Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry set an NBA record with his first three-pointer of the night against the Magic in Orlando on Thursday — and he was just getting warmed up.
Curry’s three-pointer with 5 minutes, 42 seconds remaining in the first quarter marked his 128th straight regular-season game with at least one basket from beyond the arc, breaking the record he shared with Kyle Korver.
“I have a hard time seeing how his streak’s ever going to end,” Magic coach Scott Skiles said before the game. “It would have to be kind of a fluke night for him.”
Photo: AP
Curry finished with 10 three-pointers and 51 points in the Warriors’ 130-114 triumph over the Magic — the reigning NBA Most Valuable Player’s third game this season of at least 50 points.
In 34 minutes on court, he also handed out eight assists and pulled down seven rebounds.
He now has 276 three-pointers this season — 10 less than the record he set last season in leading the Warriors to the NBA crown.
Curry scored 24 points in the third quarter, including a three-pointer from half-court as the buzzer sounded that lifted the Warriors to a 99-91 lead going into the final frame.
The Warriors, chasing the NBA record of 72 regular-season wins set by the Michael Jordan-led Chicago Bulls of 1995-1996, improved to 52-5.
Forward Draymond Green and center Andrew Bogut scored 12 points apiece for the Warriors. Forward Harrison Barnes added 10. Reserve center Marreese Speights scored 14 points, including eight in the fourth period.
The Magic were led by guard Evan Fournier with 20 points. Forward Aaron Gordon had a career-high 19 points and eight rebounds.
Center Nikola Vucevic had 17 points and nine rebounds for Orlando, who led 63-59 at halftime, but were helpless as the Warriors pulled away in the fourth.
Celtics 112, Bucks 107
In Boston, leading wire-to-wire, the Boston Celtics held off a fourth-quarter Milwaukee charge and captured their ninth consecutive home game, a 112-107 win over the Bucks.
The Celtics, coming off a 1-2 road trip, opened a five-game homestand and continued their longest home winning streak since an 11-gamer in 2012-2013.
Boston (34-25) led by 15 entering the fourth quarter, before the Bucks (24-34) rode center Greg Monroe and forward Jabari Parker back into the game.
Pelicans 123, Thunder 119
In New Orleans, forward Anthony Davis scored a team-high 30 points, and three teammates scored at least 20 points to power the New Orleans Pelicans to a 123-119 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder.
In winning for the ninth time in 12 games, the short-handed Pelicans (23-34) got 26 points from forward Ryan Anderson, 22 from guard Jrue Holiday and 21 from guard Norris Cole.
That overcame the powerhouse duo of guard Russell Westbrook, who scored a game-high 44 points, and forward Kevin Durant, who added 32 points and 14 rebounds.
Nets 116, Suns 100
In Pheonix, Arizona, forward Bojan Bogdanovic had 20 of his 24 points in the first half as the Brooklyn Nets kept the Phoenix Suns reeling with a 116-100 victory.
Forward Thaddeus Young scored 18 points and guard Markel Brown had 16 for Brooklyn. After losing 15-of-17 games, the Nets (16-42) have gone 4-4 in the last eight and the first game without Joe Johnson was an effective one.
Bogdanovic replaced Johnson, who was waived by the team earlier on Thursday, in the starting lineup and responded by hitting seven-of-10 shots, including three three-pointers in the first half.
Forward Mirza Teletovic had 30 points for the Suns (14-44), who were swept by the Nets to continue the worst run in franchise history.
In other NBA action, it was:
‧ Rockets 119, Trail Blazers 105
‧ Spurs 96, Jazz 78
Four-time NBA all-star DeMarcus Cousins arrived in Taiwan with his family early yesterday to finish his renewed contract with the Taiwan Beer Leopards in the T1 League. Cousins initially played a four-game contract with the Leopards in January. On March 18, the Taoyuan-based team announced that Cousins had renewed his contract. “Hi what’s up Leopard fans, I’m back. I’m excited to be back and can’t wait to join the team,” Cousins said in a video posted on the Leopard’s Facebook page. “Most of all, can’t wait to see you guys, the fans, next weekend. So make sure you come out and support the Beer
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was