Kawhi injured as Spurs suffer double blow

WESTERN CONFERENCE FINALS, GAME ONE

GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS	SAN ANTONIO SPURS
113	111
Golden State lead best-of-seven series 1-0

hey squandered a 25-point lead and lost star forward Kawhi Leonard with a sprained left ankle early in the third quarter.

It was double whammy for the San Antonio Spurs, as they collapsed in a 113-111 Game One loss to the Golden State Warriors in the best-of-seven Western Conference Finals yesterday morning (Singapore time).

Stephen Curry scored 40 points and Kevin Durant added 34 to power a stunning second-half comeback from Golden State.

Game Two takes place in Oakland tomorrow morning.

Curry credited the reversal of fortunes in the dying minutes to "aggressiveness, paying attention to details and obviously we've got to make shots".

"We just controlled what we could control and played smarter," he said. "It's the play-offs. You've got to take a win any way you can get it."

The much-anticipated showdown between the most prolific NBA scoring attack of Golden State, which led the league with 67 wins, and the top NBA defence of the Spurs, next best at 61 wins, met high expectations.

Leonard scored 18 of his 26 points in the first half and LaMarcus Aldridge added 17 of his 28 in the opening two quarters as the Spurs seized a 62-42 half-time lead.

But Leonard left the contest for good with 7:53 to play in the third quarter, limping to the locker room with a left ankle sprain.

"Just very painful because I tweaked it before," Leonard said. "It's hard to tell (about Tuesday). I definitely couldn't go (the rest of Sunday's game).

"But we'll see how I get better each day."

Leonard was expected to undergo an MRI this morning and his status for Game Two is questionable.

"We were smart when we got out and pushed the basketball. We were disciplined when we ran," said Warriors assistant coach Mike Brown, guiding the team in place of head coach Steve Kerr.

The Warriors were given a half-time pep talk by Kerr, who has given way to Brown since the second play-off game due to complications from back surgery. - AFP