Stephen Curry scored 16 of his 28 points in the third quarter as the Golden State Warriors ran their NBA-record start to 22-0 by beating the Brooklyn Nets 114-98 on Sunday night.
Draymond Green added 22 points, nine rebounds and seven assists. Klay Thompson scored 21 for the Warriors, who won their 26th game in a row overall in the regular season, one behind the 2012-2013 Miami Heat for the second-longest streak in NBA history.
Coming off consecutive 40-point games, Curry was having a relatively quiet night — he missed his first three free throws — before helping the Warriors regain control against a team that nearly beat them this season and looked capable of finishing the job this time.
Photo: EPA
THUNDER 98, KINGS 95
Russell Westbrook had his third triple-double of the season with 19 points, 10 assists and 11 rebounds, as Oklahoma City rallied late to beat Sacramento.
Kevin Durant committed 10 turnovers, but hit the go-ahead jumper with 23 seconds left and two free throws with 4.4 seconds left to cap a 20-point, nine-rebound outing for Oklahoma City.
The Thunder won their fourth straight home game. Since the franchise moved to Oklahoma City, it is 14-0 against Sacramento at the Chesapeake Energy Arena and 23-4 overall.
NBA assists leader Rajon Rondo had 10 to go with seven points for the Kings. Rudy Gay scored 20 points for Sacramento, while the Kings missed a chance to force overtime when Marco Belinelli air balled on a three-point attempt from the corner in the final seconds.
GRIZZLIES 95, SUNS 93
Jeff Green’s dunk on an alley-oop inbound pass from Courtney Lee with 0.5 seconds left gave Memphis a victory over Phoenix.
The Suns’ last chance to tie the game came on Eric Bledsoe’s shot from the right corner. The two-point attempt was long, sending Phoenix to their fourth straight loss, despite a late rally that pulled the Suns even.
Marc Gasol led Memphis with 22 points. The inbound pass from Lee capped a fourth quarter in which he scored 13 of his 18 points. Mike Conley had 12 points, while Mario Chalmers finished with 11. Green and Zach Randolph scored 10 points apiece.
Bledsoe led the Suns with 23 points and six assists, and also had seven rebounds. Brandon Knight scored 17 points and Mirza Teletovic had 14. Alex Len had 12, while Jon Leuer finished with 10 points and 11 rebounds.
MAVERICKS 116, WIZARDS 104
Wesley Matthews scored 28 of his season-high 36 points in the second half as Dallas beat Washington.
He hit 10 three-pointers overall and eight in the second half. The Mavericks took the lead early in the third quarter and pulled away in the fourth.
John Wall led Washington with 28 points, but injured his right leg colliding with Dallas’ Jeremy Evans and was helped off the court with 1 minute, 14 seconds left.
Dirk Nowitzki had 19 points, while Raymond Felton added 11 points and 10 rebounds. Deron Williams helped with 11 points, nine assists and seven rebounds.
The injury-plagued Wizards dressed just 10 players for the third time in eight days.
PISTONS 111, LAKERS 91
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope scored 22 points, while Andre Drummond added 18 points and 15 rebounds as Detroit beat Los Angeles in Kobe Bryant’s last visit to Detroit.
Reggie Jackson added 20 points as the Pistons won their fourth straight.
Lou Williams scored 21 points, while Julius Randle added 15 points and 11 rebounds as Los Angeles lost for the ninth time in 10 games.
Bryant received a standing ovation before the game, when the arena went dark while Pistons public address announcer John Mason read off his long list of achievements, graciously skipping the loss to Detroit in the 2004 NBA Finals.
Bryant missed his first nine shots, and when he finally made one — a three-pointer midway through the third quarter — the fans gave him his second ovation of the night and a brief “KO-BE” chant broke out.
The pressure was already on Real Madrid coach Xabi Alonso before their 2-1 defeat to Manchester City on Wednesday in the UEFA Champions League raised further questions about his future. Arsenal remain perfect in this season’s competition and three points clear at the top of the standings after a 3-0 win against Club Brugge, while defending champions Paris Saint-Germain were held 0-0 at Athletic Bilbao. The clash between Madrid and City was the standout game of the round amid reports this week that Alonso had lost control of the locker room. Speculation over his position is likely to intensify after the latest
The Olympic flame for the Milan Cortina Winter Games landed in Rome on Thursday following a handover in Greece. The flame was carried in a small lantern aboard an ITA Airways flight between the Greek and Italian capitals. Tennis player Jasmine Paolini — an Olympic gold medalist — and local organizing committee president Giovanni Malago carried the flame off the plane. “I feel honored. It’s an incredible emotion,” Paolini said in brief remarks before the lantern was driven away toward the presidential palace. A 63-day torch relay covering 12,000km is to start in Rome today and wind its way through all 110 Italian provinces
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‘HIGH STANDARD’: The Thunder are on track for a Finals-Cup double after they scored 22 three-pointers in equaling the best 25-game start to a season in NBA history The Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday bagged a 16th straight victory, thrashing the Phoenix Suns 138-89 to romp into an NBA Cup semi-final clash with the San Antonio Spurs, who stunned the Los Angeles Lakers 132-119. NBA Most Valuable Player Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 28 points to lead the reigning NBA champions Thunder, who improved to 24-1 to equal the best 25-game start to a season in league history. They dominated from start to finish to book their place in the final four of the in-season tournament in Las Vegas, where they are tomorrow to take on the Spurs. The New York Knicks and
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