Fast and furious comeback

Warriors rally after Leonard hurts ankle

OAKLAND, Calif. - Stephen Curry started the rally in the third to get Golden State going and Kevin Durant was determined to do his part in the fourth.

Two of the biggest stars on one side delivered when the best player on the other went down.

Curry scored 40 points and hit a tying three-pointer with 1:48 remaining, and the Warriors rallied from way behind after Kawhi Leonard was lost to an ankle injury to beat the San Antonio Spurs, 113-111 on Sunday in Game 1 of the Western Conference finals.

“It’s the playoffs. You’ve got to expect everything,” Curry said. “I wouldn’t call it smooth sailing at all. We’ve actually had to execute and get to this point. They came out and challenged us heavy, put a nice little run together. It took us a minute to figure it out to get up to that game speed after this little break. It’s definitely a nice way to win Game 1. We’ve got to capitalize off that and start Game 2 a lot better.”

Draymond Green gave Golden State the lead for good on a three-point play after the Warriors trailed by as many as 25 points.

Leonard left in the third quarter after he re-injured his left ankle, and the Warriors capitalized with an 18-0 run.

Durant scored 10 straight points during a key fourth-

quarter stretch on the way to 34 points, while Zaza Pachulia had 11 points and nine rebounds.

Leonard had 26 points and eight rebounds. LaMarcus Aldridge delivered another clutch playoff performance with 28 points and eight boards.

Somehow, these unusually careless, coldshooting Warriors found a way to keep their unblemished postseason record alive at 9-0.

Curry scored 19 points in the third quarter and went 7 for 16 on threes and 14 of 26 overall.

Leonard first went down after stepping on a teammate’s foot along the bench after taking a shot. Pachulia later slid into him as he came down from shooting and Leonard fell into the Spurs bench, grabbing his ankle.

Losing Leonard could be the story of this series. He shot 7 of 13 in 23 minutes to go with eight rebounds and three assists. He made all 11 of his free throws.

He sat out Game 6 of the last round against Houston, a 39-point, series-clinching win on Thursday, after injuring the ankle in a Game 5 overtime victory.

“It’s a tough break. He’s coming from an injury on that ankle and he tweaked it twice in the last minute he played,” Manu Ginobili said. “So we couldn’t react to his absence.”