel said. &ldquo;We gave up a 38-point fourth quarter. If you do that you're going to lose most nights. Our defense is just not on a string yet. I thought we did a good job being up on Steph, but the back side was much better in the first half than the second half.&rdquo;
Curry made three free throws in the closing seconds of the third quarter after he was fouled taking a 3-pointer, and Jordan Poole and Damion Lee hit 3-pointers early in the fourth.
Poole&rsquo;s layup with 9:17 left put the Warriors ahead for good at 91-90, and he finished with 20 points. The Warriors expanded the lead to 98-90 before the Lakers twice closed within two points.
But Curry and Nemanja Bjelica each hit 3-pointers to give the Warriors some breathing room. Bjelica had 15 points and 11 rebounds, while Lee also scored 15 points.
&ldquo;We kept our composure and didn't turn the ball over in the second half, which was a huge benefit to just maintaining the pace and giving ourselves some looks,&rdquo; Curry said. &ldquo;But the fact that everybody who was on the floor contributed in a meaningful way kind of speaks to our depth and how we want to play going forward. We're excited about that and it's good to be 1-0.&rdquo;
Davis and James dominated for much of the game while welcoming a slew of new teammates, including Westbrook, Carmelo Anthony, Rajon Rondo, Dwight Howard and DeAndre Jordan.
The Lakers, who won the NBA title in the bubble in October 2020, retooled after losing to the Phoenix Suns in the first round of last season&rsquo;s playoffs. They retained just three players &mdash; James, Davis and Talen Horton-Tucker, who&rsquo;s out with a thumb injury.
James and Davis made 3-pointers and fallaway jumpers. In one remarkable sequence, James saved an errant pass and flicked it to Davis, who slammed it home for a 68-61 lead with 7:51 to go in the third quarter.
The Lakers, who went 0-6 in the preseason, led 59-53 at halftime.
TIP-INS
Warriors: Golden State remains without All-Star guard Klay Thompson, who continues to rehab an Achilles tendon injury that cost him the entire 2021 season. ... The teams last met on May 19 when Los Angeles beat Golden State 103-100 at home in the opener of the league&rsquo;s first play-in tournament.
Lakers: Howard welcomed fans with a short address just before the game, mentioning that it was the NBA&rsquo;s 75th anniversary and closed by saying, &ldquo;Let&rsquo;s get it!&rdquo; ... Jordan and Bazemore started alongside James, Davis and Westbrook. ... Anthony and Rondo got a nice hand when they subbed in together with 5:40 to go in the first quarter.
UP NEXT
Warriors: Host Los Angeles Clippers on Thursday.
Lakers: Host Phoenix on Friday.

The Warriors rallied from 10 points down to stun the Lakers 121-114 in the purple and gold's season opener Tuesday night.

Curry, Warriors stun James, Lakers 121-114 in opener

Tobias Harris picked a pair of Philadelphia&rsquo;s deep reserves (Paul Reed and Rayjon Tucker) to knock him around and toughen his game on the low post. The trio talked smack, and their post-practice workout sessions resembled a kind of bully ball for most of the last three months, all so Harris was better equipped for the postseason grind.
&ldquo;I know the people who watch, the people who see, my teammates, they respect that,&rdquo; Harris said.
And the payoff?
&ldquo;You have a night like this,&rdquo; Harris said.
Harris showed why top-seeded Philadelphia might have its own Big 3 worthy of winning a championship. He scored 37 points, carrying Philadelphia&rsquo;s offense when it sagged early, and the 76ers survived the sub.-500 Washington Wizards in a 125-118 Game 1 victory on Sunday.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
Tobias (37 PTS) went off in Game 1 😤 <a href="https://t.co/Osk5l9QBK9">pic.twitter.com/Osk5l9QBK9</a>
&mdash; NBA TV (@NBATV) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBATV/status/1396554894480330752?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 23, 2021</a></blockquote>

<script src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>

&ldquo;We see him early on dominating the game and you want to keep giving him the ball because he&rsquo;s feeling it,&rdquo; guard Ben Simmons said.
Harris scored 28 points in the first half, making a case that Philly has &mdash; with All-Stars Joel Embiid and Simmons &mdash; three big stars that could rival the superstar trio of Kevin Durant-James Harden-Kyrie Irving in Brooklyn.
Embiid finished with 30 points. Game 2 is Wednesday in Philadelphia.
The Sixers needed Harris&rsquo; outburst to offset an upset-minded Wizards team that was within five points with 45 seconds left. Bradley Beal scored 33 points and Russell Westbrook had 16 &mdash; but neither sensational scorer took over in long enough stretches needed for an upset.
Westbrook even stepped out of bounds with 37 seconds left, cutting off a potential rally. He declined to say if the referees made the correct call.
&ldquo;It doesn&rsquo;t matter now. It don&rsquo;t matter,&rdquo; Westbrook said.
Unable to create consistent offense outside of Harris, the Sixers finally put together a 3-point barrage late in the third quarter that had 11,160 fans &mdash; roughly half-capacity &mdash; sounding as if it was 20,000-plus packing the house.
Harris, of course, hit a tying 3, Seth Curry hit his first, Danny Green buried one and Curry pounded his chest and talked smack after another 3 made it 88-81.
The fans erupted soon after in a &ldquo;Trust the Process&rdquo; chant with Embiid at the free-throw line, and the Sixers closed the quarter with a 99-93 lead.
The Sixers hung on for their first playoff win in two years, even as Simmons went 0 for 6 from the free-throw line and scored only six points. He had 15 rebounds and 15 assists.
&ldquo;He created so many points for us,&rdquo; coach Doc Rivers said.
Embiid was whistled for three fouls and the Sixers missed 14 of 17 3-pointers in the first half, leaving it up to Harris to play up to his $180 million contract.
Harris spent the season believing he was worthy of an All-Star spot and opened some eyes with 28 points on 12-of-19 shooting in the half. He played the half like he was trying to win a game of HORSE &mdash; turnarounds, fallaway jumpers, pull-up jumpers in the paint, and in one instance, he drove the length of the court before he hit a little floater. He finished 15 of 29 from the floor and hit two 3-pointers.
Some of the credit to his success went to two Sixers not in the Game 1 box score &mdash; Rayjon Tucker and Paul Reed.
&ldquo;They&rsquo;ve got a lot of guys that can fill the stat sheet and Tobias was that guy tonight,&rdquo; Beal said.
Beal, who torched the Sixers for 60 points in January and has been bothered of late by a strained left hamstring, and Westbrook combined for just 20 points in the first half, but Washington led 62-61 at the break.
Washington advanced by routing the Indiana Pacers to emerge from the play-in round as the East&rsquo;s No. 8 seed, returning to the playoffs after a two-year absence. The Wizards were a disaster early in the season, dealing with injuries and a COVID-19 outbreak. They started 0-5 and were 17-32 in early April. They made the playoffs at 34-38 and are trying to become the first team with a losing record to win a playoff series since the 1987 Seattle SuperSonics.
Washington&rsquo;s must-win attitude down the stretch spilled into Game 1. The Game 1 trend this weekend had been heavy favorites with time off &mdash; such as Brooklyn against Boston &mdash; needing time to find their legs before putting the game away. The Wizards played Thursday &mdash; while the Sixers had a full week off &mdash; and played every minute as a team determined to steal one on the road.
&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think I played great. I don&rsquo;t think I had a good game,&rdquo; Beal said. &ldquo;I think we still got a couple levels we can tap into.&rdquo;
TIP-INS
Wizards: Went on a 10-0 run late in the first quarter with Embiid and Simmons on the bench. ... Washington and Philadelphia played each other for the first time in the postseason since 1986.
76ers: Dikembe Mutombo, who helped lead the Sixers to the 2001 NBA Finals, received a rousing ovation when he rang the ceremonial bell to start the game. .. They went 27-5 in the regular season with Simmons, Curry, Green, Harris and Embiid in the starting lineup. ... Harris&rsquo; 28 first-half points were the most by a Sixer in a playoff game since Allen Iverson scored 30 against New Orleans in 2003.
YOU&rsquo;RE THE MAN
Rivers went to each Sixer this week and told him how important his contribution this season was to their success.
&ldquo;I thought this year, every guy needed to know what their value was to this team and how important they were, and how important each guy&rsquo;s role was,&rdquo; he said.

Harris carried top-seeded Philadelphia’s offense when it sagged early and scored 37 points in the victory.

Cash