BOSTON Celtics
Celtics extend win-run to 10
center Aron Baynes dunks over Los Angeles Lakers’ Brandon Ingram (14) during Boston’s 107-96 win in Boston.
OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) – Klay Thompson scored 28 points with six 3-pointers, Stephen Curry had 22 points, eight assists and eight rebounds, and the Golden State Warriors beat the Minnesota Timberwolves 125-101 on Wednesday night for their fifth straight win.
Even without injured Kevin Durant, the defending champs began to look like their dominant old selves.
Draymond Green posted another allround balanced performance with seven points, six rebounds, six assists and two blocks for the Warriors, who played without NBA Finals MVP Durant as he nursed a bruised left thigh.
Andre Iguodala started in place of Durant, and the 2015 Finals MVP scored a season-high 11 points. The Warriors notched a season-best quarter with 44 points in the third to pull away after leading 51-50 at halftime.
Andrew Wiggins scored 17 points and Karl-Anthony Towns had 16 points and 12 rebounds as the Timberwolves had their five-game winning streak snapped.
This marked the first regular-season matchup between the teams after they played a pair of exhibition games in China last month.
It’s the first time the teams faced off each atop their respective divisions. Only three times previously had they played both with records of .500 or above.
Thompson shot 11 for 20 overall and 6 of 12 from long range. Omri Casspi added 13 points, three blocks
and two steals.
10TH STRAIGHT FOR CELTS
In Boston, The Celtics are piling up injuries almost as quickly as they are victories this season.
Aron Baynes matched his career high with 21 points, Kyrie Irving scored 19 and Boston overcame injuries to Al Horford and Jayson Tatum to beat the Los Angeles Lakers 107-96 on Wednesday night for their 10th straight win.
Baynes also had eight rebounds and three assists, and Boston improved to 10-2 even as Horford sat out after being placed in concussion protocol earlier in the day. The Celtics then lost rookie forward Tatum late in the second quarter, when he went to the locker room with a sore right ankle.