OAKLAND, Calif. - As Stephen Curry emphatically waved his arms to ignite the crowd and coached from the bench when he could do little else, Klay Thompson and the Golden State Warriors' supporting cast picked up the slack for their absent NBA MVP to hold off the Houston Rockets 115-106 on Monday night and take a 2-0 lead in their playoff series.
Thompson scored 34 points and dished out five assists for the defending champions, playing without Curry because of an injured right ankle. Curry cut short his pregame warmup routine after appearing to be in discomfort as he was shooting while putting little pressure on the tender ankle.
Andre Iguodala, last year's Finals MVP, added 18 points with four 3-pointers and Draymond Green had 12 points, 14 rebounds and eight assists.
Now, Curry has until Thursday's Game 3 in Houston to get healthy.
James Harden had 28 points and 11 assists to lead the Rockets, losers of six straight and 14 of 15 to Golden State. He made 13 of 15 free throws after not attempting one in the opener.
MAVERICKS 85, THUNDER 84
OKLAHOMA CITY - A putback at the buzzer by Oklahoma City's Steven Adams that would have won the game was disallowed upon review, and Dallas defeated the Thunder 85-84 to even the Western Conference playoff series at one win apiece.
Dallas had been embarrassed 108-70 in the opener on Saturday, but the Mavericks held Oklahoma City to 33.7 per cent shooting on Monday.
Raymond Felton scored 21 points and Dirk Nowitzki added 17 for the Mavericks. Deron Williams, declared doubtful on Sunday with a left abdominal strain, scored 13 points, 11 in the game's first 5 minutes.
Kevin Durant scored 21 points for Oklahoma City, but he made just 7 of 33 shots in one of the worst post-season shooting performances of his career.
Game 3 is Thursday in Dallas.
RAPTORS 98, PACERS 87
TORONTO - Jonas Valanciunas had 23 points and 15 rebounds and Kyle Lowry had 18 points, nine assists and seven rebounds as Toronto snapped its post-season losing streak at seven games.
The Raptors had not won a playoff game since a 115-113 home victory over Brooklyn on April 30, 2014.
Corey Joseph scored 16 points, Patrick Patterson added 14 and DeMar DeRozan had 10 as the Raptors evened the first-round series at 1-1.
Paul George scored 28 points and Monta Ellis had 15 for the Pacers, who host Game 3 on Thursday night.
Lowry and DeRozan both struggled with their shooting in Saturday's Game 1 loss, combining to make eight of 32 attempts. Neither was particularly sharp in this one, with Lowry making four of 13 and DeRozan making five of 18.
