Warriors take 6
OAKLAND— The Golden State Warriors delivered a message Saturday that the defending league champions are back on form with a dominating 135-114 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers on Saturday. Philadelphia had won five of its last six, but found itself hopelessly outgunned in the second half against the Warriors, who extended their winning streak to six games. All six wins have been by 17 or more points, the longest such streak in franchise history. Forward Kevin Durant returned from a one game absence to lead all scorers with 29 points. Klay Thompson had 23 and Stephen Curry 22 for the Warriors, who shot 58.5 percent from the field. Durant sat out Wednesday’s game against Minnesota with a sore left thigh.
J.J. Redick finished with 17 points, French guard Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot came off the bench to score 15 and forward Dario Saric added 14 for the 76ers.
The 76ers have now lost nine straight against Golden State.
They had a chance to take a lead at the end of the second quarter, but Kevon Looney blocked Ben Simmons underneath the rim. Looney got the ball which led to a three-pointer from Thompson to put Golden State up 65-64 at the half.
The Warriors had a scare in the first 24 minutes when they lost Curry for a few minutes after Simmons’ knee banged into Curry’s right thigh.
Curry headed to the locker room after a few seconds but was only gone a brief time. Once back, he wasted no time getting on the scoresheet again.
Elsewhere, Bradley Beal and Markieff Morris combined for 37 points as the Washington Wizards defeated the Atlanta Hawks, 113-94.
In Milwaukee, Los Angeles Lakers rookie Lonzo Ball became the youngest player in NBA history to record a tripledouble when he had 17 points, 13 assists and 12 rebounds. At 20 years and 15 days, he bested LeBron James by four days to become the youngest to accomplish the feat. But the Bucks prevailed, 94-87.