Durant, Thompson lead Warriors to a 2-0 series lead on Spurs

Stephen Curry watched another lopsided win from the bench in sheer delight, wearing a sport coat and big smile.

The steady hands of Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson certainly have made the two-time MVP's absence far less daunting for the defending champions so far in these playoffs.

Golden State Warriors' JaVale McGee loses the ball between his legs in front of San Antonio Spurs' LaMarcus Aldridge during the first quarter in Game 2 of a first-round NBA basketball playoff series Monday, April 16, 2018, in Oakland, Calif. (AP Photo/Ben Margot)

Golden State Warriors' Klay Thompson (11) drives the ball away from San Antonio Spurs' Patty Mills, right, during the first quarter in Game 2 of a first-round NBA basketball playoff series Monday, April 16, 2018, in Oakland, Calif. (AP Photo/Ben Margot)

Durant sparked a decisive third-quarter run on the way to 32 points, Thompson added 31 points and five assists in another superb playoff performance and the Golden State Warriors rallied in the second half to beat the San Antonio Spurs 116-101 on Monday night for a 2-0 lead in their first-round series.

As Curry remains out likely for the entire series nursing a sprained left knee, the Warriors used all the offensive power they had to take both home games in the best-of-seven series.

"No one can make up Steph's contributions individually," Thompson said. "That's got to be done as a team and even then it's hard with the way he can shoot the ball."

Thompson has found his touch after missing two weeks in March with a broken right thumb.

He followed up his brilliant 11-for-13 shooting day in a 113-92 Game 1 rout Saturday by hitting 12 of 20 shots. Durant also had six rebounds and six assists for the Warriors, who went without key backup big man David West down the stretch after he sprained his left ankle early in the fourth.

Golden State Warriors' Kevin Durant, right, shoots against San Antonio Spurs' LaMarcus Aldridge (12) during the first quarter in Game 2 of a first-round NBA basketball playoff series Monday, April 16, 2018, in Oakland, Calif. (AP Photo/Ben Margot)

Golden State Warriors' JaVale McGee, left, and Andre Iguodala watch a loose ball beside San Antonio Spurs' Rudy Gay (22) during the first quarter in Game 2 of a first-round NBA basketball playoff series Monday, April 16, 2018, in Oakland, Calif. (AP Photo/Ben Margot)

Coach Steve Kerr stuck with JaVale McGee as his starting center and the 7-footer contributed 10 points and seven rebounds as the well-rounded defending champions again showed off their remarkable depth.

LaMarcus Aldridge scored 34 for the Spurs despite facing double-teams and Rudy Gay moved into the starting lineup and scored 12 points.

Game 3 is Thursday as the series shifts to San Antonio.

Thompson managed just three shots in the first quarter and began 1 for 5. He pounded the basketball down with two hands, frustrated, midway through the second quarter. Then he found his groove.

Golden State Warriors' Kevin Durant (35) is guarded by San Antonio Spurs' Danny Green (14) during the first quarter in Game 2 of a first-round NBA basketball playoff series Monday, April 16, 2018, in Oakland, Calif. (AP Photo/Ben Margot)

Golden State Warriors' Kevin Durant (35) shoots over San Antonio Spurs' Kyle Anderson, left, during the first quarter in Game 2 of a first-round NBA basketball playoff series Monday, April 16, 2018, in Oakland, Calif. (AP Photo/Ben Margot)

"He hit some tough shots off one leg and you know had some opportunity bounces," Aldridge said. "That's why they are who they are. They made tough shots. KD made tough shots."

A baseline 3 with 55.9 seconds left before halftime was his first of the night and got Golden State within 49-45 before the Spurs took a 53-47 lead at intermission.

Draymond Green began 0 for 5 before his first basket on the opening possession of the fourth quarter and Durant missed his five 3-point tries in the first half then finally hit from deep early in the third.

The Warriors opened the third on a 19-5 run to take charge but this time the Spurs didn't go away.

Spurs coach Gregg Popovich went with Gay in the starting lineup for Kyle Anderson in an effort to generate more scoring — and his team still struggled to make shots.

Golden State Warriors' Klay Thompson, right, guards San Antonio Spurs' Patty Mills (8) during the first quarter in Game 2 of a first-round NBA basketball playoff series Monday, April 16, 2018, in Oakland, Calif. (AP Photo/Ben Margot)

Golden State Warriors' Klay Thompson, left, Draymond Green, center, and San Antonio Spurs' LaMarcus Aldridge (12) fight for a loose ball during the first quarter in Game 2 of a first-round NBA basketball playoff series Monday, April 16, 2018, in Oakland, Calif. (AP Photo/Ben Margot)

Popovich said before the game that Golden State in Game 1 played "the most stifling defense we faced all year long. That was the best defensive 48 minutes that we have competed against all year long."

Kerr knew Popovich would have his team better prepared.

And the Spurs showed higher intensity on both ends through the first half, working to keep the ball out of Durant's hands or contest shots while jumping in passing lanes to force mistakes.

Andre Iguodala, the 2015 Finals MVP, started a second straight game and had 14 points, seven rebounds and five assists as the Warriors beat the Spurs for the 10th time in 11 games covering the regular season and playoffs.

San Antonio struggled from the floor for the second straight game, finishing 35 for 85 (41.2 percent). In Game 1, the Spurs shot 40 just percent while going 9 for 22 from deep and got outrebounded 51-30.

TIP-INS

Spurs: Aldridge made all 12 of his free throws. ... The Spurs missed 9 of their first 11 3s and were 4 for 28 from long range. ... San Antonio lost its sixth straight games overall against the Warriors at Oracle Arena. ... The Spurs took their first lead of the series, 18-17, with 4:20 left in the first quarter. They trailed from wire to wire in the series opener.

San Antonio Spurs' Rudy Gay, left, shoots against Golden State Warriors' JaVale McGee (1) during the first quarter in Game 2 of a first-round NBA basketball playoff series Monday, April 16, 2018, in Oakland, Calif. (AP Photo/Ben Margot)

Golden State Warriors' Stephen Curry warms up prior to Game 2 of a first-round NBA basketball playoff series against the the San Antonio Spurs, Monday, April 16, 2018, in Oakland, Calif. (AP Photo/Ben Margot)

Warriors: Golden State outscored San Antonio 69-48 in the second half. ... After getting 32 assists on 44 field goals in the series opener, the Warriors tallied 24 assists on 41 baskets. ... Golden State has won nine straight postseason Game 2s, all at home, and 11 consecutive home playoff games overall.

RELIABLE WEST

West scored on three straight second-quarter possessions and finished with 10 points and four rebounds in 14 minutes.

But he got injured with 9:59 left defending Aldridge and headed to the locker room, despite appearing to try stretching out his legs to return.

"He had a really nice night," Kerr said. "I was concerned with that sprained ankle. We'll see how he's doing. We need him, but he told me he was doing OK."

QUOTEABLE

Popovich on whether he saw potential in Kerr to coach during Kerr's four years for San Antonio:

"Oh, sure, I mean are you kidding me? He played for Phil (Jackson) for 97 years and he learned a lot and won championships. ... He's a no-brainer."

ISTANBUL (AP) — A top Hamas political official told The Associated Press the Islamic militant group is willing to agree to a truce of five years or more with Israel and that it would lay down its weapons and convert into a political party if an independent Palestinian state is established along pre-1967 borders.

The comments by Khalil al-Hayya in an interview Wednesday came amid a stalemate in months of talks for a cease-fire in Gaza. The suggestion that Hamas would disarm appeared to be a significant concession by the militant group officially committed to Israel’s destruction.

But it's unlikely Israel would consider such a scenario. It has vowed to crush Hamas following the deadly Oct. 7 attacks that triggered the war, and its current leadership is adamantly opposed to the creation of a Palestinian state on lands Israel captured in the 1967 Mideast war.

Al-Hayya, a high-ranking Hamas official who has represented the Palestinian militants in negotiations for a cease-fire and hostage exchange, struck a sometimes defiant and other times conciliatory tone.

Speaking to the AP in Istanbul, Al-Hayya said Hamas wants to join the Palestine Liberation Organization, headed by the rival Fatah faction, to form a unified government for Gaza and the West Bank. He said Hamas would accept “a fully sovereign Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip and the return of Palestinian refugees in accordance with the international resolutions,” along Israel’s pre-1967 borders.

If that happens, he said, the group's military wing would dissolve.

“All the experiences of people who fought against occupiers, when they became independent and obtained their rights and their state, what have these forces done? They have turned into political parties and their defending fighting forces have turned into the national army,” he said.

Over the years, Hamas has sometimes moderated its public position with respect to the possibility of a Palestinian state alongside Israel. But its political program still officially “rejects any alternative to the full liberation of Palestine, from the river to the sea" — referring to the area reaching from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea, which includes lands that now make up Israel.

Al-Hayya did not say whether his apparent embrace of a two-state solution would amount to an end to the Palestinian conflict with Israel or an interim step toward the group’s stated goal of destroying Israel.

There was no immediate reaction from Israel or the Palestinian Authority, the internationally recognized self-ruled government that Hamas drove out when it seized Gaza in 2007, a year after winning Palestinian parliamentary elections. After the Hamas takeover of Gaza, the Palestinian Authority was left with administering semi-autonomous pockets of the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

The Palestinian Authority hopes to establish an independent state in the West Bank, east Jerusalem and Gaza — areas captured by Israel in the 1967 Mideast war. While the international community overwhelmingly supports such a two-state solution, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s hard-line government rejects it.

The war in Gaza has dragged on for nearly seven months and cease-fire negotiations have stalled. The war began with the deadly Oct. 7 attack on southern Israel in which Hamas-led militants killed about 1,200 people, mostly civilians. Militants dragged some 250 hostages into the enclave. The ensuing Israeli bombardment and ground offensive in Gaza has killed more than 34,000 Palestinians, most of them women and children, according to local health authorities, and displaced some 80% of Gaza's population of 2.3 million.

Israel is now preparing for an offensive in the southern city of Rafah, where more than 1 million Palestinians have fled to.

Israel says it has dismantled most of the initial two dozen Hamas battalions since the start of the war, but that the four remaining ones are holed up in Rafah. Israel argues that a Rafah offensive is necessary to achieve victory over Hamas.

Al-Hayya said such an offensive would not succeed in destroying Hamas. He said contacts between the political leadership outside and military leadership inside Gaza are “uninterrupted” by the war and “contacts, decisions and directions are made in consultation" between the two groups.

Israeli forces "have not destroyed more than 20% of (Hamas’) capabilities, neither human nor in the field,” he asserted. “If they can’t finish (Hamas) off, what is the solution? The solution is to go to consensus.”

In November, a weeklong cease-fire saw the release of more than 100 hostages in exchange for 240 Palestinian prisoners held in Israel. But talks for a longer-term truce and release of the remaining hostages are now frozen, with each side accusing the other of intransigence. Key interlocutor Qatar has said in recent days that it is undertaking a “reassessment” of its role as mediator.

Most of Hamas’ top political officials, previously based in Qatar, have left the Gulf country in the past week and traveled to Turkey, where Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh met with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday. Al-Hayya denied a permanent move of the group’s main political office is in the works and said Hamas wants to see Qatar continue in its capacity as mediator in the talks.

Israeli and U.S. officials have accused Hamas of not being serious about a deal.

Al-Hayya denied this, saying Hamas has made concessions regarding the number of Palestinian prisoners it wants released in exchange for the remaining Israeli hostages. He said the group does not know exactly how many hostages remain in Gaza and are still alive.

But he said Hamas will not back down from its demands for a permanent cease-fire and full withdrawal of Israeli troops, both of which Israel has balked at. Israel says it will continue military operations until Hamas is definitively defeated and will retain a security presence in Gaza afterwards.

“If we are not assured the war will end, why would I hand over the prisoners?” the Hamas leader said of the remaining hostages.

Al-Hayya also implicitly threatened that Hamas would attack Israeli or other forces who might be stationed around a floating pier the U.S. is scrambling to build along Gaza's coastline to deliver aid by sea.

“We categorically reject any non-Palestinian presence in Gaza, whether at sea or on land, and we will deal with any military force present in these places, Israeli or otherwise … as an occupying power,” he said.

Al-Hayya said Hamas does not regret the Oct. 7 attacks, despite the destruction it has brought down on Gaza and its people. He denied that Hamas militants had targeted civilians during the attacks — despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary — and said the operation succeeded in its goal of bringing the Palestinian issue back to the world’s attention.

And, he said, Israeli attempts to eradicate Hamas would ultimately fail to prevent future Palestinian armed uprisings.

"Let’s say that they have destroyed Hamas. Are the Palestinian people gone?” he asked.

This story has been updated to correct the number of Palestinian prisoners freed during a cease-fire in November.

AP reporter Khalil Hamra in Istanbul contributed to this report.

Khalil al-Hayya, a high-ranking official with the Palestinian militant group, who has represented it in negotiations for a ceasefire and hostage exchange deal, speaks during an interview for The Associated Press, in Istanbul, Turkey, Wednesday, April 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)

Khalil al-Hayya, a high-ranking official with the Palestinian militant group, who has represented it in negotiations for a ceasefire and hostage exchange deal, speaks during an interview for The Associated Press, in Istanbul, Turkey, Wednesday, April 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)

Khalil al-Hayya, a high-ranking official with the Palestinian militant group, who has represented it in negotiations for a ceasefire and hostage exchange deal, sits in front of a backdropped with a photograph of the old city of Jerusalem during an interview for The Associated Press, in Istanbul, Turkey, Wednesday, April 24, 2024.(AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)

Khalil al-Hayya, a high-ranking official with the Palestinian militant group, who has represented it in negotiations for a ceasefire and hostage exchange deal, speaks during an interview for The Associated Press, in Istanbul, Turkey, Wednesday, April 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)

Khalil al-Hayya, a high-ranking official with the Palestinian militant group, who has represented it in negotiations for a ceasefire and hostage exchange deal, speaks during an interview for The Associated Press, in Istanbul, Turkey, Wednesday, April 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)

Khalil al-Hayya, a high-ranking official with the Palestinian militant group, who has represented it in negotiations for a ceasefire and hostage exchange deal, speaks during an interview for The Associated Press, in Istanbul, Turkey, Wednesday, April 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)

Khalil al-Hayya, a high-ranking official with the Palestinian militant group, who has represented it in negotiations for a ceasefire and hostage exchange deal, speaks during an interview for The Associated Press, in Istanbul, Turkey, Wednesday, April 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)