Golden State ended a rare form lapse to beat Phoenix 106-87 on Saturday, maintaining the Warriors’ three-game lead atop the NBA’s Western Conference.
The Warriors had lost their previous two games — having lost only six other matches all season — but got back to winning ways with a fourth-quarter scoring surge.
Golden State maintained their conference lead over Memphis, who beat Oklahoma City in a tight defensive struggle, and a five-and-a-half-game advantage in the Pacific Division ahead of the Los Angeles Clippers, who had a surprisingly comfortable win at defending champions San Antonio.
In the Eastern Conference, Toronto stretched their Atlantic Division lead to a giant 14 games by winning in extra time at Washington, while Atlanta maintained their record winning streak with 19 on the trot.
Stephen Curry had 25 points and seven assists while Klay Thompson scored 22 points for the Warriors, who started slowly and trailed by 12 points during the second quarter before taking the lead by halftime.
The Warriors put together a 15-2 run midway through the fourth that put the game away.
Toronto gave up a substantial second-half lead but recovered to win in overtime at Washington, beating the Wizards 120-116.
Kyle Lowry scored 23 points and Lou Williams added 19 for the Raptors, who tied a season high with their sixth straight victory.
Lowry scored seven points in overtime for Toronto, who have won two straight games in which it squandered big second-half leads.
John Wall, battling headaches and a sprained right ankle, took his place and led all scorers with 28 points and had 12 assists.
Los Angeles’ Blake Griffin had 31 points and 13 rebounds as the Clippers rolled to a 105-85 victory at San Antonio that snapped the Spurs’ six-game home winning streak.
Chris Paul scored 20 points for the Clippers, who had lost their previous four meetings with the Spurs.
San Antonio went 10 for 30 on three-pointers and were outrebounded 56-36.
Kawhi Leonard scored 24 points for San Antonio, who went 10 for 30 on three-point attempts and were outrebounded 56-36.
Atlanta’s winning streak reached 19 games with a 91-85 victory over Philadelphia, with Al Horford scoring 23 points, including a tying basket after the 76ers took the lead late in the game.
In other results, it was:
‧ Grizzlies 85, Thunder 74
‧ Bucks 95, Trail Blazers 88
‧ Pistons 114, Rockets 101
‧ Mavericks 108, Magic 93
‧ Hornets 104, Nuggets 86
‧ Cavaliers 106, T’wolves 90
‧ Kings 99, Pacers 94
BOUNCE BACK: Curry scored 46 points in the Warriors’ victory over the Spurs, after ‘everybody stepped up’ following Tuesday’s blowout loss to Oklahoma City Nikola Jokic scoring 50 or more points had never been enough for the Denver Nuggets to win — until now. Jokic on Wednesday night tied the highest-scoring performance in the NBA this season with 55 points, as the Nuggets beat the Los Angeles Clippers 130-116 for their sixth straight victory. The Nuggets were 0-4 in his previous 50-point outbursts. “It’s a good feeling,” the three-time NBA Most Valuable Player said. He equaled Oklahoma City Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who had 55 in a double-overtime game at the Indiana Pacers on Oct. 23. Jokic has been on a roll during Denver’s winning streak. He is the
The tri-nation Twenty20 international series featuring hosts Pakistan, as well as Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe, is to be played entirely in Rawalpindi from Tuesday next week, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) said yesterday, after this week’s suicide bombing in the capital, Islamabad. The change came after at least eight Sri Lankan players asked to leave over security fears following Tuesday’s bombing that killed 12 people and wounded 27. Their country’s cricket board issued a stern directive to the team to stay put or face consequences. Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) said the decision to stay was taken after “close consultations” with hosts Pakistan who
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