Warriors lock up best record for 3rd straight year

LeBron, Cavaliers take step up om Celtics for East` top seed. Westbrook sizzle, still within one of record

Steph Curry scored 23 of his 42 points in the first 10 minutes, and the Golden State Warriors clinched the top spot in the Western Conference and home-court advantage throughout the playoffs for the third year in a row with a 120111 win over the Phoenix Suns on Wednesday night.

Klay Thompson added 22 points for the Warriors, who won their 13th consecutive game and hit the 65-win mark for the third straight season.

The Warriors had a 40-point scorer for the third game in a row. Curry scored 42 points in a 139-115 win against the Washington Wizards on Sunday, and Thompson had 41 in a 121-107 win against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Tuesday.

Cavaliers 114, Celtics 91

LeBron James scored 36 points and pulled down 10 rebounds as Cleveland dominated Boston and pulled one game ahead of the Celtics at the top of the Eastern Conference standings.

Kevin Love finished with 15 points and 16 rebounds, and Kyrie Irving added 19 points for Cleveland, which dominated the highly anticipated showdown for the No. 1 playoff seed.

The blowout clinched the season series 3-1 for the Cavaliers, who hold the headto-head tiebreaker if Boston catches Cleveland again over the final four games.

The Cavaliers outscored the Celtics 58-48 inside and pulled down 51 rebounds to Boston’s 38. Isaiah Thomas led the Celtics with 26 points.

Thunder 103, Grizzlies 100

Russell Westbrook finished a rebound shy of setting an NBA record for most triple-doubles in a season, but his 45 points and 10 assists paced Oklahoma City to victory over Memphis.

Westbrook had his streak of seven consecutive triple-doubles snapped a night after tying Oscar Robertson’s record of 41 triple-doubles. Westbrook needs six assists in the remaining four games to average a triple-double for the season. The Grizzlies lost their third straight to fall 3½ games behind sixth-place Oklahoma City in the Western Conference. Marc Gasol led Memphis with 23 points, and Zach Randolph added 20 points and nine rebounds.