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NBA-Highlights of Monday's playoff games

(Releads with Warriors win) April 20 (The Sports Xchange) - Highlights of Monday's National Basketball Association playoff games: - - - Warriors 97, Pelicans 87 Shooting guard Klay Thompson scored 12 of his 26 points in the final 6:39 of the game as Golden State battled to a hard fought 97-87 victory over New Orleans in Game Two of their Western Conference opening-round series. "This game was much more indicative of our team than Game One was," Warriors coach Steve Kerr told reporters, emphasising the team effort. "I like the box score." With their 20th consecutive home win, the Warriors grabbed a 2-0 lead in a best-of-seven series that moves to New Orleans for Games Three and Four on Thursday and Saturday. The top-seeded Warriors, who dominated most of Game One in a 106-99 win, led by just 81-79 before Thompson hit a spinning jumper in the key to spark his late scoring run. He added two and three-point jumpers on Golden State's next two possessions but the eighth-seeded Pelicans refused to go away, pulling within 88-86 after a driving hoop by point guard Tyreke Evans with 4:09 remaining. However, the Warriors defense held New Orleans forward Anthony Davis without a field goal in the fourth quarter and the visitors were unable to score again until 23.9 seconds remained, by which time Golden State held an insurmountable 97-86 lead. "We know we're not going to shoot a high percentage every night," Thompson said. "Our defense carried us tonight. We have the best defense in the NBA." Thompson's backcourt mate Stephen Curry also bombed in three three-pointers en route to 22 points. However, Curry shot just 9-for-21 from the field. Power forward Draymond Green had a 14-point, 12-rebound double-double and center Andrew Bogut snatched a game-high 14 boards as Golden State enjoyed a 49-42 advantage on the backboards. Davis, who had a 35-point explosion in the Game One loss, scored a team-high 26 points to complement 10 rebounds. - - - Bulls 91, Bucks 82 Jimmy Butler scored a game-high 31 points with nine rebounds to lead Chicago past Milwaukee in Game Two of their Eastern Conference quarter-final playoff series. Bulls guard Derrick Rose added 15 points and nine assists after being held scoreless in the first half as Chicago opened a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven series. Khris Middleton led Milwaukee with 22 points and Michael Carter-Williams added 12 points for the Bucks, who were out-scored 20-8 to finish the game. After the Bulls fell behind 74-71 early in the fourth quarter, Butler took control. He scored 14 points, including nine during a 13-0 run that put Chicago ahead by 10. - - - (Editing by Cameron French/John O'Brien)