National Basketball Association roundup

Instead, referees awarded a timeout to the visiting team with 17.2 seconds left. The Golden State coach was right, according to NBA senior vice president of replay and referee operations Joe Borgia. Thunder point guard Russell Westbrook lifted his pivot foot and dragged it forward with a 103-100 lead on Monday night.

Coming out of the timeout, Westbrook was fouled and hit two free throws to push the Thunder lead to five in their 108-102 win in the Western Conference finals opener.

- -

Toronto Raptors point guard Kyle Lowry said he wasn't showing disrespect to Cleveland forward LeBron James when he recently stated that Golden State guard Stephen Curry was probably the best player in the NBA.

The comment quickly gained traction and the perception was that Lowry was slighting James as the Raptors and Cavaliers prepared to open the Eastern Conference finals on Tuesday night.

- -

Oklahoma City center Steven Adams apologized for making a derogatory remark on Monday night about Golden State's guards.

Adams, who is from New Zealand, referred to Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson as "quick little monkeys" during a postgame interview after the Thunder's 108-102 victory in Monday's Game 1 of the Western Conference finals. Adams later learned that the remarks were offensive and issued an apology to USA Today.

"It was just a poor choice of words, mate," Adams said. "I wasn't thinking straight. I didn't know it was going to upset anyone, but I'm truly sorry. It was just a poor choice of words. I was just trying to express how difficult it was chasing those guys around."