Harrison Barnes had 25 points, while Andre Iguodala added 21 points and six assists as the Golden State Warriors cruised past the Atlanta Hawks 114-95 on Wednesday night in a matchup of the NBA’s top two teams.
Stephen Curry had 16 points and 12 assists, Draymond Green contributed 18 points and Andrew Bogut grabbed 14 rebounds as balanced Golden State maintained the best record in the league (54-13) with their 10th straight win at home.
The Hawks, looking fatigued and trailing big by the fourth quarter, were denied again in a chance to clinch their first division title since the 1993-1994 season as Washington won at Utah.
Photo: AFP
Paul Millsap and DeMarre Carroll each scored 16 points and Carroll had 12 boards for cold-shooting Atlanta (53-15), who had won 10 of 12 and three in a row, but shot 35.6 percent from the floor.
CAVALIERS 117, NETS 92
In Cleveland, Ohio, J.R. Smith and Timofey Mozgov scored 17 points apiece, while Kyrie Irving had 10 assists as Cleveland shook off a slow start to beat Brooklyn for their 14th straight win at home.
LeBron James added 16 points for the Cavs, who had seven players score in double figures. Cleveland trailed by 13 in the first quarter before going on a 30-8 run and did not look back.
Kevin Love returned after a two-game break to rest his back and finished with 10 points and 11 rebounds.
Deron Williams scored 20 to lead the Nets, who are running out of games as they claw to get into the playoffs.
HEAT 108, TRAIL BLAZERS 104
In Miami, Dwyane Wade scored 15 of his 32 points in the fourth quarter, including a jumper with 13.6 seconds left to break a tie and help Miami beat Portland.
Wade made 13 of 26 shots for the Heat, who were down 11 shortly after halftime. Luol Deng had 24 points on four-for-four shooting from three-point range for Miami, which got 20 points and 11 assists from Goran Dragic and a 12-point, 10-rebound night from Hassan Whiteside.
LaMarcus Aldridge led Portland with 34 points and 12 rebounds. Damian Lillard scored 17 for the Trail Blazers, who fell a half-game behind Houston in the race for third in the Western Conference.
THUNDER 122, CELTICS 118
In Oklahoma City, Russell Westbrook scored 36 points to help Oklahoma City snap Boston’s five-game winning streak.
Westbrook, the NBA’s leading scorer, also had 10 assists, five rebounds and five steals. Enes Kanter had 22 points and 10 rebounds, and Anthony Morrow added 20 points for Oklahoma City, who moved a half-game ahead of New Orleans in the race for the final Western Conference playoff spot.
Marcus Smart, who played college ball at Oklahoma State, led Boston with a career-high 25 points. Kelly Olynyk and Brandon Bass each added 20 points for the Celtics.
Boston shot 64 percent in the first half, the highest percentage the Thunder have allowed in a half this season. Oklahoma City held the Celtics to 42 percent shooting after the break.
In other NBA action, it was:
‧ Raptors 105, Timberwolves 100
‧ Spurs 114, Bucks 103
‧ Bulls 103, Pacers 86
‧ Mavericks 107, Magic 102
‧ Clippers 116, Kings 105
‧ Wizards 88, Jazz 84
‧ 76ers 94, Pistons 83
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If the Wild finally break through and win their first playoff series in a decade, Minnesota’s top line likely will be the reason. They were all over the Golden Knights through the first two games of their NHL Western Conference quarter-finals series, which was 1-1 going back to Minnesota for Game 3 today. The Wild tied the series with a 5-2 win on Tuesday. Matt Boldy had three goals and an assist in the first two games, while Kirill Kaprizov produced two goals and three assists. Joel Eriksson Ek, who centers the line, has yet to get on the scoresheet. “I think the biggest
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