Stephen Curry had 23 points and nine assists as the Golden State Warriors rode a 23-0 spurt in the first half to beat the Sacramento Kings 121-96 on Tuesday.
The Warriors shut down Sacramento for more than seven minutes at the end of the first quarter and start of the second quarter to take an 18-point lead.
They went ahead by 20 at the half and 25 in the third quarter before holding off a brief Kings comeback.
Photo: USA Today
Andre Iguodala added 17 points, and Marreese Speights finished with 17 points and eight rebounds to help the Warriors sweep the four-game series with Sacramento for the second straight season.
DeMarcus Cousins had 26 points and 11 rebounds, and Rudy Gay scored 20 for the Kings, who rallied within 11 late in the third quarter before the Warriors regrouped.
PISTONS 108, HEAT 91
D.J. Augustin had 25 points and 13 assists as the Detroit Pistons closed the first quarter on a 25-1 run, going on to beat the Miami Heat.
Chris Bosh scored 34 points, including 21 in the third quarter, but nobody else provided much help offensively for Miami, who were still without injured star Dwyane Wade.
It was the first time in Bosh’s five seasons with the Heat that they lost a regular-season game with him scoring at least 30 points. They had been 17-0.
Andre Drummond had 14 points and 14 rebounds for the Pistons, and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope scored 18. Greg Monroe had 12 points and nine rebounds.
Detroit are now two-and-a-half games behind Miami and Charlotte, who occupy the last two playoff spots in the Eastern Conference.
CELTICS 108, KNICKS 97
Avery Bradley scored 26 points and Jared Sullinger added 22 as the Boston Celtics snapped a three-game losing streak.
Bradley shot 11 for 14 from the field for the Celtics, who rediscovered their offense after a lineup change that put rookie Marcus Smart in the backcourt with Bradley. Smart made consecutive three-pointers during the Celtics’ 14-2 start, and they never trailed.
Sullinger finished with nine rebounds and six assists.
Boston had been limited to just 86.7 points per game during their skid, including a season-low 75 in an eight-point loss to Miami on Sunday.
Carmelo Anthony scored 21 points for the Knicks, who had won five of seven during their best stretch of the season.
76ERS 105, NUGGETS 98
Hollis Thompson scored a career-high 23 points to lead the Philadelphia 76ers to the victory over the slumping Denver Nuggets.
Michael Carter-Williams had 15 points, 12 assists and eight rebounds, and Robert Covington added 17 points for the improving 76ers, who won their third straight home game for the first time since March 2013.
Danilo Gallinari scored 22 points to pace the Nuggets, who dropped their 10th in 11 games.
The 76ers were the laughingstock of the league while starting the season with 17 straight losses.
However, they have won three of five, with the two losses in competitive games on the road against Eastern Conference contenders Atlanta and Cleveland.
TRAIL BLAZERS 103, JAZZ 102
Robin Lopez returned to the middle for Portland, after having missed 23 games with a broken right hand, and he had 11 points and six rebounds in 25 minutes to help the Blazers defeat the Utah Jazz.
Lopez suffered a third-quarter cut over his left eye, but he came back with a bandage and played most of the final six minutes, and the Blazers raised their season record to 20-6 with him in action.
The Blazers were never able to pull away, but they improved to 33-16 and snapped a three-game losing streak that had come last week on the road.
Utah fell to 17-31, unable to build on their victory against Golden State on Friday.
Additional reporting by Reuters
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