Durant double puts Warriors back on track

Los Angeles, Feb. 9: Kevin Durant scored 24 points and Stephen Curry added 20 on Thursday as the NBA champions Golden State Warriors snapped out of the doldrums with a 121- 103 victory over the Dallas Mavericks.

The Warriors had lost their last two games and three of their previous four.

They trailed Dallas by as many as 12 points, but took control in the second half to improve their league- leading

42- 13.

Durant drained a threepointer to cap an 8- 2 run late in the third quarter that gave Golden State a 93- 85 lead.

They turned it into a rout in the fourth, pushing the advantage to as many as 21 points.

CELTICS IN OVERTIME The Boston Celtics maintained a one- game advantage over Toronto atop the East with a 110- 104 overtime record to victory over the Wizards in Washington.

Kyrie Irving scored 13 of his 28 points in the fourth quarter and overtime as the Celtics bounced back from a loss to the Raptors on Tuesday.

Trailing at halftime, they emerged from a tight third quarter with a fivepoint lead and stretched it to as many as 10 in the fourth.

But they needed three clutch free throws from Irving, who was fouled on a three- point attempt and made all the foul shots to knot the score at 98- 98 with 9.8 seconds left in regulation.

It went to overtime when Bradley Beal’s tough jump shot contested by Irving at the buzzer missed.

Jaylen Brown scored five of his 18 points for Boston in overtime, when the Celtics out- scored the Wizards 12- 6 to finally put the game away.

His three- pointer with 1: 43 remaining put the Celtics up 108- 103, and the Wizards wouldn’t get the deficit below four points from there.

The Portland Trail Blazers won in overtime, too, stretching their home winning streak to nine games with a 109- 103 triumph over the Charlotte Hornets.

It was close in Orlando, where Evan Fournier’s 22 points led the Magic in a 100- 98 victory over the Atlanta Hawks.