Curry leads Warriors’ rout of lowly Cavs

Stephen Curry made nine three-pointers and scored 42 points, Kevin Durant added 25 and the Golden State Warriors came back to face a very different looking Cleveland team for the first time since winning another NBA title, and beat the Cavaliers 129-105 on Wednesday night, Dec. 5.

Curry scored nine points in less than a minute midway through the fourth quarter to help the Warriors pull away for their eighth straight over their former Finals rivals.

Curry added nine rebounds, seven assists and appeared completely healed after missing 11 games with a strained groin. Durant had 10 rebounds and nine assists.

It was Golden State’s first visit to Cleveland since June, when the Warriors completed a sweep to win their third championship in four years.

Nothing looked the same. The Cavaliers lost LeBron James over the summer as a free agent and are starting from scratch after a four-year run as Eastern Conference champions. Cleveland also is playing without injured All-Star Kevin Love, forward J.R. Smith is on a forced hiatus and the team recently traded Kyle Korver.

Tristan Thompson, one of the only holdovers from those powerful Cleveland teams, had 19 rebounds and 14 points. Rookie Collin Sexton scored 20 points for Cleveland.

LAKERS 121, SPURS 113

In Los Angeles, LeBron James scored 20 of his 42 points in the fourth quarter and Josh Hart hit two clutch three-pointers in the final minutes as Los Angeles beat San Antonio for its fourth straight victory.

Kyle Kuzma had 22 points and nine rebounds for the Lakers, who lost Brandon Ingram to a sprained left ankle in the first quarter. Los Angeles still beat the Spurs for the first time in three tries this season. /