PORTLAND, Ore. -- Stephen Curry had 37 points before sitting out the final quarter and the Golden State Warriors welcomed back teammate Kevin Durant with a 128-103 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers on Monday night to sweep their first-round playoff series.
The Warriors advanced to the conference semifinals, where they'll face the winner of the series between the Utah Jazz and the Los Angeles Clippers, which is tied at 2.
Golden State played for the second straight game without coach Steve Kerr, who has been experiencing a flare-up of symptoms stemming from back surgery a couple of years ago. Assistant Mike Brown has served as head coach in Kerr's absence.
Durant hadn't played since Game 1 because of a strained left calf. He started and the Warriors built a 72-48 lead by the end of the opening half (see full recap).
Powell helps Raptors beat Bucks in Game 5
TORONTO -- Putting Norm Powell in the starting lineup has changed the playoff fortunes of the Toronto Raptors.
Powell scored a career playoff-high 25 points, Kyle Lowry had 16 points and 10 assists and the Raptors beat the Milwaukee Bucks 118-93 in Game 5 of their first-round series on Monday night.
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Raptors coach Dwane Casey said Powell has been "a spark plug."
"In this series, he's been the X-factor," Casey said.
Serge Ibaka scored 19 points and DeMar DeRozan had 18 for the Raptors, who can advance to face defending champion Cleveland in the second round with a victory in Game 6 at Milwaukee on Thursday night (see full recap).
Hawks hold off Wizards, even series at 2-2
ATLANTA -- In a year when the geezers are coming up big in the NBA playoffs, add another one to the list.
Jose Calderon might be the most unlikely of all.
The 35-year-old Spaniard, picked up on waivers late in the season, made a huge contribution to help the Atlanta Hawks pull away from the Washington Wizards 111-101 on Monday night, evening the opening-round series at 2-all.
Answering the call when Denis Schroder got in early foul trouble, Calderon played 20 minutes, scored 10 points and dished out five assists. He joined some old-timers such as Utah's Joe Johnson and Houston's Nene making significant contributions in the postseason (see full recap).
