OAKLAND, calif. — Stephen Curry carried the Warriors to a huge lead, waving his arms and flexing his muscles with one acrobatic shot after another.
Every time the Pelicans pulled closer, Curry came back even better.
Curry scored 34 points with an MVP-worthy performance, and the Warriors went up big before holding off the Pelicans 106-99 in their playoff opener Saturday.
“I was locked in and focused the whole night,” Curry said. “In those situations, you want to get the crowd back into it. There’s a weird kind of tension, especially in the second half when they made a couple runs. But in the playoffs, you have to expect anything. And whenever you’re on the floor, just try to make an impact.”
Klay Thompson added 21 points, and Draymond Green and Andrew Bogut dominated down low as the Warriors looked every bit like the NBA’s top seed — at least for three quarters.
The Warriors led by 15 after the first quarter, 18 at the half and 25 late in the third. The Pelicans pulled within four in the final minute behind Anthony Davis, who scored 20 of his 35 points in the final quarter to make the contest seem closer than it really was.
Bulls 103, Bucks 91•CHICAGO — Derrick Rose had 23 points and seven assists in his first postseason game in three years, Jimmy Butler scored 25 points, and Chicago took a 1-0 lead in the series.
Rose was at his fearless best, driving hard to the rim in the early going, and mixed in three 3-pointers in the second half. He shot 9-of-16.
Wizards 93, Raptors 86, OT•TORONTO — Paul Pierce scored five of his 20 points in overtime, Nene had 12 points and 13 rebounds, and Washington took a 1-0 lead in the series.
“It takes the pressure off us and puts it on them now,” said Pierce, who hit a 3-pointer, his fourth of the game, to begin overtime and spark a 7-0 Wizards run.
Rockets 118, Mavericks 108•HOUSTON — James Harden scored 24 points, with 15 coming from the free-throw line, and had 11 assists as Houston held on to take a 1-0 series lead.
Terrence Jones added 19 points for the Rockets, who had seven players reach double-digit point totals.
Schedule, box scores 13C
Sunday’s matchups
Atlanta vs. Brooklyn
Season series: Hawks, 4-0. Atlanta led by at least 14 points in every game, and once by 39. Brooklyn never led in any of the four games by more than eight points.
Story line: Can Atlanta do it in the playoffs? Much has been made of the culture change coach Mike Budenholzer has engineered, but the Hawks haven’t won two playoff series in the same year since 1958, when St. Louis was their home.
Key matchup: Kyle Korver vs. Joe Johnson. Both can get sizzling hot. Korver shot 49 percent from 3-point range this season.
X factor: Brooklyn big man Brook Lopez. He has been in the playoffs only once before, but averaged 22.3 points in a seven-game loss to Chicago in 2013.
Cleveland vs. Boston
Season series: Tied, 2-2. It’s slightly misleading; both of Boston’s wins came in the final days of the regular season when Cleveland’s slot on the East bracket was secured. Each team went 1-1 on the other’s home floor.
Story line: LeBron James, back with the Cavaliers, back in the playoffs, back against the Celtics. Boston ended James’ first run with Cleveland in 2010. So it’s perfect that James’ second quest to deliver a title to championship-starved Cleveland starts with Boston.
Key matchup: Kyrie Irving vs. Marcus Smart. Boston is a big longshot in this series, but if Smart can find a way to keep Irving in some sort of check, the Celtics will give the Cavaliers some headaches.
X factor: Kevin Love. Like Irving, he is making his long-awaited postseason debut. He will learn fast what this time of year is all about.
L.A. Clippers vs. San Antonio
Season series: Tied, 2-2. The Clippers won by 20 in San Antonio in January, before the Spurs found their end-of-season groove. Each team went 1-1 on the other’s home floor.
Story line: The best of the eight first-round matchups could be this one, pitting the defending champion Spurs against a Clippers team still looking for that big postseason breakout. San Antonio rolled through the last third of its schedule, but now the question is whether the Spurs will be deflated by missing out on a chance to finish No. 2 in the West.
Key matchup: Chris Paul vs. Tony Parker. They have gone head to head 43 times, and Paul has the better stats. But Parker and the Spurs have won 28 of those games.
X factor: Kawhi Leonard. Since the start of the 2013 playoffs, the Spurs are 131-43 when last year’s NBA Finals MVP is in their lineup.
Portland vs. Memphis
Season series: Grizzlies, 4-0. Memphis held the high-octane Trail Blazers to 91.3 points per game — more than 12 below their average output against everyone else.
Story line: Portland gets the higher seed by winning the Northwest Division. But home- court advantage belongs to the Grizzlies because they had the better record.
Key matchup: LaMarcus Aldridge vs. Marc Gasol. Neither figures to totally muzzle the other, but the pressure will be on both of these bigs. Aldridge adding 3-point range this season will only add to Gasol’s challenge.
X factor: Tony Allen. He hasn’t played since late March because of a sore hamstring, and the Grizzlies will need their defensive ace.
