OAKLAND, Calif. — The Golden State Warriors had something to prove all right: Oh yes, they plan to stay on top in these playoffs despite a disappointing finish to the regular season.

Kevin Durant helped the defending champions get defensive in a hurry, finishing with 24 points, eight rebounds and seven assists and the Warriors returned to their old dominant selves at playoff time to beat the cold-shooting San Antonio Spurs 113-92 on Saturday.

“Absolutely,” Klay Thompson said about playing a memorable, statement-making Game 1. “We did not end the season on a high note, we kind of hobbled into the playoffs. We know how talented we are. We know how good we are. We have been here before in the postseason and know what it takes to win.”

And they still know how to win in impressive fashion on the NBA’s big stage.

Durant, Thompson and Draymond Green took charge in Game 1 of the first-round series to elevate the Warriors’ intensity at last playing without fellow All-Star and injured two-time MVP Stephen Curry, sidelined since March 23 with a sprained left knee.

Thompson found his shooting touch and scored 27 points, making 11 of 13 shots, while 7-footer JaVale McGee started in Steve Kerr’s center-by-committee approach and contributed 15 points, four rebounds and two blocked shots in 16 minutes. Green contributed 12 points, 11 assists and eight rebounds.

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Rudy Gay led the Spurs with 15 points off the bench as leading scorer LaMarcus Aldridge was limited to 14 points on 5-for-12 shooting.

“The first quarter we looked like deer in the headlights,” Spurs Coach Gregg Popovich said.

Game 2 in the best-of-seven series is Monday night at Oracle Arena.

RAPTORS 114, WIZARDS 106: Serge Ibaka had 23 points and 12 rebounds, Delon Wright scored 11 of his 18 points in the fourth quarter, and Toronto snapped a 10-game losing streak in playoff series openers by winning at home.

DeMar DeRozan added 17 points, C.J. Miles and OG Anunoby each had 12, and Kyle Lowry had 11 points and nine assists for the Raptors, whose only previous victory in the opening game of a playoff series came in the second round against Philadelphia in 2001.

Toronto entered having lost an NBA-worst 10 consecutive Game 1s since, including six at home.

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Toronto made 16 of 30 3-point attempts, with Miles making four, and Ibaka and Wright each hitting three.

The Raptors host Game 2 on Tuesday.

76ERS 130, HEAT 103: Ben Simmons had 17 points, 14 assists and nine rebounds in his playoff debut, and Philadelphia romped again without Joel Embiid, winning at home for its 17th straight victory.

Embiid was a spectator in Game 1 of the first-round series because of a broken orbital bone around his left eye. He’s been hopeful he can return early in the series. The Sixers could end this one early with Embiid back in the lineup.

Simmons dished and dazzled in the paint, and the Heat had no answer for Sixers reserves Marco Belinelli and Ersan Ilyasova. Belinelli and Ilyasova combined to hit four 3-pointers in the third quarter that helped shift the tone from physical and foul-filled to a long-distance game.


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