By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
The Splash Brothers are taking defending champion Golden State back to the Western Conference finals for a second straight year.
Klay Thompson’s sweet shooting touch carried the Warriors while Curry was down. Together again in the starting lineup, they guided Golden State another step closer to a repeat title with a 125-121 win over the Portland Trail Blazers in Game 5 on Wednesday night.
Thompson scored 33 points with six 3-pointers, while Curry added 29 and sealed the win with a 3 with 24.9 seconds left. He finished with five 3s a day after becoming the first unanimous MVP in NBA history, adding 11 assists after returning to the starting lineup for the first time all series because of a knee injury.
In the East, DeMar DeRozan matched a playoff high with 34 points, Kyle Lowry had 25 and the Raptors beat the Miami Heat 99-91 on Wednesday night to take a 3-2 lead in the Eastern Conference semifinals.
“We have faith in those guys; they’ve carried us the entire season,” Raptors coach Dwane Casey said. “Not one time did we doubt their ability to score.” Slovenian guard Goran Dragic had 13 points for Miami and British forward Luol Deng added 4 points.