MIAMI // Stephen Curry scored 42 points and made the go-ahead 3-pointer with 38 seconds left, Klay Thompson scored 17 of his 33 points in the fourth quarter and the Golden State Warriors beat the Miami Heat 118-112 on Wednesday night.
Harrison Barnes scored 11 and Draymond Green had 10 points and 11 rebounds for the Warriors, who trailed by 12 in the early going but improved to 51-5 on the season.
Dwyane Wade scored a season-high 32 points for Miami, which got 21 points and 13 rebounds from Hassan Whiteside and 16 points and 11 rebounds from Luol Deng. Rookie Josh Richardson added 15 points for Miami.
CAVALIERS 114, HORNETS 103
LeBron James and Kyrie Irving each scored 23 points and Cleveland beat Charlotte. The Cavaliers bounced back from a home loss Monday to Detroit in which James tied a season low with 12 points.
Kemba Walker had 20 points for Charlotte, which had won four straight on the road and five straight overall. Cleveland used a 40-point second quarter to build a 63-52 halftime lead and dominated the second half, pushing the lead to 24 points in the fourth quarter.
BULLS 109, WIZARDS 104
Taj Gibson and E’Twaun Moore each scored 17 points, Tony Snell added 16 and a thrown-together roster of Chicago backups beat Washington. Three of the Bulls’ top four scorers missed the game and the fourth was sick. Derrick Rose was a last-minute scratch with right hamstring tendinitis.
Pau Gasol, who missed practice on Tuesday and was playing with the flu, narrowly missed a triple-double, finishing with 15 rebounds, 10 points and nine assists in the Bulls’ third straight victory. Bradley Beal led the Wizards with 19 points. Garrett Temple scored 18 and Ramon Sessions and John Wall added 16. Markieff Morris had 10 rebounds for the Wizards.
SPURS 108, KINGS 92
Tony Parker scored 23 points and San Antonio beat Sacramento for its third straight victory. The Spurs took the lead for good with just over 4 minutes left in the third quarter, then pulled away in the fourth in winning for the ninth time in 10 games. San Antonio continued its dominance against the Kings, beating Sacramento for the 35th time in 39 games.
Kawhi Leonard had 18 points and Danny Green 16 for the Spurs. Kyle Anderson scored 14, while LaMarcus Aldridge struggled offensively but played solid defence on DeMarcus Cousins, and finished with nine rebounds and five blocks. Cousins had 21 of his 22 points in the second half and added 10 rebounds for the Kings, who had their three-game win streak snapped.
THUNDER 116, MAVERICKS 103
Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook scored 24 points apiece and Oklahoma City completed a season sweep of Dallas. Westbrook also had 13 assists and seven rebounds as the Thunder scored the first 15 points of the fourth quarter and weathered a 14-0 Dallas run to avoid matching a season high with a third straight loss in their first game since a blowout defeat at home against Cleveland.
The addition of David Lee didn’t help the Mavericks inside. Steven Adams scored 11 of his 15 points in the third quarter and Enes Kanter scored eight in the first 5 minutes of the fourth, the last on a dunk to finish Oklahoma City’s 15-0 run for a 102-81 lead. Dirk Nowitzki had a season-high 33 points to lead the Mavericks, who went 0-4 against a possible first-round playoff opponent.
PACERS 108, KNICKS 105
Paul George scored 25 of his 27 points in the second half to lead Indiana over New York. Kristaps Porzingis missed a 3-point shot that would’ve given the Knicks the lead with 1.9 seconds remaining. Myles Turner then made one free throw at the other end.
Carmelo Anthony missed a 3-point attempt for the tie at the buzzer from the right wing. George, who shot 1 of 9 in the first half, had 10 points in the third quarter and 15 in the fourth. He finished hitting 10-of-23 shots. Porzingis led New York with 22 points and Jose Calderon had 20. Calderon made all four of his 3-point attempts.
RAPTORS 114, TIMBERWOLVES 105
DeMar DeRozan scored 31 points and Kyle Lowry added 21 as Toronto beat Minnesota for a franchise record-tying ninth straight home victory. DeRozan had eight points in the final quarter while Lowry scored 12 as the Raptors (38-18) pulled away over the closing minutes to match a home winning streak set back in 1999.
The Raptors will have a chance to better the mark on Friday against the Cleveland Cavaliers. Andrew Wiggins had 26 points, four rebounds and three assists for the Timberwolves (18-40), while Gorgui Dieng added 21 points and eight rebounds.
GRIZZLIES 128, LAKERS 119
Matt Barnes scored a season-high 25 points as the Grizzlies led from start to finish, beating Los Angeles in Kobe Bryant’s final game in Memphis. Six Grizzlies finished in double figures as Memphis finished with season highs in scoring and 3-pointers, going 13 of 27 from beyond the arc. Barnes was 5 of 9 on 3s and P.J. Hairston, who had 17 points, was 4 of 7.
Mike Conley scored 24 points and added eight assists as Memphis won its second straight and third in the last four. Jordan Clarkson scored 21 of his 28 points in the second half to lead the Lakers, who lost their seventh straight. D’Angelo Russell and Lou Williams added 22 points each, and Bryant finished with 13 points, but was 5 of 14 from the field — including 2 for 7 on 3s.
NUGGETS 87, CLIPPERS 81
Kenneth Faried had 21 points and 11 rebounds, and Denver beat the Clippers for its first victory since the All-Star break. Gary Harris added 17 points and Danilo Gallinari 16 for the Nuggets, who snapped a three-game skid while improving to 7-13 on the road against Western Conference opponents. Nikola Jokic matched Faried with 11 rebounds.
The Clippers were led by J.J. Redick and Jamal Crawford with 20 points apiece, and Chris Paul had 17 points and 10 assists. They had won five of seven, but were outclassed in nearly every category by the struggling Nuggets. Denver outscored them 44-22 in the paint and 19-9 in fast-break points.
PISTONS 111, 76ERS 91
Tobias Harris led a balanced offense with 22 points and Andre Drummond had 18 rebounds as Detroit beat Philadelphia.Playing in front of a tiny crowd because of a snowstorm in metro Detroit, the Pistons led by 16 points in the first quarter and were never threatened while winning their second straight after a five-game losing streak.
Hollis Thompson scored 19 points to lead the 76ers, who lost their sixth straight. Jahlil Okafor had 13 points, but just two rebounds. No other Philadelphia starter had more than eight points.
Follow us on Twitter @NatSportUAE
Like us on Facebook at facebook.com/TheNationalSport