Even when Stephen Curry is not at his best, he can still be downright brilliant.
Curry on Monday night scored 32 points and dished out nine assists in another superb performance as the Golden State Warriors beat the Nuggets 124-114 to avenge an ugly home loss to Denver late last month.
“When you’ve got a guy as talented as Steph, he is who he is,” teammate David West said. “The rest of us sort of understand and expect him to do what he’s going to do.”
Photo: AP
Klay Thompson scored 19 on his bobblehead night, while Draymond Green added a season-high 23 points and 10 assists in the defending NBA champions’ fifth straight victory on a night when Kevin Durant sat out his third consecutive game with a strained right calf.
Nikola Jokic had his first triple-double of the season with 22 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists as four players scored 20 points or more for the Nuggets, who were coming off a 106-98 loss at Sacramento on Saturday.
In his 12th 30-point game of the season, Curry hit a long three-pointer with 56.1 seconds left in the third and the Warriors led 93-81 going into the final quarter after the Nuggets had fought back to tie it midway through the period.
“I didn’t think he played that well, but this is Steph Curry. On a night when he’s not maybe at his best, he’s still dominating the game in parts,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. “He hit the big shots during that stretch.”
Curry shot nine for 17 overall, including five of 10 from three-point territory.
The two-time NBA Most Valuable Player has scored 29 or more points in seven straight games. In four games before Monday, he was averaging 36 points, six rebounds, 4.8 assists and 1.3 steals in 31.8 minutes since returning from an 11-game absence due to a sprained right ankle.
The Western Conference player of the week for last week, Curry strained his left knee in the first half, headed to the locker room to have it taped and then returned.
West contributed 10 points, scoring in double figures for a third straight game to go with six rebounds and four assists while becoming the 127th player in NBA history to play in 1,000 regular-season games.
“It looks like his 100th game, the way he’s moving out there,” Thompson said.
“David West is playing like he’s 25 years old,” Kerr said.
Thompson made his initial four shots and Green scored eight quick points, connecting on his first three field goal attempts. He handed out five assists as Golden State raced ahead 27-20 — a far cry from the Warriors’ performance in a 96-81 loss to Denver at Oracle Arena on Dec. 23.
The Warriors shot three for 27 in that game from three-point range, but on Monday topped that with four treys in the first quarter and finished 13 for 30 from deep.
Thompson’s three-pointer with 4 minutes, 10 seconds left in the third made it 78-71 after Denver had tied the game 89-89 at the 6 minute, 57 second mark of the period.
The Nuggets held the Warriors to a season-low scoring performance last time that snapped their 11-game winning streak. Golden State have won seven of eight since.
Denver got 22 points from Gary Harris, and 21 apiece from Jamal Murray and Trey Lyles.
“Even when there were times where it looked like the game was getting out of hand, our guys never let go of the rope,” Nuggets coach Michael Malone said. “We never quit working. We forced them to bring their starters back in. We forced them to finish that game out.”
MARRED FINAL: As most of Senegalese players walked off the pitch after a controversial decision, some supporters threw objects and attempted to get onto the pitch Senegal on Sunday won the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) as Pape Gueye’s extra-time winner sunk hosts Morocco 1-0 after a chaotic final that saw the eventual champions storm off the pitch late in the game. Brahim Diaz could have won the trophy for Morocco with a controversial spot-kick in the 24th minute of added time at the end of normal time as ugly scenes broke out in the stands. However, Senegal goalkeeper Edouard Mendy easily saved the weak attempted “Panenka” chip by the Real Madrid winger, who was clearly distracted by the long delay that followed the penalty award.
James Harden on Friday scored 31 points and came up big in overtime to help the Los Angeles Clippers erase a double-digit deficit on the way to a 121-117 NBA victory over the Toronto Raptors. Harden scored 16 points in the fourth quarter and overtime as the Clippers pushed their wining steak to five games despite the absence of star Kawhi Leonard with a sprained right ankle. The Clippers trailed by 11 entering the fourth quarter, but Harden drilled a pair of free-throws with 1:24 left in regulation to tie it and after misses from both teams, they went to
Qatar’s Nasser al-Attiyah on Saturday secured his sixth Dakar Rally car title in Saudi Arabia with Luciano Benavides scraping home by two seconds to claim the motorbike title. “We’ve worked very hard since last year. I might not be showing much emotion yet, but it’s there, deep down. We are so happy to win,” al-Attiyah said at the finish. Al-Attiyah, at the wheel of a Dacia, only had to avoid a final day slip-up to top the podium after bringing his career tally of stage wins to 50 on Friday. The 55-year-old, who took clay pigeon shooting bronze at the
Tobias Harris on Monday scored 25 points as the Detroit Pistons held off the Boston Celtics to score a 104-103 victory in their top-of-the-table Eastern Conference showdown. Harris was one of four Detroit players to finish in double figures, with Jalen Duren adding 18 points and point guard Cade Cunningham scoring 16 points with 14 assists. The win sees Detroit extend their lead at the top of the Eastern Conference to 31-10, 5.5 games ahead of second-placed Boston, who fell to 26-16 with the defeat. Jaylen Brown led the Celtics scoring with 32 points and almost snatched victory in the
RSS