Draymond Green easily boiled down the key to Warriors’ victory over the Rockets in Game 1 of their Western Conference first-round playoff series Sunday night in Houston.

“In order for us to win basketball games it requires Steph Curry to be great,” Green said. “And he was just that.”

Curry scored 31 points and the seventh-seeded Warriors built a huge lead and held on to beat the second-seeded Rockets 95-85.

Curry was 12 of 19 from the field, hitting 5 of 9 3-pointers. He wowed his teammates with a couple of circus shots that caused the bench to go wild.

Jimmy Butler added 25 points, seven rebounds, six assists and five steals in his playoff debut for the Warriors after joining them in a trade from the Heat in February.

“(Curry) just made some amazing plays and obviously carried us offensively along with Jimmy,” coach Steve Kerr said.

Game 2 of the best-of seven series is Wednesday night in Houston.

The Warriors got the win despite the Rockets having a 22-6 advantage on the offensive boards.

“I think we can play a lot better,” Green said. “That’s the encouraging part about it. I don’t think we played very well at all.”

It was the 100th career playoff coaching victory for Kerr, who moved into a tie with Larry Brown for sixth-most playoff wins.

“I’m lucky to coach the guys that I do,” Kerr said. “Players win games. It’s our job to try to help them along a little bit here and there.”

The Rockets, who returned to the playoffs for the first time since 2020, got 26 points from Alperen Sengun in his first career postseason game. But Fred VanVleet and Jalen Green struggled, making just 7 of 34 shots.

VanVleet was 2 of 13 from 3-point range on a night the Rockets made just 6 of 29 3s and were 11 for 20 on free throws.

Jerome lifts Cavs: Ty Jerome had to wait five years to play in his first NBA playoff game. On Sunday night, he made the most of the opportunity.

Jerome scored 16 of his 28 points in the fourth quarter as the top-seeded Cavaliers rolled to a 121-100 home win against the eighth-seeded Heat in the first game of their East series. Jerome posted the third-most points in a Cavs playoff debut, behind LeBron James and Kyrie Irving.

Bucks upgrade Lillard: Damian Lillard is listed as questionable for Game 2 of the Bucks’ East series matchup with the Pacers on Tuesday.

It’s another step forward for the seven-time All-NBA guard after missing the past month with deep vein thrombosis in his right calf. The Bucks had announced Thursday that Lillard was off blood-thinning medication and cleared for full basketball activity.

The fifth-seeded Bucks could use Lillard after they shot 9 of 37 from 3-point range in a 117-98 Game 1 loss in Indianapolis.

Bucks ccoach Doc Rivers said earlier he didn’t know whether Lillard would play Tuesday but noted that 34-year-old had been making progress.