Whatever it was, the Chicago Blackhawks finally found that extra gear they talked about for days.

Johnny Oduya and Marcus Kruger scored in the third period, Corey Crawford made 20 saves and the Blackhawks beat the Detroit Red Wings 4-1 in the opener of their second-round playoff series Wednesday night.

“Much better from our prior series,” coach Joel Quenneville said. “I thought what we’re talking about in our team game was in place. Had some pace, had some speed, zone time, and I thought everybody contributed.”

In the wake of Chicago’s five-game victory over Minnesota in the first round, Quenneville talked about a higher level of intensity, and each of his biggest stars echoed his comments. The response was a dominant final two periods in the Blackhawks’ first game in the Western Conference semifinals since they won the Stanley Cup in 2010.

Marian Hossa had the opening goal in the first, and Patrick Sharp finished with an empty-netter and two assists to give him nine points in the postseason.

“I thought it was our best game of the playoffs, no question,” Sharp said.

Jimmy Howard had 38 stops in a terrific performance, but Detroit still lost to rival Chicago for the eighth straight time dating to last season.

“I think in the first it was pretty even, but then I think in the second and third they looked like they had a little more energy than we did,” Red Wings captain Henrik Zetterberg said. “It’s going to be nice to have a day off tomorrow and practice and then looking forward to Game 2.”

The series resumes on Saturday at the United Center.

The 75th all-time playoff game between the Blackhawks and Red Wings was tied at 1 after two periods, and Howard made a great stop on a breakaway by Dave Bolland 4 1/2 minutes into the third.

Chicago kept working and went in front to stay on a heady play by Oduya. He drifted in from the point and sent Sharp’s pass past Howard on the glove side with 12 minutes left.

“Getting the win is the only thing that actually matters,” Oduya said. “Like I said, anyone could have scored that goal at that point. We had a lot of chances, and I’m lucky I got it in there.”

Kruger then jumped on a loose puck and sent a backhander into the upper right corner to make it 3-1. That was more than enough for Crawford, who caught a break when Damien Brunner’s rebound attempt went off the crossbar and straight down before Brent Seabrook swept it away with about three minutes left.

The opener of the 16th playoff series between the Original Six teams was the first game for Chicago since it eliminated Minnesota last Thursday. Detroit closed out Anaheim with a 3-2 win in Game 7 on Sunday night, taking the final two games of the series against the second-seeded Ducks.

Despite the long break, there was no sign of rust for the Blackhawks. The Red Wings skated right with Chicago at the start, but they couldn’t keep up at the end of the game and coach Mike Babcock said they were looking forward to a day off.

“We’re not trying to take anything away from them,” he said. “They were better than us. The score tonight was more than fair as far as I’m concerned. They were better.”

The Blackhawks struck first in the first playoff game between the teams since Detroit won the 2009 Western Conference final. With Gustav Nyquist in the box for hooking, Sharp forced a turnover along the boards and Jonathan Toews sent the puck to Hossa, who one-timed it past Howard at 9:03.

Detroit needed less than two minutes to respond, tying it when Brunner poked in a rebound for his third career playoff goal. The rookie center also contributed three assists in the first round against the Ducks.

The Blackhawks killed off two power plays created by penalties on Andrew Shaw. They killed off another one when Nick Leddy was sent off for delay of game in the second period, making them a perfect 20 for 20 on the penalty kill in the postseason and sinking Detroit to 1 for 18 on power plays against Chicago, including the regular season.

“We know that we’re a much better team than this,” Red Wings defenseman Niklas Kronwall said. “The second and third period were not nearly good enough. We know we’re better than this, so we have to find to get better here for Game 2.”

Game notes

It was the 800th game between the teams. … Detroit F Justin Abdelkader was shaken up after he collided with Blackhawks D Michal Rozsival in the first period. He was helped to the bench after a few moments down on the ice, but eventually returned to the game. … Blackhawks F Viktor Stalberg was a healthy scratch. Quenneville said it was a “coach’s decision” and Stalberg could get back on the ice at any point. … Toews and Pavel Datsyuk of the Red Wings joined Patrice Bergeron of the Boston Bruins as finalists for the Frank J. Selke Trophy as the NHL’s best defensive forward. … Chicago won eight of the previous 15 playoff series against Detroit.

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Chicago is moving on in the postseason for the first time since the championship run in 2010, and will face either San Jose or Detroit if the Red Wings get past Anaheim.

“We knew we hadn’t done it in two years,” Hossa said. “Minnesota, they still have a great team and are missing some players. We found a way. Now we get ready for the next round.”

The way the Blackhawks have dominated, anything less than a trip to the Stanley Cup finals would be a disappointment for them.

They got off to a record start and captured the Presidents’ Trophy for finishing with more points than any other team.

Now, they’re eyeing the biggest prize of all. And after bowing out in the first round the past two years, they sure are looking good.

Hossa scored off a feed from Jonathan Toews late in the first period. Marcus Kruger made it 2-0 with a wraparound early in the second, and Hossa chased the Wild’s Josh Harding when he knocked in a rebound minutes later.

Then, after Torrey Mitchell scored for Minnesota, Chicago’s Andrew Shaw scored against Darcy Kuemper. Patrick Sharp added his fifth goal of the series early in the third period, and that was more than enough for Crawford.

Coming off his second career playoff shutout, he saved 21 shots, and the Blackhawks became the third team to advance in this postseason, along with San Jose and Ottawa. They also bucked a recent trend of early exits for Presidents’ Trophy winners.

The team with the most regular-season points had been eliminated in the first round in three of the previous four years. The Wild were hoping to replicate what the Los Angeles Kings did last year and win the Stanley Cup as the eighth seed, but the Blackhawks simply had too much skill, speed and depth.

The Wild were also short-handed after losing one of their top scorers in Dany Heatley to season-ending left shoulder surgery late in the season. They also had to get by without goalie Niklas Backstrom after he suffered a leg injury in warm-ups before Game 1.

That forced the Wild to go with Harding, who played in just five games during the regular season after being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis last summer. And he also got banged up in this series. He left Game 4 after a collision with Toews in which his legs got straddled around the left goal post, and he wasn’t sharp in this one, allowing three goals on 18 shots even though he was deemed well enough to start.

Coach Mike Yeo turned to Kuemper after Hossa’s second goal. He also insisted the injury in Game 4 wasn’t a factor in Harding’s performance in this one.

“It wasn’t,” Yeo said. “I don’t want to pin this loss on Josh, either. Credit them and their team.”

There was also a question about Yeo’s job security after this loss. The Wild were widely considered Stanley Cup contenders after they gave free agents Zach Parise and Ryan Suter identical 13-year, $98 million contracts last summer. But they never quite lived up to expectations.

“I can’t answer that,” Yeo said. “All I can say is if you want to look at it objectively, statistically, if you really want to look at it properly, then there’ve been a lot of improvements in our organization and our team. I feel that we’re going in the right direction.”

For a moment, the Wild looked like they might get back into this one.

Moments after Minnesota’s Jared Spurgeon hit the right post, Mitchell ripped a one-timer past Crawford midway through the second period. But Shaw answered 35 seconds later with his first career playoff goal when he swept the puck in from a bad angle just to the right of the net, making it 4-1.

Crawford, meanwhile, continued to erase doubts about his ability to perform in the postseason. That was a big question coming into this series after he let in several soft goals in last year’s first-round loss to Phoenix. He’s been nothing but solid in this series.

“He’s making saves that he needs to make and he’s making saves that he shouldn’t be making,” Sharp said. “When he does that, it breeds confidence throughout the lineup and it filters through everybody.”

He even had the fans chanting his name at several points. For example, when Crawford stopped a routine shot by Jason Pominville from the wing and scrambled back toward the middle of the net for a neat pad save against Mikko Koivu on the rebound. That foiled another power play by the Wild after they went 0-for-15 in the first four games.

The Blackhawks took a 1-0 lead late in the first period when Hossa took a feed from Toews in the left circle and fired the puck between Harding’s glove and the post. The assist gave Toews his first point of the playoffs.

Kruger made it 2-0 when his wraparound deflected off Harding’s pad and into the net for his first career playoff goal.

Game notes

Blackhawks C Dave Bolland and G Ray Emery remain sidelined by lower body injuries, although coach Joel Quenneville said they’re “real close.” Bolland said it’s 50-50 he would have been able to play if “it was do-or-die” for the Blackhawks, but he expects to be ready in the next round. … Quenneville moved ahead of Mike Keenan and took sole possession of second place on the Blackhawks’ playoff wins list with 34. Billy Reay is the club record-holder with 57 from 1963-77.

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Not when Craig Anderson is guarding the goal.

Anderson made 48 saves, many of them spectacular, and the Ottawa Senators staged a third-period comeback to beat the Montreal Canadiens 4-2 in the opening game of the first playoff series between the geographic rivals.

The Canadiens set team playoff records with 27 shots in the second period and 50 overall. Wasn’t enough: Anderson outplayed Montreal goalie Carey Price, who stopped 27 shots at the other end.

“What can you say? Andy’s our MVP,” said defenseman Marc Methot, who scored the winning goal. “He’s a machine back there. He just keeps going and going. We’re lucky to have him in the net.”

The Canadiens will try to solve Anderson and the Senators in Game 2 on Friday night at the Bell Centre. But the hosts will be without one of their hottest forwards, center Lars Eller, who was wheeled off the ice on a stretcher bleeding heavily from the face and taken to hospital. He suffered a concussion, as well as fractures to his face and teeth, after an open-ice hit from Ottawa defenseman Eric Gryba.

Eller had taken an ill-considered pass up the middle from Raphael Diaz when he was flattened by Gryba with a hit the NHL is likely to review for further discipline. Gryba was given a major penalty for interference and a game misconduct.

“It was a hockey play,” said Ottawa coach Paul MacLean. “Our guy hit him, but player 61 (Diaz) is the guy to blame.”

“I can’t comment,” was all Montreal coach Michel Therrien said about the hit.

Brendan Gallagher scored during the resulting power play to put Montreal up 2-1. But the Senators’ league-best penalty killers then shut the door during a full two-minute, two-man advantage.

Jakob Silfverberg tied it with a shot that sailed between Price’s legs from the right circle 3:27 into the third period. Mathot swept a shot from the point into the top corner to put Ottawa ahead less than two minutes later.

Guillaume Latendresse, a former Canadien who was booed by most of the 21,273 in the seats, sealed the win with a goal that went in off his body as he drove to the net with 6:05 remaining.

Erik Karlsson scored in the first period for Ottawa, while Rene Bourque got one early in the second for Montreal.

“You just have to give your team an opportunity to stay in the game and win,” said Anderson, who led NHL goaltenders with a 1.69 goals-against average and a .941 save percentage this season, but likely won’t get the Vezina Trophy because he missed 20 games with an ankle injury.

“Montreal played a really good second period. They had a lot of momentum. Our penalty kill did a good job of finding a way to keep them to one goal and give us a chance to get back in the game. We went from having no momentum in the second and taking momentum back in the third.”

Therrien was impressed.

“We played a good game and we deserved a better result,” he said. “I’m proud of our team. We had 50 shots. We went to the net. But the story of the game was Anderson. He was extraordinary.”

Anderson was sharp as the Senators weathered a fierce Canadiens push in the first 10 minutes before Karlsson put on a show for the opening goal at 17:25.

The 2012 Norris Trophy winner, who returned late in the regular season from an injury to his Achilles tendon, skated through the neutral zone and worked a give-and-go with Kyle Turris, redirecting the return pass along the ice between Price’s pads.

Montreal tied the game when Bourque came out from behind the net and beat Anderson with a backhander under the crossbar on Montreal’s 34th shot of the game.

After the Gryba hit and with Ottawa down a man, Gallagher banged in Tomas Plekanec’s pass to put Montreal in the lead.

“I stepped up to make a hit. I kept my shoulder down. He received the puck by the time I hit him,” Gryba said. “I saw the replay. My elbow was down and there was no intent to hurt him whatsoever and I hope that he’s OK. I’m not out here to hurt anybody and it’s never good to seeing anything like that.

“I hope he makes a full and speedy recovery.”

Canadiens captain Brian Gionta said the quantity of shots was fine, and the quality was there some of the time, but his team needs to be sharper.

“We battled hard most of the game, but we’ve got to do a little better job of getting second and third opportunities,” Gionta said. “We had a lot of good chances, quality chances, but we’ve got to find a way to get those rebounds or a little more urgency in front of their net. He’s a good goalie and he’s going to make the first stop, for sure.”

Gryba’s hit came after Montreal’s P.K. Subban flattened Chris Neil with an open ice hit, but the Ottawa enforcer wasn’t injured on the play.

Game notes

Montreal’s 50 shots set a team record for a regulation playoff game. … The Canadiens are 50-28-2 all-time in playoff openers. Ottawa is 11-11. … Montreal sat out Jeff Halpern, Colby Armstrong, Davis Drewiske and Yannick Weber. … Peter Regin, Matt Kassian, Patrick Wiercioch and Andre Benoit were among Ottawa’s scratches. … The game was the first between Canadian teams in the playoffs since 2004. Ottawa met Toronto and Vancouver took on Calgary in the first round that season.

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They need one more victory to set up the biggest game here yet.

Brook Lopez had 28 points and 10 rebounds, Deron Williams added 23 points and 10 assists, and the Nets beat Chicago 110-91 on Monday night, cutting the Bulls’ lead to 3-2 in their first-round playoff series.

Recovering from a collapse two days earlier that sent them home on the brink of elimination instead of tied, the Nets battered the Bulls on the boards and forced Chicago into being the team that wilted down the stretch.

“We came out very aggressive, as we have the past few games. I think the difference was just we sustained it for essentially a full 48 minutes tonight,” Lopez said.

Andray Blatche scored 10 of his 13 points in the fourth quarter and Gerald Wallace had consecutive baskets in the finishing surge as the Nets finally pulled away in a game they led most of the way, but never by too much.

Two days after rallying for a 142-134 triple-overtime victory, the Bulls were outscored 15-1 at the finish and failed to set up a second-round series with Miami. Instead they will host Game 6 on Thursday.

“It was just a lot of mental mistakes. A lot of mental mistakes,” Bulls center Joakim Noah said. “I feel like we had our chances. We beat ourselves. They played well. You’ve got to give credit when credit is due and now it’s on us to come back and be ready for Game 6.”

If the Nets win that one, they would host Game 7 on Saturday.

Nate Robinson had 20 points and eight assists starting in place of point guard Kirk Hinrich, who bruised his left calf in Saturday’s game.

“For us, I knew it was going to be tough; it was going to be a challenge,” Robinson said. “At the same time, we’ve been here before playing with a guy short. It’s something we’ve got to do. We’ve just got to muster something and bring that energy and continue to play like we’ve been playing.”

Only eight NBA teams have overcome a 3-1 deficit, but the Nets remained confident after Saturday’s collapse, feeling they had outplayed the Bulls for long stretches during the series. They have led by double digits in four of the five games.

“I believed that we would respond,” Nets interim coach P.J. Carlesimo said. “We’ve bounced back all year too well, and as disheartening a loss as that was on Saturday, there’s still been enough good minutes in this series. Neither of us are getting away from each other.”

But they need two more wins against a Bulls franchise that is 12-0 all-time when holding a 3-1 lead.

“We feel like we’re the better team,” Wallace said. “We’ve just got to play a 48-minute game completely and stay in attack mode.”

Robinson scored 29 of his 34 points after the third quarter Saturday in a game the Nets led by 14 late in regulation. Coming off his big game and agitating to opposing fans even when he’s struggling, Robinson was loudly booed during introductions, and each time he touched the ball early on.

He made a jumper with 4:17 remaining to cut Brooklyn’s lead to 95-90, but there would be no charge this time. Lopez converted a three-point play, and after a free throw by Jimmy Butler, Wallace nailed a 3-pointer, then came up with a steal and dunk to give the Nets a 103-91 advantage with 2 minutes to go.

The Nets finished it off with ease, prolonging their first season since moving from New Jersey.

Butler scored 18 points for the Bulls, who were outrebounded 44-33 and gave up 24 second-chance points.

“That’s the difference in the game, the rebounding,” Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau said. “If you defend fairly well and then you give a team a second and a third crack at it, it’s hard to win like that.”

The Nets ran off seven straight points late in the first quarter, five from Lopez, to turn a 17-17 tie into a 24-17 lead.

Brooklyn got eight second-quarter points from Kris Humphries, then opened its biggest lead when Johnson and Wallace made consecutive 3-pointers before Lopez made two free throws to make it 50-40. The Nets led 52-44 at the break.

The Nets had the lead into double digits a few times in the third quarter but never built on it. The Bulls were back within four by the end of the period after making 11 of 16 shots (69 percent).

Butler made a 3-pointer to open the fourth quarter and make it a one-point game, but Chicago never could grab the lead in the final period.

Wallace scored 12 points and Reggie Evans grabbed 12 rebounds as the Nets improved to 6-0 all-time in Game 5s at home. They have never lost a series when holding home-court advantage.

Joe Johnson and C.J. Watson each scored 11 points.

Game notes

Carlesimo said it wasn’t hard to ignore thoughts about his own future because the games come too quickly to worry about anything else. Though the Nets gave general manager Billy King a contract extension last week, it is unknown if Carlesimo will be back after leading the Nets to a 35-19 mark after replacing the fired Avery Johnson in late December. … A number of New York Islanders were in the crowd at the franchise’s future home. The NHL team plans to move from Long Island to Barclays Center in 2015.

The post Brook Lopez scores 28 points as Nets avoid elimination, force Game 6 appeared first on IdealCapper.

And it allowed them to escape playoff elimination with a 105-103 win over the Thunder on Monday night.

Chandler Parsons scored 27 points and Patrick Beverley added 16 points with point guard Jeremy Lin out with a bruised chest muscle. Houston avoided a four-game sweep in the best-of-seven series.

The Rockets led in the fourth quarter of each of the previous two games only to end up losing.

“We felt the pain and frustration from the last two losses … and we didn’t want that to happen for the third straight time,” Parsons said.

It almost did.

Kevin Durant scored five quick points to cut the Rockets’ lead to two. James Harden missed two shots for Houston after that, and the Thunder had a last chance.

Reggie Jackson missed a jump shot, and Serge Ibaka grabbed the rebound but missed a layup at the buzzer.

A stunned Ibaka fell to the court after the miss and covered his face with his hands.

Durant scored 38 points in Oklahoma City’s second game without injured All-Star guard Russell Westbrook.

The victory kept Houston from being swept in the playoffs for the first time since 1996. Game 5 is Wednesday in Oklahoma City.

“Getting this first win gives us confidence going back to Oklahoma City, and anything can happen,” Harden said.

Rockets coach Kevin McHale was proud of his young team’s work in getting its first playoff victory.

“That was a gutsy win,” McHale said. “We’re not going to lie down. The one constant has been their willingness to scrap and fight. We kept on fighting.”

Durant hit the go-ahead 3-pointer in the Thunder’s Game 3 win. He wanted to get another one off Monday, but Francisco Garcia forced him to give up the ball.

“I was. I was going to try to win it,” Durant said. “But he played good defense.”

Durant is looking forward to the series returning to Oklahoma City.

“We’ll be all right,” he said. “We’re up 3-1 with a good opportunity to close it out at home. We couldn’t ask for a better situation, so hopefully we’ll get the job done.”

Harden scored 15 points but also had 10 turnovers. He had two chances to extend Houston’s lead with less than a minute left but missed both of them, including shooting an air ball.

Getting the win allowed Harden to take his tough night in stride.

“I did have a double-double,” he deadpanned, referring to his points and turnovers.

He picked up his fifth foul with about seven minutes remaining, sending him to the bench. A dunk by Jackson seconds later cut Houston’s lead to 98-94.

Jackson got the Thunder within 100-98 with a 3-pointer a couple of minutes later. His 3-point attempt on the next trip down the floor rattled in and out of the basket.

Houston scored four quick points to extend the lead to 104-98 before Harden returned to the game with about three minutes left.

He said he struggled to get going after sitting out in the fourth quarter.

“The foul trouble kind of set me back,” he said. “Coming in trying to make big shots, I was cold.”

Derek Fisher made a 3-pointer to cut Houston’s lead to 104-101 with less than three minutes remaining. It was reviewed a few seconds later, and the points were taken away because replays showed the shot clock had expired.

Jackson finished with 18 points in his second start in place of Westbrook, and Kevin Martin added 16.

Houston got 17 points from Omer Asik and 13 from Carlos Delfino.

Oklahoma City’s DeAndre Liggins received a technical foul with :07 left in the third quarter for arguing the call on a jump ball. Delfino made the free throw, but Durant hit a jump shot at the buzzer to get the Thunder within 91-84 entering the fourth quarter.

The Rockets led by two points in the third quarter before a 3-point play by Harden. He took Jackson off the dribble for a jump shot and drew the foul — Jackson’s fourth — to send him to the bench and the crowd into a frenzy.

Durant was shaken up a few seconds later when he crashed into the scorer’s table chasing a loose ball. He remained on his back for a couple of minutes holding his right wrist before being helped to his feet. But he didn’t leave the game and seemed to be OK.

Harden’s three-point play was the start of a 12-2 Houston run capped by another three-point play — this one by Delfino — to extend the lead to 85-75 with about three minutes left in the third quarter.

Delfino dunked after stealing the ball from Martin, and Durant fouled him on the play.

Houston scored the first 10 points of the second half to erase a halftime deficit and take a 63-60 lead. Parsons had six points in that span.

The Rockets did a much better job of keeping the crowd involved in this one than they did in Game 3, when they trailed early by as many as 26 points. Houston rallied to take a lead in the fourth quarter of that game before losing 104-101.

Near the end of the first half, Durant sailed into the crowd Superman-style to save the ball on a bad pass from Harden. He was able to get to his feet and stood in the crowd watching as Martin swished a 3 on the other end. He couldn’t figure out how to get out of the crowd for a few seconds before finally climbing out and back onto the court. But before he got back to the game, Durant asked a woman in the first row whom he had crashed into whether she was OK.

Houston led by five at the end of the first quarter and was up by three points early in the second before Oklahoma City scored 12 straight points, fueled by seven from Durant. The Rockets took a 43-34 lead about 6 1/2 minutes before halftime.

Delfino swiped the ball from Durant and swished a 3 with 17 seconds left in the first half to cut the Thunder’s lead to 60-53 at halftime.

The Rockets led 29-24 after one quarter thanks to 5-of-9 shooting from 3-point range Monday after trailing by 20 points after one in Game 3.

Game notes

Houston’s Greg Smith returned Monday after missing Game 3 with a stomach ailment. … Durant has scored 20 or more points in 30 straight playoff games. … Former Rockets star Steve Francis watched the game from a courtside seat. … The Seattle SuperSonics were the last team to sweep Houston in the playoffs, getting a 4-0 series win in the Western Conference semifinals in 1996.

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Not their shots.

Not their injured All-Star.

Stephen Curry had 30 points and 13 assists, and the scrappy Warriors handed the Denver Nuggets their first loss at home in more than three months, a 131-117 stunner that evened their playoff series at a game each.

Rallying around injured David Lee, who cheered from the bench in street clothes, the Warriors got 26 points from surprise starter Jarrett Jack, a career-high 24 from rookie Harrison Barnes in his debut at power forward and 21 from Klay Thompson.

The sixth-seeded Warriors, who became the second road team to win in this postseason following Chicago’s victory at Brooklyn on Monday, wrested home-court advantage in the series from the NBA’s best home team. The series shifts to Oakland for Game 3 on Friday night.

“They were knocking down shots,” Denver’s Andre Iguodala said in an understatement.

Better than they ever had before in a playoff game, with a franchise playoff-record 64.6 percent (51-of-79) from the field.

“We are a very good shooting basketball team,” Warriors coach Mark Jackson said. “We’ve got guys that can knock down shots. You talk about Klay Thompson and Steph Curry, in my opinion, they’re the greatest shooting backcourt in the history of the game.”

The third-seeded Nuggets were an NBA-best 38-3 at home during the regular season but needed Andre Miller’s last-second shot to beat Golden State by a basket in the opener and extend their franchise-best winning streak to 24 games.

With Golden State losing Lee to a torn hip flexor and the Nuggets getting top rebounder and energizer Kenneth Faried back from a sprained ankle, this one looked like a mismatch, even Curry acknowledged.

And it was, but not the way the Pepsi Center crowd anticipated.

“We’re a resilient team, said that all year. When guys go down, other guys step up,” said Curry, who played despite a tender left ankle after turning it late in the third quarter. “We showed that tonight. Big road win for us. We’ve got to go home and protect our home court.”

Even without their All-Star, the Warriors outrebounded the Nuggets 36-26.

“We didn’t do much of anything very well,” Nuggets coach George Karl lamented. “I don’t think I ever coached a game when a team got three 35-point quarters, maybe in my career. Ever.”

The best anybody shot against Denver during the season was 54 percent, by the Los Angeles Lakers way back on Nov. 20, and the most points the Nuggets had allowed was 126 at San Antonio on Nov. 17.

Ty Lawson and Corey Brewer each scored 19 points for Denver, and Iguodala and Miller each had 18, but the Nuggets were playing catch-up from the middle of the second quarter and couldn’t keep up with so many of the Warriors’ shots falling, negating Denver’s league-best transition game.

Lee led the league with 56 double-doubles and had another before getting hurt in the fourth quarter of the series opener Saturday. The Warriors were 3-18 without him over the past three seasons, but Jackson mixed and matched his lineup to make up for his All-Star’s absence on this night, when Lee gave advice to his teammates during timeouts.

The Nuggets were hoping Faried’s return would help reverse their 10-point disadvantage on the boards in Game 1. But he was rusty, and the same problems that plagued Denver in the opener — missing too many open shots, getting outmuscled on the glass and giving up open 3-pointers — haunted the Nuggets once again and even more so.

Curry scored 15 points in the second quarter and hit four jumpers during a 14-5 run the Warriors used to grab control and take the air out of the Pepsi Center as they cruised into halftime with a 61-53 lead that would never be threatened in the second half.

Curry swished another sweet jumper to start the third quarter, and the Warriors opened up a 17-point lead they would stretch to 20 in the fourth quarter.

“The game plan tonight was to keep the ball out of Stephen Curry’s hands, but he came off [the pick-and-rolls] and had open looks and then he started finding people,” Lawson said. “After that, we started scrambling, and we can’t play like that.”

The Nuggets pulled within 76-69, but Thompson hit a 3-pointer from the right corner and Curry a 3 from the left to make it 82-69. Both were wide open, as Denver’s mismatched defenders were again running ragged trying to keep up with the Warriors, who handled the altitude just fine.

Denver got its deficit down to 115-105, but this time it was Jack’s turn to make a wide-open 3 with the Nuggets’ defenders scrambling around.

Faried finished with four points and two rebounds in 21 minutes.

The arena was half-empty by the time the horn sounded, a solitary fan yelling derisively, “Tacos!” when Evan Fournier’s free throw fell through the hoop to give the Nuggets 110 points, the magic number for a promotion in which fans get discounted tacos.

Game notes

The Warriors shot a sizzling 61 percent in the first half, when they outrebounded the Nuggets 21-14. … The Nuggets’ previous loss at home was 112-108 to the Washington Wizards on Jan. 18. … Denver had just eight fast-break points, compared to Golden State’s 14. … Curry’s 30-10 playoff game was the first for the franchise since Sleepy Floyd on May 10, 1987.

The post Stephen Curry, Warriors send Nuggets to rare home loss appeared first on IdealCapper.

Durant scored 24 points and drew a rare offensive charging foul, and the Oklahoma City Thunder routed Harden and the Houston Rockets 120-91 on Sunday night in Game 1 of their playoff series.

Durant, who’s known more for his three NBA scoring titles than for stepping in the way of oncoming opponents, got in Harden’s way on a transition drive in the third quarter in a standout defensive effort for the Thunder against the league’s second highest-scoring offense.

“It was all about giving your all every possession,” Durant said.

Hours before going head-to-head with Harden, Durant said that “we’re not looking at him as a friend right now.” But even right before tipoff, the situation didn’t seem natural.

“It felt a little awkward just looking across there during the national anthem and seeing him with another team, but we’ve got to get past that. We’re competing against his team, and he wants to win so bad,” Durant said. “We know him personally, so we know how hard he competes and he knows how hard we compete.”

After letting Houston wipe away an 11-point deficit in the first half, the Thunder regained control with a 14-1 surge just before halftime and kept pouring it on.

Just after a fan nailed a half-court shot to win $20,000 in the break after the third quarter, Durant drove for a two-handed slam while getting fouled and Oklahoma City was soon up by 30.

“We didn’t have a rhythm as a team. I felt like it was basically one on five every time,” Harden said.

Harden, playing against the team that traded him away just before the season started, had 20 points but the Rockets were held 15 points below their regular-season scoring average while shooting 36 percent. Houston, which set a franchise record for 3-pointers during the regular season, finished 8 for 36 (22 percent) from behind the arc.

“We were trying to be solid on the defensive end,” Durant said. “We knew they were a great scoring team. We just tried to pack the paint and get out to their shooters. We had to make the second and third efforts, and I think we did that.”

Game 2 is Wednesday night in Oklahoma City.

“Believe it or not, I think this was good for us,” Harden said. “Losing like this was definitely good for us. Now we know how to play.”

“We really don’t have an excuse anymore,” said Jeremy Lin, one of three Houston starters making their first career playoff apperance. “We’ve gotten it out and played terrible all the way across the board — offensively, defensively. That one’s over with.”

The Thunder were already up by 23 when Larry Hill connected on the half-court shot and went bounding toward Oklahoma City’s huddle in celebration, getting congratulated by Thabo Sefolosha before the team’s bison mascot pulled him back away.

Durant’s dunk sparked a string of seven straight points for Oklahoma City, and Harden never even came off the bench in the fourth quarter. Coach Scott Brooks called timeout and pulled Durant a few moments later, and reserves finished out the game for the Thunder.

“We wanted to take care of our home court,” Durant said. “We didn’t do anything yet.”

Russell Westbrook ended up with 19 points, 10 assists and eight rebounds. Serge Ibaka chipped in 17 points and Kevin Martin, Harden’s replacement in the sixth man role, had nine of his 16 points in the fourth quarter with the game already in hand.

It was an impressive playoff opener for top-seeded Oklahoma City, which made it to the NBA Finals last season before losing to Miami in five games. The Thunder led by as much as 35 before Houston’s reserves cut into the lead in garbage time.

Harden didn’t get much help from the rest of his starting lineup, which features players with a total of three career playoff starts, all by center Omer Asik. None of the other starters scored in double figures and the unit went 17 for 50 from the field, with Harden making just six of his 19 attempts.

It was Houston’s first playoff game in four years.

“James, on this team, has to shoulder a ton of responsibilities for us and he’s been great all year long,” coach Kevin McHale said. “He’s had an all-pro type of year. … He’ll play better, just like everybody.

“We ask him to do an awful lot for us — handle the ball, score the ball, pass the ball, make plays. I think that he had it going there for a little bit, but it wasn’t James. It was us in general as a team. We never really caught a flow at all tonight.”

Oklahoma City scored the first six points of the game and opened a 13-2 lead as the Rockets failed to make a basket for the first 6 minutes of the game and started out just 1 for 13 from the field. Houston eventually settled in and charged back with a 13-2 push spanning the break between the first two quarters, with Chandler Parsons providing the final five points on a two-handed putback jam and a 3-pointer.

Patrick Beverley pulled the Rockets even at 38 with a transition 3-pointer from the right wing, but the Rockets couldn’t pull ahead before Oklahoma City’s next surge.

Sefolosha had a two-handed slam on a fast break and also assisted on Kendrick Perkins’ two-handed dunk during the burst, which extended Oklahoma City’s lead to 60-45 before Harden’s driving layup in the final second before halftime.

All but the first basket in the Thunder’s run came after Asik joined Parsons on the bench with three fouls apiece.

The Rockets never recovered.

Game Notes
The game ball got switched out in the second quarter after it went into the stands and a drink was spilled on it. … Harden scored a career-high 46 points in the Rockets’ only regular-season win against Oklahoma City, but said he didn’t gain any secrets from that performance to carry over into the playoffs. “I’m not going to lie. I was just making shots,” he said. … The Thunder improved to 18-5 in playoff games in Oklahoma City.

The post Kevin Durant scores 24 as Thunder blitz Rockets to take 1-0 lead appeared first on IdealCapper.

Blackhawks forward Daniel Carcillo will also play Friday night, according to Quenneville. Carcillo has not played since suffering a lower-body injury in the season opener against the Los Angeles Kings on Jan. 19.

Hossa practiced with the team for the second consecutive day Friday since taking the hit from Hansen on Tuesday. Hossa said Friday he passed the team’s protocol for head injuries.

“I should be ready to go,” Hossa said after Friday’s morning skate at the United Center. “I passed the test on the computer, so I should be fine. I feel good otherwise. If I had a little doubt, I wouldn’t go. I wouldn’t play. I wouldn’t practice. Everything is cleared.”

Hansen said he was going for the puck Tuesday at the United Center when his left forearm connected with the back of Hossa’s head early in the third period. Hossa was on the ice face-first for a few minutes before departing to the locker room under his own power. He did not return to the game.

Hossa said he felt shaky after the hit, but he said he did not suffer a concussion. Hansen was suspended one game on Wednesday.

Hossa suffered a severe head injury last season when the Phoenix Coyotes’ Raffi Torres launched himself into Hossa during their first-round playoff series. Hossa was taken off the ice on a stretcher. He did not return for the team’s final three games and was not cleared until early December.

Quenneville said Friday the Blackhawks made sure Hossa was comfortable with playing again right away.

“That’s the first step, I know he’s got to make sure he’s comfortable and we’re comfortable with him playing,” Quenneville said. “We always look at the history, and there’s some hurdles and tests you got to make sure you face and pass. Organizationally, he’s ready to go, and he’s clear.”

Hossa had two goals before being knocked out of Tuesday’s game. He is second on the Blackhawks with eight goals and third with 14 points.

Carcillo had to be helped off the ice after he collided with Kings defenseman Drew Doughty against the boards on Jan. 19. It was Carcillo’s first game since tearing the ACL in his left knee against the Edmonton Oilers on Jan. 2, 2012. He required season-ending surgery last season. The latest injury to Carcillo was to his right knee, a source told ESPNChicago.com, and did not require surgery.

Quenneville said he expected Carcillo to continue to play a physical style of hockey and not be concerned about the back-to-back injuries.

“I think the way he plays, the way he has to play, we want to make sure he doesn’t have that thought in the way he approaches the game or goes into shifts,” Quenneville said. “He’s got to play one way, and I think that’s his style. We expect him to do that. I don’t foresee he would have any apprehensions in how he has to play.”

Carcillo played on the team’s first line along with Marian Hossa and Jonathan in the season opener. Quenneville said he expected to use Carcillo on the fourth line with Marcus Kruger and Michael Frolik on Friday.

Carcillo was excited to play again after all he’s been through the past few seasons.

“The last two years have been a tough road for sure,” Carcillo said. “But dealing with the injury last year certainly helped the early onset of this injury. It’s a bit of a shot to your pride because you want to be healthy and you want to be out with the guys. They have been playing so well. It’s a privilege to be able to come here and play this game.”

The 28-year-old Carcillo was signed by the Blackhawks as a free agent in July of 2011. He signed a two-year contract extension in March of 2012. He has 38 goals and 47 assists in 311 career NHL games.

Chicago will try to set a record Friday by opening the season with 17 consecutive games with at least one point.

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Hossa was hit illegally in the head by the Phoenix Coyotes’ Raffi Torres in Game 3 of the Blackhawks’ first-round playoff series on April 17, 2011. Hossa was taken off the ice on a stretcher and didn’t play the rest of the season. Torres was originally suspended 25 games and had it reduced to 21 games after an appeal.

“You can’t just be playing careful hockey,” Hossa said after Monday’s practice at Johnny’s IceHouse West. “I just want to be myself. Right now, I feel like that’s where I am.”

Hossa was cleared to play in December and said he hasn’t felt any lingering effects of last year’s injury. He went through his second official practice on Monday and said he continued to feel good.

“Right now when I step on the ice, my head is clear,” Hossa said. “That’s the main thing for me. I wasn’t like that before when I was still here in early November.”

One major stepping stone for Hossa was recently taking his first big hit and being able to skate away from it.

“Three days ago, (Brandon) Bollig hit me pretty hard by accident, so that was a good test,” Hossa said. “I know I passed it.”

Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville has liked the look of Hossa, too. Quenneville said Hossa was in great shape and could again be highly depended on as he was in the past.

“He’s probably never been in this good of shape in his life,” Quenneville said. “He’s fine. He’s ready to go. He’s ready to play. We anticipate using him in all situations. We know the importance he brings to our team, what he can do for our team.”

Hossa has registered 50-plus points in the past 12 seasons. His 77-point total last season for the Blackhawks was the most he had since having 100 points for the then-Atlanta Thrashers in the 2006-07 season.

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Reserves Jamal Crawford and Matt Barnes each scored 16 points, and the Clippers easily routed the Grizzlies 99-73 Monday night with Paul missing his first game this season because of a bruised right kneecap.

“Missing the best point guard in the world in Chris Paul, we all had to play collectively and step it up, and I thought we did a good job of that,” Crawford said.

The matchup between two of the best teams in the West wasn’t close after the first quarter. While Paul watched from the bench, the Grizzlies were without their leading scorer: Gay was excused for his grandmother’s funeral in Baltimore.

This also was the Clippers’ first trip to Memphis since they won Game 7 of their opening-round playoff series last May. All they did was match their largest margin of victory on the road this season while holding the Grizzles to a season-low in points and their worst field goal shooting percentage on their home court in franchise history.

“That’s why I said before the game that they’re the best team in the West, maybe the best team in the league right now,” Memphis coach Lionel Hollins said of the Clippers.

Eric Bledsoe, starting for Paul, had 14 points, and Blake Griffin scored 10. Clippers coach Vinny Del Negro was able to give nine players at least 17 minutes each before heading to Houston for the second half of a back-to-back Tuesday night.

“We want to be the best team we can, and that’s our goal as the season moves on,” Del Negro said. “I thought we were lacking a lot, but I thought we played well.”

Zach Randolph had 15 for Memphis, which lost its second straight blowout, after losing 104-83 at Dallas on Saturday night. Wayne Ellington added 11 in a rare start in place of Gay, and Darrell Arthur had 10 as the Grizzlies shot just 30.3 percent (27 of 89), a franchise-low at home. Randolph said they really missed Gay’s ability to drive and relieve pressure.

“They clogged up the paint on us, make us shoot from outside, make us pass the ball up because they’re doubling as soon as we catch it,” Randolph said. “They’re coming from every direction, and that makes us pass out to the perimeter.”

The Clippers had a 40-36 scoring edge in the paint as DeAndre Jordan and Griffin helped limit Randolph to 5-of-16 shooting and Marc Gasol to 4 of 13.

“That’s where most of their points were coming from since Rudy wasn’t playing,” Bledsoe said. “I think DJ and Blake, in taking Zach Randolph out of the game, that kind of stopped their offensive game.”

Both teams were coming off losses, but the Clippers responded much better to being without their point guard on the first night of back-to-back road games. The Clippers scored the first five points of the game and went on a 17-2 run in grabbing a 32-19 lead. When Memphis pulled to 36-30, the Clippers answered with a 17-4 spurt and led 53-34 at halftime.

Los Angeles got a big boost from its bench, which outscored Memphis 28-4 in the first half and finished with a 54-26 edge. The Clippers’ advantage was so big Griffin played only 25 minutes. The Grizzlies knew how good the Clippers have been on the bench and had their production written on the board in their locker room.

Memphis couldn’t match the Clippers’ intensity, and Hollins pointed out his Grizzlies couldn’t hit teammates for layups on the fast break or down in the post.

“That whole game summed up just that we weren’t competing on a high level,” Hollins said. “They came in here and wanted to show us, and they did.”

The Grizzlies brought back rookie Tony Wroten from Reno in the NBA D-League for depth. Hollins even joked before the game that he was unsure who he’d be subbing in since he started Ellington and Quincy Pondexter was out with an injured knee.

Memphis had its lowest scoring half this season in what was just part of an ugly night all around. The Grizzlies passed 20 points only in the fourth quarter (21) and were so sloppy that at one point in the first half Mike Conley stole the ball off Griffin’s pass only to hit Tony Allen in the face with a pass on the other end.

The Clippers didn’t ease up in the second half either, opening the third quarter with a 15-6 run. They pushed their lead to 16 points, 68-42, on a pair of free throws by Bledsoe with 4:03 left in the third, and Ryan Hollins’ alley-oop dunk with 2:41 gave the Clippers their biggest lead of the night, 95-68.

Game notes

After missing this game, Paul is day to day. … The Clippers also won by 26 Dec. 15 at Milwaukee. … The Clippers are 22-6 when their reserves outscore the opponent’s bench. … The Clippers now are 23-2 when leading after the first quarter. They came in second-best in the NBA in that category. … The Clippers’ largest road victory was by 28 on Nov. 6, 2009, at Golden State. … The Grizzlies’ previous low first half was 37 points Dec. 29 against Denver, and they had just 36 against Atlanta on Dec. 8 in the second half. … Memphis scored 80 twice previously this season, winning Dec. 17 against Chicago the last time.

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