basketball
Curry scores 53 as Warriors beat Nuggets
SALT LAKE CITY, April 13, (AP): Bradley Beal scored 34 points to help the Washington Wizards beat Utah 125-121 on Monday night, ending a franchiserecord, 24-game home winning streak for the Jazz.
Russell Westbrook had 25 points, 14 rebounds and 14 assists for the Wizards. Daniel Gafford matched his season high with 15 points while Robin Lopez and Davis Bertans each chipped in 10 for Washington. The Wizards swept the season series with the Jazz after shooting 52% from the field and 47% from 3-point range.
Donovan Mitchell scored 42 points and Bojan Bogdanovic added a seasonhigh 33 for Utah. Joe Ingles chipped in 18 but the Jazz also had a two-game winning streak snapped while losing at home for the first time in 2021.
The Jazz rallied late and cut a 19-point deficit to 121-119 on a driving layup from Mitchell with 12.3 seconds left.
Beal hit a pair of free throws with 11.5 seconds remaining. Bogdanovic missed a corner 3-pointer on the other end and Westbrook added two more free throws to secure the win.
Washington seemingly broke open the game starting late in the third quarter. After Mitchell hit a pair of free throws to give Utah an 80-79 lead, the Wizards went on a 30-10 run to take control.
Westbrook scored a basket and assisted on five others to help Washington pull away. Ish Smith capped the lengthy run with a running layup, giving the Wizards a 109-90 lead with 8:23 left.
Mitchell imposed his will on offense during the first quarter, scoring 17 points on 7-of-10 shooting. Utah scored on 11 straight possessions and staked out a 39-30 lead in the final minute of the quarter. Mitchell fueled that with six consecutive baskets.
76ers 113, Mavericks 95
In Dallas, Joel Embiid scored 36 points and the Philadelphia 76ers wrapped up a long stretch of mostly road games with a 113-95 victory over the Dallas Mavericks .
Embiid made all six of his free throws in the first four-plus minutes and was 14 of 15 from the line as the 76ers finished 8-4 while playing 10 of 12 games on the road going into their final regular-season meeting with Brooklyn.
Philadelphia took a half-game lead atop the Eastern Conference over the Nets, whose game at Minnesota was called off because of the shooting death of a Black man by police in the Minneapolis area.
Luka Doncic scored 32 points but the young Dallas star didn’t have enough help with European sidekick Kristaps Porzingis sitting out the second night of a back-to-back four days after playing in one for the first time in two months. Warriors 116, Nuggets 107
In San Francisco, Stephen Curry scored 53 points to pass Wilt Chamberlain for the most in Warriors franchise history as Golden State beat the Denver Nuggets 116-107.
Draymond Green had 18 points, seven rebounds, and seven assists, Andrew Wiggins scored 17 points and Kent Bazemore added 14 for the Warriors.
Nikola Jokić led the Nuggets with 27 points, 12 rebounds, and eight assists.
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Michael Porter Jr. added 24 points and nine rebounds.
Suns 126, Rockets 120
In Phoenix, Jae Crowder scored 26 points, Devin Booker added 24 and the Phoenix Suns tied an NBA record with 18 3-pointers in the first half on the way to a 126-120 victory over the
Houston Rockets.
The long balls came in bunches for both teams in this contest, which at times resembled a game of H-O-R-SE. The Suns finished with a franchiserecord 25 3-pointers and the Rockets added 17. The combined total of 42 3s was one shy of an NBA record.
The Suns jumped out to an 81-58 lead by halftime after making 18 of 24 (75%) 3s. Crowder was causing a big chunk of the damage, scoring all of his points in the first half while making 8 of 9 from behind the arc as a socially distanced crowd got louder with each shot.
Knicks 116, Lakers 96
In New York, Julius Randle had 34 points and 10 rebounds against his former team and the New York Knicks beat the Los Angeles Lakers 111-96 for their third straight victory.
Coming off tense finishes against Memphis and Toronto, the Knicks led comfortably for much of the fourth quarter and moved back above .500 at 28-27.
Elfrid Payton scored 20 points and Derrick Rose added 14 off the bench for the Knicks, who had plenty of energy on the second night of back-toback games.
Pelicans 117, Kings 110
In New Orleans, Brandon Ingram scored 34 points, Zion Williamson added 30 points and the New Orleans Pelicans held off a furious Sacramento Kings comeback for a 117-110 victory.
Steven Adams had 16 rebounds and Eric Bledsoe scored 13 points for the Pelicans, who saw their 26-point, second-quarter lead trimmed down four in the final minute when De’Aaron Fox rose up for a 3 that could have made it a one-point game with 14 seconds left.
The shot missed and Wes Iwundu rebounded for New Orleans to help secure the victory, which also dropped the Kings to their seventh straight loss.
Spurs 120, Magic 97
In Orlando, Fla., DeMar DeRozan scored 19 points in under three quarters, Dejounte Murray added 17 and the San Antonio Spurs routed the slumping Orlando Magic 120-97 .
San Antonio was playing a night after winning in Dallas on a last-second shot by DeRozan, and it showed no signs of fatigue in cruising to the easy win. The Spurs’ victories Sunday and Monday gave them their first consecutive wins since a three-game streak from March 15-19.
Prior to tipoff, the teams, coaching staffs and refereeing crew came together and formed a circle at midcourt with their arms interlocked and their heads bowed to show their displeasure over the fatal shooting of a Black man, Daunte Wright, by police during a traffic stop in a Minneapolis suburb. Spurs coach Gregg Popovich and Magic coach Steve Clifford stood side by side with their arms interlocked during the anthem.
Grizzlies 101, Bulls 90
In Memphis, Tenn., Jonas Valanciunas had 26 points and 14 rebounds, leading a fourth-quarter burst that carried the Memphis Grizzlies to a 101-90 victory over the Chicago Bulls .
Valanciunas, who had 32 points and 22 rebounds a night earlier in a loss to the Indiana Pacers, scored 10 in the fourth as Memphis used an 18-6 run to break open a close game.
Dillon Brooks finished with 17 points and Grayson Allen added 14. Ja Morant had 13 points and 10 assists.