NBA -- Warriors blast past the Trail Blazers 118 - 106, take a 1 - 0 series lead

OAKLAND ​-- ​The ​Golden State Warriors ​opened Game 1 o the Western Conference semifinals by playing stifling defense that held the Portland Trail Blazers to 23 percent from the field. Without the injured Steph Curry, the other half of the Splash Brothers, Klay Thompson, carried the defending champs with a 37-point performance.

Thompson made 14 of 28 field goals with 7 treys and the Warriors cruised to a 118-106 victory in Game 1 of the Western Conference semifinals on Sunday afternoon at the Oracle Arena.

Portland clawed back in the second quarter​,​

cutting ​a ​

20​-p​o

int deficit to 9 ​before the Warriors responded by pushing their lead back to 14 points at the half.

​

The depth of the defending ​c​

hamps ​proved​

too much for the young Blazers​. Draymond Green dropped a triple-double with 23 points, 13 rebounds and 11 dimes as the Warriors took a 1-0 lead in this best-of-7 affair.

​

"​

We just got into a groove Games 4 and 5 against Houston and that carried over." Steve Kerr said.

Golden State​,​

using a balanced attack, ​saw all ​

five ​of its starters​

score​ in​

double figures. ​Andrew ​

Bogut had 10 points, 12 rebounds and 3 blocks​ while ​

Shaun Livingston added 12 points and 6 assist​s​

​starting in place of Curry​

.

" They are an elite team either way, and they showed that tonight. We've just got to understand they're a good first-quarter team. We've got to be better from the start of the game." Damian Lillard said. It was noticeable

from his voice, that Lillard was recovering from a chest cold.

Al-Farouq Aminu contributed 15 points, and CJ McCollum a quite 12 points on 5 of 17 shooting, and fell short tonight.

Game 2 will be on Tuesday, May 3rd at Oracle Arena. (RPM)

Photo: Klay Thompson's 37 points was more than enough to fuel the Warriors past the Blazers in Game 1 of their West semis.