Celtics crush Nets, Curry makes history in loss
The NBA-best Boston Celtics imposed one of their most lopsided romps over Brooklyn, while Golden State three-point sharpshooter Stephen Curry made history in defeat.
Boston’s Derrick White scored 27 points and Jayson Tatum added 20 to propel the Celtics over the Nets 136-86, the fifthlargest victory in club history dating to 1946.
It was the Celtics’ sixth consecutive win, with Kristaps Porzingis scoring all 15 of his points in the first half.
Boston, which had beaten Indiana 155-104 in November, became only the third club in NBA history with two or more 50-point or better wins in a season, joining Milwaukee in 1978-79 and Sacramento in 1992-93.
It was also coach Joe Mazzulla’s 100th career triumph over two seasons guiding the Celtics, who improved to 43-12.
At San Francisco, NBA all-time three-pointers leader Curry scored 41 points, shooting nine-of-19 from threepoint range, but a fourth-quarter fightback brought the Clippers a 130-125 triumph.
Curry’s nine three-pointers made him the first player in NBA history to sink at least seven shots from behind the arc in four consecutive games, but the Warriors squandered a 15-point lead at home and lost to the Los Angeles Clippers.
James Harden hit for 26 points, Paul George added 24 and Norman Powell had 21, hitting five out of seven threepointers for the Clippers.
In other games, the Cleveland Cavaliers, powered by Donovan Mitchell’s 30 points, won for the 17th time in 19 games, rallying from 17 points down to edge the visiting Chicago Bulls, 108-105, while Dallas Mavericks ripped the visiting San Antonio Spurs, 116-93, to stretch their win streak to six games.