Steph Curry on Monday erupted for 41 points as the Golden State Warriors stayed on course for the post-season with a 123-108 victory over the New Orleans Pelicans.
Curry’s 33rd 30-point game of the season helped the Warriors move to 33-32 to leave the team firmly in the hunt for a Western Conference play-in tournament place.
However, the Warriors’ road victory all but extinguished New Orleans’ chances of reaching the playoffs.
Photo: AP
The defeat means the Pelicans are now languishing outside the play-in competition places with a 29-36 record, four games adrift of the San Antonio Spurs.
Curry’s latest masterclass in a season that has seen him emerge as a front-runner for NBA Most Valuable Player honors was his ninth 40-point game of the season, and the 47th 40-point game of his career.
“I’m just playing with confidence,” Curry said. “Every game I’m just trying to sustain the intensity, the effort and the focus.”
“It’s been a fun year and a fun ride, but we’ve got a lot left to do. I’m glad I’m playing my part,” he said.
The Warriors led from start to finish, rocking the Pelicans by sprinting to a 39-21 lead at the end of the first quarter and stretching into a 25-point lead midway through the second quarter.
“For us to come out like we did tonight in the first quarter and impose our will — it helped us maintain momentum throughout the game offensively,” Curry told ESPN after the win.
Curry said the Warriors would have to to improve to have a chance of progressing into the playoffs from the play-in tournament.
“We understand that if we’re going to be in the play-in or the playoffs we’ve got to play more consistent basketball, night-in, night-out, and we haven’t done that. It was a nice test for us tonight,” he said.
Elsewhere on Monday, the Denver Nuggets clinched their place in the playoffs despite sliding to a 93-89 defeat to the Los Angeles Lakers.
The Nuggets booked their place in the playoffs after the Atlanta Hawks defeated the Portland Trail Blazers 123-114.
However, Carmelo Anthony scored 14 points for Portland and moved up to No. 10 on the NBA’s all-time scoring list. Anthony has 27,318 points, passing Hall of Famer Elvin Hayes, who had 27,313.
Meanwhile, Russell Westbrook laid on a remarkable 24 assists to complete his 32nd triple-double of the season in the Washington Wizards’ 154-141 home defeat of the Indiana Pacers.
Additional reporting by Reuters
HSIEH ADVANCES: In the women’s doubles, Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei was to play in the second round last night, but Taiwan’s Ray Ho exited in the men’s doubles It is more than 10 years since Grigor Dimitrov reached his sole Wimbledon semi-final and back then it still seemed a reasonable bet that the Bulgarian once dubbed “Baby Federer” would win a Grand Slam title. There were semi-final runs at the US Open and Australian Open after that, but it has never quite happened and despite him still being ranked No. 21, it most likely never will. Dimitrov, 34, remains one of the most stylish players on the circuit though, with his elegant single-handed backhand and smooth all-court game a rare reminder of how tennis was before the power merchants turned
Spain are the favorites to win the UEFA Women’s Euro 2025, but star player Aitana Bonmati’s illness ahead of the tournament raises another question mark around a side which, despite their obvious quality, are not unstoppable. Having claimed the last two Ballon d’Or awards, Barcelona midfielder Bonmati is the game’s biggest star at present, so her absence in the final days before the start of Euro 2025 is a major setback. The 27-year-old came down with a fever in training last week, and was subsequently hospitalized and diagnosed with viral meningitis. Bonmati was discharged on Sunday and joined up with
INJURY TURMOIL: Despite stunning French Open champions Paolini and Errani to advance, Chan was forced to pull out after her partner’s tearful women’s singles defeat Last year’s mixed doubles champions Hsieh Su-wei of Taiwan and Poland’s Jan Zielinski on Monday crashed out of the quarter-finals at Wimbledon, leaving the Taiwanese star focused on pursuing a fifth women’s doubles title in London, while a partner injury forced compatriot Chan Hao-ching to give up on her doubles campaign. Hsieh and Zielinksi, who last year also won the Australia Open title, narrowly lost their opening set 7-6 (9/7), before Britain’s Joe Salisbury and Brazil’s Luisa Stefani stunned the former champions 6-3 at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club. The Taiwanese-Polish duo had been dominant in the first two
Real Madrid’s FIFA Club World Cup quarter-final against Borussia Dortmund had taken three crazy turns during nine minutes of second-half stoppage time when Marcel Sabitzer chested the ball and sent a right-footed volley toward Thibaut Courtois’ post. Courtois leapt to his right, extended the long arm on his 2m frame and just managed to get his gloved fingertips on the ball, knocking it down. Courtois hit the ground as the ball bounded up. He looked skyward, planted his right hand to regain his balance, grabbed the ball with both hands on the second bounce and fell onto it with his chest. Sabitzer turned
RSS