Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson dominated their matchup with the Portland backcourt of Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum on Friday night, exploding for 71 points in the Golden State Warriors’ 128-112 blowout of the Trail Blazers.
Curry had 34 points and Thompson a game-high 37 as the Warriors (58-6) avenged their most lopsided loss of the season en route to their 47th consecutive home-court win.
Lillard scorched the Warriors for 51 points and McCollum added 21 in Portland’s 137-105 home win over the defending champs on Feb. 19, but this one was a polar opposite almost from the opening tip.
Photo: AP
Thompson poured in four three-pointers in the first 6 minutes, 3 seconds, helping Golden State take the lead for good at 16-9.
Then Curry, scoreless at the point, took over, dropping in four threes of his own and adding three two-point hoops in a personal 18-point flurry over the final 4 minutes, 55 seconds of the period, helping Golden State run up a 40-27 advantage.
The margin reached 20 by halftime and 24 by the end of the third quarter, allowing both teams to rest starters for the second half of a back-to-back to be played yesterday.
Curry, who was held to 12 points in Wednesday’s win over Utah, surpassed that total in the first 11 minutes this time around. He finished 13-for-23 from the field, including seven-for-14 from three-point range.
Thompson was even better. He bombed in 13 of his 22 shots, including eight of his 11 threes.
The eight three-pointers gave Thompson 204 for the season, making him and Curry the first teammates in NBA history to record 200 threes apiece in a season four years in a row.
Draymond Green had team-high totals in rebounds (13) and assists (seven) to go with 17 points for the Warriors, who have opened a six-game homestand with three consecutive wins.
The Warriors shot 44.9 percent from the field and even better from beyond the three-point arc, hitting 18 of 40 (45 percent).
With the Trail Blazers dropping in 19 of their 36 three-point attempts, the clubs combined for an NBA-record 37 threes, breaking the old mark of 36.
McCollum had 18 points and Lillard 17 for the Trail Blazers (34-32), who were coming off a 116-109 overtime win at home on Tuesday over Washington to snap three-game losing streak.
HEAT 118, BULLS 96
In Chicago, Goran Dragic scored a season-high 26 points, while Josh Richardson added a career-high 22 as Miami used a big fourth quarter to beat short-handed Chicago.
Luol Deng had 19 points for the Heat. They outscored the Bulls 34-15 in the final period on the way to their sixth win in seven games.
Pau Gasol led Chicago with 17 points, 12 rebounds and nine assists.
Justin Holiday scored a season-high 14 points, but the Bulls came up short on a night guards Derrick Rose and Jimmy Butler sat with injuries. Chicago lost their second straight.
HORNETS 118, PISTONS 103
In Charlotte, North Carolina, Marvin Williams tied a career high with five three-pointers and scored 22 points as Charlotte beat Detroit for their sixth straight win.
Nicolas Batum added 17 points and 11 assists, while Kemba Walker had 16 points and eight assists after scoring at 30 points in four straight games.
The Hornets have won 12 of their past 14 games.
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope had 24 points for Detroit.
TIMBERWOLVES 99, THUNDER 96
In Oklahoma City, Ricky Rubio made a three-pointer with 0.2 seconds remaining to lift Minnesota past the hosts.
Rubio finished with 13 points and 12 assists for his eighth double-double of the season, and the Timberwolves snapped a 10-game losing streak against the Thunder.
Gorgui Dieng had 25 points and nine rebounds for Minnesota, while Andrew Wiggins added 20 points, five steals and four assists.
Kevin Durant scored 28 points, and Russell Westbrook had 26 for the Thunder.
GRIZZLIES 121, PELICANS 114, OT
In Memphis, Tennessee, Lance Stephenson scored a career-high 33 points, while Matt Barnes had a triple-double with 26 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists as Memphis beat New Orleans.
In other games on Friday, it was:
‧ Rockets 102, Celtics 98
‧ Clippers 101, Knicks 94
‧ 76ers 95, Nets 89
‧ Magic 107, Kings 100
‧ Jazz 114, Wizards 93
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
MLB on Friday announced a formal investigation into the scandal swirling around Shohei Ohtani and his former interpreter amid charges that the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar was the victim of “massive theft.” The Dodgers on Wednesday fired Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani’s long-time interpreter and close friend, after Ohtani’s representatives alleged that the Japanese two-way star had been the victim of theft, which was reported to involve millions of dollars and link Mizuhara to a suspected illegal bookmaker in California. “Major League Baseball has been gathering information since we learned about the allegations involving Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhara from the news media,” MLB