Curry scores 39 to power Durant-less Warriors over Nets

Reuters

Stephen Curry scored a season-high 39 points, grabbed 11 rebounds and provided 7 assists before fouling out on Sunday as the defending NBA champions Golden State Warriors won 118-111 at Brooklyn.

A day after rallying from a 24-point deficit to beat Philadelphia, the Warriors surged ahead by as many as 28 points early in the second half before the Nets battled back and Curry was out for the last three minutes.

"It was a good learning experience for him," Warriors coach Steve Kerr said of Curry. "I thought, obviously, he was brilliant in terms of his scoring and shot-making. I thought his second half, he got a little wild.

"We had to withstand their run, and luckily we did with good execution in the last few minutes after Steph Curry went out."

The Warriors improved to 13-4, matching the Houston Rockets for the best record in the Western Conference with their ninth victory in 10 games, despite the absence of star forward Kevin Durant with a left ankle sprain.

Curry said trying to be aggressive with Durant out led to his 11th career fouling out in the National Basketball Association.

"You'd love to have those plays back, but I loved the aggressiveness I had on those possessions," Curry said. "You don't like to foul out, but it was kind of how I tried to bring that intensity the whole game."

Golden State's Klay Thompson had 23 points and 10 rebounds and sank a 3-pointer in his 71st consecutive game while Allan Crabbe had 25 points to lead the Nets (6-10), who suffered their eighth loss in 11 games.

Durant and Washington guard John Wall were sidelined on Sunday with injuries.

Durant, who suffered a sprained left ankle in the Warriors' 124-116 victory on Saturday at Philadelphia, is averaging 24.9 points, 7.0 rebounds and 4.9 assists in 15 games.

His absence comes three days before Golden State plays at Oklahoma City against Durant's former club Thunder.

Wall, averaging 19.9 points and 9.3 assists a game, was benched with a swollen left knee. A fluid buildup has been lingering for about a week.

DeMar DeRozan scored 33 points, grabbed 8 rebounds and added 6 assists to spark the Toronto Raptors over the visiting Wizards 100-91.

CJ Miles added 12 points for the Raptors (11-5), who stretched their win streak to four games, while Bradley Beal led Washington (9-7) with 27 points.

Wall also missed the Wizards' visit to Toronto two weeks ago.

AFP

In Los Angeles, Lonzo Ball had his second career triple-double and Julius Randle scored 24 points in the Lakers' 127-109 victory over the short-handed Denver Nuggets.

Ball had 11 points, a career-high 16 rebounds and 11 assists in the 20-year-old rookie's first triple-double in front of his hometown fans at Staples Center.

Brook Lopez scored 21 points and Jordan Clarkson added 18 for the Lakers, who surged to a 24-point lead in the first half and easily won for just the second time in seven games.

Denver coach Mike Malone and top scorer Nikola Jokic were ejected in the second quarter after Malone stepped onto the court during play to argue a no-call on a play by Jokic around the basket. Malone furiously confronted referee Rodney Mott, who swiftly ejected the coach and his best player when Jokic joined in the argument.

Forward Paul Millsap also left with a sprained left wrist in the second quarter of a miserable night at Staples Center for the Nuggets, who lost for just the second time in six games.

Ball had another big game at another turbulent moment in his family life. With his father, LaVar, engaged in a public argument with US President Donald Trump over the president's role in resolving brother LiAngelo's misdeeds during a UCLA basketball trip to China, Lonzo Ball put together an outstanding floor game to boost the Lakers. Ball and Magic Johnson are the only Lakers with multiple triple-doubles in their rookie seasons. Johnson had seven, and his new point guard has two in his first 17 games.

Elsewhere on Sunday, it was: Pacers 120, Heat 95; Pistons 100, Timberwolves 97; and Suns 113, Bulls 105.