NBA Wrap: Stephen Curry posts triple-double in Warriors win, Patty Mills helps Spurs to victory
STEPHEN Curry exploded for a triple-double in a Warriors win, and Patty Mills had another big game off the bench for the Spurs. It’s all in the NBA Wrap.
STEPHEN Curry exploded for a triple-double in a Warriors win, and Patty Mills had another big game off the bench for the Spurs.
It’s all in the NBA Wrap.
AUSSIES IN ACTION
Patty Mills finished with 11 points and four assists in the San Antonio Spurs’ 101-95 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Matthew Dellavedova posted eight points and five assists — but committed four turnovers — in the Cleveland Cavaliers’ 101-97 win over the Phoenix Suns.
With the recent injury to Alec Burks, Joe Ingles posted eight points and two rebounds in 20 minutes of play, as the Utah Jazz picked up the 95-91 win over the Philadelphia 76ers.
Andrew Bogut posted four points, five rebounds, two assists and two blocks in the Golden State Warriors’ 122-103 win over the Sacramento Kings.
Cameron Bairstow was active but didn’t see the floor in the Chicago Bulls’ 104-97 win over the Toronto Raptors.
CHARLOTTE HORNETS 108 — LOS ANGELES LAKERS 98
Kemba Walker scored 18 of his 38 points in the fourth quarter, and Charlotte defeated Los Angeles in Kobe Bryant’s final game in Charlotte against the team that drafted him — and promptly traded him — nearly 20 years ago.
Cody Zeller had 16 points and eight rebounds, and Nicolas Batum added 15 points and 11 assists for the Hornets.
Bryant, who received a taped message from Hornets owner Michael Jordan before the game, finished with 20 points on 5-of-20 shooting. He had only three points in the second half, making just one of 10 shots.
Jordan didn’t attend Bryant’s final regular-season game in Charlotte, but congratulated him on an ‘’unbelievable career’’ during a message that was played on the arena’s scoreboard before tip-off.
INDIANA PACERS 93 — ATLANTA HAWKS 87
Monta Ellis scored 26 points and Indiana snapped Atlanta’s six-game winning streak.
Ellis had 15 points in the first half, and Ian Mahinmi finished with 13 points and nine rebounds.
With the Pacers leading by three, Ellis pulled up for a 3-point attempt with 16 seconds to play. The ball bounced off the rim, but Mahinmi was waiting for a tip-in that all but sealed it for Indiana.
Paul Millsap led the Hawks with 24 points. They had possession down three with less than 30 seconds remaining, but George Hill stole the ball from Jeff Teague.
ORLANDO MAGIC 104 — NEW ORLEANS PELICANS 89
Nik Vucevic scored 28 points and matched his career high with seven assists, leading Orlando over New Orleans.
Evan Fournier had 20 points, Tobias Harris added 14 and Andrew Nicholson scored 13 for the Magic, who used a pair of surges early in the third and fourth quarters to pull away.
Anthony Davis led the Pelicans with 20 points and eight rebounds. Tyreke Evans finished with 16 points and eight assists.
WASHINGTON WIZARDS 91 — LOS ANGELES CLIPPERS 108
Chris Paul scored 23 points, reserve Jamal Crawford added 21 and Los Angeles again overcame Blake Griffin’s absence in beating Washington.
DeAndre Jordan had 15 points and 13 rebounds for the Clippers, who got 54 points from substitutes in their third straight win — second since Griffin was ruled out for at least two weeks with a quadriceps strain.
Even the 6-foot Paul helped make up for the loss of Griffin inside with a rare two-dunk performance. The Clippers never trailed and led by at least 10 throughout the last three quarters.
John Wall had 23 points and 11 assists, and Marcin Gortat added 12 points and 16 rebounds as the Wizards’ four-game winning streak was snapped. Otto Porter added 21 points off the bench for Washington.
MIAMI HEAT 105 — BROOKLYN NETS 111
Wayne Ellington tied a career best with seven 3-pointers and scored 26 points, Brook Lopez added 26 points and 12 rebounds, and Brooklyn rallied from 16 points down in the third quarter to beat Miami.
Jarrett Jack scored 18 for the Nets, who had lost seven consecutive games to the Heat going back to the 2014 playoffs. Shane Larkin had seven assists in the third quarter alone to spark Brooklyn’s comeback, its biggest of the season.
Chris Bosh was a career-best 5 for 5 from 3-point range and finished with 24 points and 12 rebounds for Miami, which also got 24 points from Dwyane Wade. Hassan Whiteside had 18 points and 11 rebounds for the Heat, who have alternated wins and losses in their last eight home games.
Ellington’s other game with seven 3s also came against Miami, when he was with Memphis in 2012.
CHICAGO BULLS 104 — TORONTO RAPTORS 97
Tony Snell and Pau Gasol each had 22 points, Derrick Rose added 20 and Chicago pulled away late to beat Toronto.
Snell, back in the rotation because of an injury to Doug McDermott, had 19 points in the final 17 1/2 minutes to spark the Bulls.
Aaron Brooks scored 17 points and rookie Bobby Portis added 12 as the Chicago reserves outscored their counterparts 51-27.
Kyle Lowry had 28 points and DeMar DeRozan added 19 for Toronto. Jonas Valanciunas had nine points in 20 minutes off the bench after missing 17 games with a broken left hand.
DALLAS MAVERICKS 103 — MILWAUKEE BUCKS 93
Wesley Matthews scored 22 points, including two clutch 3-pointers in the fourth quarter, and Dallas held off Milwaukee.
The Mavericks never trailed and led by as many as 13 in the second half, but needed consecutive 3s by Matthews to fend off a Bucks comeback.
He snapped an 89-all tie with a 3-pointer from the right wing with 4:25 to play, then followed Giannis Antetokounmpo’s runner at the other end with another 3 with 3:50 remaining.
The Bucks didn’t score again until Antetokounmpo’s layup with 1:11 to play made it 97-93. Devin Harris sealed the game with a layup with 11 seconds left.
Zaza Pachulia added 17 points and eight rebounds for Dallas against his former team.
Jerryd Bayless returned to the Bucks’ lineup after missing 11 games with a left ankle sprain and led Milwaukee with 19 points and seven assists.
SAN ANTONIO SPURS 101 — MINNESOTA TIMBERWOLVES 95
Kawhi Leonard had 17 points and 11 rebounds, Boban Marjanovic also scored 17 and San Antonio remained undefeated at home by holding off Minnesota.
San Antonio joined the 1978 Portland Trail Blazers and 1986 Houston Rockets as the only Western Conference teams to open a season 18-0 at home.
The Spurs had six players in double figures and overcame coach Gregg Popovich’s early ejection.
Popovich was thrown out with 1:13 remaining in the first half on two successive technical fouls following a non-call on LaMarcus Aldridge.
With veteran star Tim Duncan sitting out due to a sore right knee, the Spurs (27-6) needed another big man to step up and Marjanovic did. He sparked two key runs for San Antonio, going 7 for 7 from the field and 3 of 4 on free throws in 15 minutes.
Andrew Wiggins led Minnesota with 18 points.
PHOENIX SUNS 97 — CLEVELAND CAVALIERS 101
Kyrie Irving sank a 3-pointer as the shot clock expired with 21.9 seconds to play and the Cleveland Cavaliers held on to hand the Phoenix Suns their fifth loss in a row, 101-97 on Monday night.
Brandon Knight’s 3-pointer cut Cleveland’s lead to 96-95 with 1:27 to go and, after LeBron James missed a jumper, Knight hit another 3 but it was waved off because of an offensive foul against the Suns’ Tyson Chandler.
The Cavs almost turned it over on their next possession but got the ball to Irving, who made a jumper from beyond the top of the key.
In his fourth game since returning from knee surgery, Irving also hit a 12-foot floater to put Cleveland ahead 96-92 with 1:44 to go.
Irving scored 22 points, J.R. Smith had 17 and Kevin Love added 16 for the Cavs, who ended a two-game skid. James had 14 points, only two on 0-for-3 shooting in the fourth quarter.
T.J. Warren scored 23 for the Suns, who earlier in the day announced they had fired assistant coaches Mike Longabardi and Jerry Sichting. Nate Bjorkgren was promoted to take Longabardi’s job as defensive coordinator. Assistant coach Earl Watson was promoted to a bench coach position.
UTAH JAZZ 95 — PHILADLEPHIA 76ERS 91
Gordon Hayward scored 24 points, including a 3-pointer that put Utah ahead for good against Philadelphia.
The Jazz ended a two-game skid despite missing Derrick Favors and high-scoring reserve Alec Burks.
The 76ers (2-31) were trying to win consecutive games for the first time this season after Saturday’s victory at Phoenix.
The Jazz led by 19 midway through the third quarter, but the 76ers went on a 29-10 run to close the quarter.
Nerlens Noel caught an alley-oop from Ish Smith to put the 76ers up 91-89 with 38.3 seconds remaining. Hayward answered with a 3 with 33.5 seconds left to go up 92-91.
Smith scored a season-high 22 points in his second game with the 76ers after being traded from the Pelicans. Noel had 18 points and blocked five shots.
GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS 122 — SACRAMENTO KINGS 103
Stephen Curry overcame a slow start to score 23 points as part of his sixth career triple-double and the Golden State Warriors won for the 29th time in 30 games this season, 122-103 over the Sacramento Kings on Monday night.
Curry added a career-high 14 rebounds and 10 assists, Klay Thompson scored 29 and Draymond Green had 25 for the Warriors, who have won 33 straight regular-season home games.
Omri Casspi scored a career-high 36 points, tying Mike Bibby’s team record with nine 3-pointers for Sacramento. But the Kings still lost their 11th straight against their Northern California rivals.
The Kings were excited to have a healthy DeMarcus Cousins for the first time in three meetings with the Warriors this season. But the All-Star big man played less than 13 minutes before getting ejected. After sitting out most of the first half in foul trouble, Cousins was upset after getting called for his fifth foul in the third quarter.
Monty McCutchen then called Cousins for a technical, setting him off on a tirade that led to another technical called by Mitchell Ervin and an ejection. Cousins had to be restrained by teammates before being escorted off the court.
Curry made three of the four free throws to start a 15-0 run that turned a two-point deficit into a 79-66 lead for the Warriors. Curry’s 3-pointer just before the third quarter ended put Golden State up 90-75.
After trailing early, the Kings went on a 28-7 spurt to build a 41-30 lead on one of Casspi’s seven first-half 3s. But Casspi’s sharp shooting seemed to wake up Curry, who missed his first six shots and was scoreless for the first 20:44 of the game.
Curry ended that drought with a 3-pointer that started a stretch of him scoring 17 straight Golden State points in the final 3:16 of the half. Curry hit five 3s and a layup during that span to the delight of the home crowd.
Casspi hit four 3s in that same stretch to help Sacramento take a 61-58 lead at the break.
Originally published as NBA Wrap: Stephen Curry posts triple-double in Warriors win, Patty Mills helps Spurs to victory
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