Stephen Curry scored 34 points to power the Golden State Warriors to a record 50th consecutive home victory on Wednesday, while the Cleveland Cavaliers showed they could win without LeBron James.
Curry hit 12-of-20 from the floor, including 8-of-13 from beyond the 3-point arc, as the Warriors beat New York 121-85, improving to 32-0 at home this season with a 50-game overall home win streak.
At an NBA-best 61-6, the Warriors have a solid chance at beating the record one-season mark of 72-10 set by the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls.
Curry opened the game 6-of-8 from the floor and 4-of-6 in 3-pointers as the Warriors took a 31-19 edge on the way to a blowout.
Meanwhile, Kyrie Irving scored 33 points and came up with a key steal in the final seconds to preserve host Cleveland’s 99-98 victory over Dallas.
The Cavaliers were without four-time NBA Most Valuable Player LeBron James, who was given the night off to rest, but the team improved to 4-12 over the past two seasons when playing without James.
KYRIE SHOWS DIRK ‘MAGIC’
Irving threw the ball away when the Mavericks double-teamed him with 16 seconds remaining and the Cavaliers clinging to a 97-95 edge.
“I was really (mad) at the turnover. It was stuck in my head but I tried not to show it,” Irving said.
Irving regained possession when he hooked Dirk Nowitzki and wiggled in front of him for a steal. Nowitzki was forced to foul, and Irving converted both free throws.
“Dirk was trying to post up,” Irving said. “I kind of knew he wanted it on that left shoulder and I just tried to force him that way.”
“Kyrie magically appeared with the ball,” Nowitzki said. “That’s really all that happened.”
Dallas’ Deron Williams banked in a 3-pointer at the buzzer, but that only trimmed the final Cleveland victory margin.
Kevin Love had 23 points and 18 rebounds for the Cavaliers and Channing Frye scored 14 points off the bench to give the Cavaliers (48-19) their first victory this season without James, having been twice before blown out without him.
“We know we have to pick up the slack when ‘Bron is out,” Love said. “It’s a learning experience for us. It’s a chance for us to grow. I think that teams look at when ‘Bron is out and think, ‘This is a game we can grab’ or ‘We hit them in the head and they’ll lay down.’ Tonight we didn’t do that. We came out aggressive and knew that we could take advantage of some mismatches.”
Nowitzki scored 20 points for Dallas, which never led as the Mavericks (34-34) lost for the sixth time in seven games.
BOSTON WANTS KD
Boston Celtics fans chanted “Come to Boston” and held signs encouraging Oklahoma City star Kevin Durant to sign with the Celtics when his contract expires after the season, but the NBA star combined with Russell Westbrook to lead the Thunder over Boston 130-109.
Durant had 28 points, nine assists and seven rebounds while Westbrook had 24 points, five assists and five rebounds. Westbrook sat out the entire fourth quarter and Durant sat for most of it.
At Charlotte, Frenchman Nicolas Batum and Marvin Williams each scored 26 points to power the host Hornets over Orlando 107-99.
At Washington, John Wall scored 29 points, grabbed 10 rebounds and passed out 12 assists as the host Wizards beat Chicago 117-96. Derrick Rose had 16 points for Chicago in his return after missing two games with a left abductor strain.
Jeff Teague had 22 points and nine assists and the visiting Atlanta Hawks won for the eighth time in 10 games by downing the Detroit Pistons 118-114.
J.J. Redick scored 14 of his 25 points by the middle of the first quarter, while DeAndre Jordan had 23 points and 16 rebounds, and Chris Paul contributed 15 points and 16 assists in the Los Angeles Clippers’ 122-106 victory at Houston.
Zach LaVine scored 28 points, hitting six 3-pointers to help spark Minnesota to a 114-108 victory at Memphis, while Anthony Davis had 27 points and 14 rebounds in a 123-108 New Orleans victory at Sacramento.
© AFP
