Curry's Warriors storm Houston, while Thunder finishes off sweep

(AFP) Powered by a stellar performance from Stephen Curry, the Golden State Warriors opened the NBA playoffs on Sunday with a win on the Houston Rockets' home court, while the Oklahoma City Thunder dominated the Memphis Grizzlies, securing a 51-point victory.

The Boston Celtics and Cleveland Cavaliers, both favorites in the Eastern Conference, also kicked off their first-round series with victories.

In Houston, the Rockets endured a tough return to the playoffs after a five-year absence.

The young team, coached by Ime Udoka, paid the price for inexperience against the veteran-led Warriors, where Stephen Curry and Jimmy Butler excelled with 31 and 25 points, respectively.

Curry, 37, had already scored 37 points on Tuesday to help secure his team's playoff spot, and on Sunday, he kicked off his 10th playoffs appearance with a masterclass in outside shooting.

The point guard knocked down five three-pointers, demoralizing his opponents, many of whom were postseason rookies.

Batman is back

Turkish center Alperen Sengun was the Rockets' lone offensive bright spot, posting 26 points and nine rebounds, while guard Jalen Green, the team's leading scorer this season, contributed just seven points on 3-of-15 shooting from the court.

"We're young, too," said Butler, 35, who again compared Curry to Batman rescuing the Warriors.

"Like I always say, Batman always comes out of nowhere. You never see him coming and then he comes down out of the sky, out of a building and does unbelievable things. He's the reason we won today. We have to protect him at all costs," said the forward after his first postseason win with his new team.

After a balanced start, Curry and Butler spearheaded a 9-0 run, giving the Warriors a 13-point lead at halftime.

Coming out of the locker room, Curry delivered a crushing blow to the Rockets, sinking a deep three-pointer to give the Warriors a commanding 64-41 lead.

The Toyota Center crowd was reminded of the frustrations of the past decade, as Curry’s four-time NBA champion Warriors twice left them just short of the Finals."

The Rockets mounted a comeback, narrowing the gap to 79-75, but Curry answered with another long-range three-pointer, helping the Warriors maintain their playoff home-court advantage.

Biggest lead in a first game

While Golden State held Houston to just 85 points, the Thunder were even more dominant defensively, routing the Memphis Grizzlies 131-80.

This 51-point lead is the largest in history for a series opener and just seven points shy of the playoff record.

The home team was a force on both ends of the court, despite their star, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, posting his worst offensive performance of the season with just 15 points (4-13 from the court).

The Canadian point guard, who leads the season with an average of 32.7 points, had scored over 20 points in 72 consecutive games.

The Thunder secured the win with a stellar team performance, as all the starters scored over ten points, led by forward Jalen Williams with 20.

With the starters resting, Oklahoma City extended their lead to a maximum of 56 points, but the Grizzlies narrowly avoided suffering the worst beating in playoff history.

The largest lead in a postseason game remains the 58 points held by the Denver Nuggets over the New Orleans Hornets in 2009 and the Minneapolis Lakers over the St. Louis Hawks in 1956.

"We'll never play as bad as we did today again," Grizzlies star Ja Morant said.

"If we win Tuesday, the series will be tied at one and this game won't matter," stressed the point guard, who scored 17 points.

Boston beats Orlando

In the Eastern Conference, the Celtics kicked off their quest for a second consecutive title with a dominant 103-86 win over the Orlando Magic.

Point guard Derrick White starred with 30 points in a game where the local stars, Jayson Tatum (17) and Jaylen Brown (16), had relatively quiet performances.

For the Magic, all the offensive load fell on Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner, who scored 36 and 23 points, respectively.

Jerome finds his rhythm

The East-leading Cavaliers got back on track with a commanding 121-100 win over the Miami Heat, capped off by a fourth-quarter explosion from reserve Ty Jerome.

The Cavaliers held an eight-point lead (87-79) when Jerome found his rhythm.

The shooting guard racked up 16 of his 28 points in just six minutes, pushing the lead to an insurmountable 111-94.

Donovan Mitchell led the offense for the hosts with 30 points, while Darius Garland added another 27.